The optical absorption, luminescence, luminescence excitation, and luminescence decay kinetics of a dopant with a 3${\mathit{d}}^{3}$ shell (most probably ${\mathrm{Cr}}^{3+}$) and ${\mathrm{V}}^{3+}$ ions in natural ${\mathrm{Ca}}_{2}$${\mathrm{Al}}_{3}$${\mathrm{Si}}_{3}$${\mathrm{O}}_{12}$(OH) zoisite crystal have been measured. The splitting of the R lines for a dopant with a 3${\mathit{d}}^{3}$ shell, equal to 340 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$, is one of the largest known. The very broad infrared luminescence spectrum is associated with various dopants present in the crystal. We show that possible application of zoisite as a laser material is hindered by efficient nonradiative transitions at room temperature related to the presence of trace impurities.