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Sergius of Radonezh founded the Trinity Monastery. Sergius of Radonezh: relics, icons, temples

On August 11, 1337, St. Sergius of Radonezh founded a monastery, which later became the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. According to the Life (biography) of the saint, created by his younger contemporary Epiphanius the Wise, Sergius (in the world Bartholomew) came from the family of the Rostov boyar Kirill, who moved from Rostov to the city of Radonezh, the center of a small specific principality, under the patronage of the Grand Duke of Moscow. From a young age, Bartholomew felt an inclination towards a hermitic monastic life, but at the request of his parents he was forced to postpone his tonsure and realized his intention only after their death. Having buried their parents in the Khotkovsky Intercession Monastery, Bartholomew and his brother Stefan, who had already taken monasticism, retire to the forests surrounding Radonezh, and 15 kilometers away they find a place for a secluded monastery.

On a large hill, washed by the river Konchura, the brothers built a "small church" and a cell. Unable to bear the hardships of a hermit life, Stefan went to Moscow Epiphany Monastery, leaving his brother, now the monk Sergius, alone. However, a year later, monks seeking solitude begin to flock here. The author of the Life of Sergius, in addition to the hardships and hardships suffered by the inhabitants of the monastery, describes many miracles and predictions that foreshadowed the transformation of a modest monastery, where "blissful scarcity was a source of treasures," into the richest and most famous Trinity-Sergius Lavra in Russia.

Reverend Sergius of Radonezh Construction of the monastery. A copy of the miniature from the Life St. Sergius. 16th century

Many painted and carved icons reproduce the appearance of the Mother of God to St. Sergius of Radonezh, described in the Life, when she promised her eternal patronage of the monastery founded by him. increase in the number of brethren, the Mother of God sent him a vision of many birds as a symbol of the multitude of his disciples and followers.

What did the Trinity Monastery look like in the 15th-16th centuries can only guess. Time and fires have deprived us of the opportunity to see its ancient wooden structures. In 1408 the monastery was burned to the ground during a raid by Khan Edigei. Its inhabitants, led by the disciple and successor of St. Sergius, Abbot Nikon, managed to escape into the forests, and a few years after their return, the monastery was restored. Hegumen Nikon, taking advantage of the patronage of the great Moscow princes, led an active economic activity, laying the foundation for the economic and political power of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery.

Even during the life of St. Sergius of Radonezh, the Trinity Monastery received the first donations and privileges from the Grand Dukes, and from the 15th century. money, land and other contributions from representatives of various segments of the population began to regularly arrive here. One of these donations from the son of Dmitry Donskoy Prince Yuri Zvenigorodsky, the godson of St. Sergius, according to legend, was used to build the oldest of the surviving monuments of the architectural ensemble of the monastery - the white-stone Trinity Cathedral. It was erected in 1422 "in praise" of St. Sergius of Radonezh and became one of the first memorial monuments in Russia. Ancient Russian architects erected a strict and laconic in form, restrained in decor, a temple, irresistibly tearing upwards with each of its lines. This small, but majestic and monumental cathedral, created in the traditions of early Moscow architecture, is in perfect harmony with the harsh times in which St. Sergius lived, his asceticism and enlightenment, the pure and lofty idea of unity and all-encompassing love, to which he dedicated the monastery.

In ancient times, when the entrance to the monastery was from the western side, the Trinity Cathedral met the stranger almost at the very gates, like Abbot Sergius himself. Now, after more than five centuries, we enter the monastery from the opposite side, from the east, and it seems symbolic that our path to the Trinity Cathedral, the heart of the monastery, lies through its entire territory, as through its entire history, through all these five centuries, which left wonderful monuments in its architectural ensemble

Masters led by famous painters Daniil Cherny and Andrei Rublev were invited to decorate the interior of the Trinity Cathedral. Unfortunately, the frescoes they created were not preserved; in the 17th century. they were recorded new. But the iconostasis of the cathedral is still decorated with 40 icons made by masters of the 15th century. For this temple, Andrey Rublev painted the Trinity icon, now known all over the world, which has become one of the symbols of ancient Russian culture. (Since 1929, the icon has been exhibited at the State Tretyakov Gallery.) royal doors in the center of the iconostasis, decorated with a gilded chased silver frame, were donated to the monastery by Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov. In the Trinity Cathedral there is the main shrine - the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh, which rest in a chased silver shrine made in the 16th century. masters of the Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin on the orders of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible. A silver canopy rises above the shrine, donated in the 18th century. Tsarina Anna Ioannovna. Great Moscow princes and Russian tsars baptized their children here, they came here for blessing before and after important state and family affairs. In the 15th century. during the fierce feudal war for the throne, despite the attempts of the monastery to pacify the descendants of Dmitry Donskoy, who were at war with each other, it was here that the great Moscow prince Vasily II, the grandson of Prince Dmitry, who after that received the nickname Dark.

WITH south side adjoining the Trinity Cathedral is a church built in 1548 over the coffin of hegumen Nikon, who was also canonized and nicknamed Radonezh. Thus, in architecture, his spiritual connection with the founder of the monastery, St. Sergius, was emphasized. This idea of unity and continuity was later reflected in the fine and applied arts: in icon painting, in sewing, in engravings of the 18th century.

Spiritual Church (1476) and Assumption Cathedral (1559-1585)

The iconostasis of the Trinity Cathedral is unique. It was created at a time when in Russian church tradition a systematically thought-out and visually integral multi-tiered iconostasis was taking shape as an image of the City of Heaven, as a manifestation of the Church of the Heavenly Church on earth. This is the only complex of the beginning of the 15th century that has been preserved in the temple, for which it was intended.

Iconostasis of the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra

By the end of the 15th century, the unification of the Russian principalities was already bearing fruit not only in the sphere of politics and economics, but also in the development of artistic culture. Moscow absorbed and processed all the best that was achieved in other lands. And it is no coincidence that for the construction of a new belfry in the monastery of St. Sergius, an ardent supporter of the unity of Rus', craftsmen from distant Pskov were invited. In 1476 they erected a small church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, with bells at the base of the dome. The belfry of the Spiritual Church for a long time served as a tower for observing the surroundings. In the silence of this modest chamber church, Ivan IV the Terrible prayed for a terrible sin after the death of his son Ivan, whom he inflicted a mortal blow in a fit of anger. This secret of his was entrusted by the formidable tsar, among the few, to the abbot and cellar of the Trinity Monastery.

Freed from the invaders, the Russian state was gaining strength, and with it the strength of the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1448, shortly before the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the Russian Church became independent from the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Metropolitan Jonah, appointed by the Council of Russian Bishops in 1448, received the title of Metropolitan of Moscow and All Rus'.

In the future, the growing power of the Russian state also contributed to the growth of the authority of the Autocephalous Russian Church. In 1589 Metropolitan Job of Moscow became the first Russian Patriarch. The Eastern Patriarchs recognized the Russian Patriarch as the fifth place in honor.

Literature

The leading theme in literature is patriotism and the exploits of the Russian people. There is a rethinking of many epic stories. become a new genre songs and tales on historical themes (The legend of Evpatiy Kalovrat- about the heroic defense of Ryazan, The legend of Clicker- about the uprising in Tver in 1327). The theme of the fight against external enemies remains the main one in the 16th century. Monuments of this time describe such events as the capture of Kazan, the fight against the Krymchaks and Stefan Batory, the conquest of the Siberian Khanate by Yermak. The image of Ivan the Terrible in these songs is strongly idealized, and Malyuta Skuratov becomes the main culprit of the oprichnina.

Along with historical songs, hagiography(Sergius of Radonezh, Metropolitan Peter), walking- travel descriptions Journey beyond three seas Athanasius Nikitin). In the 14th and 15th centuries there was a flourishing annals by monasteries. In the 14th century, Moscow created unified Russian chronicle, and in the middle of the 15th century - " Chronograph” is an overview of world history, which also includes Russian history. Great work on the collection and systematization of Russian literature was carried out by an associate of Ivan the Terrible Novgorod Metropolitan Macarius.

IN journalistic literature XV-XVI centuries, the idea of the legitimate supremacy of Moscow in the Russian lands is persistently carried out. Under Prince Vasily III, the monk Philotheus formulates theory "Moscow - the Third Rome". In this theory, Moscow is called the guardian of Orthodoxy after such world centers of Orthodoxy as Rome and Constantinople perished. This theory until the beginning of the twentieth century will determine the path of development of Russia. Ivan the Terrible and Andrei Kurbsky are trying to comprehend the nature of tsarist power in their correspondence. A prime example household genre becomes " Domostroy”, which contains tips on proper housekeeping.

