Sergiev Seaside Deserts

In 1734, Empress Anna Ioannovna transferred land 19 miles from St. Petersburg on the shores of the Gulf of Finland to her confessor , rector of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Archimandrite Varlaam (Vasily Vysotsky). Earlier on these lands there was a manor (“Primorskaya Dacha”) of the elder sister Anna Ioannovna, daughter of Tsarina Praskovya - Catherine , Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerinsk.

Varlaam moved a wooden church from St. Petersburg to the monastery, erected wooden walls, cells and the stone building of the governor. According to the design of P. A. Trezzini, in 1756 - 1760 the cells were built of bricks, and by 1764 towers appeared on the corners of the walls. In the same year, the monastery, where about 20 monks lived, separated from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and began to be ruled by its own archimandrite.

Around 1773, the future Rev. Herman of Alaska entered the desert as a novice at the age of 16 and stayed here for five years, after which he went to Valaam .

The flowering of the desert began in 1834 , when Archimandrite Ignatius (Brianchaninov) , author of the famous Ascetic Experiments, was appointed its viceroy. A year later, he united the fraternal buildings with a gallery , in which he arranged a refectory, put in order the household and renovated the temples. The monastery choir was led by the famous spiritual composer Archpriest P. I. Turchaninov , who in 1836-1841 was a priest in neighboring Strelna.

The business of Archimandrite Ignatius was continued in 1857 - 1897 by Archimandrite Ignatius (Malyshev) . At that time, the confessor of the brethren, hieromonk Gerasim, a graduate of the capital’s university , who died in 1897, was very famous in the capital.

From 1915 until the end of 1918, the rector was Archimandrite Sergius (Druzhinin) (subsequently bishop); from the beginning of 1919 until his death in January 1930, hegumen Joasaph (Merkulov); the last priest before the close is Archimandrite Ignatius (Egorov).

Before the revolution in the monastery, which had a capital of 350 thousand rubles, there were seven churches and about 100 people lived there, of which, according to a long tradition, ship priests for the Russian navy were chosen.

In 1919, the desert was closed, the inhabitants were sent into exile, the monastery cemetery began to be destroyed. Part of the fraternity remained to live among the pupils of the labor labor colony founded in the buildings of the monastery - the commune “Trud”; in the school at the colony in 1925, 265 children studied.

In the 1930s, the United Courses (school) for improving the command staff of the militarized protection of industrial enterprises and state structures of the Supreme Economic Council of the USSR named after Kuibyshev ^[1] . After the transfer of the militarized guard to the OGPU, on the basis of the courses in 1932, the School of Militarized Fire Guard No. 1 named after Kuybysheva, who trained military technicians for the protection of strategic facilities ^[2] . The Holy Trinity-Sergius Deserts suffered severely in the 1930s , and was also affected by the devastation during the Great Patriotic War .

In the 1960s the Leningrad Special Secondary Police School of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR entered the monastery buildings. ^[3] The monasteries and the cemetery suffered the greatest losses in the 1960s.

The desert was reopened in 1993 , when an order was adopted to gradually return the church.

See also: Category: Buried in Sergius Primorsky Desert

From the time of Catherine’s time, “like the cemeteries of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra , the Don and Simon Monasteries in Moscow,” the dead were buried from noble noble families: Apraksins , Durasovs , Myatlevs , Stroganovs ; the Oldenburg , Potemkin , Sheremetev , Zubov , Engelhardt , Naryshkin , Opochinin , Golenishchev-Kutuzov , Razumovskys , Frederiksy , Stenbok-Fermor and members of other families known in Russian history also rested here. Ministers, senators, members of the State Council, and high officials were buried in the cemetery, among them were:

• statesman prince P.A. Zubov
• diplomat, chancellor, lyceum comrade Pushkin - Prince Gorchakov, Alexander Mikhailovich
• General P.A. Chicherin ,
• Governor-General of Finland and Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Military District, Member of the State Council Nikolai Ivanovich Bobrikov ,
• as well as the descendants of the great Russian commander A.V. Suvorov .

