Skinny-dipping in Talezh

The plaque telling us that we're on some of the holy land of Rus' (an ethnic, historical and mythical notion of early Russia that is very dear to contemporary Russian Orthodoxy)

Chapel on the compound, close to the holy springs

The two guys (now dressed) who showed me how to plunge three times into the (freezing cold) holy water

The wood hut on the left is for women; on the right for men. The holy stream runs beneath both. The women are downstream of the men (which might tell you all you need to know about the view of women in the Church)