Since the 14th century, paper appeared in Russia, which made it possible to create many textbooks for monastic schools. IN 1533 the first printing house (Anonymous Printing House) opens in Moscow, and 1564 attributed to the first precisely dated printed book produced by Ivan Fedorov.

Craft

The revival of the craft begins at the end of the 14th century. It was complicated by the fact that many craftsmen were taken prisoner and a number of craft skills were lost. From the middle of the XIV century. The jewelry art is revived. In the XVI century. chasing and filigree are complemented by enamel. Enamel in Ancient Rus' was called enamel, the most ancient technique used in jewelry art, as well as elegant art products made of various metals, decorated with it. Hence the name of the industry. The word "finift" is Greek and means "brilliant stone" in translation. When it is created, a mass of glass powder, diluted with water, is applied to a skillfully crafted metal surface and fired until a vitreous layer appears. Painted enamel is the finest miniature painting with refractory paints on an enamel background. In the 17th century floral ornamentation develops, completely braiding the products.

From the 16th century a niello with a clear beautiful pattern is used, corresponding to the shape of the products. From the 2nd half of the 17th century. and patterning grows in the niello, oriental motifs spread. Only towards the end of the century is a more rigorous ornament revived.

Basma is widely used, covering wood products, decorating the backgrounds of icons. In the XIV - early XV centuries. it uses an ornament in the form of flowers in circles, borrowed from Byzantine and Balkan manuscripts. In the 17th century its bizarre floral patterns acquire a purely Russian character. Fascination in the 17th century lush ornamentation leads to the loss of artistic measure, especially when decorating objects with precious stones and pearls, from which patterns that were previously made of gold were assembled.

Casting from non-ferrous metals experienced the same evolution - from the Tsar Cannon by Andrey Chokhov to the bronze canopy of Dmitry Sverchkov in the Assumption Cathedral in Moscow and to tin openwork cast frames for icon cases of the 17th century. Even in iron products there is a fascination with patterned forms: forged lattices of the Moscow church of St. George of Neo-Caesarius, gates made of pierced iron in the Ryazan Assumption Cathedral, hinges and door handles of ordinary buildings.

Distributed in the XVI-XVII centuries and such a kind of arts and crafts as glyptic (from the Greek glypho - cut out, gouge) - the art of carving on colored and precious stones. Since the early Middle Ages, glyptics has become an integral part of Christian culture. We find the highest examples of stone carving in Orthodox art.

Ludogoshchinsky Cross

Carved images of the Savior, Mother of God and Saints became an integral part of bishop's vestments, they are often used as inserts in panagias and mitres. The main stone used in religious objects is lapis lazuli. The best traditions of antiquity have been revived by modern stone-cutters. They mastered the technology of processing such "difficult" stones as topaz, beryl, emerald and amethyst. Remarkable samples of stone-cutting creativity of Russian masters could be seen at the annual exhibition-fair "Symphony of Gems", regularly held in Moscow by the State Geological Museum. V. I. Vernadsky.

In the bone carvings of the XV century. one can see the unexpired forms of the "animal style" in the openwork ornament. In the "Crucifixion" of the XVI century. The Uglich Historical and Art Museum was affected by the elongated-graceful proportions of Dionysius's figures. In the 17th century the art of carvers from Kholmogory is highly valued in Moscow, where they work, decorating their products with birds and animals “in herbs”. Particularly good are numerous caskets with large end-to-end floral ornaments.

Few large examples of woodcarving of the XIV-XVI centuries have come down to us. Such is the Ludogoshchinsky cross from Novgorod, sharp in silhouette, decorated with complex ornaments and images of saints. More small wooden items have been preserved, among which the work of the craftsman Ambrose stands out with the subtlety and beauty of execution.

In the XVI century. elements of oriental art penetrate into wooden carving. A virtuoso small flat-relief openwork carving of the Royal Doors from the Church of St. John the Theologian on Ishna near Rostov, made by the monk Isaiah. Throne of Ivan the Terrible with a tent and carved historical scenes and clergy places of the 16th-17th centuries. with a relatively fractional pattern, they are distinguished by the architectural clarity of complexly arranged completions. Sophisticated Yaroslavl openwork carving recalls the clarity of forms

iconography

In the XIV-XV centuries, icon-painting schools of individual lands finally took shape. Came to Novgorod from Byzantium Theophanes the Greek, which had a great influence on Russian icon painters. The images created by Theophan are imbued with great spiritual power. Theophanes was a student Andrey Rublev. Andrei is characterized by a special roundness, smoothness of lines, a light range of colors. The main idea of the icon painter is the comprehension of moral purity through the heavenly world. The pinnacle of ancient Russian painting is the icon " Trinity» created by Andrey Rublev.

In the 15th century, stories on historical themes increasingly penetrate into icon painting, portrait images of kings and queens appear.

Andrey Rublev- the great Russian icon painter. Born in the 60s of the 14th century. The time of Rublev's life coincides with the turning point of Rus'. The work of the famous icon painter marks an important milestone in the history of Russian art. This name is associated with the emergence of an artistic movement that determined the development of Russian painting for many decades. The historical evidence of the life and work of Andrei Rublev that has come down to us is extremely poor in chronological data and largely contradict each other. Only two messages appearing in the annals under 1405 and 1408 are indisputable. 1405 - together with Theophan the Greek and Prokhor from Gorodets, Andrei Rublev participates in the painting of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. 1408 - Andrei Rublev and Daniil Cherny supervise the work on the painting of the Assumption Cathedral in the city of Vladimir.

The Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin was rebuilt in the 15th century, and its painting has not been preserved. In the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir, only a small part of the murals has been preserved. Icons from the iconostasis of this cathedral have also come down to us, now exhibited in the Tretyakov Gallery and the Russian Museum. Little is known about the previous period of Andrei Rublev's life. Compiled in the 17th century, the "Legend of the Holy Icon Painters" claims that he first lived in the Trinity Monastery in obedience to Nikon. According to the Tale, Nikon ordered Rublev to paint an icon of the Trinity "in praise of his father, St. Sergius the Wonderworker." We know about Rublev's other major works from the lives of Sergius and Nikon.

Between 1425-1427, together with his friend and "companion" Daniil Cherny, he participated in the creation of the murals of the Trinity Cathedral of the Sergius Monastery that have not survived. Rublev died there in 1430.

Just like Feofan, Rublev strives to achieve the embodiment of the original beauty of a perfect person. Just like Feofan, he sees the result in this beauty creative activity transformed human spirit. But if for Feofan the achievement of perfection means a complete change in a sensual person, then for Rublev this process consists in the liberation of the primordial beauty hidden in material forms. In contrast to Theophanes, in the icons and frescoes of Rublev there are no sharp highlights, opposed to sankir or ocher. The successive application of the thinnest light and gradually lightening layers of ocher creates a completely different effect. The source of light is inside, but the light does not break through the material surface, but is evenly radiated by it. He comes to the surrounding objects and communicates to everything a life-giving joyful warmth, which is transmitted to the viewer. Lightness appears in the proportions of the figures. Movements are freed from the burden of chance. Being reborn together with the soul, the flesh, as it were, is filled with light. The dream of the coming triumph of harmony and love, of restoring the lost harmony of man and the world, takes concrete, visible forms in the work of a brilliant artist.

1. Vladimir Konstantinovich Kurushin - history of Russia

2. Life of St. Alexis Metropolitan of Moscow http://saints.ru/

3. SAINT ALEXY, WONDER WORKER http://days.pravoslavie.ru/

4. Russia in colors. history of the Russian Orthodox Church http://ricolor.org/

5. Journey to Russian holy places. From the Trinity Lavra to the Ascension Monastery Alexander Muravyov 2016

7. Vasekovsky G.V. Conversations about Russian artists, 1990

Similar information.

To visit the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, it is not at all necessary to contact a travel agency and buy a pilgrimage tour.

The most famous monastery in Russia, founded by St. Sergius of Radonezh, the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Lavra is located 70 kilometers from Moscow. Go to Sergiev Posad, visit the famous monastery, plunge into the spring in its vicinity, take a little walk around the city and return to the capital - all this can be done in just one day.

Before the revolution, many pilgrims, rich and poor, tried to reach the Lavra on foot. The journey began at the Iberian Chapel in Moscow (it was recently restored - it is located at the gate leading to Red Square) and took several days. You can read more about such pilgrimages in a wonderful book. Ivan Shmelev "Praying Man".