In 1813, after the death of M.I. Kutuzov , from May 24 to June 11, 1813, his remains were buried in the Trinity Cathedral of the monastery, for public farewell, while in the Kazan Cathedral his tomb was being prepared.

In the 19th century, builders of desert temples were buried here - architects A. M. Gornostaev (currently the grave has been restored, a cross has been put over it) and A. I. Shtakenschneider ; poet I.P. Myatlev , artist and opera singer V. M. Samoilov .

The massive destruction of the cemetery began in the 1930s, after the School of Retraining of the Navy Composition of the Militarized Guard of Industry of the Supreme Economic Council of the USSR named after them entered the monastery buildings. Kuibyshev; the cemetery was razed to the ground, but the outbreak of war was finally prevented from destroying it. In 1930, the main curator of the necropolis museums in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra N. V. Uspensky ^[4] compiled a list of twenty-five tombstones located in the desert and “subject to permanent preservation”. Bronze and marble busts by S.P. Kampioni , S. S. Pimenov , P. , were transferred from the family tomb of the Zubovs to the funds of the Russian Museum . A. Stavasser . In the Necropolis of the XVIII century. Tombstones of A. A. and S. A. Batashevs were transferred. In 1931, the ashes of V. M. Samoilov and his daughters Vera and Nadezhda were transferred to the Necropolis of art masters ^[5] .

By 1993, when the inhabitants reappeared in the monastery, the cemetery no longer existed, in its place was a parade ground covered with asphalt.

In 1995-2000, tombstones were restored over some graves: Chancellor A. M. Gorchakov, architect A. I. Shtackenschneider, Princes P. G. Oldenburg and K. P. Oldenburg , General P. A. Chicherin and his wife A. A. Kurakina ^[6] .

Trinity Cathedral was founded in 1756. The construction of the temple was carried out according to the project and under the guidance of P. A. Trezzini and was completed in 1760. The consecration of the cathedral in August 1763 was attended by Empress Catherine II, who had visited the deserts before.

The five-domed cathedral towered in the center of the architectural ensemble of the monastery. The temple towered spectacularly over the rest of the monastery buildings. Its domes were widely spaced. The walls are divided by pilasters, stucco decoration gave a special elegance. The interior decoration of the temple was distinguished by splendor and wealth. Until 1917, on the high place was the image of the Holy Trinity, written in 1840 by Acad. K.P. Bryullov .

The main shrines of the temple was the miraculous icon of St. Sergius of Radonezh and two crosses with particles of the relics of St. Sergius and the VMC. Barbarians . ^[7]

The chapels of the temple were consecrated - right, in the name of St. Apostles Peter and Paul; left, in the name of St. Zechariah and Elizabeth. This last chapel was later closed, and then consecrated again in the name of the Beheading of the head of St. John the Baptist. The restructuring of the chapel was led by architect A. Melnikov .

Above the grave of the founder of the monastery, Archimandrite Varlaam (Vysotsky, Vasily Antipovich, 1665-1737) ^[8] , not far from the altar of the Trinity Cathedral, there was a chapel. In 1864, it was rebuilt by A. M. Gornostaev, and in 1873, the spiritual composer Scheimon Michael (Chikhachev) ^[9] and Scheimon Makarii (Makarov) ^[10] were buried in it. The icon of the Mother of God of Tikhvin was in the chapel.

Services in the cathedral continued until 1931. The cathedral was blown up in 1960 (more precisely, in November 1963, when a children's educational colony was located on the territory of the monastery) during the Khrushchev anti-religious campaign .

