Paleostrovsky Christmas Monastery

The first mention was in 1391 (on August 25, 1391, a letter signed by Novgorod posadors Yuri Ontsiferovich and Miron Ivanovich was introduced into scientific circulation as early as 1852 - published in the Bulletin of the Geographical Society). Founder - Valaam monk Cornelius . According to legend, he was a native of Pskov, he wandered around the monasteries and deserts in Pomorie for a long time before he founded the monastic life on the island of Paley in the northern part of Lake Onega. He lived in a cell cave, exhausting the body with veggies, weighing more than a pound. Subsequently, the pilgrims wore his chains in themselves as a sign of special worship. During the life of Cornelius, a temple and churches began to be built on the island.

The monastery is located on an island, 6 km north of the village of Tolvuya , in which at the beginning of the 17th century the nun Martha , the mother of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, was in exile.

Nature - in September in these parts of the week three winds blow - the “paleostroite”. The place is very pleasant, noted the explorer of the 19th century E. Barsov , the winding capes are dressed in verdant trees, around the rocky mountains, dense centuries-old forests. In the spring, there were abnormal colds: “it’s cold, night owl, gloomy, and buckwheat froze,” writes the monk, who monitors the weather on May 17, 1815 ^[1] . Lingering rain "on Cornelius" (May 19), according to local signs, bodes dry summers.

The main shrine of the monastery - the relics of St. Cornelius, resting under a cover in the Cathedral Church of the Nativity of Our Lady.

The name of the island is associated with the fish caught here - pallia . The following legend was among the fishermen of Zaonezhye about the fallen. When Christ and the apostles gathered for the Supper, they had white wine, white bread, and white fish. Christ, touching them, said: “May they partake of my innocent blood!” Since then, both wine, finger, and bread have been “rusted”, that is, they have turned red. ^[2]

Russian historian E.V. Barsov notes that many documents of the monastery were ruthlessly destroyed during the Time of Troubles and schism , however, he believes that the elder Misail, a monastery cellar , in Chelobitnaya (circa 1691), Tsars Ivan and Peter Alekseevich points to the time of the monastery “He is five hundred years old or more,” that is, at the end of the 12th century. Thus, the earliest date of its foundation is confirmed only by documents of the XVII century. The founding letter to the monastery dates back to the historian V.I. Koretsky forties of the XV century, the land was transferred to the monastery under the possession of Alexei Mikhailovich.

During the life of Cornelius, churches were built in the monastery in the name of the Nativity of the Virgin, St. Nicholas and the prophet Elijah. At the beginning of the XVII century the monastery was attacked by the Swedes. In the middle of the XVII century, for a short time, the fourth temple appeared - in the name of St. Michael Malein with a chapel in the name of Alexei the Man of God. The relics of Cornelius of Paleostrovsky were in the chapel in the name of St. Cornelius, a barn was placed under the chapel, where the royal letters granted to the monastery and other valuables were kept.

For some time, the monk of Paleiostrov was the elder Zosima Solovetsky - one of the founders of the Solovetsky monastery, born in Tolvuy. The monastery had many letters of protection of Russian tsars, revered objects decorated with gold, silver, pearls and flourished for a long time, but was badly damaged during the Time of Troubles .

In the XVII century, the monastery became the place of imprisonment of Pavel Kolomensky , who could be elected the patriarch of Russia and, accordingly, was one of those persecuted by the patriarch Nikon , who planned church reform. According to the traditions of the Old Believers , it was here that he was secretly killed by order of Nikon, and possibly even burned, which served as an example for the subsequent self-immolation of the Old Believers.

Old Believers , schismatics , fled here to the monastery to the North, finding many sympathizers. Zaonezhye , where the monastery is located, is sometimes called the Kitezh of the Old Believers. The monks conducted agriculture (apple trees grew on the island), were engaged in fishing (salmon, trout).

On March 4, 1687, Old Believers seized the monastery. According to the report of Metropolitan Cornelius (XVII century), this is the local population of nearby villages and villages in the amount of 1200 people.

There are two points of view about further events that occurred in the monastery.

According to the Old Believer point of view set forth by the Filmmaker Ivan Filippovich , Rector of the Vygov Desert, in his book, everyone who does not agree with the Old Believers is not forced to stay in the monastery and released; about 500 soldiers were sent to the armed capture of the monastery. Old Believers are locked in the cathedral church of the monastery, which the troops storm with the help of guns, firing at it; as a result of a fire that was caused by shelling of a wooden temple, people in the temple burn out ^[3] .

According to the New Believer point of view, during the siege by their government troops, the Old Believers themselves organize self-immolations ^[4] . According to various sources, between 2,000 and 3,000 Old Believers are killed (such a number of victims appear in New Believers' publications of the mid-19th century), as well as the Abbot Tikhon, 10 brothers and 3 clerks captured by them. At the same time, temples and outbuildings of the monastery, documents are burnt. After the fire, the church is restored in the name of St. Nicholas with a chapel in the name of the prophet Elijah.