How to get to Sergiev Posad from Moscow

It takes about an hour and a half to get from Moscow to Sergiev Posad by train. Trains leave every half an hour from the Yaroslavsky railway station (look for trains to Sergiev Posad, Aleksandrov or Balakirevo in the schedule).

Another option is to get to Sergiev Posad from Moscow by bus number 338. Flights depart from VDNKh metro station every 20 minutes. Travel time is only an hour, but there is a high probability of getting stuck in a traffic jam.

On your own car to Lavra from Moscow, you need to go along the Yaroslavl highway (M8 highway), and after about fifty kilometers you will see a sign for Sergiev Posad. After turning along it, follow this road - it will lead you to the monastery.

The Lavra on Red Army Avenue (opposite the Eternal Fire) has 3 guarded parking lots. However, on big days church holidays there may not be room.

How to get to the Trinity Sergius Lavra

The railway station and bus station in Sergiev Posad are located on the same square. You need Sergievskaya street (if you stand with your back to the railway station, it will go to the right). Walk along it, turn left with it - and after about half a kilometer you will find yourself on the observation deck on Pancake Mountain. Most of the photographs of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra are taken from this place.

View of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra from Pancake Mountain

In front of the Lavra you will see a place called Podil. Below are two churches: to the right - Church of the Great Martyr Paraskeva Pyatnitsa VII century and slightly to the left - Vvedensky temple 1547. On the right below, near the river, a small Pyatnitskaya chapel.

Sergievskaya Street was “cut through” among residential buildings even before the revolution - for the convenience of pilgrims, when a railway line was extended to Sergiev Posad. And the site on Blinnaya Gora appeared much later - before the 1980 Olympics in Moscow: part of the urban development was destroyed, the place was cleared so that foreign tourists - guests Olympic Games could admire the monastery.

From the observation deck, the path will lead you to the right, past the river. The Pyatnitskaya chapel will remain on the left. You need to go past the shops with paintings and souvenirs through the tunnel and you will find yourself on Krasnogorskaya Square near the Holy Gates of the Lavra.

Behind you is an information center in a red brick building. In it you can buy a sightseeing tour of the monastery. Tickets for foreigners are also sold there - the entrance for them is paid.

The main temples of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra

You will enter the Lavra through the Holy Gates. Just behind it, over the next archway, you will see Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist- the gate temple of 1693-1699. In those days, this was the main gate of the monastery, but decades later the monastery was surrounded by high walls and a new gate was built.

Passing the arch, you will see a large one-headed spirit temple. Behind him is Trinity Cathedral- the oldest temple of the monastery, built in 1422-1423 instead of wooden church, which, according to legend, was built by St. Sergius himself. In this cathedral, the relics of the saint are kept in a silver shrine.

Trinity Cathedral (left) in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra

Large church with painted different colors walls to your left refectory temple(a more correct name is the Church of St. Sergius with the Refectory), built in 1686-1692 in the Naryshkin baroque style - a “festive” bright and unusual style.

When calculating the time of visiting the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, please note that on weekends and holidays there are a lot of people in the temples, long queues line up at the entrance from those who want to venerate the holy relics.

Look a little to the right: a huge temple is Assumption Cathedral, the largest in the monastery. It was erected in 1559-1585, and the most famous painters took part in its design: Simon Ushakov painted the iconostasis, Dmitry Grigoriev painted the walls. Initially, a wooden shrine with the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh was located in the Assumption Church.

Cathedral of the Dormition and the overhead chapel in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra

There is a small square behind the Trinity Cathedral. When you reach it, you will see bell tower- the highest in Russia and baroque chapel above XVII century, and in the center - under the shadow of a bowl with a cross, where, as in the chapel, you can draw water.

If you get hungry or forgot to take a bottle of holy water with you, it doesn’t matter: on the territory of the Lavra there are several cafes for pilgrims, many stalls with pies and other food, and plastic containers of various sizes are sold everywhere.

Further, behind the bell tower rises Church of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God(Hodegetria) is a beautiful baroque building. To the right, behind the fence, where access is closed to ordinary pilgrims, is the former travel palace of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The ruler often visited the Lavra, and therefore ordered to equip a residence for himself. Now in royal halls The Moscow Theological Academy is located.

You will find the exact time of services in different churches of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra on the official website of the monastery.

Walk to the holy spring of Savva Storozhevsky

There are several holy springs around the Lavra and Sergiev Posad. The most convenient way is to reach the key bearing the name of St. Savva Storozhevsky - this will take about 15 minutes. From the gates of the Lavra, you need to go left, along the wall of the monastery, past the monument to St. Sergius. Where the wall turns left, turn and continue walking along it.

If you do not turn off at this place, but walk 200 meters ahead, you will find yourself at a small one-domed temple early XIX century - Churches of Peter and Paul. Now it is known primarily for the fact that there on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, except for the Twelfth holidays, at 12:00 they reprimand the possessed - they perform the rite of expelling evil spirits.

Moving along the wall, you will reach the bus parking lot - you need to go through it, and at the end you will see a narrow ladder leading down to the stream. Before going down it, look back at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra - from this place you get excellent photos of the monastery. By the way, this view of the Lavra was very famous before the revolution, when the observation deck on the Pancake Mountain did not yet exist.

View of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra from the source of Savva Storozhevsky

At the bottom, follow the path - under the bridge, and behind it you see a tiny wooden chapel, shops selling candles, baptismal shirts and souvenirs, and - finally - the source of Savva Storozhevsky.

Holy Spring of Savva Storozhevsky

On the right, there is a spring where you can get water, on the left - a font has been built - it is small, so on Sundays and holidays, a queue usually gathers in front of it. Men and women wait in groups of 8-10 people and come in alternately - there is no division into women's and men's fonts.

According to legend, the holy key in this place scored thanks to the prayer of Savva Storozhevsky, a disciple of Sergius of Radonezh and the founder of the Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery in Zvenigorod. The water in the spring is cold - about +2 degrees.

Other sights of Sergiev Posad

If you don’t spend a lot of time in the Lavra, then in a day you can have time to see other sights of Sergiev Posad: visit Gethsemane Chernigov skete And Spaso-Bethany Monastery, visit one of the oldest in Russia Museum toys and learn more about the history of the region in the branches located near the monastery State Historical and Art Museum-Reserve.

Monument to Peter and Fevronia of Murom

We tried to tell you about the main interesting places of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and its environs. But if we missed something, it would be great if you can add to this story!

Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra on the map

In 1337, Sergius of Radonezh, then still bearing the worldly name of Bartholomew, and his older brother Stefan, a monk of the Khotkovo Intercession Monastery, settled on Makovets Hill, ten miles from Khotkovo. This event is considered the date of foundation of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. Soon the brothers erected a small wooden church in the name of the Holy Trinity (it was consecrated in 1340). The first monastic buildings - the Church of the Holy Trinity and several cells - occupied only a small part of the modern territory of the Lavra, located in its southwestern corner. After Stefan's departure to the Epiphany Monastery, the future monk labored alone for some time, but over time, other monks also settled around his cell. In 1355, with the blessing of the Patriarch of Constantinople Philotheus, Sergius introduced a communal charter in the monastery. The territory of the monastery was divided into three parts - residential, public and defensive. In the center of the monastery there is a new wooden church of the Holy Trinity and a refectory surrounded by cells on four sides; behind the cells were vegetable gardens and household services. The entire monastery was surrounded by a wooden fence (tyn). Another wooden church was built above the gate, in the name of Dmitry Solunsky. The plan of the monastery, established then, in in general terms has come down to our days. The abbot of the monastery was at first hegumen Mitrofan, who tonsured Bartholomew a monk under the name of Sergius. After the death of Mitrofan, St. Sergius of Radonezh became hegumen of the monastery.

Soon the Trinity Monastery became the spiritual center of the Russian lands, supported by the Moscow princes. Here, in 1380, St. Sergius blessed the army of Prince Dmitry Ivanovich, who was going to battle with Mamai. On September 8, 1380, during the Battle of Kulikovo, on the battlefield, in violation of the charter of Orthodox monasticism, with the blessing of St. Sergius, monks-bogatyrs of the Trinity Monastery - Peresvet and Oslyabya - came out. In 1392 Saint Sergius reposed and was buried in the Church of the Holy Trinity; six months before his death, Sergius handed over the leadership of the monastery to his beloved disciple Nikon.

