Savva Storozhevsky monastery. Zvenigorod. Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery. Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The early period of the history of the monastery at the end of the XIV - beginning of the XVII century
At the request of Prince Yuri Dimitrievich of Zvenigorod, son of Dimitri Donskoy.
The monastery experienced its highest prosperity in the middle of the 17th century, when Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich chose it for "his own sovereign pilgrimage." The monastery is rebuilt anew, receives the status of a Lavra, becomes one of the most famous, richest and revered monasteries in Russia.
In 1650, a royal decree was published on the beginning of large-scale construction work in the monastery. "It was ordered from the miracle worker Savva Storozhevsky to Nikita Mikhailovich Boborykin and the podyachy Andrey Shakhov to make a stone city around the entire building measuring 357 yards according to the drawing, and in that city there are seven towers." The Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery was conceived and created by the architects of the 17th century as a single architectural and artistic ensemble, combining extraordinary picturesqueness with surprisingly accurate use of the terrain, a logical location of temples, residential and utility buildings. Paul of Aleppsky compared it to a monastery Saint Sergius: “The Monastery of St. Sava is smaller than the Trinity Monastery, but was built according to its model. As I would call the one a groom, so this one is a bride, and truly it is as we saw with our own eyes. "
Savvina's monastery was always under the patronage of the Grand Dukes of Moscow, and later - of the sovereigns of the House of Romanov, and its founder was revered as a "Prayer Book for the Chosen Kings of God."
In 1919, the honest relics of St. The Savvas (acquired in 1652) were opened and taken out of the monastery, while the monastery itself was closed, on its territory there were a concentration camp, a colony, a sanatorium, and a museum. In 1995, the Savvin monastery was opened in the rank of stavropegic, and in 1998 the honest relics of the Monk Savva of Storozhevsky returned to the monastery.
At the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery, an orphanage, theological courses, a publishing house, a pilgrimage service were opened, the brethren provide care for the soldiers serving on the border and in hot spots. Annually the monastery of St. Savvas is visited by over half a million guests.
Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 1405 BC
The white-stone Cathedral of the Nativity is one of the few surviving monuments of early Moscow architecture. The frescoes of the temple date back to the early 15th - mid-17th centuries with renovations from the 19th - early 20th centuries. The early layer of frescoes was created by the masters of the circle of St. Andrei Rublev on the altar barrier and pillars, the entire volume of the cathedral was painted by the masters of the Moscow Kremlin Armory by order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The frescoes of the "royal isographers" were renewed with oil from the Palekh artel. The iconostasis of the "royal" masters of the middle of the 17th century has come down to us practically in its original form. By right side the relics of the founder of the monastery, the Monk Savva Storozhevsky, rest on the salt. In the 16th century, from the south, a side-chapel was added to the cathedral in honor of the Monk Sava, in the 17th century - a porch tent from the west and a covered two-story gallery from the south, and in the 19th century a porch was erected on the west side.
Until the beginning of the 15th century. the only stone building of the monastery is the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God. In 1407 St. Savva. The cathedral was built of white stone in 1405 at the expense of Prince Yuri Dimitrievich. The cross-domed four-pillar one-domed temple is one of the few surviving monuments of early Moscow architecture. The facades, the top of the apses and the drum are decorated with belts of white stone carving. Perspective portals with keeled top. Completion with three tiers of zakomar in the 18th-19th centuries. was replaced by a four-pitched roof, restored as a result of restoration in 1972. The onion dome dates back to the 17th century. In the interior, the walls, pillars and vaults are covered with frescoes of 1656, made by "royal isographers" headed by Stepan Ryazanets and cleaned up in 1970-1971. from later entries. The iconostasis was made by the same masters. Above the southern porch is the sacristy, originally connected by a covered passage with the royal palace.
Belfry. 1652-1654
The Belfry building is the tallest in the monastery. It has an original four-tier three-span structure, ending in four stone tents with domes. In the second tier there is a church in the name of the Holy Trinity (now - in honor of St. Sergius of Radonezh). The two upper tiers are for bells. The ringing ensemble consisted of 19 bells, cast in the 17th - 18th centuries. Only one bell has survived to this day - the Clockwork. In the central large opening there was a 35-ton Big Annunciation Bell, cast in 1668 by the master Alexander Grigoriev. Now in its place is the newly cast Evangelist.
Cathedral of the Nativity. Interior of the vestibule
The parquet tent of the Nativity Cathedral was added in the 17th century. The murals were updated by the masters of the Palekh artel for the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov in 1913. On the vaults illustrated family tree Our Savior Jesus Christ, on the walls are selected saints and fragments of the life of St. Savva Storozhevsky. Under the southwestern window, in the cathedral itself, is the place of the original burial of the Monk Sava.
