Within the walls of the shrine were cut small cells for monks and hermits to live.
Their only contact with the outside world was through a little window cut into the rock face.
After the 1943 meeting between Stalin with Metropolitan Sergius, Orthodox churches were reopened.
In 1946, the Svyato-Spassky church was officially registered as a Holy Savior Catholic Church.
All the external building were burned and the cave flooded.
The modern church and convent was constructed in 1993.
Through the efforts of ordinary believers the caves were cleaned out and the inside electrified.
By 1997, the cave complex had living quarters, nursing corps, refectory and a chapel.
Today the church is visited by pilgrims from all over Russia.
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