Monastery in the XV-XVI centuries. The first stone structures

In 1408, the monastery was plundered and burned down by the Tatar Khan Edigey, but the next 200 years of its history passed almost without clouds. The Trinity Monastery was rebuilt, developed, and became one of the main Russian shrines. The monastery has been a cultural and religious center for several centuries. Russian state. Chronicles were compiled in the monastery, manuscripts were copied, icons were painted; in the 15th century, the Life of St. Sergius of Radonezh was created here, one of the largest monuments of old Russian literature, a most valuable historical document.

In 1422, on the site of a wooden church (which was moved to the east), hegumen Nikon laid the first stone structure of the monastery - the Trinity Cathedral, built by the forces of Serbian monks from Kosovo, who had taken refuge in the monastery after the Battle of Kosovo Field. During the construction of the cathedral, the relics of St. Sergius were found Radonezh. Outstanding icon painters Andrey Rublev and Daniil Cherny participated in the painting of the temple, the famous "Trinity" was painted for the iconostasis of the cathedral. The Trinity Cathedral was revered by the Moscow princes: prayers were performed here before campaigns and after their successful completion (as, for example, Vasily III celebrated a successful campaign against Pskov in 1510 with a prayer service, and Ivan IV the Terrible performed a prayer service in honor of the successful capture of Kazan in 1552), "Kissing the Cross" sealed the contracts, performed the baptism of the heirs to the throne.

One of the most dramatic events of internecine wars in Muscovite Rus' is connected with the Trinity Monastery. In 1442, in the monastery at the tomb of Sergius, the reconciliation of Vasily II with his cousin Dmitry Shemyaka took place, which ended many years of civil strife. However, two years later, Dmitry broke this oath; Shemyaka's people seized Vasily, who was praying at the tomb of Sergius, and sent him under escort to Moscow, where two days later Vasily was blinded and exiled to Uglich. The clergy of the Trinity Monastery condemned the actions of Dmitry Shemyaka (the first in the church condemnation of Shemyaka is the signature of the Trinity abbot Martinian), and Vasily II, released from imprisonment in 1450-1462, gave the monastery a number of charters. Trinity Cathedral for a long time remained the only stone structure of the monastery. In 1469, under the guidance of the Moscow architect Vasily Yermolin, a stone refectory was built on the central square. It was a two-story building, consisting of two chambers: the "small refectory of the fathers" (refectory for the brethren) on the first floor and the "royal chamber" on the second floor. The type of a one-pillar chamber, first used in the Trinity Monastery, was subsequently used by the builders of the Faceted Chamber in Moscow, after which it became widespread. In the 18th century, a modern bell tower was built on the site of the refectory. Near the refectory, according to the project of Yeromolov, a stone kitchen was built. In 1476, near the Trinity Cathedral, Pskov craftsmen built the Church of the Descent of St. Spirit.

In 1530, the sacrament of baptism of the long-awaited son of Prince Vasily III, the future Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, was performed in the Trinity Cathedral. In 1547, as soon as the magnificent celebrations on the occasion of the wedding of Ivan IV ended in Moscow, the young tsar and his wife went on foot to the Trinity Monastery, where he spent a week praying daily at the tomb of Sergius. Subsequently, the tsar often visited the monastery, performed prayers on the occasion of the largest victories of the Russian troops; during his reign, Ivan IV invested at least 25 thousand rubles in the development of the monastery. Under Ivan the Terrible, the monastery was replanned. Since the 1540s, white stone walls have been erected around the monastery. In the 1550s, a belt of walls in the shape of an irregular quadrangle about one and a half kilometers long was built. It was then that the monastery territory acquired its current size. Simultaneously with the construction of the walls, dams were built in three ravines adjacent to the monastery, and a large pond was dug out on the south side. Trinity Monastery turned into a powerful fortress. In 1561 he received the status of archimandrite.

In 1559, in the presence of the tsar, a new large cathedral was laid, which received the name of the Assumption. The construction of the temple dragged on for many years; in 1564, it was interrupted due to a major fire, during which “the Trinity Sergius Monastery burned out, the meals and monastic treasuries in the chambers, and many bells spilled and cook everything, and host the courtyard, and serve the courtyards ...”. The consecration of the cathedral took place after the death of Ivan the Terrible, in 1585, in the presence of the new Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich. After that, in 1585-1586, at the behest of the royal couple, extensive artistic work was carried out. This was due to the fact that Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich and Tsarina Irina Feodorovna Godunova had no children, although the wedding took place in 1580. This was not an isolated case - famous monasteries and temples of the state were presented with expensive gifts "in prayer" for childbearing. In the Assumption Monastery, a chapel was built for Theodore Stratilates and the Holy Great Martyr Irina, who were the namesake saints of the royal couple.

By the end of the 16th century, the Trinity Monastery became largest monastery Russia; he owned 2780 settlements, there was an active trade - merchant ships of the monastery went to foreign countries.

The development of the monastery from the 17th century to the beginning of the 18th century

During the Time of Troubles, the Trinity Monastery withstood a 16-month siege by the Polish-Lithuanian invaders led by Sapieha A. Lisovsky. The Polish-Lithuanian troops, who approached the monastery in September 1608, fired at the fortress with 63 guns and repeatedly attempted to storm it; at the end of 1609, scurvy began in the besieged monastery, during the epidemic, more than two thousand people died. All the dead were carried to the Assumption Cathedral. By the end of winter, less than 200 people remained capable of defending the monastery with weapons in their hands. Despite all the difficulties, the monastery staunchly defended itself, according to the characteristics of the Poles themselves, it was armed with “people, iron and courage”. During the successful sorties of the besieged, the Poles also lost a large number of people; during one of the sorties, Lisovsky's son Stanislav died. Having learned about the digging under the Pyatnitskaya Tower, the defenders erected a second wall opposite the digging, and then, during a successful sortie, they blew up the digging. On January 12 (22), 1610, the siege was lifted by Russian troops led by Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky. The monastery became one of the strongholds of the Second Militia of Minin and Pozharsky; a great contribution to the liberation was made by Archimandrite Dionysius, who helped the Home Guard with large donations and supported the spirit of the army. The damage done to the monastery is described in the Tale of Avraamy Palitsyn: ... from undermining and from rumors, the walls of the city have become loose, and in other places the buildings are not far enough: in the monastery of service and the cell of the fraternal without cover, the former and many cells and services in the monastery burned down.

However, the authority of the monastery, which became one of the symbols of the courage of the Russian people, grew, and with it, donations to the treasury also increased. The monastic fortifications were quickly restored (at the same time, the walls were built on in height and increased in width, and the towers acquired the appearance that has survived to this day), the construction of new buildings began. A large bell tower was erected next to the Spiritual Church, and the church of Mikhail Malein appeared at the eastern wall of the Refectory. The walls of the refectory were decorated with bright paintings. On the site of the wooden palace of Ivan the Terrible, royal mansions were built. Around 1640, a stone two-story building of cells was built. Among other large monastic buildings of the 17th century are the Church of Zosima and Savvaty, the Hospital Chambers.

The last time the monastery saw an enemy under its walls was in 1618, during a campaign against Moscow by the Polish prince Vladislav. The time has come for the prosperity of the monastery; the number of peasant households belonging to the monastery reached 16.8 thousand, exceeding the number of peasant possessions of the tsar and the patriarch. The monastery's own brick factories ensured continuous construction work. In the ponds surrounding the monastery, the monks bred fish, orchards were created along their banks, and windmills were set up.

In 1682, during the Streltsy rebellion, the monastery served as a refuge for Princess Sofya Alekseevna, Princes Ivan and Peter. In 1689, Peter I, who escaped from Moscow, took refuge in the monastery. from here, already a sovereign ruler, Peter left for Moscow. Under him, a magnificent baroque refectory with a church of St. Sergius of Radonezh appeared in the monastery. With the construction of the new Refectory, the formation of the architectural appearance of the central square of the monastery was almost completely completed. Above the eastern wall of the monastery, at the expense of the Stroganovs, in 1699, the gate church of John the Baptist was built.

At the beginning of the 18th century, construction on the territory of the monastery stopped. Russia entered the Northern War (Peter I took 400 thousand rubles from the monastery treasury for military needs); then the construction of the new capital of Russia - St. Petersburg - began - in connection with which the tsar introduced a ban on the construction of stone buildings throughout Russia. Only in 1708, construction work was launched near the walls of the monastery: because of the threat that the Swedish army would penetrate deep into Russia, it was decided to strengthen Moscow and nearby fortresses, including the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. Stone bridges were built at the Assumption and Red Gates; deep ditches and bastions appeared under the monastery walls. The ditches existed until the 1830s, and earthen fortifications near the corner towers remain to this day.