Cathedral of the Nativity. Holy cancer with a canopy over the relics of the Monk Savva Storozhevsky
The holy relics of the Monk Sava, the founder of the monastery, were uncovered on February 1 (January 19) 1652 and rested in an oak shrine. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich wanted to transfer the incorruptible relics of the Monk Sava into a gilded silver shrine, but did not manage to do this. In 1680, his son Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich fulfilled his father's vow. A century later, the court councilor Nikolai Vladimirovich Sheremetev installed a wooden canopy over the shrine. With the blessing of the Holy Synod of 1847, at the expense of the pilgrims, a new canopy of overlaid silver was installed, which was solemnly consecrated by Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow on July 30 (17). On this day, a locally revered holiday was established, and a procession of the cross between the monastery and the skete took place annually. After the blasphemous opening of the relics in 1919, the shrine and the canopy were lost and restored in the year of the 600th anniversary of the founding of the monastery.
Trinity Gate Church. 1651
The Trinity (originally Sergievskaya) gate church is a pillarless hipped-roof church typical of the 17th century. Built on a high basement, where there is a wide staircase - the main entrance to the monastery. The church was consecrated on December 1, 1651. It is considered the last hipped-roof church in Russia in the 17th century, tk. Patriarch Nikon in 1652 forbade the construction of such churches, as they did not correspond to Byzantine traditions: “... tents are more befitting of boyar's houses than temples of the Lord”. The church was connected by a covered passage with the Tsarina's chambers and was the queen's house church. It is small in size and has excellent acoustics due to the use of voices.
The wide staircase of the basement turns to the left at right angles and leads to Cathedral Square monastery. The basement is built in such a way that only one Nativity Cathedral is visible from its depths. With each step, with each step, the cathedral, as it were, grows out of the hill, increasing in size and approaching the viewer.
Palace of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. 1650, 1674-1676
The palace was erected on the site of the original brotherly cells. Upon completion of construction, it was a long [c. 110 m.), A one-story building on the basement of seven stands, four of which had a second floor. Along its entire length, the palace was built on under Tsarevna Sofya Alekseevna. Here were the chambers of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and his retinue, and then the brotherly cells and chambers for the highest guests who visited the monastery in the 18th - early 20th centuries. In the chambers there were portraits of the Russian sovereigns who had visited the monastery. The northern part of the Palace was demolished in the 19th century. Now the Palace houses theological courses, the monastery's pilgrimage service and a church shop.
Tsarina's chambers. 1652-1654
Tsarina's Chambers is a palace built in 1652-1654. for the first wife of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Tsarina Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, it can be called a unique building. And not because civil buildings have never been built in monasteries, let alone royal palaces. But because this building has retained all the unique charm of a 17th century residential tower - the ancient form of window and doorways, a delightful white-stone carved porch, a cozy interior with a suite of vaulted rooms and painted portals when passing from one room to another. This one-storey building (which in ancient times had a second wooden floor) is placed to the left of the main entrance to the monastery on a hillside, therefore it has a basement from the side of the fortress wall, which served for economic purposes.
Holy Water Chapel. 1998 year
Built with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II in the year of the 600th anniversary of the founding of the monastery on the altar ancient temple Rev. John of the Ladder. This temple was erected at the hospital buildings of the monastery by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and dismantled due to dilapidation at the end of the 18th century.
Bath over the source of St. Sava. 2003-2004
The bath was built over the source of St. Sava near the ancient monastery dam on the Storozhka river.
Skete of the Monk Sava. Temple of St. Savva Storozhevsky. 1862 g.
The skete is located a kilometer from the monastery at the site of the secluded prayers of St. Savvas. A cave has been preserved under the altar of the temple, where the founder of the monastery retired for prayer.
The Skete buildings were built in the early 1860s. at the expense of Pavel G. Tsurikov, a merchant of the 1st guild and a hereditary nobleman.
Red Tower. 1650-1654
The most beautiful tower is the Red one over the Holy Gates. It, unlike other towers (faceted), is rectangular, two-story (on the second floor was built the Church of Alexy, the man of God, the heavenly patron of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich).
The Red Tower, together with the adjacent Trinity Church over the gate, forms an unusual front entrance to the monastery. Two gates of the tower lead to the monastery courtyard, which, in turn, leads to the basement of the Trinity Church.
Fortress walls. 1650-1654
According to the decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, a "stone city" was erected in the Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery. Construction began, as was customary, with the erection of the fortress walls. Their length is 760 m., Height up to 8 m., Thickness up to 3.5 m.
There are two gates leading to the territory - front and utility gates. The ceremonial, or Holy, gates are located on the east side, the utility gates cut through the thickness of the northern wall. Of the 6 surviving towers, 4 have a name.
The eastern tower is called the Red; the southwestern tower, which served as a grain warehouse - Zhitnaya; southeast economic - Vodovzvodnoy; southern, protruding outward with an angle, - Usova; the western tower that has not survived, located near the hospital wards, was called the Hospital. The towers had a hipped roof, covered with boards.
Using materials from the book "Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery", Publishing Council of the Savvino-Storozhevsky Stavropegic Monastery.
Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin of the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery
The cathedral was built of white stone in 1405 at the expense of Prince Yuri Dmitrievich. The cross-domed four-pillar one-domed church is one of the few surviving monuments of Moscow architecture at the turn of the 16th-15th centuries. The facades, the top of the apses and the drum are decorated with belts of white stone carving. Perspective portals with keeled top. Completion with three tiers of zakomar in the 18th-19th centuries. was replaced by a hipped roof, restored as a result of restoration in 1972. The onion chapter dates back to the 17th century. In the interior, the walls, pillars and vaults, are covered with frescoes of 1656, made by a group of tsarist craftsmen headed by Stepan Ryazanets and cleaned up in 1970-1971. from later entries. The iconostasis and some of the icons belong to the 17th century. In the 1650s. the one-domed Savvinsky side-chapel, covered with a closed vault, two porches and a western porch were attached to the cathedral from the southern and western sides. Above the southern porch is the sacristy, originally connected by a covered passage with the royal palace. There used to be a south porch with an external staircase, the arches of the south porch were open.
Although there is no chronicle information about the construction of a stone Nativity Cathedral in the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery, most often in the literature is called a completely "unconditional" date of the consecration of the temple - 1405. In 1389, Dmitry Ioannovich bequeathed to his son Yuri "Zvenigorod with all the volosts, and with tamga, and with myta, and with the border, and with the village, and with all the duties." In the Zvenigorod principality, he started a great construction. Already in the 1390s, the amazing Assumption Cathedral on Gorodok was built here. Next came the turn of the "own" monastery. At this time, in the Trinity Monastery, which was orphaned after the death of St. Sergius of Radonezh, the disciple of Sergius and tonsured St. Savva Storozhevsky was the abbot. Prince Yuri Zvenigorodsky, godson of the "abbot of the Russian land," often visited the monastery and, struck by the sanctity of the life of the Monk Sava, chose him, as is usually said, as a spiritual father, wishing to have the saint always by his side. The prince prayed to the monk, "may it be with him, and may build a monastery in his fatherland near Zvenigorod, where there is a place, the call of the Guard." The elder heeded the plea of the ambitious prince and, leaving the Trinity monastery, in 1398 came to the Zvenigorod inheritance, establishing a monastery in it in honor of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos. Soon a wooden church was cut down in the new monastery. However, Prince Yuri, who generously benefited Savvin's monastery, was not satisfied with the small, inconspicuous monastery; in "his" monastery, according to the princely opinion, a stone church should have flaunted. Considering that the Monk Savva departed to the Lord in 1407 and, according to a number of testimonies, was already buried in a new stone church, the researchers "deduce" 1405 as the most probable date for the consecration of the Nativity Cathedral of the Savvinskaya monastery.
The Nativity Cathedral honestly shared the joys and sorrows with the monastery itself, which has known periods of decline and prosperity in its history. But no matter what happened, the cathedral church was always under the protection of its founder and builder, which survived numerous testimonies... Under Alexei Mikhailovich, who often came here on pilgrimages, the relics of the Monk Savva Storozhevsky were uncovered (in 1652). It was during his reign that large construction began in the monastery, so an imposing royal palace arose from the western side of the Nativity Cathedral. It is curious that this palace was connected to the cathedral church by a covered passage, which led to the "small chamber", where the tsar and his family usually stood during the divine services. Now this transition does not exist. The appearance of the Nativity Cathedral in those years changed greatly - it was surrounded by a gallery from the west and south, and in the southeastern corner, the chapel of the Monk Sava was built (1659). The gallery is "all of stone crystal" (mica), as noted by Pavel Aleppsky, who accompanied Patriarch Macarius of Antioch in mid. 1650s. He wrote with admiration about the "amazingly brilliant gilding" of the cathedral domes. Then a new iconostasis appeared in the church - high, carved, gilded. The icons for him were painted by the "honored painters" of the Armory Yakov Tikhonovich Rudakov and Stepan Grigorievich Ryazanets. In 1735, the ancient pozakomarnoe covering of the cathedral was liquidated, replacing it with a four-pitched roof, and a cast-iron floor was installed ("200 poods bought for a floor of cast-iron iron for the cathedral church").
In 1775, Catherine II honored with her visit the "first-class" monastery, where she was present in the Nativity Cathedral at the liturgy, which was served by Metropolitan Platon (Levshin) himself, after that she deigned to dine and rest in the abbot's chambers ("Tsaritsin's chambers"). Then she left for Moscow. In terms of the general "mood", the monastery's 19th century would have been no different from the 18th century, if it had not been for the stay of the French in the monastery in 1812. Back in August, in anticipation of the French "guests", the most valuable things and relics were taken out of the monastery, but much remained in place - and the French staged a uniform robbery. However, this is not surprising, since they acted in all Russian monasteries; surprising and curious lies in something else: in the fact that this robbery affected all the monastery buildings, with the exception of one - namely the Nativity Cathedral. His temple was saved by his holy builder, the Monk Savva, who appeared to the leader of the French, Eugene de Beauharnais, who had spent the night in the royal palace, and promised him that he would return to France alive after the troops left Russia, in exchange for the fact that he would not touch the cathedral. After that, the stunned Beauharnais set up guards near the cathedral church, forbidding the soldiers to enter it.
