Tutaev, formerly known as Romanov-Borisoglebsk, is a small town in the Yaroslavl region, located about 300 km away from Moscow, Russia. For many years, I have photographed a religious procession there with the Icon of the Savior, which is famous not only for its tremendous size but also for the fact that it remained in the temple and was kept safe during the years of terror in the 1930s.

In the Resurrection temple, the icon is placed on a special construction that allows the believers to conduct a ritual by crawling under the icon after the prayer. During religious processions, which happen twice a year, the icon is carried by men around the town on their hands, which is a heavy burden. As the town is located on two banks of the Volga river and there is no bridge between them, for one of the processions, the icon is carried across the river on a ferry.

I remember it was difficult to capture any detail in the icon in a photo, as time had made it very dark. Especially on sunny days, when entering the temple, you would only see the metal nimbus around the face. The locals say: "The face does not show itself to the sinners."