The successors of Peter the Great on the Russian throne did not show great interest to the fate of the monastery; there were even plans to move the monastery closer to the new capital, but they were not destined to come true. In 1738, the monastery management system changed: it became subordinate to the Spiritual Council.

The heyday of the Lavra

After the accession to the throne of Elizabeth Petrovna, a new period of prosperity for the monastery began. On October 1, 1742, by decree of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, a theological seminary was opened in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery (later, in 1814, the Moscow Theological Academy, one of the largest religious educational institutions Russia). Soon (in 1744) the Trinity-Sergius Monastery was awarded the honorary title of Lavra; the head of the Lavra was the Metropolitan of Moscow.

Elizaveta Petrovna often visited the Lavra. Each of her visits was accompanied by festivities - fireworks, cannon fire and sumptuous meals. In the summer, amusements were held in the monastery; outside the monastery walls was built a magnificent pleasure palace of Korbukh, surrounded by greenhouses and a park in the French style. Construction also unfolded on the territory of the monastery itself. Back in 1738, Moscow architect Ivan Michurin was commissioned to draw up a master plan for the monastery territory. The plan was drawn up and sent to St. Petersburg, but was approved only in 1740; along with the plan came the project of a new monastery bell tower, developed by the court architect. Schumacher. Petersburg architect proposed to place the bell tower in the geometric center of the main square. However, Michurin believed that in this place the bell tower would be obscured by other structures and “from such a small distance ... one cannot see many people”; Michurin managed to achieve the transfer of the construction site to the north. In 1741, the laying of the bell tower took place; construction stretched for almost 30 years and was completed only in 1770. For the new belfry, a king-bell weighing 4065 pounds was cast right on the territory of the monastery.

Many buildings of the Lavra were to be rebuilt; the architectural style of the monastery buildings was planned to be brought into line with the tastes of the middle of the 18th century. In 1745, an album of restructuring of the entire Lavra territory was drawn with a detailed description of the buildings of the monastery. The strong fire that happened in 1746, which destroyed all the wooden buildings of the monastery, contributed to the acceleration of the reconstruction. The global reconstruction of the Lavra began in accordance with the album of 1745; work continued until 1789. The new appearance of the monastery buildings resembled the external decoration of the palaces of that time. The buildings were painted in bright colors that emphasized the beauty of the white and gilded stucco details. To match the external decor, the interiors of the buildings received a magnificent appearance. The most luxurious decoration was found in the Tsar's palaces (stucco molding and painting on the ceiling, typesetting parquet, tiled stoves, silk upholstery of the walls). The original decor of many old buildings has been lost; for example, the buildings along the western wall of the monastery, including the Hospital Chambers, acquired a single facade with identical windows and a gallery on pillars. Some buildings (including the forge and armory) were dismantled. The architecture of a number of buildings in the album was pretentious; The architects Ivan Michurin and Dmitry Ukhtomsky, who supervised the restructuring, managed to make a number of significant changes to the project (for example, the decision to build dutch figured roofs over the monastery buildings was canceled). The restructuring also affected the ancient temples of the monastery; so, the heads of the Trinity Cathedral and the Spiritual Church were replaced with onion ones, and the vaulted porch of the Trinity Cathedral was replaced with a high porch. The heads of most temples were gilded. On the territory of the Lavra, paths paved with white stone appeared, and the main alley - from the Holy Gates to the Trinity Cathedral - was decorated with forged gratings. Finally, in 1792, an obelisk with medallions was erected on the main square, the text in which tells about the history of the monastery; The obelisk was used as a chronometer - a sundial was placed on its three sides.

IN XVIII-XIX centuries The Trinity-Sergius Lavra became one of the richest monasteries in Russia, one of the largest landowners (in 1763, on the eve of a major confiscation of church lands, the Lavra owned more than 100 thousand souls of peasants). Active trade (grain, salt, household items) contributed to the increase in the wealth of the monastery; his financial situation in the XVII-XVIII centuries. distinguished by great strength; donations were great in favor of the Russian army (in 1812 - about 70 thousand rubles), the militia (see Dionysius of Radonezh). The value of the Lavra as cultural center also increased; in 1814, the Theological Academy was transferred here from Moscow, located in the building of the Royal Palace. In connection with the placement of the academy, a number of buildings were rebuilt, new buildings appeared - all this, according to some researchers, led to a violation of the integrity of the architectural complex.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the Lavra was in charge of a printing house (it printed the works of philosophers, clergy - P. A. Florensky, Kliment Ohridsky and others), two hotels on the territory of Posad (old and new), workshops (production of toys, candlesticks, crosses and etc., woodcarving), shops, horse yards. A brisk trade was carried on near the walls of the Lavra, shopping arcades, hotels and tenement houses appeared near the monastery. In the 1910s, more than 400 monks lived in the Lavra. Some small monasteries and sketes were assigned to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.

The shrines of the monastery: the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh (in the Trinity Cathedral), the relics of Nikon, Sergius (Micah) of Radonezh, St. Serapion of Novgorod, Metropolitan Joasaph, Archimandrite Dionysius, Saint Maximus the Greek, Icon of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity the works of Andrei Rublev (now in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow) - attracted thousands of pilgrims from all over Russia.

Representatives of noble Russian houses are buried in the Lavra: Belsky, Vorotynsky, Glinsky, Obolensky, Odoevsky and others; figures of the Time of Troubles: Prince Dmitry Trubetskoy and Prokopy Lyapunov, Prince Andrei Radonezhsky, representatives of the Godunov family; many Moscow and other hierarchs: Macarius (Bulgakov), Macarius (Nevsky), Sergius (Golubtsov), Patriarchs Alexy I and Pimen. Numerous treasures are stored in the vestry - these are unique objects of decorative and applied art, offerings of kings and wealthy people to the monastery. The Lavra library has a significant fund of manuscripts - Russian chronicles, handwritten books of the 15th-17th centuries, and unique samples of Russian early printed books (for 1908 - about 10,000), historical documents are stored here.

The most famous priors of the Lavra in the 19th century were Metropolitan Platon (Levshin), who was active in construction, St. Philaret, who corresponded with A. S. Pushkin and founded the Gethsemane Skete near the Lavra, and St. Innokenty (Veniaminov), former first Orthodox Bishop of America.

History of the Lavra in the 20th century

In the first years of the 20th century, construction continued on the territory of the monastery, new cells and buildings, outbuildings, shopping arcades were built; in 1905 the Lavra printing house was organized.

1918 was the beginning difficult period in the history of the Lavra. According to the Decree on the separation of the church from the state and the school from the church on January 20 (O.S.), 1918, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, Lavra, like other monasteries in Russia located on the territory controlled by the Bolsheviks, was legally turned into a labor artel, however monastic life continued on an ad hoc basis until October 21, 1919, when the monks were resettled in the Chernigov and Gethsemane sketes. On November 10, 1919, the Presidium of the Executive Committee of the Sergievsky District decided to close the Lavra due to the acute shortage of premises for hospitals, schools, and children's institutions. In March 1919, the Moscow Theological Academy was dissolved, and its premises were given to electrical courses; On April 11, the relics of St. Sergius were opened. On April 20, 1920, despite a number of messages from Patriarch Tikhon to the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars V. I. Ulyanov (Lenin) with a request to cancel the order to close the Lavra, a decree of the Council of People's Commissars "On the appeal to the museum of historical and artistic values of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra" was issued. The Trinity Cathedral was closed immediately, and the brethren were evicted and found a place for themselves in labor communes; the last divine service in the Trinity Cathedral was performed on May 31, 1920. In the same 1920, a historical and architectural museum was organized on the territory of the Lavra. In 1929, the last sketes near the Lavra were closed and most of the Lavra bells were confiscated for remelting (the bell "Swan" of 1593 and the oldest, "Nikon's", of 1420 survived). On the territory of the Lavra until 1953 there was the Zagorsk Teachers' Institute.

Restoration of the Lavra

By the end of the 1930s, some monuments of the Lavra were partially rebuilt and adapted for housing and other household needs that were not typical for them.