One of major events XIX century - the replacement in 1847 of the canopy over the shrine of the Monk Sava with a new one, bronze with overlaid silver, and in this connection the establishment of a local holiday on July 17 (30) in honor of the transfer of the relics of the saint. At this time, the cathedral acquired a stone porch with a hipped roof. In the 1870s, an oven was installed in it, laying brick-lined ceramic heating pipes in the floors. The last restoration of the church before the revolutionary pogrom took place in 1912-1913. Palekh masters renewed the painting and washed the icons of the 17th century iconostasis. In the course of the undertaken reconstruction, the cast-iron floor was abandoned, laying it out with metlakh tiles. In March 1919, the Red Army men with the local authorities performed a blasphemous dissection of the relics of the Monk Sava. In April 1919, the holy relics of the founder of the Savvinskaya monastery were taken to the Lubyanka. This was the beginning of the plundering of the monastery, which was finally closed in July 1919.
An indicative fact: in 1923, the grate that stood in front of the iconostasis of the Nativity Cathedral was removed and adapted to fence the monument to Karl Mars. The owners of the monastery were constantly changing: homeless children, representatives of punitive organs, military, doctors, museum workers ... For the Nativity Cathedral, this Soviet leapfrog ended in 1947, when the church was transferred to the Zvenigorod Museum. Securing museum status for the cathedral made it possible to begin scientific restoration in it. Since the end of the 1950s, the temple frescoes and icons of the iconostasis, created in the 17th century, have been restored. The second stage of this work dates back to the 1970s. At the same time, in 1971-1973, the cathedral was restored to its original appearance - the dome of the temple glittered with gilding, the pozakomarnoe covering was restored. New times have brought new trends. In July 1990, a small consecration of the Nativity Cathedral took place. Within the walls of the church (still a museum one!), A prayer sounded again; for the first time over a 70-year hiatus, a liturgy was served in the cathedral. In August 1998, when the 600th anniversary of the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery was widely celebrated, the Monk Savva returned with his relics to his native monastery. The ark with the relics was placed in the renewed shrine, and the festive service was then led by Patriarch Alexy II.
The Nativity Cathedral of the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery belongs to the so-called "early Moscow architecture". Finding out the genealogy of this temple, art historians usually compare it with two churches - the earlier Zvenigorod Assumption Cathedral on Gorodok and the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. All these churches were built by Prince Yuri Zvenigorodsky, they are all typologically similar, although a closer look reveals some differences. If we talk about proximity, then we should name three characteristic features for the "early Moscow architecture".
Here is a quote from the architect and art critic D.Yu. Palkin: "... firstly, the optional correspondence of internal and external articulations, or the" system of shifted correspondences ", secondly, this is the use of stepped arches that emphasize vertical dynamics, and, thirdly, this is a typical Moscow completion by means of two or more tiers of zakomara ". In the Nativity Cathedral, in contrast to the aforementioned Assumption and Trinity Cathedrals, we see a complete correspondence of external and internal divisions. On the other hand, if in the Assumption Cathedral on Gorodok there is a vertical aspiration of volume, then in two monastery churches there is a kind of horizontal dynamics - they, thanks to the selected proportions of the main volume, seem to sink slightly to the ground. Characteristic in this sense is the arrangement of the apse shoulder blades - in the Nativity Cathedral they "break off" at the level of the middle level of the three-row frieze, as if "forbidding" the emerging growth. Actually, the sensations from all three churches - despite their obvious proximity - are different: in this sense, the Nativity Cathedral looks more comfortable, chamber, simple and clear, but this is the simplicity that obviously rushes towards the "golden ratio". In cross-section, the main volume is almost a square (14.4 X 14.5 m). The temple stands on a rather high basement - about one and a half meters high. The northern and southern facades are asymmetric: their lateral divisions have an unequal width (the western ones are wider than the eastern ones).
External decor plays an important role in creating the image of the temples of "early Moscow". It is quite simple and stingy, finding its expression in several decorative belts, but here we see a paradox - this stinginess is almost more expressive and striking than the excessiveness and some "obsession" of decoration, for example, Baroque churches of the later era. The "front" frieze of the Nativity Cathedral almost repeats the corresponding belt of the Assumption Cathedral on Gorodok, however, it becomes more flat, denser, more geometric. Some functionality and programmaticity are outlined here - such a frieze is easier to repeat in other temple buildings. The transition from the main volume to the drum is carried out using three rows of characteristic keeled kokoshniks (zakomaras in the form of kokoshniks). Most likely, they were supposed to form a vertical "vector" of the temple, but in a strange way this did not happen - the main volume of the cathedral still remains "squat". For almost 250 years, the kokoshniks were hidden under a four-pitched roof, built in 1735. As already mentioned, the main type of "early Moscow architecture" is a one-domed four-pillar temple. In this case, the head rests on a light drum with high narrow windows-loopholes, decorated with a three-row decorative belt. This belt coincides in design with the frieze running in the upper part of the apses, with the exception of the lower row, where woven bunches of plants appeared on the drum. The apses of the Nativity Cathedral are lowered relative to the main volume, which, together with other corresponding elements, forms the "squat" of the building. A characteristic feature of the apses is the scapula, dividing them into parts. The apses, like the facades and the drum, are decorated with a decorative carved belt. The middle apse is twice as large as the lateral ones and projects much further to the east.
