Patriarch Kirill and Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov visit Raifa Monastery

On July 21, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill, accompanied by Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov, Metropolitan of Kazan and Tatarstan Feofan, Head of Zelenodolsk region Alexander Tygin, hierarchs and clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church visited the Raifa Bogoroditsky Monastery.

Abbot of the Raifa Monastery Archimandrite Vsevolod showed the honoured guests around the monastery. His Holiness Patriarch visited the Cathedral of the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God, Trinity Cathedral, holy water spring chapel and Children's campus.

At the Cathedral of the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church held a service and then addressed the monks.

"First of all, I would like to thank you for your work you have made here. I have heard a lot how all the things we can see now were reconstructed starting from scratch. But there is something that distinguishes the Raifa Monastery. A lot of people come here and come back again and again. The fame of this monastery is spread across our land," he said.

In memory of his visit to the monastery, Patriarch Kirill gifted the Icon of Saint Nikon of Radonezh to the monastery.