The first commission for the protection of monuments of art and antiquity of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra was created back in 1918, but the restoration work carried out under its supervision was not systematic, there was no single restoration project. The initiator and organizer of systematic restoration work was the director of the Zagorsk Museum of History and Art S. A. Budaev, the customer was the Zagorsk Museum, in 1938 a young architect I. V. Trofimov was invited. He was instructed, in the development of the decree of 1920, signed by Lenin, on the conversion of the ensemble of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra to the museum, to prepare a substantiated report to the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR on the allocation of funds for the scientific restoration of the monuments of this historical and artistic ensemble. In the next two years, he prepared a certificate on the historical and artistic significance of the architectural ensemble of the Lavra and a program for its scientific restoration, a general plan for restoration and restoration work, defective acts, inventories of work and estimates for fifteen objects. On the basis of these materials, on February 1, 1940, a resolution of the Council of People's Commissars was adopted, according to which the entire complex of monuments of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra within the boundaries of the fortress walls was declared the Zagorsk State Historical and Art Museum-Reserve. I. V. Trofimov was appointed scientific supervisor and chief architect of these works. For their production, a special research and production construction site was organized and an Academic Council was established, approved by the State Committee for the Arts; The government allocated 6 million rubles for the planned work. The architect academician I. V. Rylsky was appointed chairman of the council, the scientific secretary - V. P. Zubov, representative of the customer, the Zagorsk Museum, - architect N. D. Vinogradov. The council included the architect academician I. V. Zholtovsky; engineer P. V. Shchusev; archaeologist, doctor of historical sciences A. V. Artsikhovsky; historian S. V. Bakhrushin. At various times, academicians A. V. Shchusev and I. E. Grabar were invited as consultants, since 1940 he had supervised the restoration of painting; lieutenant general, hero Soviet Union D. M. Karbyshev; experts in applied art and painting N. N. Sobolev, D. I. Kiplik, F. Ya. Mishukov; historians - A. G. Novitsky and A. G. Gabrichevsky. There were not enough restorers, and in 1945 an arts and crafts school was opened with a three-year training program that trained white masons, sculptors, carpenters and other masters of restoration work.

The ensemble of the Trinity Sergius Lavra took shape over four centuries, from the 15th to the 18th centuries inclusive, and along with the development of the ensemble, the appearance of its individual buildings also changed. The task of the restorer was to find the artistic optimum for each monument, that is, the moment of its highest artistic flourishing - for this reason, the start of work was not preceded by the creation of project documentation, during the creation of the project, natural disclosures were carried out. The purpose of the restoration was not to return the ensemble to some particular "optimal year", but, on the contrary, to show it as an integration or synthesis of all artistic development.

In the work of I. V. Trofimov, his father, the artist V. P. Trofimov, took a great part. Picturesque canvases by Vikenty Pavlovich “The refectory of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra”, “View from the bell tower of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra”, “In the former Trinity-Sergius Lavra” and others make it possible to see the monuments immediately after restoration.

Despite the numerous difficulties of the war and post-war period, it was possible to eliminate the emergency state of a number of monuments, to carry out a major restoration of the Hospital Chambers with the Church of Zosima and Savvaty of Solovetsky of the 17th century, the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit of the 15th century, the white stone base of the Belfry, the eastern part of the refectory mound of the end of the 17th century ., Metropolitan chambers, partly the Royal palaces and significant sections of the fortress walls and towers. Particularly significant work was carried out on the Hospital Chambers, built up with new buildings and literally returned from oblivion (however, the dismantling of the refectory of the 17th-18th centuries, attached to the church of Zosima and Savvaty, was considered insufficiently justified). At that time, it was the largest restoration work in the USSR. A 30-meter protected zone was organized around the walls of the monastery.

After 1950, restoration work, carried out mainly on the monuments transferred to the Moscow Patriarchate, began to be carried out by the former student trainee I.V. Trofimova V.I. Baldin, who in 1963, together with A.G. During the restoration in 1956-1959, all the buildings and structures of the monastery were freed from foreign institutions that occupied them. By 1970, the bulk of the restoration work was completed. The results of the restoration carried out by Baldin were assessed ambiguously, in particular, I.V. Trofimov noted the fundamental errors and damage caused to individual buildings and the entire ensemble of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra as a whole. Restoration continued in the 1970s - a number of objects were recreated under the guidance of architects Yu. D. Belyaev and Yu. N. Shakhov.

In 1993, the architectural ensemble of the Lavra was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in Russia.

In the 1990s and 2000s, a number of buildings were restored to the original color of the walls, the roofs of churches were repaired, and the murals were restored; The bell tower was extensively restored. In the spring of 2004, a newly cast Tsar Bell was raised to the bell tower, the ringing of which the parishioners first heard on May 30 of the same year, on the feast of Pentecost.

religious life

The beginning of the revival of the monastic life of the Lavra dates back to the beginning of 1946. Patriarch Alexy I became the rector, the first governor upon opening was Archimandrite Guriy (Egorov). The Trinity-Sergius Lavra remained the main seat of the patriarchs until 1983, when the residence was transferred to the Moscow Danilov Monastery.

The memoirs of Archbishop Mikhei (Kharkharov) of Yaroslavl and Rostov indicate that the head of St. Sergius of Radonezh, hidden during the closing of the Lavra, was returned to his relics by Schema-Archimandrite Hilarion (Udodov), who kept it from 1941 to 1945 in the altar church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God in Vinogradov.

The relics of St. Sergius were handed over to the vicar on the evening of April 20, 1946 and transferred to the Assumption Cathedral, which was returned to the Patriarchate in the same year. The first liturgy was performed in the Assumption Cathedral on the night of Easter, April 21, 1946. In the memoirs of one of the eyewitnesses to the revival of the Lavra, Protodeacon Sergius Boskin, there are many references to Father Hilarion, who, together with Archimandrite Guriy, led the first divine services after a 26-year absence from the monastery of monastic life. According to Archpriest Vladimir Zhavoronkov, the first liturgical cry after the opening of the Lavra was made by Father Hilarion.

In August 1946, Archimandrite John (Razumov) became governor.

On November 21, 1946, Patriarch Alexy I consecrated the refectory church of St. Sergius of Radonezh, which has been closed for worship since 1921. At the end of 1946, the Lavra was shown to the son of US President Franklin Roosevelt, Elliott Roosevelt and his wife, who were met by the vicar, Archimandrite John, and the brethren. In the following years, before the collapse of the USSR, such demonstrations of freedom of religion in the USSR became a common practice. In 1949, within the walls of the Lavra, the Theological Academy, recreated in 1946, resumed its activities) On November 15, 1959, Patriarch Alexy I blessed the new Charter of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The Local Councils of the Russian Orthodox Church were held in the Lavra in 1971, 1988, and 1990. IN cave temple Metropolitan Macarius (Nevsky) († 1926), Patriarchs Alexy I († 1970) and Pimen (Izvekov) († 1990) were buried under the Assumption Cathedral.

We have collected all (or almost all) preserved and even poorly preserved monasteries founded by Sergius of Radonezh and his disciples.

Sergius of Radonezh, the most revered Russian saint, founded ten monasteries in his lifetime. Numerous disciples continued his work and founded 40 more monasteries. These disciples had their own disciples, many of whom also founded monastic communities - in the 15th century Muscovite Rus' became a country of monasteries.

In 1397, two monks of the Simonov Monastery, Cyril and Ferapont, came to the Belozersk Principality. The first dug a cell near the Siversky Lake, the second - between the lakes Passky and Borodavsky, and over the years the most famous monasteries Northern Thebaid. The Ferapontov Monastery is much smaller, but older (there are no buildings younger than the middle of the 17th century at all), and is included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site thanks to the complex of frescoes of Dionysius in the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin (1490-1502).

Sergius founded the main Russian monastery while still a devout layman Bartholomew: with his brother monk Stefan he settled on Makovets hill in Radonezh forest, where he built the Church of the Holy Trinity with his own hands. A couple of years later, Bartholomew became a monk with the name Sergius, and then a monastic community formed around him, which by 1345 took shape in a monastery with a cenobitic charter. Sergius was honored during his lifetime, walked around Rus' and reconciled the warring princes, and finally in 1380 he blessed Dmitry Donskoy for the battle with the Horde and gave him two monks-soldiers Alexander Peresvet and Rodion Oslyabya to help him.

In the Trinity Monastery in 1392, Sergius reposed, and thirty years later his relics were found, to which the people reached out. The monastery grew and became prettier together with Russia, survived in 1408 the ruin of the horde of Edigei, and in 1608-10 - the siege of the Polish-Lithuanian army of Pan Sapieha.

In 1744, the monastery received the status of a lavra - the second in Rus' after the Kiev-Pechersk. Now it is a grandiose architectural complex, worthy of the largest Russian Kremlin - about 50 buildings behind an impregnable wall 1.5 kilometers long. The oldest churches are the Trinity Cathedral (1422-23) and the Holy Spirit Church-bell tower (1476), and it was for the first that Andrei Rublev wrote his great Trinity.

