Hekhtsir Foothills Motor Route

13 points19 km0 hours

The Hekhtsir foothills lie at the foot of the Hekhtsir range in Khabarovsk District, roughly 12–30 kilometers (7.5–19 miles) south of Khabarovsk. The range rises above the Amur-Ussuri Lowland, a land beautiful for its variety of forests, rivers, and fields. On this motor route, visitors and Far East residents alike can enjoy a unique encounter with the untouched nature of the Russian Far East.

Route author

Khabarovsk Municipal District Administration

Things to do

🏞️ Enjoy the view
🌸🍃 Get some fresh air
🌲🦋 Enjoy nature

Route points (13)

Church of the New Martyr Ekaterina Arskaya in Khabarovsk District

Point on route “Hekhtsir Foothills Motor Route”

Point 12

Church of the New Martyr Ekaterina Arskaya

Маленькая • 📸 Take photos • 🕍 Place of worship

Modesty and Grandeur in Harmony

The wooden church is built in the traditional Russian style, embodying harmony between modest architecture and spiritual depth. The construction was initiated by the Belovodye nonprofit partnership of farms. At a meeting, the members unanimously decided to build an Orthodox church on their land. At first it had not been decided which saint the church would be dedicated to. At the suggestion of Archpriest Konstantin Zhigalin, they decided to dedicate it to the saint whose name was borne by the first member of Belovodye to propose building it. That person turned out to be named Ekaterina. While searching for a suitable heavenly patron, they came across information about the new martyr Ekaterina Arskaya.

The New Martyr Ekaterina Arskaya

Ekaterina Arskaya lived in St. Petersburg. She was a member of the Alexander Nevsky Brotherhood and a spiritual daughter of Archimandrite Lev (Egorov). In 1932 she was arrested for her membership in the brotherhood and for “counterrevolutionary activity” and sentenced to three years in the camps. After her release she settled in Borovichi (Novgorod Region), where in 1937 she was arrested again, this time for belonging to another, related brotherhood, and was shot on December 17, 1937. In 2003 she was canonized among the New Martyrs of the Russian Orthodox Church.