Monasteries of Moscow region, history and meaning

The oldest of the known Moscow monasteries - Bogoyavlensky and Danilov - are based, as far as the researchers know, in the late 13th century. But the construction of monasteries in Moscow unfolded really broadly only from the end of the XIV century. Christmas, Andronikov, Sretensky, Simonov and some other monasteries in Moscow were built exactly in those years. The main part of the monasteries now operating or known to us was erected in the 16th-17th centuries.

Monasteries, which were on close approaches to Moscow, were, in fact, fortified fortresses.

Such sentinel monasteries of Moscow suburbs were built on high places and surrounded by fortress walls with loopholes and towers. During the raids and wars the surrounding inhabitants were hiding from the enemies here. This defensive function of the monasteries explains that they are mainly in the southern part of the Moscow region, that is, from the side of the raids of nomads.

The Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra, the famous and precious shrine of the Russian land, was founded in 1340 by St. Sergius of Radonezh. For many years the monastery of St. Sergius was the main cultural and spiritual center of the country. Within the walls of the monastery worked well-known spiritual writers Logofet Pahomiy, Epiphanius the Wise, Maxim the Greek, famous painters Andrei Rublev, Dmitry Plekhanov and Daniil Cherny.

St. Sergius, the confessor of Prince Dmitry Donskoy, was his adviser in state affairs. As you know, on the eve of the Kulikovo battle, Dmitry Donskoi drove into the Troitsky monastery. Sergius blessed and instructed the great feat of the prince and the soldiers. He sent two monks to battle, Oslabi and Peresvet, according to the chronicler, "who know how to do military business, and who have the strength and courage and greatness". Both monks, inspiring the soldiers, went to battle without armor. Single combat Peresvet with the Tatar hero Chelubey, iron-clad, began the battle. They both lay down on the battlefield.

In 1919, all the temples of the monastery were sealed, the monks were arrested. This angered the faithful and prompted His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon to personally address Lenin with a request to open the temples of the Trinity Lavra. As a result, the decree of the Council of People's Commissars opened a museum in the laurel.

Today, the Lavra is the main spiritual center of the Russian Orthodox Church. From here the ascetics went to revive the old monasteries of the Moscow region. Thousands of people come here every year to see the shrine of the Russian land and to bow to the tomb of St. Sergius.

Monasteries of Moscow region played, without exaggeration, a huge role in the history of Russia.

Today there are more than 60 monasteries in the Moscow region. Among them are such ancient monasteries as the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery, which Dmitry Donskoi founded after the victory in the Kulikovo Battle, New Jerusalem, founded in 1656 by Patriarch Nikon and many other monasteries.

Moscow suburbs did not pass the common fate. After the October Revolution, all the monasteries of the Moscow region, the Moscow region, as well as the whole of Russia, were abolished. In recent years, most monasteries have been returned to the church, many of them are already functioning.