Nikitsky Monastery (Pereslavl-Zalessky): address. Rector Archimandrite Dimitry (Khramtsov)

The main attraction of the ancient Russian city of Pereslavl-Zalessky can rightfully be called the Nikitsky Monastery, which is one of the oldest in Russia. Founded before the Tatar invasion, he witnessed many key events in our history and, together with all the people, experienced the hardships of the Horde yoke, the years of the Time of Troubles and the Bolshevik affliction.

Church on the shore of Pleshcheeva Lake

About that, when the Nikitsky Monastery was founded Pereslavl-Zalessky, rather vague information has survived, relating this event to the first decades after the baptism of Rus. From the literary monument of the 15th century, called the Steppen Book, it is known that the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir handed over the administration of the Rostov-Suzdal lands to his son Boris.

Further it is said that around 1010 the young prince, together with Bishop Illarion, eradicating paganism on the territories under his control, founded several churches on the shores of Pleshcheyev Lake . It is generally believed that around one of them a community was created, which was eventually transformed into the Nikitsky Monastery. This was an important step towards the establishment of Christianity in these lands.

The first monastic saints

In the historical documents of the pre-Mongol period, there are no references to the monastery, but in the 15th century the life of his first holy Nikita Stylite was formed, which once stood here, and it was clearly indicated that he lived in the 12th century, and it also confirms the early dating of the monastery grounds.

After the blessed death of the saint his power received the gift of miracles. It is known, for example, that according to the prayers taken before them, many historical figures were healed. Among them was the young Chernigov prince Mikhail Vsevolodovich and the son of Ivan the Terrible Ivan, the same one who later was killed by his own father in the heat of anger.

Among the monks of the monastery were great devotees, who subsequently founded other monasteries of Pereslavl-Zalessky. The most famous among them is Saint Daniel, canonized in the face of the Reverend. He is the creator of the Trinity-Danil monastery.

Formation of the material base of the monastery

Until the beginning of the 16th century, the Nikitsky Monastery was hardly distinguished among other monasteries, many of which appeared by then in the Rostov-Suzdal lands. The people lived exclusively by their labors, contented only with modest incomes from the treasures they performed and the occasional donations of pilgrims.

Their financial situation was somewhat improved only in 1515, when the Pereslavl deacon Eustathius, who received healing from the deadly illness on the prayers before the relics of the Monk Daniel, contributed a substantial donation to the monastery treasury. With this money, a wooden church was built, consecrated in honor of the miracle-worker who saved him, and attracted many pilgrims to his glory.

In 1521 the Nikitsky Monastery was favored by the Uglich prince Dmitry Ioannovich, who gave him a village that was part of his patrimony. The main monastery donor was the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III - the father of Ivan the Terrible. At his command and on the means released by him on the territory of the monastery in 1523 was erected, the Nikitsky Cathedral.

Abode under Ivan the Terrible

From this time comes the heyday of the monastery, the peak of which falls on the reign of Ivan the Terrible. Nikitsky Monastery (Pereslavl-Zalessky), the rector of which Vassian used the location of the king, took a very important place among other monasteries. A suspicious and always inclined to see betrayal, the king intended to use powerful monastery walls as a reserve oprichnaya fortress, if for some reason his main citadel - the Alexander Sloboda lost its reliability.

The construction of the new Nikitsky Cathedral

It is known that Ivan and his family members visited the Nikitsky Monastery several times, making many-days pilgrimages there. The generous contribution of the tsar is the new building of the Nikitsky cathedral erected by his order and on his money, replacing the old one, built by his father. The former building occupied in it the place of the southern side-chapel, consecrated in honor of St. Nikita Stupnik, so revered by him. His own command was also erected a number of other structures that did not reach us, or survived, but changed their appearance.

In 1564, the king personally arrived at the solemn consecration and bestowed on the new cathedral a massive chandelier made of bronze and featuring a high artistic finish. Accompanying him on a trip wife Anastasia Romanovna, granted herself the embroidered image of St. Nikita Stylite, made by her own hands. The main and most valuable gift of the monarch was the numerous patrimonial estates, given to them by the monastery and created a reliable material base for its existence.