The annexes "overgrown" the temple in the middle of the 17th century, during the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. They, unlike the main building, built of white stone, were built of bricks. In the southeastern corner is the chapel of the Monk Savva Storozhevsky, stylistically striving to imitate the main building. From the south and west - a gallery, and its southern part is built on the second floor - once there was a covered passage from the palace of Alexei Mikhailovich; later this room was occupied by the sacristy. The interior space of the Nativity Cathedral inherits the structure of the Assumption Cathedral on Gorodok. Just like on Gorodok, four pillars are noticeably shifted to the walls - in order to maximize the width of the central naves. However, there are some differences. Firstly, the facade articulation with the blades strictly corresponds to the arrangement of the pylons, which in the plan have become square, and not cross-shaped (as in the Assumption Cathedral), and more "thin". In addition, the choirs disappeared. In general, in the cathedral church of the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery, there is a noticeable desire for some zality. "Some", because, of course, this is not the classical zality characteristic of later churches, but only its "overtones", but this "overtones" imparts to the Nativity Cathedral a very pleasant intimacy and coziness. Initially, there was no iconostasis in the temple; its role, as in ancient churches, was played by the altar barrier, which in 1913, during the next restoration, helped to answer the question of whether the newly built cathedral was somehow decorated. The fact is that it was on the altar barrier that restorers discovered the remains of frescoes, most likely dating back to the beginning of the 15th century, that is, to the time of the construction of the Nativity Cathedral. An art criticism analysis of the open and later restored frescoes showed that they were created by the masters of the circle of the Monk Andrei Rublev, who, as you know, was working in Zvenigorod at that time.
In the 1430s, an iconostasis "from wall to wall" appeared in the church, which closed the altar barrier. The next cardinal reconstruction of the interior took place in the middle of the 16th century - apparently, at the request of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who favored the Savvina monastery; it was then that the temple acquired a "roughly" modern look. In particular, the cathedral was completely painted by an artel under the leadership of the icon painter Stepan Grigorievich Ryazants and the mason Karp Timofeev. The artel consisted of 29 royal salaries and fodder masters, now known by name. The five-tiered iconostasis, which has been preserved to this day, was also installed, covering the eastern pillars. The icons for the upper four rows were painted by the same Stepan Ryazanets, as well as by Yakov Tikhonovich Rudakov, nicknamed Kazanets. In the bottom row were placed images of different times, some of which may have been contemporary to the cathedral itself. Subsequently, new paintings appeared in the temple: in the 18th century, in 1835 and 1913. Since the 1960s, the murals of the Nativity Cathedral have been restored several times. The surviving icons of the iconostasis from the 1960s were kept in the Zvenigorod Museum (only the images of the local rank, as well as the decoration of the lower tier of the iconostasis and the royal gates) were lost. In 1998, on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery, they returned to their rightful place.
From the magazine " Orthodox Temples... Journey to the Holy Places. "Issue No. 132, 2015.
Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery (Russia) - description, history, location. Exact address and website. Reviews of tourists, photos and videos.
- Last Minute Tours in Russia
The solemn and elegant Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery is the main attraction of Zvenigorod and one of the most revered monasteries in Russia. Its role in Russian Orthodoxy is evidenced by the fact that the monastery was the first in the country to receive the honorary title of "Lavra". The Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery was founded at the end of the 14th century by a disciple of Sergius of Radonezh, the monk Savva, and knew the glorious and sad moments of history. The former include the special benevolence of the Russian monarchs, starting with Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the latter - desolation and plundering during the years of Soviet power. Today the 600-year-old monastery boasts magnificent temples, magnificent Tsaritsa Chambers and the 17th century Alexei Mikhailovich's palace and, most importantly, a special, prayerful atmosphere of selfless service to God.
A bit of history
The chronicles brought to us the exact date of the founding of the monastery - 1398. At first, only a wooden church appeared here in the glory of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, next to which the Monk Sava dug a skete where he spent time in prayer - it has survived to this day. In the 15-17 centuries, the monastery served as an outpost of the Moscow principality in the west and was repeatedly visited by autocrats: Ivan the Terrible with his wife and children, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, under whom the monastery became a suburban royal residence - at the same time chambers and a palace appeared here.
During the war of 1812, the monastery was not plundered by the French: according to legend, the Monk Savva appeared in a dream to the commander Eugene Beauharnais and commanded to spare the monastery.
After the revolution, the Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery was closed, and its values were taken away or plundered. The revival of the monastery began in 1995 and continues to this day.
The 600-year-old monastery of the Monk Sava is located on the site of the cave, where the founder of the monastery once sought solitude from the bustle of the world.
What to see
The main temple of the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery is the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin, built at the beginning of the 15th century on the site of an old wooden church. The classic look of the Russian temple is complemented here by figured kokoshniks in the tops of the walls (they were restored by Soviet restorers), and the structure is crowned with a gilded dome on a high light drum. In the interior it is worth admiring the beautiful iconostasis and finding the ancient icon of the Monk Sava.
Gate temple Life-giving Trinity traces its history back to the 17th century, and the neat Refectory Church was built by order of Princess Sophia. The magnificent Tsaritsin's chambers and the palace of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich were also built in the 17th century - these are wonderful white-stone chambers of a luxurious, but at the same time consistently simple facade. And next to the monastery there is a 600-year-old skete and the church of the Monk Sava - they are located on the site of a cave where the founder of the monastery once sought solitude from the bustle of the world.
