In Raifa (a monastery near Kazan) there are 39 monks and 52 cats.

The cats are included in the register and undergo obedience in the monastery, catching mice :)

This monastery is associated with Persia. Shah Abas waged war with Georgia in the 17th century. He took the icon of the Mother of God from there, they began to call it the Georgian.

A Russian merchant bought it at one of the Persian bazaars and donated it to one of the monasteries in the Arkhangelsk region.

The icon is lost these days, but in the 17th century a copy was made from it, which is now in the Raifa Monastery and is reputed to be miraculous.