Metravel city quest
City Turov: free walking route “quest: crosses growing from the earth” along the sights. 8 points. Approximately 2 h. Quests and legends - straight from your
Every ancient city has a signature legend. Turov's still sends shivers down your spine.
A thousand years ago, at the time of the baptism of Rus, stone crosses floated to Turov across the water: two metres tall, heavy, carved from solid stone. They came from Kyiv along the Dnieper and the Pripyat. Against the current. When people began taking them out of the river, the water, they say, turned red. That is the tradition, passed from person to person in Turov for a thousand years.
The city itself is older than this legend. A chronicle first names Turov under the year 980; in age among Belarus's cities, it is second only to Polotsk. It was the capital of an entire principality. The route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” passed through its quays. Scribes worked here in the 11th century, and the oldest manuscript surviving from Belarusian lands comes from here. For its abundance of churches and holy places, Turov has long been called the Belarusian Jerusalem.
But the city's main mystery is in the present, not the past. In Soviet times, old residents say, people tried to get rid of the stone crosses, sinking them in the river and burying them in the ground. In the second half of the 20th century, a stone cross began rising from the earth in Turov's old cemetery. This is more than a tale: its growth was recorded by measurements over several consecutive years. A second cross later appeared from the ground nearby. Some call it a miracle; others seek an explanation in the soil. The debate continues, and pilgrims come from across the country.
Today you will follow this legend from beginning to end: from the wooden church preserving crosses that floated upstream, through the new cathedral and the waterfront to Castle Hill, the foundations of an ancient church and a monument to Turov's Chrysostom. At the very end you will see that cross rising from the earth.
The walking route is about two and a half kilometres, without doubling back. We begin on Leninskaya Street at the city's oldest church, All Saints Church.
The route points in order — what these places are and why they are interesting. Tasks and answers stay inside the quest.
Before you is Turov's oldest surviving church. The wooden All Saints Church was built in 1801–1810 through the efforts of Archpriest Antony Loyko, on the site of an earlier church.
Follow Leninskaya north towards the river. In about ten minutes, before reaching the cathedral, you will see a pale building with columns and white figures before its entrance.
From the House of Culture, walk a couple of minutes north. Ahead rises a snow-white cathedral with golden domes.
From the cathedral, walk towards the water. The river along which Turov stands is called the Strumen, a branch of the Pripyat.
Follow the water west towards Castle Hill. Along the way you will meet another cross.
You are at the foot of Castle Hill, the heart of ancient Turov. The glass canopy on its slope is the “Ancient Turov” historical and archaeological complex.
Opening hours: Tue–Sun 10:00–19:00 (“Castle Hill” exhibition until 18:00); closed Mondays; days before holidays 10:00–18:00 · Ticket: Adult 2 roubles, student 1 rouble
Climb to the ancient settlement itself. In Turov, later quarters have not been built over the inner citadel and outer town.
The final stretch leads southwest from Castle Hill towards the city's edge. Boris and Gleb Cemetery lies on a rise beyond the town boundary.
This route is part of Metravel city quests. Below are the other quests in this city and cities with quests nearby.