Years of the Great Troubles

A difficult test for the monastery was the years of the Time of Troubles. Like many of the monasteries of Pereslavl-Zalesskiy, he was repeatedly attacked by enemies. In 1609, the brothers managed to withstand the siege with the help of the surrounding inhabitants, and drive the enemy away from the walls of the monastery, but two years later the Lithuanians, under the leadership of Lev Sapieha, managed to capture the monastery.

Most of the population was killed, the buildings were looted and burned, and the heir who survived, Misail, became a wanderer. To this day, in the Pereslavl Historical Museum you can see the two Lithuanian cannons that survived from those times, who took part in the siege of the monastery.

Revival of the monastery

Restoration of the monastery began immediately after the accession to the throne of the first king of the Romanov dynasty - the sovereign, Mikhail Fedorovich. He and his father, Patriarch Filaret , made large donations, thanks to which they were able to start the work immediately.

During the next reign, already under Aleksei Mikhailovich, with his means and donations, in 1645 the walls and towers surrounding the monastery were rebuilt. At the same time, the Blagoveshchenskaya church was also laid, which was preserved almost unchanged to the present day.

In 1698, the Nikitsky Monastery was visited by Peter I. Having lived in it for several days, the sovereign, by his decree, confirmed his permission to the monastery for his right to fish in Pleshcheyevo lake. At that time it was a considerable monarch's favor, as the lake was rich in fish, and there were plenty of applicants for its monopolistic fishing. By the time of the reign of Peter the Great, the construction of the Chernigov chapel on the territory of the monastery, which is considered the last example of the Old Russian style in Pereslavl, also belongs.

Subsequent times

In the XVII century, the monastery suffered serious shocks. Even the difficult time for many monasteries of the reign of Catherine II, marked by the secularization (seizure) of church lands, he experienced without much loss. Continued on its territory and construction. In particular, a chapel was erected before the Annunciation Church, and a chapel was built above the pillar, where, according to legend, St. Nikita prayed day and night.

This pillar played an important role in the life of the monastery. He and the iron chains that the holy ascetic once wore for the mortification of the flesh have been shown for centuries as the greatest shrine, and they attracted a lot of pilgrims to the monastery, contributing to the replenishment of the monastery treasury. There was a time when together with them they showed us a stone cap, the same purpose as the chains, but in 1735 the Moscow church authorities seized it.

The last serious construction was carried out at the beginning of the XIX century, when the gate church, built during the time of Ivan the Terrible, was dismantled, and instead of it a bell tower was built, which can still be seen.

Years of communist rule

The coming 20th century swept through the monastery with the same ruthless "red wheel" (the expression of AI Solzhenitsyn), as in all the long-suffering Russia. The cloister was closed, and from its property, what they could not loot, was transferred to the museum. Monastic buildings were used for a variety of needs - from the rest home of researchers to the women's colony.

In 1933, in front of the building of the former Nikitsky cathedral for the purposes of atheistic propaganda, the iconostasis of the 16th century was publicly burned. Many other valuable icons of the Nikitsky Monastery also perished in the fire. Pereslavl-Zalessky, like the whole country, was engulfed in those years by a large-scale anti-religious campaign that resulted in a blind trampling of the very spiritual foundations of the people's life.

Long way to the revival of the monastery

In the seventies, when, finally, both Stalin's and Khrushchev's persecution of the church were left behind, restoration was held for the first time in the Nikitsky cathedral for many years. How the work was done is evident from the fact that shortly thereafter, on August 2, 1984, just on the day when the Orthodox Church celebrates Ilyin's day, its central chapter collapsed. It took another ten years to restore it, and finally the cathedral was opened already in perestroika times.

Since this time, serious restoration work has begun, which was headed by the newly appointed rector, Archimandrite Dimitri (Alexei Khramtsov). Nikitsky monastery, in fact, was experiencing its second birth. It was necessary not only to give the old look to its buildings, but also to reproduce the design of the interiors, and also to paint the walls again.

Now these works are basically completed, and the Nikitsky Monastery, whose address is Yaroslavl Region, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Nikitskaya Sloboda, ul. Zaprudnaya, 20, reopened its doors. As in previous years, thousands of pilgrims come here, wishing to worship its shrines, the main one being the relics of St. Nikita the Stylites, and all who cherish our history.