The special atmosphere and picturesque landscapes of the monastery attracted numerous artists: Levitan, Zhukovsky, Kamenev ... From that time on, the name “Russian Barbizon” was fixed on the outskirts of Zvenigorod.
Panorama of the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery
Practical information
Address: Moscow region, Zvenigorod, Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery. From Zvenigorod to the monastery can be reached by buses 23 and 51 to the stop "Monastyr".
The monastery is open daily from 6:00 am until the end of the evening service.
Admission is free, donations are welcome.
On the quiet shores of Moscow
Churches crowned with crosses
The decrepit chapters shine
Over the monastery walls.
All around stretched out over the hills
Forever not chopped groves,
They have been resting there for a long time
Pleasant holy relics.
This poem A.S. Pushkin dedicated
Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery
Zvenigorod. I have wanted to go there for a long time, but just then we had a free weekend ... 46 km west of Moscow, in a picturesque place on a hill, there is the city of Zvenigorod. And 1.5 km from Zvenigorod on the Watchtower Hill is the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery. Beautiful, ancient, Holy place! As with many monasteries, it is an interesting mix of different architectural styles.
Temples and chapels of the monastery:
1. Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1404-1405)
2. Gate Church of the Life-Giving Trinity
3. Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh (in the belfry) 1650
4. Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior (1693)
5. Chapel-gazebo (1998)
6. Chapel over the Holy Spring of St. Savvas
Other buildings of the monastery:
7. North gate
8. Rifle Chambers (XVII-XVIII centuries)
9. Refectory (1652-1654)
10. Palace of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (XVII century)
11. Fraternal corps (2nd half of the 17th century)
12. Tsarina's chambers (XVII century)
13. Refectory with a side-altar in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (1807)
14. Monastery building
15. Treasury building (2nd half of the 17th century)
16. Red Tower (XVII century)
17. Water tower (XVII century)
18. Usova Tower (XVII century)
19. Zhitnaya Tower (XVII century)
20. Towers and walls of the fence (2nd half of the 17th century)
21. Monument to St. Savva Storozhevsky (2007)
A bit of history
The monastery was founded in 1398 on the high bank of the Moskva River on Mount Storozhe, which was a defensive fortification of the Moscow principality. The monastery was founded by the Monk Savva, the Wonderworker of Zvenigorod, one of the first disciples of the Monk Sergius of Radonezh, at the request of Prince Yuri Dmitrievich of Zvenigorod, the second son of the Great Moscow Prince Dimitry Donskoy. Originally the monastery had wooden walls(tyn).
Around 1405, the white-stone Nativity Cathedral was built, at the entrance to which the Monk Sava, canonized, was buried.
In 1650, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich issued a decree on the construction of a new monastery ensemble on Mount Storozhe, which began the second construction period in the history of the monastery. Already in the spring and autumn of 1649, the necessary construction works and painted anew.
In the years 1650-1656. the main buildings and fortress walls (length 760 m, height 8-9 m, thickness about 3 m) with 7 towers were built, of which 6 have survived to this day. –1652), later rededicated in honor of the Life-Giving Trinity; Preobrazhensky (second half of the 17th century), as well as the belfry and the Refectory chamber (1650s), the Tsar's Palace and Tsaritsin's chambers (1650s), fraternal and cell buildings and other structures.
In 1812, the Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery shared the fate of many Russian monasteries, but despite the general ruin of the monastery, the relics of the Monk Savva remained intact.
In 1918, in Zvenigorod, as a result of the actions of the local authorities, who requisitioned a part of the monastery's property, an armed conflict took place, resulting in human casualties. The abbot of the monastery, hegumen Makariy (Popov), clergymen, laymen were convicted in the "Zvenigorod case". In March 1919, the blasphemous opening of the relics of the Monk Sava provoked protests from the brethren and residents of the city. Arrests followed. The relics of the Monk Sava were confiscated, the monastery was closed.
In Soviet times, the monastery housed various institutions: military units, a sanatorium, a museum.
Part of the relics of the Monk Savva Storozhevsky was preserved in the Dormition family. In 1985, the shrine was transferred to the Moscow St. Danilov Monastery.
In 1995 the monastery was revived. During the celebration of the 600th anniversary of the monastery in 1998, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II solemnly transported the relics of the Monk Sava to it.
Monument to the Monk Savva Storozhevsky.
Savva Storozhevsky - reverend of the Russian Church, founder and first abbot of the Theotokos-Rozhdestvensky (Savvino-Storozhevsky) monastery in Zvenigorod, Zvenigorod wonderworker, one of the most famous Russian saints, spiritual ascetic of Russia, "patron of tsars" and "defender of Moscow", healer, seer , "A refuge for all sinners."
The northern gate of the monastery.
The largest building of the monastery is the four-storey building of the Refectory with a glacier, a well and a dining room. It is characteristic that already in the 17th century, glass was inserted into the windows, and not mica, and heating was also carried out into the room.
Chapel-gazebo.
The Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary immediately attracts attention. He's great. And not so much from the outside as from the inside. It is active, there is no particularly rich decoration in it, but there is a powerful aura and a tremendous spirit of Time.
