Catherine's Desert (Prominent)

Foundation of the Monastery

The monastery was founded in the second half of the XVII century by order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich . According to legend, on November 24 ( December 4 ), 1658 , the Tsar, who was resting after a hunt in the Yermolin Groves, was visited by the Great Martyr Catherine and announced: “Do not be terrified, king, but thank the Lord. That night, according to His will, I was allowed to go away from the burden of your spouse and brought you a daughter for comfort. ” Returning home and learning about the replenishment in the family, Alexei Mikhailovich named the newborn in honor of the saint, and ordered to establish a monastery at the scene of the appearance ^{[4] [5] [6]} .

The first monastery buildings were wooden, in 1664, stone construction began here. For three years, the construction was led by the “stone business apprentice” Ivan Kuznechik, Sagittarius Regiment Artamon Matveev . In the summer of 1667, work began on the internal improvement of buildings. The construction and maintenance of the desert was funded by the personal funds of the sovereign. Since 1674, the church with a cemetery, wooden and two stone buildings began to be called the “Catherine’s Grove” desert. The consecration of the stone church took place on October 11, 1679 in the presence of the sovereign and his entourage. The church, chambers and cells erected during this period were not preserved in their original form ^{[4] [7] [8]} .

XVII — XVIII centuries

At the end of the XVII century, the monastery did not have ascribed villages and villages, that is, lands for independent income, and the inhabitants of the desert received the bread and money salary - ruga - from the Order of the Grand Palace. Sometimes the salary was delayed, which became the reason for the “great need” of clergy , monks and workers ^[9] .

Since 1764, the Catherine Deserts began to be considered contingent. According to the inventory of church estates made in the second half of the 18th century , the monastery at that time had "ninety-nine acres of land under a birch forest, hazel, arable land, and hayfields." Other church property includes twelve ancient altar icons in silver frames with gold crowns, pearls and precious stones, as well as a gilded ark with particles of the relics of St. Catherine and other martyrs. The monastery also had its own library ^[10] .

The reign of Catherine II was a time of active construction and the heyday of the monastery. A new cathedral was built, a gate church with a bell tower was renovated, two stone cell buildings were erected, the territory of the monastery was surrounded by a fence. An important role in the restoration of the Catherine desert was played by the Metropolitan of Moscow Plato (Levshin) and the abbot of the monastery, Hieromonk Melchizedek, who later became known as the renovator of the monastery ^{[7] [11]} .

XIX - beginning of XX century

The monastery was poor, money for restoration and construction was often not enough. One of the most valuable gifts was given by the rector of the Yuryevsky monastery Archimandrite Fotiy (Spassky) , who handed over to the rector a pectoral cross decorated with diamonds, "to support the monastery and the needs of the brethren." The gift of the benefactor, valued at nine thousand rubles in bills, was not sold, but was stored in the sacristy of the monastery. The robbers became interested in this cross, who entered the monastery in the summer of 1835 under the guise of pilgrims. Although the robbers did not manage to carry the cross, they carried out the silver cup for the Holy Gifts and the silver altar gospel lined with silver, tore the precious robes and salaries from the icons. Among the property of the monastery were also stored two banners of the Patriotic War of 1812 , donated by Prince Peter Volkonsky ^{[12] [13]} .

Under Hieromonk Misail, who took over the Catherine desert in 1842, the monastery buildings were updated: the chapters and crosses on the cathedral church and the bell tower were gilded, two new cell buildings were built, two hotels and many outbuildings were built. Other hieromonk's projects were not implemented ^[12] .

Deserts developed, work continued on the repair and restoration of buildings. Under Hieromonk Arsenius, who ruled the desert in 1870-1891, the old church of the Apostles Peter and Paul was renovated and consecrated, and the monastery was expanded. Desert annual revenues increased to six thousand rubles in silver . For his activities, the abbot was awarded a pectoral cross . At subsequent rectors, the main cathedral church was also rebuilt, the gate church was painted and consecrated. Despite the fact that the monastery was doing well, the desert brethren led an ascetic lifestyle ^[12] .

