Kyzyltash Monastery, Orthodox monastery in Krasnokamianka, Ukraine.
Kyzyltash Monastery is an Orthodox monastery set in a mountain valley near Krasnokamianka, Ukraine, surrounded by forested slopes at around 400 meters elevation. The complex includes several churches and residential buildings where monks currently live and tend to the grounds.
The monastery was founded in 1856 by Archbishop Innokenty of Kherson, and it grew into a sizable religious community under Abbot Parfeny. After being shut down and demolished in the Soviet era, the site was handed back to the church and reconstruction began in 1995.
The name Kyzyltash comes from the Crimean Tatar words for "red stone," and visitors can spot reddish rock formations in the surrounding hillside that explain this naming. Pilgrims still travel here to pray at the spring dedicated to Saint Stephen, which flows near the main church and remains a point of devotion.
Visitors should carry identification documents, as the site is near military installations and checks can occur at access points. The paths leading to the monastery cross hilly terrain, so sturdy footwear and enough time for the walk are worth planning ahead.
In the 1950s the monastery was torn down to make room for a Soviet nuclear weapons storage facility, and the underground infrastructure from that period was later found still intact beneath the site. When the weapons were eventually removed, the land was transferred back, making this one of the few religious sites in the region with a documented nuclear past.
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