The Church of St. Martyr Valerian ^[11] has the following history. In 1804, Derbent's conqueror, Count Valerian Aleksandrovich Zubov , who bequeathed to build a church with an invalid house for "crippled warriors" over his grave, died from wounds received in a Persian campaign. To fulfill the will of the deceased, his brothers Plato and Nikolai Zubov, later both buried in this church, undertook. Throughout its existence, the temple and the almshouse were kept at the expense of the Zubovs. September 16, 1805 in the western part of the monastery, near the fence, over the grave of Zubov, according to the project of L. Ruska , a church was laid in the name of St. Martyr Valerian with an almshouse. In 1805-1809, in the western part of the Sergius Desert, a two-story empire building with a portico was built, the project of which was carried out by L. Ruska . The church of St. Valerian, built in the form of an oval rotunda, was in the central part of the building; the iconostasis in this temple (single-tier) was also placed in a semicircle. The temple was consecrated on June 21, 1809 by archimandrite Porfiry (Kirillov) ^[12] in 1808-1809. former rector of the desert, on the anniversary of the death of Count V.A. Zubov. The first disabled people - inhabitants of the Zubovskaya almshouse appeared in 1814.

In the crypt of the church of St. Valerian was the family tomb of Count Zubov, where by the beginning of the 20th century there were twenty-seven burials, many of which were decorated with marble and bronze busts. Brothers Nikolai, Dmitry and Platon Zubov, their children and grandchildren, as well as the daughter and grandson of A.V. Suvorov - Natalya Alexandrovna Suvorova-Zubova and Alexander Arkadievich Suvorov were buried in the crypt of the church. A black marble plaque was placed above the entrance to the tomb, on which it is written in gilded letters: "The Church of Eternal Peace for the Family of His Most High Prince and Counts of the Zubovs was built in 1809." ^[13] In 1865-1866, Acad. N. A. Lavrov painted four new images for the iconostasis of the Church of St. Valerian.

The church, like all other temples in the desert, was closed in 1919. Workshops of the labor colony were located in the temple building. In 1923, all the burials of the Zubovs were destroyed. The building was preserved, but as a result of the restructuring of 1935, its appearance was distorted: it was superstructured (in the center one floor, two at the edges), some details of the decoration were changed.

Pokrovsky temple was founded in 1844, by order of Prince Mikhail Viktorovich Kochubey . The temple was erected over the grave of his suddenly dead young wife, Princess Maria Ivanovna Kochubey (12/05/1818 - 01/20/18/43) ^[14] . The project, begun by the architect R.I. Kuzmin , in 1859-1863. was redone by architect Harald Bosse . Pokrovsky church was consecrated by archimandrite Ignatius in 1863.

The church was blown up in 1964.

The Church of the Resurrection of Christ was founded in 1877 and consecrated in July 1884 by St. Petersburg Metropolitan Isidore . The design of the temple in the Byzantine style, accommodating two and a half thousand people, belonged to A.A. Parland . The temple facades of multi-colored bricks were decorated with bas-reliefs depicting Russian saints (sculptor R. R. Bach), stained glass windows were in the windows of the temple. According to the model of sculptor A.M. Opekushin , two silver-plated Angels of Resurrection were made, supporting the gilded royal gates. The image of the royal gates were painted on mother of pearl. In front of the low iconostasis with icons on a gold background stood two magnificent multi-candlesticks made of lapis lazuli and gilded bronze at the Chopin factory. Three chapels were consecrated in the temple.

In 1877, Archimandrite Ignatius consecrated the lower aisle of Archangel Michael, in memory of Vice Admiral M.P. Golitsyn buried in it. ^{[15] The} lower church was called, as a result of this burial, “Golitsyn”, and it was in it that all the honorary burials were located: the duke N. M. Leuchtenberg ^[16] and his wife Countess Nadezhda Sergeevna Bogarne (nee Annenkova) ^[17] , minister Education A. S. Norov , General, Senator F. Ya. Mirkovich , Adjutant General A. A. Cavelin ^[18] . Archimandrite Ignatius, who died on May 16, 1897, was also buried here, who headed the deserts for forty years. Currently, his remains are buried in the church of St. Sergius, where they, on the initiative of Hieromonk Ignatius (Buzin) , were transferred in 1997, the year of the centenary of the death of the archimandrite.

The church was demolished in 1968.

