The Origins of the Three Spas
The Third Hot Springs, also known as Nut, Khlebny and Kholshchev, are celebrated in Russia each year on August 29. The date aligns with the Orthodox Church celebration of the Unmade Image of the Savior. Local saying captures the lore: the first Savior stands on the water, the second Savior eats apples, and the third Savior trades canvas in the green mountains.
Priest Nikolai Dubinin from Stary Oskol explained that ancestors believed it essential to thank the Lord for the harvest and to seek blessings for the coming year. He cited the words of Saint John Chrysostom: He who begins and ends a meal with prayer never has an empty table. If a person offers gratitude after asking for blessings, plenty of fruit and a full table follow. The tradition endured because people held fast to these customs and festival days.
The Handless View of the Savior
In early Christian legend, a king of Edessa, a region corresponding to today’s Şanlıurfa, named Abgar the Great sought healing for leprosy. After failed attempts by servants to reach Jesus, a miraculous interaction occurred from a distance. Jesus washed, pressed his face onto a cloth, and sent the cloth to Abgar through the Apostle Thaddeus. The king, who touched Jesus with the cloth by proxy, was reportedly healed and chose baptism for himself and his people, turning the cloth into a relic. It is said that the earliest icons of the Unmade Savior were painted from this cloth.
According to a traditional account quoted by Pope Gregory II in a letter to Emperor Leo Isaurian, Christ replied to Abgar and invited him to follow the path shown by Jesus, promising the presence of a holy image for many to witness and pray before. The temple that housed the image remained in Edessa for centuries before being transferred to Constantinople on August 29, 944. The day gradually gained recognition across the church, honoring the Savior Without Hands. During the crusader sacking of 1204, the ubrus bearing the image vanished from history.
Why the Third Hot Springs Are Known as Nuts, Bread, and Canvas
The common name Walnut refers to hazelnuts that ripen around August 29 and can be gathered and dried for winter. The term bread reflects the harvest season when grain crops ripen, and people bake bread and pies from the new flour. On this day, the freshly harvested crops are often blessed in church.
Father Nikolai explains that Walnut, Apple and Honey Hot Springs are folk adaptations of these names. People have long linked church holidays to everyday life. In the Apple Savior, apples were brought to church for blessing; in the Honey Savior, gifts from beehives were offered; in the Nut Savior, hazelnuts were offered. The ritual of giving thanks involved presenting the first fruits of the new harvest to God at the church. The Third Savior, sometimes called the Savior on Canvas, refers to the ubrus legend with the image of Jesus Christ and highlights the tradition of venerating a holy relic believed to have originated from that cloth.
What to Do in Hazelnut Spas
The Third Hot Springs coincide with the day following the Feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, marking the end of the Assumption Fast. Clergy emphasize that on August 29 believers may relax their strict observances. The period of fasting ends, and the community celebrates with a more relaxed approach to meals and gatherings.
The day is often spent in joyful fellowship with loved ones around a shared table. It is common to enjoy meat, fish and dairy after the fast. Like other church holidays, heavy work is discouraged on Nut Savior, although ordinary daily chores are acceptable. In practice, families use the day to connect, reflect on the harvest, and savor the seasonal abundance without the usual fasting constraints.