Sorrowing Monastery (Nizhny Tagil)

Foundation of the monastery

According to legends that have come down to our days, in 1855, the rector of the Otensky Monastery near Novgorod, Archimandrite Israel, laid out the cross with stones brought from Jerusalem at the site of the future monastery. The beginning of the formation of the territory of the monastery is considered to be 1864, when the Church of the Sorrow was built near the cemetery.

The idea of ​​creating a female monastic community in Nizhny Tagil probably originated in the 1870s. The initiative came from the peasant widow of Maria Vasilyevna Nevzorova, to which other ascetics gradually began to join. The petition for founding a women's cloister in Nizhny Tagil was filed in the name of the Bishop of Perm Efrem (Ryazanov) twice: the first in 1883, the second in 1884. The latter stated that “the society of the first part of the Nizhny Tagil plant” is ready to yield to the monastery 2 tithes of land adjacent to the “Mourners” temple. Before the Perm Consistory in favor of the formation of the community also petitioned the Provost of the 2nd Verkhoturye District, Archpriest John Flavianov. The future nuns and the factory owner, Pavel Pavlovich Demidov , Prince San Donato , wrote, but received no answer. The Consistory rejected both petitions due to the lack of means for the existence of the intended community (only two out of 14 petitioners had their own trading business, and three were landlords).

In the autumn of 1884, as a result of another petition, the Perm Consistory, again refusing to establish a monastic community, allowed the establishment of a poorhouse for women in the designated place. The dean archpriest John Flavianov acted as the spiritual mentor and first leader.

Initially, 14 people lived in the poorhouse, after 10 years the community increased to 25 people, these were three widows from 44 to 66 years old and 22 girls, aged 13 to 35 years. And on September 16, 1885, the philistine Feozva Konstantinovna Kruse, who will eventually become the head of the sisters, first appears in the poorhouse.

In 1892, at the disposal of the poorhouse, in addition to the Church of the Sorrow , there were two more two-storey houses. One of them was donated by the widow M. Belousova and transported from the village of Voskresensky in 1885. The fence around the houses was built on the donation of the widow MA A. Kolchinoy. There were outbuildings, a stable, a barn. The documents mention brick cells built at the beginning of the 20th century, the refectory, the shed and the barnyard. In 1897, when a poorhouse was opened in a separate building, a female church school of literacy was opened, in which 14 girls were admitted. Teacher appointed one of the sisters. In 1902 the school was transformed into a parish .

During the 1890s, the poorhouse six times filed petitions for conversion into a monastic cloister (in 1893 - twice, in 1894, 1895, 1898, 1900). In October 1901, on the basis of the last petition, the Bishop of Yekaterinburg, Iriney (Horde) ordered to collect information about the poorhouse again and, in October 1901, filed a petition to the Synod to rename it to the community without any preliminary conditions.

By the decree of the Holy Synod of March 14/31, 1902, under No. 1247, the poorhouse was renamed the Sorrow-Blessing Women's Community.

By a decree of October 23, 1904, the Synod renamed the congregation the Sorrow-taking Congregational Convent. The nun Maria (Theozva Kruse), who was elevated to the dignity of abbess, was appointed prioress, and Tatyana Deeva, the treasurer, who took the veil with the name of Valentin, was appointed treasurer.

In 1903, the Minister of State Property and Agriculture granted the community a petition for allotting one tenth of land to build a house for a parochial school and a parish. By 1904, a two-story building (modern Krasnogvardeyskaya St., 56) was built of brick, which was produced at a monastery factory located in the area of ​​the Ship's Cape. On May 17, 1904, the Holy Synod established at the community a priest’s vacancy, which was held by Archpriest Vsevolod Cherepanov, who had previously served in the Vvedensky Church in the village of Nizhny Tagil Plant. Since 1914, his son, Leonid Cherepanov, later became a priest in the bishop Leo of Nizhny Tagil, became a monastic priest.

On May 26, 1905, a new church was laid in the Sorrow monastery in honor of the Ascension of the Lord. The author of the project was the chief provincial engineer EI Artyomov, the architect of the Holy Cross Cathedral in Belogorsk monastery. Ascension Church was built for 8 years. The right aisle was consecrated in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and the righteous Simeon of Verkhoturye, and the left in honor of St. Seraphim of Sarov.

In 1911, the territory of the monastery stretched from a two-story brick building built with donations from the merchant Ya. E. Semenov near the Malaya Kushva river, where the hospital, poorhouse and hospice (55 Krasnogvardeyskaya St.) were located, to the cemetery behind the altars of the monastery temples.

Years of Persecution of the Church

In July 1919, after the establishment of Soviet power in Nizhny Tagil , the monastery was closed. The nuns attempted to preserve the community: the novices of the monastery were organized into a labor community. The nuns, as deprived of voting rights, were not part of it.

