Spassky Monastery (Kobrin)

In literature, the foundation of the monastery is traditionally dated to 1497 ^[1] . It is also known that as far back as 1465, Princess Kobrinskaya Ulyana and her son Ivan Semenovich transferred from their possessions to the Church of the Holy Savior of the Kobrin Monastery a mill on the Shevni River (a tributary of the Mukhavets ) with a pond and land and some movable property to local clergymen ^[2] .

In 1492, Princess Fyodor Ivanovna (wife of Prince Ivan Semyonovich) added the village of Korchitsy to the monastic lands, transferred two taverns to the possession, as well as part of the profit from “all kinds of bread” and a mill on the Kobrinka River ^[2] .

In the first half of the XVI century the monastery was transferred to Archimandria ^[2] .

In 1512, the Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund I Old confirmed the right of the monastery to the award of Fedora. Later, Fyodor converted to Catholicism and transferred part of the monastic lands in the estate of Bystrits to the boyars M. Zhambotsky and G. Kh. Postrigach. In 1541, after the suit of archimandrite of Kobrin Vasian, these lands were returned to the monastery ^{[2] [3]} .

In 1549, on the initiative of Queen Bona , a revision of the monastery assets was carried out. In addition to cult objects, the monastery also had a library with very rare volumes. The revising boyar, Semyon Yaskovich, paid particular attention to the gospel of the ancient script, bound in silver, and to other manuscript books the size of ten (the largest format). The library also had the first printed Cyrillic books published in 1491 by Schweipolt Fiole in Krakow : Oktoih and Triodi ^[3] .

On May 20, 1595, negotiations were held in the monastery on a church union between the bishop Ipatius Potey of Vladimir and Beresteis , Bishop Kirill Terletsky of Lutsk and Ostroh on the one hand, and Metropolitan of Kiev Michael Rogoza on the other ^[2] .

After the signing of the act of the Union of Berestey Church Union in 1596, the monastery was transferred to the Uniate Church and transferred to the jurisdiction of Terletsky by the decision of Queen Anna Jagiellonki . The last Orthodox archimandrite was Jonah (in the world, the gentry Ivan Petrovich Gogol), who later became the Uniate Turo - Pinsk bishop ^[3] .

At different times, the monastery was under the control of such hierarchs as Bishop Pinsky Paisiy (1603), Archimandrite Kobrinsky Shatinsky (1613), Bishop Pinsky Rafail Korsak (1632), Archimandrite Kobrinsky Benedict Glinsky (1678), Bishop of Vladimir and Brest, Archimandrite Leonid (1691) and archimandrite Andrei Benecki (1747) ^[2] .

In 1626, the Kobrin Church Council of the highest Uniate clergy was held in the monastery. In the XVII century, the monastery lands were located in the villages of Korchitsy , Lepesy , Khodynichi , Novosyolki , Kustovichi . In addition, the monastery owned the Gogolevka and Petka farms , the Tolermontovsky dungeon, Khiltsevschina ( Bystrica village) and some other lands ^[2] .

The monastery was destroyed during the fighting and looting, was repeatedly rebuilt. So, for example, during the Kobrin battle on June 27, 1812, an ancient wooden monastery church was destroyed by fire ^[2] .

In 1839, after the liquidation of the union , the monastery was closed. The monastery buildings housed a religious school, destroyed by the fire of 1895. The residential building of the monastery was in disrepair until the 20s of the XX century , when the building was renovated by order of the Polish authorities. During the reconstruction, the remains of the inner temple were completely destroyed. According to the former director of the Kobrin Museum A.M. Martynov, in the course of the work, the remains of the burials of the Kobrin princes were found, as well as skeletons in shackles walled in the walls. The renovated building housed the court of Kobrin County ^[2] .

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  The complex of the former monastery. Drawing of Napoleon Horde , 1866

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  The ruins of the monastery, photo before 1914

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  The ruins of the monastery, photo approx. 1916

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  Monastery building in the process of restoration, photo of the 1920s

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  The restored monastery building, photo before 1929

After the war, the building was transferred to the city farm, and since 1962 ^[4] the district department of internal affairs ( ROVD ) was located here.

On November 20, 2010, after the police moved to a new building, the synod of the Belarusian Orthodox Church blessed the opening of a convent in the name of the All-Merciful Savior. November 22, 2011 in the monastery was delivered a list of the icon of the Mother of God "The Haughty" ^{[5] [6]} .

After the restoration of the monastery, a one-story knowledge of the cell (a new residential building) was erected under it, overhaul of the historic building of the residential building was carried out.

In 2015, the monastery celebrated the 550th anniversary of the first written mention.

The only building preserved from the historic Spassky Monastery is a baroque residential building, probably built in the second half of the 18th century ^[7] . The two-story rectangular building is covered with a high roof with kinks and reaches 30 meters in length and 10 in width. The main facade is symmetrical, the central risalit is distinguished by an attic pediment with an onion completion, saturated with stucco decorative elements. Facades are uncut with pilasters and figured panels around rectangular window openings. The cornice is developed ^[8] .

The ceilings over the floors are beam, the basement arch is cylindrical. The original internal layout has not been preserved. Previously, the central part of the building was occupied by the monastery church. In the northwestern corner of the first floor was the refectory. Other premises were residential and office ^[9] .

• Gabrus T.V. , Martynў A.M. Kobrynskі Spaskі monastery Arhitektura Belarusі: Entsyklapedychny davadnіk. - Mn. : BelEn, 1993 .-- 620 p. - C. 246.
• Chernyavskaya T. I. Spassky Monastery // The Code of Monuments of History and Culture of Belarus. Brest region. - Mn. : BelEn, 1990. - C. 251-252.
• Yarashevich A. A. Kobrynsky Spaski Monastery // Religion and Tsarqa in Belarus. - C. 163.

• 550 years of the Spassky Nunnery in Kobrin on YouTube