Kirillo-Belozersky monastery

The monastery arose in the wake of the founding of new monasteries at the end of the XIV and early XV centuries by the followers of Sergius of Radonezh . In 1397, the monk Kirill Belozersky dug a cave on the shore of Siverskoye Lake, from which the history of the future cloister began. His companion Ferapont Belozersky subsequently founded the Ferapontov Monastery nearby. The charter of the Belozersk monasteries was distinguished by special severity.

Over time, the Kirillov Monastery found itself in the center of a network of monastic cloisters: Ferapontov, the Goritsky Resurrection Monastery (7 km from Kirillov), Nilo-Sorskaya desert (15 km), etc. These sparsely populated lands were relatively recently incorporated into the Moscow principality , which was interested in their early economic development. The Moscow princes traditionally maintained close ties with the Belozersk monastery; the messages of St. Cyril to the sons of Dmitry Donskoy ^{[3] are} preserved.

In 1447 the monastery was visited by the Grand Duke Vasily Vasilyevich , who was previously in exile in Vologda . Kirill's abbot Trifon freed him from the kiss of the cross not to claim again the throne of Moscow. Subsequently, the Grand Duke generously thanked the monastery for this service.

With Moscow competing with the independent Novgorod Kirillov, the monastery became not only the most important stronghold for fixing in Zavolochye , but also a major economic center: the trade route went further north to the White Sea , and multidirectional trade flows intersected here. Until the time of Peter the monastery conducted an extensive trade, especially salt and fish.

The monastery early became one of the most important book centers of Russia. By the end of the 15th century, 210 manuscripts were kept here ^[4] . Six handwritten collections have been preserved for the authorship of only Belozersk monk Yefrosin , who owns, among other things, the final version (and title) of the poem Zadonshchina ^[5] . At the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, the Kirillov Monastery, where Nil Sorsky worked, was one of the main centers of the non-besiegers movement.

Belozersk lands originally belonged to the Rostov diocese . The first stone building of the monastery was the Assumption Cathedral of the Rostov Masters of the Rostov Masters, erected in 1497 (preserved to this day). In the 16th century, a small Ivanovsky monastery appeared next to the Big Assumption Monastery .

Many of the surviving temples were rebuilt in stone at the end of the reign of Basil III . In 1528, this ruler came to Kirillov Monastery with Princess Elena Glinskaya to pray for the bestowal of an heir. The birth of a son that followed — the future Tsar Ivan the Terrible — in the eyes of his contemporaries was associated with the intercession of St. Cyril Belozersky. Ivan Vasilyevich throughout his life had a particular passion for the Kirillov Monastery, considering himself obliged to him by his birth. Before dying, taking the schema , the first Russian tsar, like his father, became the prisoner of the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery.

The monastery grew rich, grew and, despite the great fire in 1557, became the largest center of stone buildings in the north of the Russian state and the largest church landowner after the Trinity Monastery . In the monastic holdings there were 607 villages alone. Cyril's abbots occupied a prominent place in the church hierarchy and, as a rule, over time moved to the important bishop's departments ^[6] .

The merchants Zhivlyakov and Leonty Dmitriev transferred money to the monastery, and the size of their contributions was equal to what Ivan IV and the rich boyars did ^[7] .

Like other northern monasteries, Kirillov served as a place of imprisonment for individuals from secular and church-feudal nobility. At various times disgraced Vassian Kosoy , boyars Mikhail Vorotynsky , Ivan Shuisky , Ivan Mstislavsky , Boris Morozov , Grand Duke Simeon Bekbulatovich , Moscow Metropolitan Joasaph (Skripitsyn) , Patriarch Nikon , old believer Feodosy Voropin ^[15] stayed here ^[[ Skrybititsyn ^] , Patriarch Nikon , old believer Theodosius Vorypin ^[8]

In 1600, the first stone fortress wall was built with eight towers. Inside the walls were nine stone churches, a bell tower. The cells and other non-cult structures were wooden. In 1604, the priest of the Vologda St. Sophia Cathedral, Anisim Samsonov, wrote 20 images of the Mother of God and 20 images of St. Cyril of Belozersky for the Kirillov Belozersky monastery ^[9] .

In the Time of Troubles, the monastery withstood a siege in 1612–1613 and repulsed (until 1616) several attacks by troops of the Polish and Lithuanian interventionists. During the assault, the Polish colonel Pesotsky, who commanded the besieging forces, was killed.

After these events, the Russian government realized the important fortification value of the monastery. In 1654–1680, new stone walls of the monastery were built, which reached our time, and the monastery became one of the largest and most powerful fortresses in Russia.

