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The Rise of Rasputin: The Mad Monk Who Ran Russia

Khalid Elhassan March 3, 2025 18 min

16. A Holy Man Who Could Soothe Troubled Spirits

the seven lakes hermitage in the twenty first century. flickr — The Seven Lakes Hermitage in the twenty first century. Flickr

When not leading his congregation in wild o-r-g-i-e-s to bring them closer to God, Rasputin was on the road, touring holy sites. His fame grew as he roamed Orthodox Christendom, living off donations. He gradually established a reputation as a strannik, or a holy wanderer, who could predict the future and heal the sick. His first big break came in the early 1900s, when he reached the city of Kazan on the Volga River. Within a short time, word spread of the arrival of a special strannik with piercing blue eyes, who could soothe spiritual anxieties. Simultaneously, word also spread that the new arrival was constantly getting it on with his female followers. Despite such escapades, Rasputin charmed and won over the local religious authorities, especially an influential father superior of a famous pilgrimage site, the Seven Lakes Hermitage.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.