In the years 1864-1869, the Southern (Moscow-Kursk) railway was built , which simplified communication between Moscow and the monastery. In 1899, trains were launched along the Ryazan-Ural road , which ran near the monastery. The distance from the nearest railway station to the monastery was reduced to two kilometers, and the number of pilgrims increased. Pilgrimages to the Catherine deserts made entire parishes . Many people gathered at the processions, as well as at fairs, which were regularly arranged near the monastery on Peter's Day ^{[12] [14]} .

On September 13, 1908 , on the eve of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the appearance of St. Catherine to the Tsar, the abbot of the desert, Igumen Martyri, was killed in his cell. Presumably, the murder was committed by the Socialist-Revolutionary maximalists ^{[15] [16]} .

During the First World War, many churches and monasteries in the western regions of the Russian Empire were destroyed, refugees were sent to Moscow . In 1918, by decree of the Holy Synod, the monks of the St. Catherine’s Monastery were transferred to various monasteries in the Moscow province . The Catherine Deserts was determined to house the sisters of the Krasnostok Convent , evacuated from Poland . The desert, in which 164 nuns moved, was reorganized into a labor artel. However, the monastery was soon closed, and the abbess was arrested. The monastery’s gate church, after the desert was closed, continued to operate until 1934 , when the last old-timers of the church, the elder Panteleimon and the nun Vera, were killed. The buildings of the former Catherine desert were identified as a prison for criminals who had short sentences. A club was opened in the Peter and Paul Church. Church icons were taken to a neighboring village ^{[15] [17]} .

Soviet period

In 1935, the General Plan for the reconstruction of Moscow and the region was adopted. According to him, the lands around the Sukhanovo estate , including the Catherine’s Deserts, were declared a reserve and leased to the Union of Architects of the USSR . The object was under the jurisdiction of the Union of Architects until 1938 , when the monastery was finally transferred to the Main Directorate of Places of Detention , and reconstruction works began on its territory. Two towers of the monastery were demolished, the western wall was moved, the monastery around the perimeter was surrounded by barbed wire. The cathedrals and churches of the monastery were rebuilt to the needs of the prison, the Holy Gates are walled up. At the gates of the eastern wall, an entrance and a checkpoint with a security room were organized. In the residential buildings of the monastery equipped with special cells for prisoners. The cells had tables and stools attached to the walls and floor, and plank beds. According to some sources, a special crematorium also operated in the Catherine Cathedral, where the bodies of the dead were burned in prison ^{[18] [19]} . They created a new prison at an accelerated pace: in just a month, 800 workers completely rebuilt the former monastery ^[20] . In January 1939, a special facility began to operate. The prison was intended for people who previously held important government positions: party leaders, senior military officials, diplomats, and foreigners. Sukhanovka also contained some members of the families of “enemies of the people” ^{[21] [22]} .

The idea of ​​creating a secret prison belonged to Nikolai Yezhov ^[23] . After Yezhov was removed by Stalin from the post of head of the NKVD of the USSR and he himself ended up in the Sukhanovsky prison as a prisoner, Beria was appointed to the position of Yezhov. After the death of Beria, the prison was disbanded, all documents are classified. From April 1959 to 1965, the Moscow Interregional Prison Hospital was located here. Since 1965, the Training Center of the Regional Central Internal Affairs Directorate was transferred to the territory of the former monastery ^[21] .

Monastery Restoration

In 1991, the process of transferring the structures of St. Catherine’s Desert to the ownership of the Russian Orthodox Church began. In April 1992, Hieromonk Tikhon (Nedosekin) , who soon became hegumen, was appointed rector of the monastery. November 17, 1992 the monastery was the first tonsure of the monks. At the end of 1993, five more novices were tonsured ^{[24] [25]} .

