Lavra

Lavra could initially be understood as monasteries or large parishes, parishioners of which lived in one quarter (or, as they say today, in one urban "microdistrict").

Laurels - Monasteries

In the 4th – 6th centuries, large monasteries were called laurels in Palestine , in which the independent life of the inhabitants was preserved (independent earning money, handicraft) in the presence of a joint arrangement of common needs (organization of services, construction of a wall from attacks by Bedouin nomads ). This form of device distinguished laurels from kinovii , where the main principle was a "dormitory" device, which implied joint ownership, the general distribution of labor and goods. Later, laurels were called historically and spiritually significant monasteries, regardless of the form of residence (kinoviya or idiority ).

Laurels - Quarters

In addition, in Alexandria IV century BC. e. laurels were called city blocks (the population of which was church parishes):

“... the position of the African elders was very different from the position of their colleagues on other continents, because they had more power <...> In their quarters separated from each other by boulevards (why they were called“ laurels ”), the elders enjoyed tremendous power, such as "Arius was the real spiritual leader of his presidency Baukalis ^[1] ."

One of the first laurels mentioned was the Faran Lavra founded by St. Chariton , on the site of which is now the monastery of St. Chariton . On the site of another Lavra Doka founded by Saint Chariton in the 4th century, there is the Monastery of Temptation in the city of Jericho . The third laurel founded by St. Chariton was the now destroyed Sukky Lavra .

Next to the laurels of St. Chariton was the Khuziv Lavra (Monastery of St. John of Hosevite) destroyed in the 16th century ^[2] .

Coming from the Faran Lavra, Euthymius the Great founded the Lavra of St. Euthymius in the 5th century.

Often called the Monastery of Theodosius the Great, founded in the VI century, near Jerusalem , however, this monastery was a kinovia and could not be a laurel, since the laurels in the VI century were idiots . Today, Theodosius the Great Monastery exists as a convent near the city of Bethlehem in Palestine).

Near the monastery of Theodosius the Great is the most famous of the existing laurels of the East, founded by Saint Sava the Sanctified ( Lavra of Sava Sanctified ), glorified by the presence of St. John of Damascus in it. Among the monasteries founded in the desert near this monastery by the Monk Savva himself and his disciples, mention is made of the New Monastery , founded by those who left the Great Monastery (St. Savva) "because of displeasure at the Monk Savva", "near Fekui, to the south at the Fekuysky stream", and also founded "by willfulness by one monk of the Great Lavra - Jacob, at Lake Semiustnoye" Lavra Semiustnaya (Heptastom).

In Jericho, on the site of the Russian compound of St. John the Baptist, was the laurel of St. Cyriac ^[3] .

On the site of the Kalamon laurel destroyed by the Persians (reed laurel, the Good Shelter laurel, Kinovia laurel) near the city of Jericho, from the 19th century there has been the Gerasim of Jordan Monastery transferred from another place. At the same time, Blessed John Mosch also calls the monastery of St. Gerasim a laurel, referring to the location of the Gerasim laurel: “near the Jordan”, and about the Kalamon laurel: “near the Jordan”.

Pirgov Lavra (towers) was located north of the monastery of St. Gerasimus of Jordan. In the Jordan Valley, there were also the Abba Peter Laurel, Koprit Laurel, Ilyinskaya Laurel, Nesklerov Laurel, Pentukla Lavra ^[2] .

In the El Bira region, the blessed Firmin Firmin Lavra, founded by the disciple of Saint Sava, existed .

Under the Marda Lavra, it is customary to consider an Orthodox monastery that existed for some time in the Masada fortress.

The Holy Lavra (Kalavritsky Lavra) is the most ancient monastery of the Peloponnese , founded in 961 , repeatedly destroyed and restored, which played a significant role in the Greek Revolution of 1821 . It is located in the church jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Church .

Laurels of Athos

The only active Athos Lavra is the Great Lavra ( St. Athanasius of Athos Lavra), the first monastery on the Holy Mount Athos , founded in 963 as kinovia , but repeatedly changing its form of residence from kinoviya to idiorit and vice versa. It is located in the immediate ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople .

Earlier on Mount Athos, other laurels existed. Currently, two are known: St. Clement’s Lavra , located near the modern Iversky Monastery and the “ Chair of the Elders ” laurel ^[4] .

Unofficially at different times, other Athos monasteries were also called laurels.

So, the Kutlumush monastery was called the “Lavra of the Romanian land” ^{[5] [6]} , the Zograf monastery was the Bulgarian laurel, the Hilandar monastery was the Serbian, Chilandar or glorious monastery ^{[7] [8]} , the Panteleimon monastery was Russian or Panteleimon monastery.

There are two laurels in Russia : the Trinity-Sergius Lavra (since 1744 , Sergiev Posad ) and the Alexander Nevsky Lavra (since 1797 , St. Petersburg ).

In Ukraine, three Orthodox monasteries are currently laurels: Kiev-Pechersk Lavra (from 1598 ^[9] or 1688 ^[10] , Kiev ), Pochaev-Uspenskaya Lavra (since 1833 , Pochaev ), Svyatogorsk Assumption Lavra (since 2004 , Svyatogorsk ).

In Ukraine, there are also Greek Catholic Unite Lavra (since 1898 , Unev ) and St. John’s Lavra ^[11] (since 1927 , Lviv ).

On the territory of Georgia and partially Azerbaijan, there is the Davido-Gareja Lavra , on the territory of Poland - Supradura Lavra . After the annexation of Georgia and Poland to the Russian Empire, they were deprived of their laurel status, and from the end of the 80s of the 20th century the word laurel was again used in the name of monasteries.

In Romania, Lavra Neamt and Secul are located .

In Serbia, three monasteries are unofficially called monasteries - the Tsar’s Lavra , Studenica and Vysoké Decany .

There was no patriarchate in the Russian Empire , so the laurels obeyed the Holy Synod . Today, only the Trinity-Sergius Lavra is the stavropegial (patriarch) in Russia. The Alexander Nevsky Lavra is subordinate to the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg , and the laurels of Ukraine are subordinate to the Stavropigi, subordinate to the Metropolitan of Kiev (with the exception of Svyatogorsk , which is subordinate to the ruling bishop of the Donetsk diocese , although geographically located on the territory of the Gorlovsk diocese ).

Persons who are entrusted with the direct control of the laurel are called governors and usually consist in a dignity no lower than the archimandrite . Since 2009, the governors of all the laurels of the Russian Orthodox Church are bishops .

Sometimes the Kitskansky monastery in Transnistria is called the Novo-Nyametsky Lavra ^[12] , although officially the monastery does not have such a status. In this case, the Nyametsky Lavra in Romania is often called the Old Nyametsky Lavra.

Historically, only man’s monasteries were laurels. According to the prophecies of the Monk Seraphim of Sarov , the Seraphim-Diveevsky monastery will become the first female laurel ^[13] , but it will be before the end of the world ^[14] .

However, the Zicha convent in Serbia is called the Royal Lavra. The Women's Monastery of Theodosius the Great in Palestine is also often called the Lavra ^[15] .