The Kerzhenets (russian: Керженец) is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

in the

Nizhny Novgorod Oblast Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (russian: link=no, Нижегородская область, ''Nizhegorodskaya oblast''), is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Nizhny Novgorod. It has a population of 3,310,5 ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. It is a left

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

of the

Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchm ...

, joining the Volga near

Lyskovo Lyskovo (russian: link=no, Лысково) is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. Urban localities *Lyskovo, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, a town in Lyskovsky District of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast Rural localities * Lyskovo, Chelyabinsk Obl ...

, about 70 km east of

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

. It is long, and has a drainage basin of .«Река КЕРЖЕНЕЦ»
Russian State Water Registry

History

After the schism (''

Raskol The Schism of the Russian Church, also known as Raskol (russian: раскол, , meaning "split" or "schism"), was the splitting of the Russian Orthodox Church into an official church and the Old Believers movement in the mid-17th century. It ...

'') of the 1660s within the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

, the densely forested shores of the Kerzhenets became the refuge for many Old Believers. Their settlements, called Kerzhenets

skete A skete ( ) is a monastic community in Eastern Christianity that allows relative isolation for monks, but also allows for communal services and the safety of shared resources and protection. It is one of four types of early monastic orders, a ...

s (russian: Керженские скиты), remained numerous into the 19th century, and the people themselves were known as the ''Kerzhaks'' (Кержаки). According to an Old Believer legend, the oldest of the sketes, the Olenevsky Skete (russian: Оленевский скит, i.e. "The Skete of the Deer"), had supposedly been founded in the 15th century by some of Venerable Macarius's monks to commemorate their leader's

Miracle of the Moose Venerable Macarius' Miracle of the Moose (russian: Чу́до преподо́бного Мака́рия У́нженского о лосе́) is a miracle associated with the name of Venerable Macarius of the Yellow Water Lake and the Unzha (1349 ...

that took place at that site, and later joined the ''Raskol''. The former skete is now the village of Bolshoye Olenevo, located some 24 km south-east from the district capital Semyonov.Оленевский скит
(Olenevsky Skete)

References

Rivers of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast Old Believer communities in Russia {{Russia-river-stub