Nikon, the former patriarch of Moscow, was exiled here in 1676 after the death of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and spent the last 5 years of his life here. He died on the way from here to Moscow.

In 1722 Peter I came to the monastery. The cloister at that time was the owner of 21,000 peasants living in the territory of 16 counties , but with the appearance of the Baltic ports of Russia and the decline of the northern trade through Arkhangelsk, the economic importance of the monastery began to fall.

The gradual sunset of the monastery continued under the following rulers. In 1764, by the decree of Catherine II, the monastery was deprived of peasants and land . After 12 years, the city of Kirillov was formed from the monastic suburb, and a city and county prison was placed in the fortress wall.

In September 1918, the Bolsheviks shot the abbot Varsonofy (Lebedev) , Bishop of Kirillov.

Moscow

One of the most ancient and most famous courtyards of the monastery was the Kremlin Kirillovskoe Compound - the Compound of the Cyril-Belozersky Monastery in the Moscow Kremlin . The compound was located not far from the Frolov Gate (now the Spasskaya Tower ) at the Afanasyevsky Monastery . In 1770, on the occasion of the proposed project for the construction of the Bazhenovsky Palace , the Kirillov Compound in the Kremlin was abolished, and then in 1776, and completely dismantled. A vast area was formed on the site of the courtyard and other courtyards cleared ^[13] .

Vologda

In the 17th — 18th centuries, when the monastery belonged to the Vologda diocese, its compound was also found in Vologda . The stone church of Cyril Belozersky in the Salt Yard was built in 1650-1653 (demolished in 1963) ^[14] .

After the abolition of the monastery the sacristy was looted; the most valuable icons and other works of art were taken to the museums of Moscow and Leningrad. The same fate befell the monastic library. Among the book treasures taken from the Belozersk monastery are the most ancient lists of Zadonshchina and the passage of Daniel Palomnik to the Holy Land.

In 1924, on the basis of a monastery ruined by expropriations, the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve was opened, which made it possible to avoid the destruction and demolition of historical monuments usual for the 1930s. After the war, the museum-reserve launched a restoration activity, which was supervised, among others, by Sergey Podyapolsky . Monuments of wooden architecture from the vicinity were brought to the museum: the wooden church of the Deposition of the Robe from the village of Borodava (1486); XIX century mill from the village of Schelkovo. In the refectory chamber of the Church of the Presentation (1519), the Museum of Icons, which has a large collection.

Since 1997, the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve has been included in the State collection of especially valuable objects of cultural heritage of the peoples of the Russian Federation . It is located in the architectural complex of the former Cyril-Belozersky and Ferapontov monasteries . In 1998 the Small Ivanovsky Monastery was transferred to the indefinite gratuitous use of the Russian Orthodox Church .

In the middle of June 2018, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill visited the Kirillo-Belozersky and Ferapontov monasteries. He expressed the hope that "by joint efforts, the issues of interaction between cultural institutions and the Church will be resolved in the context of the full revival of monastic life in these places." In September 2018, the Vologda Diocese re-submitted applications to the Federal Property Management Agency to transfer the building of the Fraternal Cells of the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum to use for full revival of monastic life in it (the first application was rejected for technical reasons - because of an incomplete set of documents). The Museum-Reserve offered to provide the Church with the building of a religious school (Priestly cells) instead of the Bratsky cells ^[15] .

In 1997, in the year of the celebration of the 600th anniversary of the monastery, a part of the monastic territory was transferred to the Vologda Diocesan Administration.

In 1998, the Orthodox Religious Organization of the Kirillo-Belozersky Male Diocesan Monastery of the town of Kirillov of the Vologda Oblast of the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) was registered.

By the decision of the Holy Synod of October 10, 2009, hieromonk Ignatius (Molchanov) was approved in the position of the governor of the monastery.

By the decision of the Holy Synod of October 22, 2015, Igumen Ignatius (Molchanov) was dismissed from the post of governor of the Cyril-Belozersky monastery and appointed as governor of the Savior Prilutsky Dimitriev monastery of the city of Vologda ^[16] .

By decree of Metropolitan Ignatius of Vologda and Kirillov, from December 14, 2015, hieromonk Anastasius (Dodarchuk) was appointed the acting governor of the monastery ^[17] .

The iconostasis of the Assumption Cathedral, modern to its construction, has reached our days, which is a unique fact in the history of Russian art. The ancient icons of this iconostasis have been separated for a long time. Of the 60 icons that survived, 33 were located in Kirillov, and the rest in the Russian Museum , the Tretyakov Gallery and the Andrei Rublev Museum . In early April 2009, some of the icons were returned to Kirillov.

