Ushchelsky Monastery

It was founded in 1614 by the Solovetsky monk Job Iushelsky . The area in which the monastery was located occupied almost the central point of the Mezensko-Pechora Territory: all local routes of communication converged and from here diverged, both by land and water.

The monastery was not rich and the number of brethren was not large, as a result of which, in 1764, during the secularization reform, the monastery was closed, the church was converted to an enlistment, then to the parish.

In 1901, by the definition of the Holy Synod, a female community was opened on the site of the former monastery, led by nun Magdalena (Pyatkina) .

In 1908, the community was transformed into a monastery. A cell building, a number of outbuildings were built.

In 1920, the monastery was closed; in the early 1930s, the monastery buildings were demolished. The remaining buildings were destroyed by the end of the 20th century.

At the beginning of the 21st century, church life began to revive in the Gorge, and a wooden chapel was erected over the supposed burial place of the Monk Job, in which, on August 18, a prayer service is dedicated to the Monk Job.

384 versts east of the city of Arkhangelsk, 150 versts from the city of Mezen. On the left bank of the Mezen River, where the Vashka River flows into it. 7 miles from the village of Ust-Vashka (now Leshukonsky ). A little north with Mezen the second river merges with two names - Hedgehog or Slit (note that any steep river bank from marl is called a slit in those parts). And the village, on the lands of which the monastic monastery arose, was called accordingly - Gorge.

In 1622 , a wooden church and fraternal cells were erected on the site of the chapel. On August 5, 1628 , when everyone was haymaking, and Job was left alone in the monastery, robbers attacked the monastery and demanded that the treasures of the monastery be given to them. They tortured Job and chopped off his head. The monks buried the body near the temple. Although after the death of Job part of the fraternity dispersed to other monasteries, the man’s monastery continued to exist. In 1664 , a new church was laid on the site of the burnt Christ Church. And above the burial place of Job is a chapel. In 1701 , by decree of the Archbishop of Kholmogorsky Athanasius, the dilapidated chapel was replaced by a new one, lit "in the name of the holy martyr Job, the Uchelles miracle worker." In 1741 , hieromonks, 9 ministers and 29 "raznochintsy" lived in the Ushchelsky monastery. In 1764 , in pursuance of the manifesto of Empress Catherine II, the Uchelsky Monastery was abolished. The fraternity moved to the monasteries of Arkhangelsk. The temple and buildings of the monastery passed to the Ust-Vashk parish. On April 12, 1790 , the Decree of the Bishop of Arkhangelsk, Benjamin, was issued. It was ordered instead of a chapel over the relics of Job to build a church on December 8th. 1794 the church in the name of the righteous Job the Long-suffering was consecrated. In 1837 , churches in honor of the Nativity of Christ and in the name of righteous Job constituted the Gorge parish ^[1] .

• Uschelskoe community // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Soikin P.P. Job community in Mezensky district // Orthodox Russian monasteries : A full illustrated description of Orthodox Russian monasteries in the Russian Empire and Mount Athos. - SPb. : Resurrection, 1994 .-- S. 68-69. - 712 s. - 20,000 copies. - ISBN 5-88335-001-1 .
• Job // Orthodox Encyclopedia . - M .: Church Scientific Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia" , 2011. - T. XXV. - S. 288-292. - 752 s. - 39,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-89572-046-2 .
• Hieromonk Nicodemus (Kononov) . The Monk Job, the Gorge miracle worker and the fate of the monastery founded by him. - SPb. , 1900.

• The Uschelsky Monk Job Monastery on the site of the Temple of Russia
• Rev. Martyr Job of Uchelsky .