Svyatogorsky Monastery on Athos

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

The history of the Russian Orthodox Church dates back to the baptism of Kievan Rus by Prince Vladimir in 988. Orthodoxy, initially forcibly "imposed" on the people, by the beginning of the 11th century became not only the only religion of the population of the Grand Duchy of Kyiv and its borders, but also the beginning of Russian monastic asceticism.

The monastery on Athos is mentioned in Svyatogorsk sources in 1016, when it was founded by a monk from Kievan Rus Anthony of the Caves.

History of the Baptism of Kievan Rus

As follows from the chronicle of Nestor, the baptism of Kyiv began in 988 with Vladimir, who became disillusioned with his gods. In order not to bow to the Greek and Byzantine priests, in order to know the new God, he made a trip to Chersonesus in the Crimea.

Having conquered the city, Vladimir put forward an ultimatum to Constantine and Basil, the emperors of Byzantium, that he would go to war against Constantinople,unless they give him their sister Anna as a wife. The brothers agreed on the condition that the prince of Kyiv would accept Orthodoxy, which happened when Anna arrived in Chersonese with priests and missionaries.

Legend says that Prince Vladimir suddenly became blind and was afraid that this was the revenge of the pagan gods. Anna convinced him that baptism would restore him not only bodily sight, but also spiritual sight, which happened. Warriors from the squad of the Grand Duke, seeing a miracle, also believed and were baptized in Chersonese.

Returning to Kyiv, Vladimir baptized his sons, and the place where this took place is still called Khreshchatyk. After that, all the people of Kyiv were baptized in the waters of the Dnieper - from the poor to the boyars. If not for these events, it is unlikely that a Russian monastery would have appeared on Athos. Holy Mountain sources mention that Anthony of the Caves arrived from Orthodox Kyiv to take monastic vows from the monks from the Holy Mountain.

Holy Mountain

Athos became the Holy Mountain after the Most Holy Theotokos landed on it, heading on a ship with the apostles to Cyprus to Lazarus. The Mother of God preached to the local pagan population and showed many miracles, which led to the fact that the unbelievers accepted Christ and founded the first monastery on Athos, of which she became the patroness.

The history of the Holy Mountain has numerous falls, but no matter who the persecutor was - the Tatar-Mongols, the Livonian knights or the Turks, Orthodoxy always remained here. The cloisters were destroyed and againwere restored, but only from 1830 did a period of prosperity and peace begin for the monks.

Many followers of Orthodoxy left the Holy Mountain to carry the word of God to other nations or build monasteries and promote monasticism in Christian countries.

St. Anthony of the Caves was tonsured on Mount Athos in 1013, after which he went to Kyiv to establish a monastic monastery there. All the monks who took tonsure on Mount Athos, and then went to other lands to found a new monastery, gave it the name "Svyatogorsky Monastery", in memory of the mountain from which Orthodoxy spread.

The first Russian monastery on Mount Athos

The first mention of the monasticism of the Ross from Kievan Rus on Mount Athos was associated with Orthodox Greeks and Iberians (Georgians), in whose monasteries they were engaged in asceticism. The chronicles of Svyatogorsk at the beginning of the 11th century tell that the Ross became so numerous that they founded their own monastery of the “Holy Mother of God” (Xilurgu), where Saint Anthony first arrived.

If you believe the ancient sources, then the efforts of Prince Vladimir of Kievan Rus and his wife Princess Anna helped her to appear. Subsequently, she was supported by Yaroslav the Wise, who paid much attention to the development of Orthodoxy not only in Kyiv, but also far beyond its borders.

By the middle of the 12th century it was already a monastery, accommodating so many monks that they needed a new place for the monastery. After appealing to the council of Athos, the request of the Orthodox dews wassatisfied, and they were given a dilapidated monastery, which had previously belonged to the Thessalonians. The monks restored it and named it Old Russik. Situated high in the mountains, this monastery, with its strong walls built into the rocks, was more like an impregnable fortress than a monastic abode.

Starting from the 13th century, in Kievan Rus, priests from the Holy Mountain were invited to head the diocese. Thus, the traditions of monasticism, received by the first monks of Ancient Russia on the Holy Mountain, spread. So, the diocese of Vladimir was headed by the Russian monk Joasaph from Athos, and the diocese of Chernigov was headed by Euphrosynus, who brought a holy relic, the icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria, as a gift to the diocese. The emergence of a new monastery in the 16th century in the Pskov province is associated with this icon.

Dissemination of Athos traditions in Kievan Rus

Over its centuries-old history, Orthodoxy on Athos acquired established traditions and rituals, which were subsequently spread by monks from the Holy Mountain throughout the Christian world.

The oldest example is the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, founded by St. Anthony in 1051. Since it was originally customary for the monks of Athos to settle in caves, Anthony did not deviate from old traditions and settled in one of them. Dug out on a hill by monk Hilarion, mentor of Yaroslav the Wise, it became the first abode of a novice from the Holy Mountain.

The asceticism and piety of the new monk became known outside of Kyiv, and novices from all sides began to join himAncient Russia. When their number reached 100, at the request of St. Anthony, Prince Izyaslav, who ruled at that time, presented the monks with a hill above the caves. This is how the first wooden buildings of the monastery appeared on the right bank of the Dnieper.

According to the Athonite tradition, the bones of the dead monks were dug up after 3 years and placed in caves. They can still be seen today in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. The same tradition existed in other monasteries founded by monks from Athos.

Svyatogorsky Monastery on the banks of the Seversky Donets

The Svyatogorsky Monastery, founded in 1240 on the chalk mountains of the Seversky Donets, still exists today. The founders were monks from Athos who fled from the invasion of Batu. They adopted the same custom of burial that they adopted on the Holy Mountain.

The unique building of the monastery is St. Nicholas Church, carved right into the chalk mountain and is an integral part of it. In its place stood the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin, which was destroyed by a landslide. In the 16th century, a new church was cut down right inside the mountain, behind its wall.

When the work was fully completed, the mountain wall was destroyed and the world saw a church of unprecedented beauty, popularly called "Cretaceous". The main temple of the monastery is the Assumption Cathedral, which was built many years after the monastery was closed and donated (as a "dacha with a grove") to Grigory Potemkin by decree of Catherine the 2nd in 1787.

Has been inherited in the Potemkin family for half a century, the Holy Dormition Svyatogorsk Monasterydesolation and ruin, and was returned to the church only in 1844.

History of the Svyatogorsk Monastery in Pskov

Another example of the impact of the traditions of monks from Athos is the appearance of the icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria, once brought to Kievan Rus by St. Euphrosym. Thanks to this event, the Svyatogorsky Assumption Monastery appeared, built on a mountain near Pskov.

In 1563, the shepherd Timothy had a vision of the Mother of God, who told him to go to Sinichya Mountain and pray. Having climbed the mountain, the peasant, during his prayer, again saw the appearance of the Most Holy Theotokos, who instructed him to return here after 6 years. After a while, the shepherd recognized her image in the icon "Tenderness".

In 1569, Timothy turned to the priests with a request to go through the holy procession to the Mount Sinichya and told about the appearance of the Virgin. They didn’t believe him, but one of the priests lost his mind, which prompted the rest to take the icon of “Tenderness” and go in procession to the mountain.

During the prayer, the people present saw on the tree the icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria, which performed miracles of healing on the procession participants. John the Terrible learned about this event, and ordered to erect a chapel on the site of the miracle, which became the beginning of the construction of the male monastery.

Description of the Svyatogorsky Monastery

The throne of the temple, from which the Svyatogorsky monastery began, was laid on the site of a pine tree, where the icon of the Virgin Hodegetria appeared. This is the oldest part of the monastery - the Assumption Cathedral, built in the spirit of Pskov architecture of the 16th century.

The temple has a cubic shape and 2 aisles with a vestibule. The bell tower, built under Ivan the Terrible, was destroyed, and a new one was built only in the 19th century.

Internal arches of the vault support powerful pillars, and small narrow windows illuminate the snow-white walls, which gives majesty to the whole temple. 2 steep granite stairs lead to it, and around there are crosses on the site of the graves of monks dug right in the mountain.

Svyatogorsk Monastery (the photo shows its grandeur and beauty) was the starting point of the great Pskov procession. During the Second World War, the monastery was badly damaged, but was completely restored in 1949 due to the close connection of this place with the name of A. S. Pushkin.

Pushkin and the Monastery

The Svyatogorsk Monastery (Pushkinskiye Gorki) was only 4 km away from the Mikhailovsky estate, granted along with other lands to Abram Gannibal, godson of Peter the Great, Queen Elizabeth. It was inherited by the poet's mother.

He was here often and did a lot. In the monastery, Pushkin sought not only documentary historical facts related to the reign of Boris Godunov for his poem, but also inspiration by visiting the fairs that were often held near its walls.

The monastery has a family cemetery where all the poet's relatives are buried, starting with his grandfather Osip Hannibal and ending with himself.

Monastery fairs

For a long time, people have loved fairground festivities. Svyatogorsky Monastery initially provided its walls for them 5 timesin a year, but subsequently their number was reduced to three.

Merchants and trading people came here not only from the Pskov province, but also from other cities of Russia. The fair was held in the Gostiny Dvor, where tents and shops were set up, and for the right to trade, it was required to pay a fee to the treasury. For example, in 1811 the treasury was replenished by 758 rubles, and by 1839 the income had grown to 2,796 rubles. Thus, the fair festivities, the Svyatogorsk Monastery and the nearby settlement both increased their well-being and influenced trade in the province as a whole.

Monastery shrines

The Svyatogorsky Monastery still keeps Orthodox shrines - the icon of "Tenderness" and the Mother of God Hodegetria, once brought by a monk from Athos to Kievan Rus. The monastery annually celebrated the feast of the appearance of the icon to people with a procession. Today it is a church holiday revered by all Orthodox in Russia.

Monastery today

The Svyatogorsk Monastery (Pskov) was returned to the Orthodox Church in 1992. Today it is a functioning monastery in which the traditions of Russian Orthodox monasticism, once founded by monks from the Holy Mountain, are being revived.