The church of Gregory the Theologian was also built as a tomb in 1855-1857, in the Russian-Byzantine style, according to the project of A. I. Shtakenschneider . The temple was built over the grave of Lieutenant General Grigory Grigorievich Kushelev (Jr.) , with the donations of his widow, E. D. Kusheleva (nee Vasilchikova), the owner of the estate in Ligovo .

May 12, 1735 archim. Barlaam consecrated in the name of St. Sergius is the first church in the desert, giving her silver vessels. It was wooden and brought from the estate of Tsarina Paraskeva Feodorovna on the Fontanka , where it was called the Assumption.

In 1756 - 1758 this church was replaced by a new one, placing it on the ground floor in the northern wing . The iconostasis and utensils were transferred to it from the previous building; Icons were written by M. Dovgalev. After new decoration, this room was consecrated on June 18, 1822 by Bishop Grigory Revelsky , and on April 26, 1852 in the basement, in the tomb of Prince. Chernyshevs , the "cave" chapel of the Savior of the Origin of Honest Trees was consecrated.

Relying on financial assistance pr. 3. N. Yusupova , arch. A.M. Gornostaev in 1854 began a complete reconstruction of the temple in the Byzantine style . He made it five-headed and two-story, placing aisles below - Christ the Savior with the tomb of the Apraksins (consecrated July 4, 1857 ) and mts. Zinaids (consecrated April 28, 1861 ) with the tombs of Prince Yusupovs , where stood the iconostasis of pink cypress. The main chapel was consecrated on September 20, 1859 by Metropolitan Gregory in the presence of the Grand Dukes Konstantin Nikolaevich and Nikolai Konstantinovich .

Accommodating 2,000 people, the temple was lit by two rows of Romanesque windows with stained glass windows. Its inner space was divided into naves by eight columns of polished dark red granite, which supported the choirs . The ceiling, as in the early Byzantine basilicas , was blocked by wooden beams. Between the arches, R. F. Vinogradov (based on the sketches of M. N. Vasiliev) painted a Byzantine ornament on a gold background.

The iconostasis was made according to the drawing of A.M. Gornostaev , with porphyry columns and details from Carrara marble , malachite , lapis lazuli and semiprecious stones. The image in the royal gates of gilt bronze was performed by acad. N. A. Lavrov, author of frescoes, and M. N. Vasiliev.

A.N. Muravyov , a prominent spiritual writer, donated a silver ark with particles of holy relics in 1861 to the temple, which he received from the Patriarch of Alexandria Hierotheus , and the following year, A. S. Norov , a 60-cm-tall marble column with the image of the Nativity of the Virgin brought them from the house of st. Joachim and Anna. From gilded silver was made a gift guard .

The temple was closed in the 1920s ; preserved, but greatly redone. Reopened in 1993 (the first service was held on the Feast of the Introduction of 1993 ).

In 1994-1995 artist S. N. Spitsin created the altar fresco of the temple. Creating a project for painting the altar apse, the artist took as a model the Byzantine iconography of the Cathedral of Montreal , where this image was solved using the mosaic technique.

In the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh in the aisle of the martyr Zinaida (consecrated in 1861), Princess Zinaida Ivanovna Yusupova was resting. The lower aisles were occupied by the rich family tombs of the Kleinmichels , Kartsevs, Shishmaryovs , Ignatievs and other wealthy surnames.

In 1862, a church was erected over the monastery gates in the name of St. Savva Stratilates. The church was built about the project of A. M. Gornostaev, at the expense of M. V. Shishmarev, in memory of the largest Russian businessman, philanthropist S. Y. Yakovlev .

In the eastern part of the monastery was a chapel with an icon of the Rudnensky Mother of God. There were two more chapels on the Great Peterhof Road. The abbot cells of the monastery were built in 1760, they also housed an art gallery. The stone fraternal refectory was built according to the design of the rector Ignatius Brianchaninov, and the two-story buildings of the fraternal cells with holy gates were designed by A.M. Gornostaev in 1862. Besides the common fraternal cells, the monastery also had an extensive library, a two-year parish school with a dormitory, a wheelchair house and a monastery hospital.