The refectory church of the icon of Our Lady of Kazan (yellow building) 1807
The palaces of the tsar and the tsarina impressed, but you just won't envy how they lived in those days, especially the tsarina, her whole life passed within these four walls and in the church, although, who knows, maybe she even lived very well ... For the convenience of the tsarina, the wards connected by a passage with the neighboring gate church, which became a house church. Next to the red-and-white Trinity Church, where the museum's funds are now located, are the Tsaritsin's Chambers - Tsarina Maria Miloslavskaya. The tent-roofed front porch is decorated with thick jug-shaped columns. The creators found a simple solution to the color scheme of the building: the red color of the brick from which it is built contrasts well with the whiteness of the carved stone. This graceful building differs sharply from the huge, majestic, but chilly royal palace located opposite.
The palace (chambers) of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich went down in the history of Russian architecture as one of the most significant monuments of civil architecture of the mid-late 17th century. Built in the 1650s for prayerful exits to the monastery of the sovereign. Due to the difficult terrain and the significant size of the building (the length of the facade is about 100 m), construction took several decades.
Zhitnaya Tower. The walls and towers were built in four years (1650-1654).
Angel at the top of the Zhitnaya Tower.
The monastery ensemble is completed by a four-tiered belfry with three tents and a clock tower. In 1930, the Savvino-Storozhevskaya monastery lost almost all of its bells. 11 small and 5 large bells were removed and sent for melting. There are only 2 bells left on the belfry - the big Blagovestny and the sentry. Bolshoi Blagovestny was removed from the monastery in 1941. The bell weighed about 34 tons. According to the official version, when trying to remove the bell from the belfry, it fell to the ground and shattered. However, there is another version, according to which the bell was blown up directly on the belfry. Be that as it may, the fragments of the bell were scattered throughout the territory of the monastery - several fragments and part of the bell tongue were found.
By the way. Previously, the entrance to the monastery was in a different place, next to the Tsarina's Chambers, through the Red Gate. The Red Tower is now undergoing restoration. Go down the stairs and enter from there. A completely different impression. There is a small ceremonial courtyard behind the Red Gate. From here, two staircases led to the main square. The first, wide, intended for guests of honor, passed through the basement of the Trinity Church, the second, for ordinary visitors, narrower, went to the north of the Trinity Church. The entrance from the courtyard to the first staircase is decorated with white stone columns, decorated with rosettes and wall paintings.
The view from the observation deck down to the pond.
We go down the paths along the slope to the well of the Monk Sava.
Skete of the Monk Sava
Not far from the Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery is the Savvinsky skete, in which the Monk Savva performed his devotional deed more than 600 years ago. This place is no less a landmark of Zvenigorod than the monastery itself. I won't be mistaken if I say that many who come to the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery do not even suspect that there is a skete two kilometers from it.
On the territory of the skete, a chapel-font is installed over the source of the Monk Sava. A wonderful bath, and most importantly, the nature around is extraordinary. The bath is large, separate, everything is very pleasant ... It is really worth coming here. A blessed place!
A bit of history
According to legend, the Monk Savva often retired to a small cave, dug or discovered by him not far from the monastery, for solitude and prayer. In the 1860-1870s, a church was erected over the cave in the name of the Monk Savva Storozhevsky, and an ensemble of a monastery skete was built next to it. Initially, it bore the name of the "dormitory department" and was a whole monastery with two churches, cells and household services, enclosed stone walls with turrets.
The Savvinsky skete was badly damaged during the Soviet era, many buildings were destroyed. After the war, the families of the employees of the military sanatorium lived here.
For the 600th anniversary of the death of the Zvenigorod wonderworker, the cave of the monk was restored, the surviving buildings were restored, the skete life was revived, the spring of the Monk Sava was renewed, a bathhouse was built. There is a monastery on the territory of the skete.
The path that runs past the temple leads directly to a small skete with a church in the name of the Monk Sava.
Near the entrance there is a cross with the inscription "In memory of the deceased brethren of the holy monastery."
You can look behind the hermitage fence only by going up the stairs to the hill.
From here, a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside opens up.
It is better to buy souvenirs in the monastery, and not on the approaches to it or in the parking lot: there is more choice and cheaper. The shop sold bread, cakes, pies, tea and coffee. I advise you to buy monastery onion bread, very tasty kvass and mead.
The monastery is "beautiful, well-groomed and famous", in recent times it attracts a huge number of people, especially on weekends and holidays.
Summary: worth a trip to relax your soul, enjoy nature.
The cathedral is one of the oldest preserved churches on the Moscow land (1404-1405). Erected during the life of St. Savva Storozhevsky, who was buried at the entrance to the cathedral, on the right.
Built on the site of a wooden church made of white stone - limestone in the traditions of Vladimir-Suzdal architecture; four-pillar, cross-domed, with pozakomarny covering. White stone for the construction of the temple was mined in the upper reaches of the Moskva River.
In the second half of the 16th century, after the glorification of the Monk Sava at the Moscow Cathedral in 1547, the chapel of the Monk Sava was added to the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin from the southeast.
