On the banks of the Kerzhen River, 90 km northeast of Nizhny Novgorod, there is the Kerzhensky Nature Reserve.. It was founded in 1993 and is now a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The territory of wetlands of the reserve occupies 47 thousand hectares. About 144 species of birds were found here, 30 of which are sedentary. The reserve not only protects the populations of animals and birds of the southern taiga, but also tries to revive some of them.
In the vicinity of Nizhny Novgorod there are ancient cities that have been famous for their crafts since ancient times. A variety of excursions are organized here, during which you can visit local craft factories and get acquainted with the history of these places. The city of craftsmen Gorodets is still known for the art of painting and woodcarving, embroidery, weaving from pine roots and clay toys, the city of Semyonov is the capital of golden Khokhloma, Bogorodsk famous for its masters of pottery and leatherwork, in Pavlovo there is a factory of artistic metal products, which was founded by the magician Safronov, who made edged weapons, Varnavino became famous for its bone-carving craft, Kazakovo is a center for artistic metal processing using filigree technique. It is also worth visiting the cities of Balakhna (the birthplace of Kuzma Minin) and Chkalovsk (the birthplace of the pilot Valery Chkalov).
About 100 km east of Nizhny Novgorod is the village of Makaryevo, near which the Zheltovodsky Trinity Makariev Monastery is of interest.. The monastery was founded in the first half of the 15th century, when the Monk Macarius built the first cell on the shore of the Yellow Lake. The lake has not survived to this day, as it eventually became part of the Volga riverbed. The fame of the monastery was brought by the annual Makariev Fair, which has become one of the largest in Russia. It was with the funds from her that the monastery complex was erected. With the transfer of the fair to Nizhny Novgorod, the monastery lost its significance. Today, from its buildings, the Cathedral in the name of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity (1664), the temple in honor of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with a refectory and a bell tower (1654), the gate church in the name of the Archangel Michael (1674), the cell temple in the name of the reverend Anthony the Great, a temple in the name of St. Gregory of Pel’shemsky (1786) and a church in the name of St. Macarius of Zheltovodsky (1809).
According to paradisdachat, 240 km southwest of Nizhny Novgorod in the Diveevsky district on the border of the Nizhny Novgorod region and the Republic of Mordovia, near the city of Sarov, there is a sacred place – Sarov desert. Pustyn was founded by Hieromonk Isaac at the end of the 17th century, and already in 1706 the first temple of the Sarov Monastery was built here. In the nearby village of Diveevo, another monastery was founded – the Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery, which is revered in the Russian church as one of the inheritances of the Most Holy Theotokos. Both of these monasteries were revered among believers. In 1778, Prokhor Mashnin entered the Sarov Monastery, who later received monastic tonsure with the name of Seraphim. For a long 30 years he remained in seclusion in a forest cell. When he returned to the monastery, people reached out to him, having heard about his healing and visionary gift. The relics of Seraphim of Sarov are now buried in the Assumption Cathedral. After the October Revolution, the Sarov Desert was destroyed. In the 1950s, Sarov became a closed city, which housed a research center for the development of nuclear weapons. In recent years, the desert has been gradually restored, the Seraphim-Diveevsky monastery began to operate. Now it is one of the most important places of pilgrimage in Russia. There are several healing springs near the village of Diveevo, among which the most famous is the spring of St. Seraphim of Sarov.
230 km southeast of Nizhny Novgorod is the village of Bolshoe Boldino, in which the Pushkin family estate has been located since the 16th century. The famous Russian poet A.S. Pushkin came here more than once to rest and work on his works. In 1949, the State Literary-Memorial and Natural Museum-Reserve of A.S. Pushkin “Boldino” dedicated to the stay here and the work of the poet, as well as the activities of his ancestors. The central place in the museum-reserve is occupied by a manor with a complex of buildings of the 18th-19th centuries. In the main house of the estate there is a literary memorial composition “A.S. Pushkin in Boldino”, which tells about the poet’s famous Boldino autumn and about 1830 and 1833, when he wrote about 60 works. On the territory of the museum-reserve, a picturesque park and a grove Luchinnik, where A.S. Pushkin. A few kilometers from Boldino, the village of Lvovka with a noble estate owned by Pushkin is interesting. The Museum of Literary Heroes of “Belkin’s Tales” was opened here.
In the Nizhny Novgorod region there are opportunities for hunting and fishing. Bears, elks, wolves, lynxes, foxes, hares, badgers live in the local forests, hazel grouses, black grouses, wood grouses and ducks live, and rivers and lakes abound with fish. For hunting and fishing, the northern regions of the region, such as Krasnobakovsky, Sokolsky, Voskresensky, Tonkinsky, Varnavinsky and Vetluzhsky, are more suitable. Hunting norms are established for each type of animal or game separately. Fishing is prohibited during the spawning period – from late April to early June. In the southern part of the Nizhny Novgorod region, the Voznesensky district is suitable for fishing, where the Ilevskiye ponds are located, consisting of 43 reservoirs. In the ponds you can fish all year round without restrictions.