Assumption Cathedral (1559-85) - one of the largest and most majestic in Rus'. The bell tower (1741-77) is taller than Ivan the Great, and the largest in Russia 72-ton Tsar Bell hangs on it. Temples, residential and service chambers, educational and administrative institutions, relics and graves historical figures, a museum with unique exhibits: Lavra is a whole city, as well as a "city-forming enterprise" of the rather big city of Sergiev Posad.

Sometimes Sergius left the Trinity Monastery for several years, but wherever he settled, a new monastery arose. So, in 1358, Sergius and his disciple Simon founded the Annunciation Monastery on the Kirzhach River, where another disciple Roman remained hegumen. Now it's a small cozy convent on the high bank - on the one hand the city of Kirzhach, on the other - endless meadows. In the center is the white-stone Annunciation Cathedral of the early 16th century and the Church of the All-Merciful Savior (1656).

One of the heroes of the Battle of Kulikovo, Dmitry Bobrok-Volynsky, came to Moscow from places now known as Western Ukraine and became close to Prince Dmitry so much that they together prepared a plan for the battle with Mamai. Bobrok was assigned a military trick: when, after 5 hours of battle, the Russians began to retreat, his ambush regiment hit the rear of the Tatar rati, thereby deciding the outcome of the battle. Returning with victory, Bobrok, with the blessing of Sergius, founded a monastery near Kolomna. Now it is a small cozy monastery in the field between Novoryazanskoye highway and the Moskva River with the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin (1757-90) and other buildings of the XIX century. The best way to get to the monastery is from the Kolomna Kremlin along the most picturesque path through the Pyatnitsky Gates and the pontoon bridge.

Epiphany Staro-Golutvin Monastery. Kolomna, Moscow region

A large monastery on the outskirts of Kolomna is clearly visible from the railway, attracting attention with thin false-Gothic turrets of the fence (1778), similar to minarets. Sergius founded it in 1385 at the request of Dmitry Donskoy, and left his disciple Gregory as abbot. Until 1929, there was a spring in the monastery, according to legend, it gushed where Sergius said. In the Middle Ages, the monastery was a fortress on the road to the Steppe, but most of the current buildings, including Cathedral of the Epiphany are dated to the 18th century.

One of the missions of Sergius was a kind of "diplomacy of general authority" - he walked around Rus', reconciling the warring princes and convincing them of the unity of the Russian cause. The most recalcitrant was Oleg Ryazansky: on the one hand, Ryazan competed with Moscow for leadership, on the other hand, it was open to the blows of the Horde, and therefore Oleg played a double game on the verge of betrayal.

In 1382, he helped Tokhtamysh, snatched Kolomna from Dmitry ... Things were moving towards a new collapse of Rus', but in 1386 Sergius came to Ryazan and miraculously prevented the war, and as a sign of peace he founded the small Trinity Monastery. Now it is a modest city cloister with a decorative fence and churches XVII(Trinity), XVIII (Sergius) and XIX (icons of the Mother of God "Signs-Kochemnaya") centuries.

Sergius founded several more monasteries, as it were, “in co-authorship” - not with his students, but with the monks of his generation. For example, Borisoglebsky, 18 versts from Rostov, where Sergius was born, together with the Novgorodians Theodore and Pavel in 1365. Later, the recluse Irinakh, who lived here, blessed Kuzma Minin to defend Rus'.

A magnificent architectural complex was formed in the 16th-17th centuries, and from the outside, especially when looking at the gates (of which the monastery has two), towers or a three-span belfry, it resembles a slightly simplified Rostov Kremlin. Inside are several churches, including the Cathedral of Boris and Gleb from the 1520s.

Mother of God-Nativity Monastery. Rostov the Great

The monk Fyodor, a disciple of St. Sergius, founded this monastery in the homeland of the teacher, and in the fabulous landscape of Rostov, she took her place a quarter from the Kremlin. The first stone church was founded by Metropolitan Iona Sysoevich in 1670. Now it is a large, but at first glance not very spectacular (especially against the backdrop of the Rostov Kremlin!) Ensemble of churches, buildings and fences of the 17th-19th centuries. All the more worth to approach him and take a closer look.

After the death of Sergius, the new hegumen of the Trinity Monastery Nikon almost immediately went into seclusion for six years, leaving Savva, another disciple of Sergius, as rector. Immediately after Nikon's return in 1398, Savva went to Zvenigorod and, at the request of the local prince, founded a monastery on Mount Storozhka. As the name implies, the place was strategic, and in the XV-XVII centuries the monastery turned into a powerful fortress. But this monastery was especially honored by the Russian tsars, sometimes secluded in it for prayers and peace: the road here from Moscow was called the Tsar's Way, and now it is nothing more than Rublyovka.

The monastery stands in an extremely picturesque place, and behind impregnable walls hides an exemplary "fairytale city" of the times of Alexei Mikhailovich - pretentious chambers, elegant belfries, kokoshniks, tents, tiles, white and red scale of the ensemble. It even has its own Royal Palace, as well as an excellent museum. And in the center is a small white Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin, consecrated in 1405, during the life of Savva the Wonderworker.

Nikolo-Peshnoshsky Monastery. Lugovoe village, Dmitrovsky district, Moscow region

One of the most beautiful monasteries of the Moscow region, founded in 1361 by Sergius' disciple Methodius, was undeservedly forgotten - since 1960, a neuropsychiatric boarding school, closed to outsiders, has lived within its walls. Inside are hidden Nikolsky Cathedral of the early 16th century, a very elegant bell tower, several more temples and chambers. The boarding school is now in the process of moving, and the temples are at the beginning of restoration.

The Vologda region was called the Northern Thebaid for the abundance of secluded and fabulously beautiful monasteries founded during the heyday of the Russian North - the country of merchants, fishermen and monks. The Prilutsky Monastery on the outskirts of Vologda, with its powerful faceted towers, looks like a Kremlin much more than the Vologda Kremlin itself. Its founder Dmitry met Sergius in 1354, being the founder and abbot of the St. Nicholas Monastery in Pereslavl-Zalessky, and not without the influence of Sergius ideas, he went to the North, hoping to find solitude somewhere in the wilderness.

In 1371, he came to Vologda and built a large monastery there, the funds for which were allocated by Dmitry Donskoy himself, and for all subsequent centuries the monastery remained one of the richest in Russia. From here Ivan the Terrible took relics on a campaign against Kazan; in the Time of Troubles the monastery was ravaged three times; in 1812, the relics of monasteries near Moscow were evacuated here.

The main shrines - the icon of Dmitry Prilutsky with life and the Cilician Cross brought by him from Pereslavl, are now kept in the Vologda Museum. Behind the powerful walls of the 1640s are the Spassky Cathedral (1537-42), the Vvedenskaya Church with a refectory and covered galleries (1623), a number of buildings of the 17th-19th centuries, a pond, the grave of the poet Batyushkov, a wooden Assumption Church (1519), brought in 1962 from the closed Kusht Monastery - the oldest hipped temple in Russia.

Pavlo-Obnorsky Monastery. Gryazovetsky district, Vologda region

The monastery in the upper reaches of the Obnora River in the Vologda region was founded in 1389 by Sergius's disciple Pavel, who had 15 years of seclusion behind him. Here, too, he lived alone for 3 years in the hollow of an old linden tree... Once upon a time, the Pavlo-Obnorsky Monastery was one of the largest in Rus', but it was especially unlucky under the Soviets: the Trinity Cathedral (1510-1515) with the iconostasis of Dionysius was destroyed (4 icons survived, dispersed in museums), the Assumption Church was beheaded (1535).

In the surviving buildings there was an orphanage, later a pioneer camp - therefore the village where the monastery stands is called Youth. Since the 1990s, the monastery has been revived, on the site of the Trinity Cathedral a wooden chapel with the shrine of the relics of Pavel Obnorsky was built.

Resurrection Obnorsky Monastery. Lyubimovsky district, Yaroslavl region

A small monastery in the dense forests on the Obnora River, 20 kilometers from the town of Lyubim, was founded by Sergius' disciple Sylvester, who lived in this place for many years in solitude and was accidentally discovered by a lost peasant, after which the rumor about the hermit spread, and other monks reached out there. The monastery was abolished in 1764, the holy spring of Sylvester Obnorsky and the Church of the Resurrection (1825) have been preserved.