In the church of Cyril , the relics of St. Cyril of Belozersky reside under a bushel - the main church shrine of the monastery.

In April 2019, it became known that the Ministry of Culture of Russia would give the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery for temporary use an ark with relics of 20 saints. They will be in the monastery for five years. The monastery intends to make a new silver salary for the ark. When he is ready, the relics will be transferred to the church of Cyril Belezersky ^[18] .

The complex of the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery includes the ensembles of the Big Assumption and Ivanovo monasteries (the “Old Town” ), the “New Town” and the territory of the unretained Ostrog fortress between them. The monastery is surrounded by walls with monumental towers decorated with brick patterns. The main building of the ensemble is the Assumption Cathedral ( 1497 ).

See the plan of the monastery.

Churches

Walls and towers

Other rooms

• 1971 - “Property of the Republic”
• 1975 - The Peasant Son
• 1997 - “Sinful love”
• 2007 - "Apostle"
• 2010 - Split
• 2010 - “Student Romance”
• 2016 - “The Monk and the Devil”

In 1975, Kostya Baikov's The Peasant's Son , a feature film about the hero of the Civil War "The Little Eagle" of the Civil War, was shot inside the monastery. According to the testimony of one of the participants of the filming ^[19] , residents of local villages were baptized. ^{[ significance of fact? ]} at the sight of a riding cavalry disguised as a White Guard uniform, and in 2007 city guests and local residents were shocked ^{[ significance of fact? ]} Nazi swastika, seen during the filming of the series " Apostle " over the stable gate to the prison yard of the monastery.

• Alekseev A.I. First edition of the Kirillov Belozersky monastery contribution book (1560s) // Church History Bulletin . - 2010. - № 3-4 (19-20). - pp. 17-117.
• Turkin A. M., Fights M. A. Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery // Vologda encyclopedia / Ch. ed. G. V. Sudakov . - Vologda: Russia, 2006. - p . 241-245 . - ISBN 5-87822-305-8 .
• Kysterev S.N. Labyrinths of Efrosin Belozersky. - SPb. , 2012. - 406 p. —1 ISBN 978-5-98874-078-3 .
• Kochetkov I.A., Lelekova O.V., Podyapolsky S.S. Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. - L .: Artist of the RSFSR , 1979. - 184 p. - ( Monuments of Russian cities ).
• Melnik A.G. The visual representation of the cult of St. Cyril Belozersky in the monastery founded by him in the 15th and early 17th centuries. // TODRL . - SPb. ; Rostock, 2016. - T. 64 . - p . 365-374 . - ISBN 978-5-94668-205-3 .
• Melnik A.G. Fire dramaturgy in the space of Russian churches in the 16th — 17th centuries. // Spatial icons . Performative in Byzantium and Ancient Russia / ed.-comp. A. M. Lidov. - M .: Indrik, 2011. - p. 443-473. - ISBN 978-5-91674-151-3 .
• Melnik A.G. Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery as a center for the veneration of Russian saints in the 16th century // Bulletin of the Pomeranian University. Series "Humanities and Social Sciences." - 2010. - Vol. 12 - p . 67-72 .
• Melnik A. G. About the interiors of some temples of Belozerye, late 15th - first half of the 16th centuries. ] // History and culture of the Rostov land. 1993. - Rostov, 1994. - P. 93-101 .
• Nikolsky N. K. Kirillo-Belozersky monastery and its structure until the second quarter of the XVII century. - SPb. 1910.
• Soykin P.P. Kirillo-Belozersky monastery in Kirillovsky district // Orthodox Russian monasteries : A full illustrated description of Orthodox Russian monasteries in the Russian Empire and on Mount Athos. - SPb. : Resurrection, 1994. - p. 126-128. - 712 s. - 20 000 copies - ISBN 5-88335-001-1 .
• M. Shibaev. On the issue of the early stages of the formation of the library of the Kirillo-Beloezersky monastery. // Ancient Russia. Questions of medieval studies . - 2011. - № 1 (43). - pp. 31-35.
• M. Shibaev. Manuscripts of the 15th century Cyril-Belozersky Monastery. Historical and codicological study. - SPb. , 2013. - 560 s. - ISBN 978-5-98874-092-6 .

• Cyril-Belozersky monastery - the official site
• Kirillo-Belozersky Museum - official site
• Monastery in honor of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin of Kirillo-Belozersky on the site "Russian Orthodoxy"
• Rev. Kirill Belozersky - a site about St. Cyril and his monastery .