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Russia Kaluga Region Maloyaroslavets Nikolaevsky Chernoostrovsky Monastery (Maloyaroslavets) Map is loading…
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55.012667; 36.461351
Russia, Kaluga region, Maloyaroslavets
Maloyaroslavets, Kaluga region
Russia
Telephone.:
(48431)2-14-69.
Nicholas Chernoostrovsky Monastery
St. Nicholas Chernoostrovsky Monastery
- Orthodox convent in the city of Maloyaroslavets, Kaluga region.
History[edit]
There are two versions about the time of the founding of the monastery. According to one of them, the monastery was founded in the 14th century by the princes Obolensky; according to another, they only built the original building of the St. Nicholas Church, and the monastery at the temple arose in the 16th century. The monastery is located on the high bank of the Luzha River (a tributary of the Protva), on the top of the so-called Special Mountain, otherwise called the Black Ostrog. Hence the name of the monastery ( Chernoostrogsky
over time it transformed into
Chernoostrovsky
).
During the Time of Troubles, the monastery was destroyed by the Lithuanians and restored only in 1659. In 1775, the monastery was abolished due to poverty.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the Maloyaroslavl merchant Tselibeev filed a petition to restore the monastery, promising financial assistance. Throughout the 1810s, he invested huge amounts of money in the restoration of the monastery. In 1810, the refectory chamber and the abbot's building (now one of the cell buildings) were built.
The monastery was badly damaged in 1812 during the battle for Maloyaroslavets. By personal order of Emperor Alexander I, traces of French shrapnel were left above the gates of the monastery. These traces of bullets and shells from that time have survived to this day. It is interesting that the face of Christ painted in 1812 above the gates of the monastery was not damaged, although it was surrounded on all sides by potholes. In 2009, a new icon of the Savior “Savior Not Made by Hands” was installed above the gates.
In 1813, by order of Alexander I, a new restoration of the Chernoostrovsky monastery began - now as a monument to the events of 1812. In 1813, the building of fraternal cells was built, in 1814 - the Korsun Church, in 1821 - the Holy Gates with a bell tower. During 1813-1839, the monumental St. Nicholas Cathedral (architect - Witberg) was rebuilt and consecrated in 1843.
In 1918, the monastery was closed. From December 26 to January 8, the local Extraordinary Commission carried out several searches here, as a result of which all the property of the monastery was confiscated. The rector of the monastery, Archimandrite Ilia, was placed under house arrest and in March 1919 evicted from the monastery. Until 1926, only St. Nicholas Cathedral remained active. In the 1920s, it housed a pedagogical college, and a museum in the cathedral building. After 1950, the buildings of the former monastery were converted into apartments.
In the Chernoostrovsky monastery
On Lazarus Saturday and the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, we decided to escape from Moscow and make a pilgrimage. The question of where exactly to go did not arise: I had long wanted to see Optina Pustyn with my own eyes and once again visit the St. Nicholas Chernoostrovsky Monastery located along the road, in the city of Maloyaroslavets, Kaluga region.
Almost eight years ago, in July 2009, I was already in this wonderful convent, accompanying Abbess Ines (Ayau). Mother Ines is a native of distant Guatemala, a former Catholic nun who discovered and soon accepted Orthodoxy, the abbess of the only female Orthodox monastery of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity “Lavra Mambre” in Guatemala, and throughout Central America. The monastery sponsors an orphanage that has saved lives and enabled hundreds of girls and boys to receive an education and join the Church. Once in Russia, the Guatemalan mother wanted to get acquainted with a monastery similar to hers, and the choice fell on the Chernoostrovsky monastery, whose pride is the Otrada maiden shelter. Like madre Ines, I was greatly impressed by the tour of the orphanage, the visit to the monastery shrines and the long conversation with the abbess, Abbess Nikolai (Ilyina).
Since then, I have never left the desire to be in this bright and hospitable place again. We got together spontaneously. I warned Mother Nikolai about our arrival literally an hour in advance, but she immediately agreed to receive us and offered to organize an excursion.
When we arrived at the monastery, it was drizzling and it was quite cool. But behind the monastery walls we immediately found ourselves in an atmosphere of warmth and comfort. We were met by nun Varvara, whom the abbess blessed to be our guide.
First of all, we went to the orphanage. While they were walking, Sister Varvara told interesting facts from the recent history of the monastery:
– The monastery, founded at the end of the 16th century and experiencing desolation during the Soviet years, was revived as a monastery in the early 1990s. But relations in the community did not work out, and with the blessing of the ruling bishop the monastery turned into a women's monastery... At first, people were afraid of the monastery and spread various rumors. They said, for example, that the services here are Catholic because they are long. But gradually everything got better.