November 10, 1920 ^[2] : Predsovtardm demanded that the Nizhny Tagil district executive committee "free the monastery from the nuns."

On November 16, 1920, the Nizhny Tagil District Executive Committee, the labor community formed from the former novices of the monastery, was transformed into the women's labor commune "The Hive". Its members lived on Tagilskaya Street, in the house of Garyaev.

From 17 to 23 November 1920, the deployment of the Yekaterinburg concentration camp No. 2 began in the territory of the former monastery, 420 people accused of sabotage, speculation, crimes of the post, as well as “notorious oppressors, exploiters of labor and supporters of the bourgeois and royal noble order” filled buildings and outbuildings. Prisoners worked in workshops that previously belonged to the monastery. Monastic laundry and bakery were also used by prisoners. The conditions of detention of prisoners were extremely not prepared for such purposes. The unsanitary situation and poor nutrition led to high mortality in the camp. Cases of escapes led to the fact that since May 1921, a mutual responsibility was introduced in the concentration camp: during the escape of one prisoner, five were shot. By decision of the Provincial Subdivision of March 15, 1922, Nizhny Tagil camp No. 2 became a branch of the Ekaterinburg concentration camp No. 1. And on June 30, 1922, Order No. 181 of the Executive Committee of the Executive Committee “On disbandment of Camp No. 2” was issued on July 1, 1922. The camp was finally closed. In two years, 932 people passed through it.

During the location of the concentration camps on the territory of the monastery both temples were closed and surrounded by a wire fence. Several nuns who lived in the basement under the Ascension Church were expelled. However, on January 4, 1921, the parishioners obtained the permission of the executive committee to open both temples of the former monastery and hold services in them. The council of the restored parish included the abbess of the closed Sorrow monastery, Maria, the nun Valentine and father Leonid (Cherepanov) - the former monastic priest.

On November 30, 1921, the county land department decided to reorganize the commune into a cooperative, but due to "unsolved disagreements", on December 9, 1921 the commune was liquidated. Most novices returned to their native villages, several sisters remained in Nizhny Tagil .

In the summer of 1922, after the closure of the concentration camp, the territory of the Sorrow monastery was transferred to the county public education department. Tagil's teacher Isidor Vasilyevich Yashnikov began to actively promote the idea of ​​creating a “Children's Town” on the territory of the monastery on the basis of expanding the school-commune number 2. It was supposed to gather 225 children from various orphanages in Nizhny Tagil . In the summer and autumn, the town was being prepared for settlement by children; on December 5, 1922 it was opened.

But the leadership and staff of the Children's Town was considered unacceptable neighborhood with churches. As a result, there was a conflict with the parishioners, which was resolved not in favor of the parish. On February 3, 1923, at a meeting of the City Council’s cultural council, by a majority of votes, it was decided to hand over both monastic churches to the Children's Town. By the decision of the Nizhny Tagil City Council of March 30, 1923, it was decided: “temples should be immediately closed, to initiate a petition for the sale of church utensils and property, money to spend on the Children's Town”.

In February 1932, as a result of the OGPU undercover work, codenamed “Historical rot”, 10 nuns were arrested in Nizhny Tagil and charged with organizing a counterrevolutionary clerical-monastic organization. The investigation had to admit that “this group was not organized organizationally”. However, only three former sisters were released after questioning. The investigation lasted 8 months over the remaining nuns. After the end of the case, they were sentenced to 3 years of exile: two to settle in Kazakhstan , one to Siberia .

In the 1930s, the children's town was transformed into the Nizhny Tagil orphanage No. 1. Nowadays it occupies part of the former territory of the Sorrow Priory Monastery. In the period from the 30s to the 80s of the 20th century, all the outbuildings of the monastery, residential buildings for nuns and novices, the fence of the monastery, the bell tower, the dummy on the drum and the portal of the “Sorrowful” church, and the portal of the dome of the Voznesensky church were lost. .

Revival of the monastery

In the early 90s of the 20th century, restoration and restoration work began in the churches of the monastery. On June 9, 1998, the Holy Synod blessed the restoration of the Sorrow-nying Convent. Various organizations in the region rendered assistance to the monastery in restoring the temples. Currently, work continues only in the Ascension Cathedral.

Since December 28, 1998, the nun Cyril (Suvorova) has served as the abbess. November 6, 2011, on the day of the celebration of the icon of the Mother of God “All the sorrowful joy”, Abbess Cyril rested. Her grave is located on the south side of the Church of the Sorrow. Light her memory.

Since 2011, with the blessing of the Bishop of Nizhny Tagil and Serov Innocent, the abbess of the Sorrow Priesthood Monastery has been Abbess Maria (Stashevskaya). There are 10 sisters in the monastery.

• The official website of the Sorrow Priest of the Nizhny Tagil Convent