The closing of the temples of the monastery began in 1919, but the Trinity Cathedral operated until 1931. With its closure, the last desert monks were arrested or dispersed. It is known that two of them, the last abbot of the desert, Archimandrite Ignatius (Egorov) and Hieromonk Filimon (Alekseev), served in the parishes of the Leningrad diocese before the Great Terror of 1937-1938 , when they were arrested and executed ^[19] .

In 1968, the Resurrection Church was demolished. In 1960 (November 1963 - clarified by the witness of the event) and in 1964. Trinity Cathedral and Pokrovskaya (Kochubeyevskaya) church were blown up. The demolition order was signed by the chief architect of Leningrad, V. A. Kamensky, and corresponding member of the Academy of Architecture of the USSR, I. I. Fomin .

• Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh (1854-1856, architect A.M. Gornostaev ) -   Object of cultural heritage No. 7810427021
  • Aisle of Christ the Savior
  • Side altar of the Origin of the Honest Trees.
  • Aisle of the Martyr Zinaida
• Church of St. Gregory the Theologian (1855-1857, architect A. I. Stackenschneider ) - is being restored   Object of cultural heritage No. 7810427019
• Church of Savva Stratilates (1859-1864, architect A.M. Gornostaev ) - gate church   Object of cultural heritage No. 7810427008

• Trinity Cathedral (Holy Trinity Cathedral) (1756-1760, architect P.A. Trezzini) - closed in 1931, blown up in 1960 (in November 1963, while the monastery was a children's educational colony - clarified by the witness of this event) .
• Resurrection Cathedral (Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ) (1877-1884, architect A.A. Parland ) - closed in the 1920s, dismantled in 1968.
• The Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1844-1863, architect R.I. Kuzmin , G.E. Bosse ) was blown up in 1964.
• Church of Valerian Martyr (1805-1809, architect L.I. Ruska ) - in a wheelhouse, closed in 1919, restored.
• Chapel of the Icon of the Mother of God of Rudnenskaya (1876, architect D.I. Grimm ) - perished during the Great Patriotic War .
• Chapel of the Icon of the Mother of God Tikhvin (1863-1864, architect A. M. Gornostaev ) - died during the Great Patriotic War .

• From railway Art. Sergiev on foot or by buses 229, 359.
• From   Art. Avtovo metro - tram 36, buses 200, 210, 229.
• From   Art. metro Avtovo , Leninsky Prospekt or Prospect Veteranov - fixed-route taxis going to Peterhof and Lomonosov .

• Vladimir Kotlyarov of the Trinity-Sergius Deserts of the Petrograd Diocese (Historical outline). - Leningrad, 1958.
• Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga Vladimir Monastery of the Northern Capital Holy Trinity Sergius Pustyn. Historical background. - St. Petersburg: Satis, 2002. - 232 pp. ISBN 5-7373-0233-4
• Antonov V.V., Kobak, A.V. Shrines of St. Petersburg: Historical and Church Encyclopedia: In 3 vols. - SPb., Publishing House Chernysheva, 1996.
• Antonov V.V., Kobak A.V. Shrines of St. Petersburg: Christian Historical and Church Encyclopedia. - St. Petersburg: Faces of Russia, 2003 .-- 429 p.
• Soikin P.P. Trinity-Sergius Deserts in Peterhof County // Orthodox Russian cloisters : A full illustrated description of Orthodox Russian monasteries in the Russian Empire and Mount Athos. - SPb. : Resurrection, 1994 .-- S. 191. - 712 p. - 20,000 copies. - ISBN 5-88335-001-1 .
• Trinity-Sergius Men's Deserts // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• First-class Trinity-Sergius Seaside deserts of the St. Petersburg diocese . - SPb. : Edition of the Trinity-Sergius Desert, 1909. - 33 p.

• Official site of the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Primorye Male Desert
• Trinity-Sergius Deserts Course essay ( 1958 ) by priest Vladimir Kotlyarov
• Holy Trinity Sergius Seaside Deserts