Kerzhenets River is a river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 in the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast

Nizhny Novgorod Oblast

Nizhny Novgorod Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Nizhny Novgorod. Population: The oblast is crossed by the Volga River. Apart from Nizhny Novgorod's metropolitan area, the biggest city is Arzamas...

 in Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. It is a left tributary

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 of the Volga, joining the Volga near Lyskovo

Lyskovo

Lyskovo is a town and the administrative center of Lyskovsky District of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the southern side of the Volga River , opposite the mouth of the Kerzhenets River, southeast of Nizhny Novgorod.. Population: It was first mentioned in 1410...

, about 70 km east of Nizhny Novgorod

Nizhny Novgorod

Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...

.

History

After the schism (Raskol

Raskol

Raskol |schism]]') was the event of splitting of the Russian Orthodox Church into an official church and the Old Believers movement in mid-17th century, triggered by the reforms of Patriarch Nikon in 1653, aiming to establish uniformity between the Greek and Russian church practices.-The Raskol:...

) of the 1660s within the Russian Orthodox Church

Russian Orthodox Church

The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...

, the densely forested shores of the Kerzhenets became the refuge for many Old Believers

Old Believers

In the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers separated after 1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon between 1652–66...

. Their settlements, called Kerzhenets skete

Skete

A Skete is a monastic style community that allows relative isolation for monks, but alsoallows for communal services and the safety of shared resources and protection...

s , 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 , had supposedly been founded in the 15th century by some of Venerable Macarius

Macarius of Unzha

Venerable Macarius of the Yellow Water Lake and the Unzha, the Miracle Worker is a Saint of Russian Orthodox Church.He is credited with the founding of four monasteries in the Middle and Upper Volga regions of Russia....

's monks to commemorate their leader's Miracle of the Moose

Miracle of the Moose

Venerable Macarius' Miracle of the Moose is a miracle associated with the name ofVenerable Macarius of the Yellow Water Lake and the Unzha ,a Saint of the Russian Orthodox Church...

 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 Semenov

Semyonov (town)

Semyonov is a town in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia, famous for being a major center for traditional handcrafts such as Khokhloma wood painting and matryoshkas. Population: -History:...

.