In 1755, the brotherhood included the builder Hieromonk Makarii, the schemons Savviy, the monks Filaret, Melchizedek and Theophylact and 5 white ministers ^[5] .

In 1764, the declining monastery was classified as a state . The pier was dilapidated from the pressure of the Onega ramparts. In 1793, according to other sources, in 1794 the burned-down church in the name of the Nativity of Christ was rebuilt anew. By this time, the government was actively fighting the schismatics, but about 20,000 people died in the fire over the course of several centuries.

In 1788-1800. the novice of the monastery was the historian and historian T.V. Balandin, who repeatedly visited the Paleostro and later wrote the "Tale of the Paleostrovsky Monastery" ^{[6] [7] [8]} .

The keys to the healing water and precious utensils of the monastery are mentioned by Irina Fedosova , folk poetess:

Pilgrimages to the Paleostro in the 19th century were usually made on steamboats from Petrozavodsk. Among the faithful was a popular 30-meter Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, where pilgrims went. Typically, such trips had the purpose of collecting donations for the monastery. At different times, the monastery was donated by the Petrozavodsk and St. Petersburg merchants I.M. Maksimov, A.P. Bazegsky , M.G. Osipov, V.F. Kiprushkin and others.

In 1827, under the builder Simeon, a new stone church was built in the name of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary with aisles in the name of the Holy Prophet Elijah and St. Nicholas. The relics of St. Cornelius were in the temple. Another revered shrine was the relics of the successor of Cornelius Abraham of the Paleostrovsky ^[9] .

The former Church of the Nativity was named after the Monk Ephraim the Syrian (burned down on December 23, 1899) ^[10] .

On November 29, 1888, a two-story stone building burned down, in which, in addition to cells, the church was also located ^[11] .

In 1919, the land of the monastery was divided between the agricultural commune and the inhabitants of the island.

In 1928 the monastery was destroyed, the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin was officially closed. A colony for juvenile delinquents was created on the island. During the Great Patriotic War , during the Finnish occupation of certain territories of Karelia, a Finnish officer took a picture of the Church of the Nativity without a dome. This church is currently not there.

Currently, 8 inhabitants are working in the monastery ( hegumen , two hieromonks , two monks , novice , workers ). The monastery is accessible for tourists and pilgrims. In Petrozavodsk there is a courtyard of the Paleostrovsky monastery.

There is a legend about the death in Kivach of enemies who came to Karelian land in the Time of Troubles. Traditions about Panah in the Olonets Province.

A gang of Lithuanians once crossed the river Suna, above the Kivacha waterfall. It was spring when the river was in full flood. For the right crossing back across the river, the Lithuanians grabbed a peasant with a boat and forcibly forced them to transfer to the other side. The peasant, directing the boat into the rapidity of the waterfall and throwing the oars on board, threw himself into the water. Being able to swim well, he soon reached the coast, and the Lithuanians died in the abyss of Kivach.

At the end of the 17th century, in 1687, March 4, a terrible event occurred on the territory of the monastery. Someone Omelka Ivanov, already convicted of rebellion and having visited Siberia, managed to capture the monastery. Soon, up to 2700 old believers flocked to him, ready to self-immolate , as rumors circulated about the near end of the world . Units were thrown out of Olonets to deal with the Old Believers. However, they were armed with stakes, spears, berdysh , rifles, and then they also frozen pink braids in Onego’s ice, so a detachment from Novgorod was sent to help the mediators to help the Moscow authorities. The rebellious Old Believers took refuge in the refectory in the temple and set themselves on fire ^[12] . Omelka himself did not burn with the brethren: having got out and picking up the salaries of icons and the treasury of the monastery, he began to hide among the inhabitants of Zaonezhye who helped him. The monks said that Mistletoe is a sorcerer , seducing people with a hellish potion, brewed from the hearts of dead babies. Mistletoe again managed to capture the monastery and organize a new self-immolation. However, this time he most likely failed to escape: there is evidence that his comrades did not allow him to leave ^[13] .

• List of monasteries in Russia

• Paleostrovsky Monastery // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Barsov E.V. Paleostrov, his fate and significance in the Obonezh region: With letters and other written monuments . - M.: University. Type. (Katkov and Company), 1868. - 204 s.
• Denisov L.I. Orthodox monasteries of the Russian Empire. - Moscow: publication of Stupin A.D., 1908. - S. 614-615 ..
• Kozhevnikova Yu. N. Conventional Monasteries of Karelia. Results and consequences of the secularization reform of 1764 (on the example of the Paleostrovsky Nativity of the Virgin Monastery)
• Koretsky V.I. Novgorodian letters of the 15th century from the archives of the Paleostrovsky monastery // Archaeographic Yearbook for 1957 M. 1958.
• Chernyakova I.A. Karelia at the Turn of the Ages: Essays on the Social and Agrarian History of the 17th Century - Petrozavodsk, 1998.

• Kozhevnikova Yu. N. The Paleostrovsky Monastery and the “anti-monastic” state policy in the 18th century