Spaso-Preobrazhensky Nuromsky Monastery. Spas-Nurma, Gryazovetsky district, Vologda region

Spaso-Preobrazhensky Nurom Monastery

Another monastery on the Nurma River, 15 kilometers from Pavlo-Obnorsky, was founded in 1389 by Sergius of Nuromsky, a disciple of Sergius of Radonezh. Abolished in 1764, the Savior-Sergius Church in the "Northern Baroque" style was built in 1795 as a parish church. Now the monastic life in this abandoned forest monastery is gradually being revived, the buildings are being restored.

The monastery on the outskirts of Serpukhov is one of the main attractions ancient city. It was founded in 1374 by the local prince Vladimir the Brave, but to choose a place and consecrate it, he called Sergius with his disciple Athanasius, who remained for the hegumen. The monastery is small, but beautiful: walls with towers of the 17th century, an elegant gate bell tower (1831), the Zachatievsky Cathedral of the times of Boris Godunov and several more churches and buildings. But most of all, the monastery is famous for the icon of the "Inexhaustible Chalice", which saves from alcoholism, drug addiction and other addictions.

Foundation of the Trinity Monastery

On a large hill, washed by the river Konchura, the brothers built a "small church" and a cell. Unable to bear the hardships of hermit life, Stefan went to the Moscow Epiphany Monastery, leaving his brother, now monk Sergius, alone. However, a year later, monks seeking solitude begin to flock here. The author of the Life of Sergius, in addition to the hardships and hardships suffered by the inhabitants of the monastery, describes many miracles and predictions that foreshadowed the transformation of a modest monastery, where "blissful scarcity was a source of treasures," into the richest and most famous Trinity-Sergius Lavra in Russia. Many painted and carved icons reproduce the appearance of the Mother of God to St. Sergius of Radonezh, described in the Life, when she promised her eternal patronage of the monastery founded by him. increase in the number of brethren, the Mother of God sent him a vision of many birds as a symbol of the multitude of his disciples and followers.

What did the Trinity Monastery look like in the 15th-16th centuries can only guess. Time and fires have deprived us of the opportunity to see its ancient wooden structures. In 1408 the monastery was burned to the ground during a raid by Khan Edigei. Its inhabitants, led by the disciple and successor of St. Sergius, Abbot Nikon, managed to escape into the forests, and a few years after their return, the monastery was restored. Hegumen Nikon, using the patronage of the great Moscow princes, was active in economic activity, laying the foundation for the economic and political power of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery.

Masters led by famous painters Daniil Cherny and Andrei Rublev were invited to decorate the interior of the Trinity Cathedral. Unfortunately, the frescoes they created were not preserved; in the 17th century. they were recorded new. But the iconostasis of the cathedral is still decorated with 40 icons made by masters of the 15th century. For this temple, Andrey Rublev painted the Trinity icon, now known all over the world, which has become one of the symbols of ancient Russian culture. (Since 1929, the icon has been on display at the State Tretyakov Gallery.) The Royal Gates in the center of the iconostasis, decorated with a gilded silver chased setting, were donated to the monastery by Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov. In the Trinity Cathedral there is the main shrine - the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh, which rest in a chased silver shrine made in the 16th century. masters of the Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin on the orders of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible. A silver canopy rises above the shrine, donated in the 18th century. Tsarina Anna Ioannovna. Great Moscow princes and Russian tsars baptized their children here, they came here for blessing before and after important state and family affairs. In the 15th century. during the fierce feudal war for the throne, despite the attempts of the monastery to pacify the descendants of Dmitry Donskoy, who were at war with each other, it was here that the great Moscow prince Vasily II, the grandson of Prince Dmitry, who after that received the nickname Dark.

On the south side of the Trinity Cathedral adjoins the church, built in 1548 over the coffin of Abbot Nikon, who was also canonized and nicknamed Radonezh. Thus, in architecture, his spiritual connection with the founder of the monastery, St. Sergius, was emphasized. This idea of unity and continuity was later reflected in the fine and applied arts: in icon painting, in sewing, in engravings of the 18th century.

The relationship of Ivan IV with the Trinity-Sergius Monastery was quite complex and contradictory, as well as his relationship with the church in general. The tsar accused the monks of non-observance of the monastic charters, made attempts to limit the land ownership of the monasteries; Among those tortured and executed in the "oprichnina capital" of Alexander's Sloboda (which is just a few kilometers from the Sergius Monastery) was a Trinity monk hunted by bears. The boyars who were forcibly tonsured at the will of the tsar and objectionable to him were also among the monks of the monastery. At the same time, Ivan the Terrible often visited the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, made numerous valuable contributions, under him the Trinity abbots received the title of archimandrites - "the first among all monasteries."

By order and at the expense of Ivan IV, the largest five-domed Assumption Cathedral of the monastery (1559-1585) was being built. Almost all Russian monasteries had churches dedicated to the Mother of God, who was considered the patroness of Rus'. The temple of the Trinity Monastery is dedicated to the feast of the Assumption of the Mother of God. The austere and massive cathedral occupied most of the space in the center of the monastery, freed up after the wooden cells that had previously been located here were moved to the wall of the fence.

End of the 17th century was marked in the history of the architectural ensemble of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery by the construction of the Refectory with the Church of St. Sergius (1686-1692) and the Royal Palace (palace building). These elegant, impressive in size (about 86 m long) structures decorated the central part of the monastery from the south and from the north.

Trinity-Sergius Monastery, generally recognized as the first in the country, often visited royal family, has long had special royal and tsarina's chambers. At the end of the XVII century. to receive distinguished guests, a real palace was built - the Royal Palace. Simultaneously with the construction of the Refectory and the Halls, perhaps by the same craftsmen, a small Nadkladeznaya chapel was built over the source at the southwestern corner of the Assumption Cathedral.

In the 90s of the XVII century. the main entrance to the monastery was decorated with the gate church of John the Baptist (1693-1699).

The baroque style that flourished in Russia in the 18th century left its mark on the architecture of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. In 1745-1748. at the expense of the favorite of Queen Elizabeth Petrovna, Count A.G. Razumovsky, a church was built in honor of Smolenskaya miraculous icon Mother of God. The Smolensk Church resembles the graceful pavilions of 18th-century park ensembles, and the miniature cupola crowning it resembles the intricate hairstyle of a court lady. In the 19th century the walls of the church were covered with narrative paintings, and in 1856, in place of the lost iconostasis, an iconostasis similar in time and architecture from the dismantled Moscow church of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa from Pyatnitskaya Street was installed. The iconostasis, decorated with intricate gilded carvings, is one of the best examples of the mid-18th century. Especially skillful are the Royal Doors of through carving with three-dimensional images of the Evangelists. The traditional images of Christ and the Mother of God on the sides of the gates are carved along the contour of the figures and pushed forward. The slender blue Smolensk church with white trim is in perfect harmony with the nearby bell tower, which was founded almost simultaneously with it, but completed twenty years later.

The greatness and glory of Russian monasteries were often associated in the perception of contemporaries with the height and beauty of their bell towers. From this point of view, the bell tower of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra (1740-1770) has become a worthy symbol of its significance in the history of the country. The five-tiered bell tower of the Lavra is one of the best architectural monuments of the 18th century in Russia. Its slenderness is emphasized by numerous white columns that stand out brightly against the blue walls. Wide arched openings of the tiers, graceful architectural flowerpots and columns of balustrades give its appearance lightness and airiness. At the same time, the bell tower is monumental and stable due to the massive lower tier, decorated with pediments with carved white stone cartouches, in which the royal monograms are inscribed. Unusually majestically, the bell tower bears its head in the form of a figured bowl with imperial crowns. Its gold shines dazzlingly against the bright blue velvet of the summer sky. Dozens of bells, among which the most ancient "Nikonovsky" (1420) and "Swan" (1594), a gift from Boris Godunov, announce the neighborhood.

In 1792, an obelisk made of wild stone was placed next to the bell tower, on which a sundial and four oval boards with a text were installed, reminding visitors of the role of the monastery in "preserving the Fatherland". Metropolitan Platon himself was the author of the text. The bell tower of the Lavra, the highest in Russia (more than 87 m), has become an architectural center that unites all the buildings of the monastery of different times and different characteristics. It became the final "chord" of the amazing architectural "symphony" - the ensemble of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, in which each monument has its own unique "party", emphasizing with its individuality the features of the buildings next to it.

In the XIX - early XX century. in the Trinity Monastery, only various alterations were made and attempts were made to adapt them to one or another need, which distorted the appearance of the ancient ensemble. Only thanks to the large-scale restoration work of the 40-60s of the XX century. unique monuments were freed from remakes that distorted them. In 1993, the architectural ensemble of the monastery was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

23.01.2021

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