In the 17th century, when the relics of the Zvenigorod wonderworker were found (in 1652), a tradition of reverent veneration of three places associated with the memory of the Monk took shape: the cancer itself with the holy relics; burial place and an old oak shrine in the Savvinsky chapel. Especially revered icons of the saint hung here, and inextinguishable lamps burned. Initially, the shrine of St. Sava was made of wood and was placed in a cast openwork tent. On the promise of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, his son Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich donated a silver shrine to the monastery. Later, first a wooden, then a bronze canopy was built over it.
Renovation of the monastery under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in the middle of the 17th century. began with the Nativity Cathedral, to which galleries were added, the southern one with the Tsar's chapel on the second floor, later connected to the Tsar's Palace. In this room in the XVIII - early XX centuries. the richest monastery sacristy was located. The glazed cabinets here housed sacred books, precious crosses, vessels, censers, panagias, and vestments. The phelonion of St. Savva Storozhevsky. In addition to church antiquities and contributions to the monastery, in the sacristy were the clothes of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Tsarina Maria Ilyinichna, Princess Sophia.
The Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin is a unique monument of monumental painting of the 15th-20th centuries. The surviving fragments of the earliest murals in the temple date back to the 15th century. and belong to the masters of the circle of the Monk Andrei Rublev. On the facades, colorful layers of the 16th century were found.
After the Troubles, the cathedral was renovated in 1649 by order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The walls of the temple were re-painted by 29 tsarist grant and stern icon painters, headed by Stepan Ryazanets and Vasily Ilyin. The names of all the participants in the work are known, which lasted only a warm season (spring - autumn) in 1649.
On the walls of the temple, paintings of the following times have been preserved: the 18th century, 1835, 1913.
Disclosure of the pictorial layer of the middle of the 17th century. carried out by the team of the restorer of the highest category D.Ye. Bryagin in the 1960s - 1980s.
The work on the salvation of the most ancient murals of the cathedral (murals on the altar barriers, etc.) was carried out by the Research Institute of Restoration according to a specially developed methodology of the head. Department of the Stroganov School V.P. Brown.
As part of the Zvenigorod Museum in the 1990s, a team of restorers of monumental painting was created under his leadership, through whose efforts the painting of the galleries was brought out of the emergency state, the Savvinsky side-chapel and its vestibule were restored.
For the 600th anniversary of the monastery, work in the temple was carried out under the direction of the museum restorer of the 1st category S.P. Losev.
The iconostasis of the cathedral in the middle of the 17th century. represents one of the peaks of the ancient Russian icon-painting tradition. Strict canonical writing allows you to forget the bustle of everyday life, in prayer exaltation, being left alone with the Lord.
The five-tiered iconostasis was created by order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in the 1650s by the famous icon painters (tsarist iconographers) of the Armory, Stepan Ryazants (Rezanets), Karp Timofeev, Yakov Kazanets and others. Embossed silver, the so-called basma frames, were made simultaneously with the icons in the workshops of the Armory.
In the XIX century. the surviving altar doors with images of the archdeacons Stephen and Lawrence were executed, as well as new salaries for tyabla and columns.
During the years of the revolution, all the icons of the local order, the precious decoration of the lower tier of the iconostasis and the Royal Doors were lost, but the upper rows of the iconostasis were practically not damaged.
Miraculously preserved icons of the forefather, prophetic, festive and deesis ranks, as well as the precious decoration of the iconostasis, were put on state registration in the Zvenigorod Museum in 1960.
In 1969-1975. in the workshop of the restorer D.E. Bryagin, located in the Moscow Novo-Devichy Monastery, a study and complete restoration of icons and frames was carried out. The ascetic labor of the D.E. Bryagin on the preservation and conservation of icons was continued by the restorers of the museum A.L. Melnichenko and M.B. Seleznev, who installed the iconostasis in 1998 in the Nativity Cathedral.
The architectural restoration of the unique monument of early Moscow architecture was carried out under the guidance of architects V.I. Fedorova, L.K. Rossov (the cathedral cover was restored at the turn of the 1960s-70s) and V.M. Pustovalov.
By the 600th anniversary of the monastery, its shrine - the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin - was magnificently decorated. The work in the interior of the church on the restoration of the iconostasis, the construction of a new reliquary and the canopy was carried out by the architects of the monastery T.N. Kudryavtseva and novice Irina Timofeeva under the guidance of Fr. Houri.
On August 22, 1998, the holy relics of its founder were solemnly returned to the monastery. Now in the cathedral, as before, to the right of the Royal Doors is a shrine with the incorruptible relics of the Monk Savva Storozhevsky. Every day brethren and parishioners gather here for prayer singing, and the Monk hears the prayers of everyone - cases of miracles do not stop to this day.
In the church there are especially revered and miraculous images: the icon of St. the great martyr and healer Panteleimon, painted for the monastery on Mount Athos in the monastery of St. Panteleimon in 1912, the icon of the Royal Martyrs, presented for worship is an ark with a particle of the stone of the Holy Sepulcher and particles of the relics of the holy saints.
Literature:
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isographers of the middle of the 17th century // Zvenigorod for six centuries. Collection of articles / Ed. V.A. Kondrashina, L.A. Timoshina. M .: URSS, 1998.S. 387-405.
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