At the first stage of the reconstruction of the cathedral church, the partitions were broken, the stucco hiding the old masonry walls was shot down, and a temporary iconostasis was built. In March 1996, a new iconostasis was erected in the cathedral; in May, the restoration of the bell tower began. In October of that year, the dome and cross on the bell tower were updated and covered with gilding. In 2002, a new stone fence was built around the monastery, which finally restored the architectural ensemble of St. Catherine’s Monastery ^[26] .

On May 29, 2003, by the decree of the Metropolitan of Krutitsky and Kolomenskoye Juvenal, the Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God was transformed into a separate parish. Priest Michael (Egorov) was appointed rector of the church. Currently, the monastery has a parish school, courtyard, museum ^[27] .

In 2010, a museum was opened at the Catherine’s Monastery, which is the second visited place in the monastery after the temple, it ends with excursions around the monastery. The permanent exhibition of the museum is dedicated to the history of the desert from its foundation in 1658 to the closure and subsequent restoration in the 20th century ^[28] .

Museum exhibits are organized into sections:

• foundation of the monastery by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich;
• the period of existence in the monastery of the Krasnostok women's monastery;
• “Prison” period of the monastery - “Sukhanovka”;
• discovery, restoration, flowering of the monastery from 1992 to the present;
• a section dedicated to the Schededeacon Anthony (Semenov) ^{[* 1] [28] [29]} .

The museum’s exposition also presents sections devoted to monasticism in Russia, to old Russian folk life; there are shrines and souvenirs brought by pilgrims from the Holy Land. The exposition is regularly updated and replenished, with the help of which professional historians working with archival materials, as well as witnesses and eyewitnesses of the events of the 20th century help the monastery ^[28] .

The monastery’s website also reports that “the museum has information and materials that can assist in finding traces of missing relatives and acquaintances” ^[28] .

The construction of the first stone church and annexes of the monastery in 1665–1667 was led by Ivan Kuznechik, a “stone worker apprentice”. In the middle of the XVIII century, the monastery was fenced, for this part of the services and the bell tower were demolished, and a new bell tower was built over the Holy Gates ^[26] .

At the end of the 18th century, the restructuring of the cathedral church began, which served as the basis for a radical transformation of the architectural appearance of the monastery complex. The old church was re-consecrated in honor of the apostles Peter and Paul, the new cathedral church is named after the great martyr Catherine. The architectural ensemble of the monastery was finally formed by the middle of the XIX century and reflected in its artistic appearance the various stages of development of classicism ^{[26] [7]} .

Currently, the central position in the restored architectural complex is occupied by the Catherine Church, which consisted of two parts, built at different times. The first part is the refectory , erected in 1787 . The second part - the “cold temple” (XVIII-XIX centuries) is characterized by the sophisticated simplicity of forms and the completeness of the composition, which makes it one of the best examples of the Moscow architectural school of its time. The old and new temples were combined into one building, created at different times, they do not represent harmonious unity ^{[26] [7]} .

The gate bell tower with the church of Dmitry Rostovsky is an example of the architecture of mature classicism at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. The bell tower is made of brick and white stone and in shape is an elongated building on two floors with a belfry . Office buildings and fraternal buildings look modest and complete the architectural ensemble of the monastery. The monastery is surrounded by a stone fence with two surviving corner towers ^{[26] [7]} .

Comments

Sources

• Golovkova L.A. St. Catherine’s Monastery. - M .: Summer, 2003 .-- 152 p.
• Golovkova L.A. Sukhanovskaya prison. Special Object 110. - M .: Return, 2014 .-- 164 p. - ISBN 9-785715-702326.
• Smykalin A. S. Colonies and prisons in Soviet Russia. - Yekaterinburg: UGLA, 1997.
• Devotees of piety of St. Catherine’s Monastery. Schei deacon Anthony (Alexander Dmitrievich Semenov; 1913-1994) . - M. , 2002.

• The official website of the monastery
• St. Catherine's Monastery on sobory.ru
• St. Catherine’s Monastery on the site “Temples of Russia”