I remembered an interesting detail that Abbess Nicholas mentioned at a meeting eight years ago: a quarter of a century ago, in the Chernoostrovsky Monastery, Schema-nun Elisaveta (Vasilchikova) labored and completed her earthly journey, the last keeper of the head of St. Sergius of Radonezh, saved after the opening of the relics of the Abbess of All Rus' in 1919. In 1946, with the return of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra to the Russian Church, the future nun handed over this shrine to Patriarch Alexy I.
Sister Varvara described the educational and educational process, in which nuns and novices are mainly involved, and walked through the classrooms for classes, the gym, where floor chess caught my eye - they appeared in Otrada even before the Ministry of Education and Science decided to install there are them in all Russian schools. Our cicerone showed us a stand with photographs taken during the tour of the shelter choir, which performed in solo concerts and at festivals in many countries - from Israel to Spain. The girls not only sing, but also dance. We also saw a warehouse of things for the pupils. Clothes and shoes are purchased or accepted as gifts only new. The girls have a large selection of stage dresses, which is important for a creatively oriented shelter.
On the second floor we looked into the living rooms. Now the orphanage is raising about 60 girls: refuseniks, children who have no parents or whose mother and father are not able to take care of their child. We were told a story about how one girl put a photograph of her father in her room... with a bottle of alcohol in his hand - simply because she didn’t have another one. The shelter has a room for receiving relatives, where the pupils can privately communicate with them and treat them to tea and sweets.
The inhabitants of “Otrada” are generally distinguished by their homeliness; they are taught to cook and run a household. In one of the rooms, two six-year-old girls (it seemed like the youngest in the orphanage) sat us down at the table and began to “treat” us: they placed plastic cups, a teapot, a coffee pot, a tray of fruit, saucers, on which they placed toy cakes they had made in the shape of an airplane and snowman. It was very touching. Their neighbors and mentors gathered to watch the “tea ceremony” arranged by the younger ones. Among the spectators was nine-year-old Nastya, who, as one of the nuns whispered to us, is the star of the orphanage choir. Her mother works at Otrada. Nastya willingly sang the song “Button” to us, the girls sang along with her.
Going into the music class, we were able to see the talents of the other girls: under the unobtrusive guidance of the Greek language teacher, novice Alexandra, they performed for us several Greek chants dedicated to Lazarus Saturday, and then handed us the lazarakias they had baked - cookies made from sweet dough in the shape of little men, which, according to a long tradition, are distributed in Greece on the day of the resurrection of the righteous Lazarus by Christ. For the girls, this was a kind of rehearsal, since they had to congratulate the abbess and nuns on the holiday.
St. Nicholas Monastery is firmly connected with the Greek world. Since the early 2000s, Archimandrite Ephraim (Kutsu), abbot of the Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos, has periodically visited the monastery. Since 2011, the Otrada choir has been participating in the “Light in the Universe” concerts and conferences organized by Father Ephraim in Greece. The abbess and her sisters and pupils of the orphanage were honored to circumnavigate Mount Athos on a ship. The rector of the Mahera monastery in Cyprus, Archimandrite Arseniy (Patsalos)[1], also visited Maloyaroslavets.
Three or four people live in the rooms, always of different ages. All girls have an older friend who can lend a shoulder in difficult times and give advice. Not long ago, one of the pupils’ father died. And although she rarely saw him, the sad news came as a shock to her. Then a friend took her to the chapel (it is located in the orphanage building), began to console her and told her that her dad had also died, but by praying, she could talk to him and felt that she was being heard. According to the nuns, having a “sister” will help their charges raise their own children in the future.
On the girls’ bright faces there is no trace of the physical and mental trauma they experienced before the shelter; they are well-educated and friendly. “Otrada” can hardly be called an orphanage; rather, it is a large family with its own joys and sorrows, achievements and problems. The idea of community and family is actively cultivated by Mother Nicholas and the nuns of the monastery; they treat their pets as daughters and teach them to perceive each other as loved ones.
Girls who have reached the age of 17 have the opportunity to continue their studies without leaving their native walls of the monastery. In 2011, the Chernoostrovsky Monastery and the Russian State Social University created the Center for Orthodox Communications: here you can get education in the areas of “Orthodox Journalism” and “Communication Management” - specialists in this field are called upon to build relationships with the external environment, create a positive image of their organization, and attract partners. Today for our Church, whose every step is viewed by society under a magnifying glass, such service is more important than ever. St. