The foundation of the Nikolsky Monastery was laid by the Russian Saint Dmitry Prilutsky in 1348. It was a difficult period for the Russian land. Russia was under Tatar-Mongolian control, and at that time a terrible disease broke out, popularly called the black death, which claimed the lives of many Russian people.
During this period, many saints appeared in Russia, helping the suffering people with their prayer, the ability to heal serious diseases. Many of them clothed the poor and fed the hungry. At this time, thanks to the saints, new cloisters and monasteries are being built.
St. Nicholas Monastery in Pereslavl-Zalessky. Its founder
The future Reverend Dmitry was born near Pereslavl-Zalessky in a small village into a family of merchants. In the nearby Dormition Monastery for men, he took the monastic vows and soon took the priesthood.
After some time, the monk built St. Nicholas Church on the shore of Lake Pereslavl and founded a monastery near it, whose abbot St. Dmitry remained for a considerable time.
Meeting with Sergius of Radonezh
In 1354 St. Dmitry of Prilutsky first met with St. Sergius of Radonezh in the city of Pereslavl. Thanks to conversations with St. Sergius, Dmitry introduces a cenobitic charter in his monastery. They often met each other for spiritual conversations, discussing how best to bring people to God.
Nikolsky Monastery (Pereslavl-Zalessky) began to gain more and more popularity, pilgrims and believers began to flock to it. In 1368, on the recommendation of St. Sergius, Saint Dmitry, wishing for solitary prayer, left Pereslavl and went to the Vologda lands, where he founded another monastery, the Spaso-Prilutsky monastery.
Nikolsky Monastery, Pereslavl-Zalessky. His further history
In 1382, the new ruler of the Golden Horde, Khan Tokhtamysh, went to war against Moscow. Having ruined the capital, he went further north, destroying all the cities along the way, including Pereslavl. The St. Nicholas Monastery was also burned and destroyed. After the Horde troops left these places, the monks returned and restored the monastery.
In 1408 Emir Edigey attacked Russia. He failed to capture Moscow, but he was able to devastate entire volosts around the capital. The sad fate did not bypass the St. Nicholas Monastery in Pereslavl-Zalessky and the town itself. They were burned almost to the ground.
Short lull
The Abode began to recover after the devastating invasions only from the secondhalf of the 15th century. At that time, Tsar Vasily III began to collect the lands around the Moscow principality into a single state. By the beginning of the 16th century, the monastery of St. Nicholas on Lake Pereslavl had become a prosperous and rich monastery, had its own land and peasants, and received abundant financial and material donations from pilgrims and pilgrims.
But the Time of Troubles came, when the impostor False Dmitry shook up the entire Russian kingdom, undermining its very foundation - Orthodoxy. There are few historical records of that time about the St. Nicholas Monastery. It is only known that the brethren of the monastery defended it "until their last breath", but they could not defend it. In 1609 the monastery was destroyed by the Polish-Lithuanian conquerors.
New restoration of the monastery
The new heyday of the monastery falls on the years 1613-1645 and is associated with St. Dionysius the Recluse, a novice of the Monk monk Irinarkh, who, together with Patriarch Hermogenes, blessed the Russian people for the liberation struggle against the Poles and Lithuanians.
In 1613, St. Dionysius visited the St. Nicholas Monastery (Pereslavl-Zalessky), where he remained further ascetic in prayer to God, accepted the schema and went into seclusion. Thanks to his labors, the monastery received a new life.
Over the next century, the monastery grew before our eyes. Many churches were built, a cell building for novices and monks, a stone fence and other administrative buildings. Crowds of pilgrims and pilgrims rushed to the monastery.
Bthe monastery from Suzdal was brought an ancient Orthodox shrine - the Korsun cross with 19 relics of saints, dated to the 10th century.
Decline of the monastery
By the end of the 18th century, the monastery was one of the we althiest and most famous Orthodox spiritual centers. But, starting from 1776 and until 1896, the St. Nicholas Monastery of Pereslavl-Zalessky changed 35 abbots, each of whom ruled the monastery for no more than 3-4 years. This could not positively affect the further development of the monastery. All liturgical and economic activities gradually slid into decline.
By the end of the 19th century, 5-6 monks lived in the monastery. All buildings, temples and bell towers fell into disrepair, and there was no one to restore them. The remaining monks could not maintain the monastery in the same condition as it was before.
In 1896, the inhabitants of Pereslavl appealed to the Holy Synod with a request to rename the Nikolsky Monastery for Women. Two years later, the petition of the people was granted, and from that time the monastery became known as the Nikolsky convent of the Pereslavl-Zalessky cenobitic charter.
New life of the monastery
In 1898, four nuns and eight novices came from the Dormition Monastery in the city of Alexandrov to the Nikolsky Convent. A year later, through the labors and prayers of the inhabitants, the rickety bell tower was restored, some administrative, residential and household buildings were restored.the buildings. In 1900, it became necessary to expand the Church of the Annunciation due to the large number of parishioners, from which we can conclude that the inhabitants of Pereslavl began to actively visit the St. marshland.
In the same year, all liturgical paraphernalia was restored, 12 golden brocade vestments for priests were sewn. Moreover, Abbess Antonia herself sewed them, having the ability for needlework.
Cell buildings, administrative buildings, and temples are being repaired within two years. By 1903, the monastery was completely landscaped, shone with beauty and we alth. The number of parishioners, pilgrims and believers has grown tenfold, and about a hundred nuns have already lived in the monastery.
Devastation again?
After the revolution of 1917, the monastery was again desecrated and devastated - the main church of St. Nicholas, bell tower and fence. Livestock buildings were placed in many buildings of the monastery. In the private room for nuns, a boarding school for intellectually underdeveloped children was organized. The remaining premises were distributed to the residents of the city.
New time - new breath
70 years have passed since the last closing of the monastery, and in 1993 the monastery was officially transferred to the Orthodox Church. A year later, the first residents arrive there. Now St. Nicholas Monastery (Pereslavl-Zalessky), a photo of which can be seen in this article, hasabout 50 nuns and novices.
At present, through the efforts of nuns, parishioners, philanthropists and simply caring people, destroyed churches and buildings are being restored, and new buildings and churches are being built. So, the monastery fence, the bell tower, the church of St. Nicholas and much more have been restored or rebuilt according to ancient drawings.
The relics of St. Prince Andrei of Smolensk and St. Cornelius the Silent are buried in the temples of the monastery.
Today, St. Nicholas Monastery is one of the most visited and prosperous monasteries of the city and region by believers.
But the restoration work is far from over. The Smolensk-Kornilievsky Church, the Church of the Baptist John, are waiting for their time, the restoration of the monastery church in honor of Peter and Paul is coming to an end.
The territory of the monastery impresses with its magnificence, beauty and neatness. It has a wide variety of flowers and ornamental plants, a pond with lilies and rare species of fish.
Additional information
Each church, chapel, and even more so the monastery, has some kind of peculiarity or feature, or even more than one. The Nikolsky Monastery of Pereslavl-Zalessky also has such a “zest”. What icon hangs over the entrance to any church? Temple, in whose honor it was consecrated. In the monastery above the entrance to the main St. Nicholas Cathedral, a full-length mosaic depicts St. Nicholas against the backdrop of the monastery. He is the patron and protector of these places. How many monasterydestroyed and not burned, it constantly rises anew in even brighter glory, as if “rising from the dead.”
In the monastery every day from 6.30 in the morning special services are performed, consisting of morning prayers, prayers for the blessing of water and liturgies. All pilgrims or tourist groups can come to the monastery any day and participate in a common prayer together with the nuns of the monastery.
For the convenience of guests and visitors, St. Nicholas Monastery (Pereslavl-Zalessky) publishes the schedule of services on its official website on the Internet, which is very convenient for groups of pilgrims who want to get to the monastery for a certain service.
You can also come with your family to the Nikolsky Monastery of Pereslavl-Zalessky. The address of this wonderful place, which has a centuries-old memory of ancient events - Yaroslavl region, Pereslavl-Zalessky, st. Gagarina, 39.
At the moment, the monastery is building two new churches: one on its territory in honor of Prince Andrei Smolensky, and the other in the village of Godenovo in the name of Sophia the Wisdom of God. In this village there is a monastery courtyard with economic and industrial premises located, which helps the monastery to provide itself with all the necessary products.
Great Russian holy ascetics lived and preached in this place, the monastery has experienced many ups and downs in order to shine even more brightly in our time, glorifying God's providence and human deeds performed according to His commandments.
