For over seven decades, not robbers or bandits, but ordinary residents, under the direction of the authorities, deliberately destroyed two churches in the village of Vereteya in the Nekouzsky district: the Church of the Protection of the Holy Virgin and the Church of the Prophet Elijah. From these Orthodox shrines and the bell tower, descendants received only what could not be destroyed. From the time of its consecration in 1770 until 1937, up to 5,000 believers gathered in the Protection Church. Not everyone could fit inside, so many prayed outside. Soon a second church, the Church of the Prophet Elijah, was built, but it was still not enough. Then three chapels were added: the Epiphany, the chapels of Cosmas and Damian, and a rare chapel for the Tsargrad Icon of the Mother of God.

Later, granaries were placed in the churches, and a grain grinder was installed in the Church of Elijah. Recently, the buildings were returned to the Orthodox Church. To clean the walls from a thick layer of dust, a fire truck had to be called.

The five-domed, two-pillar Church of the Protection of the Holy Virgin has lost all its interior decoration, with only fragments of frescoes remaining.

The village of Vereteya can be considered the cultural and historical capital of the Russian Atlantis, located just eighteen kilometers from the submerged Mologa.

The Church of the Protection of the Holy Virgin has three chapels: the central one dedicated to the Protection of the Holy Virgin; the right one in the name of Saint John the Baptist; and the left one in the name of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker. In 1792-1793, a refectory and a bell tower were added. The appearance of the church was completed with Holy Gates, turrets, fences, and brick benches.