X3QC+94 Privolzhsky, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia
The Gabdrakhman Well, also known as the Captain's Well, is located in the Small Jerusalem Ravine, on the picturesque bank of the Volga River.
Legends associate it with the history of the Volga Bulgars' conversion to Islam. The well's name is linked to one of the followers of the Prophet Muhammad. According to legends, the spring appeared where the staff of Sahib Gabdrakhman touched the ground, and the healing water helped the recovery of the daughter of the Bulgar Khan Aidarkhan, Tuybike. After this event, the khan and his close associates embraced Islam. Even today, people come to the well, believing the spring's water to be healing.
The spring also has a second name in honor of Captain Nikolay Petrovich Rychkov, who discovered the well in the 18th century during his research expedition. Here is what he recorded about the spring in his "Journal...": "...there they also honor a spring flowing from this mountain. They call its water sacred, imagining that their saint, who lived near it, tasted and bathed in this spring: and for this reason, they fill vessels specially brought with them with this water and take it home, acknowledging that it heals them from many illnesses."
The well, sheltered under a canopy, serves as a resting place for weary travelers, and the healing power of its water is still believed in today.
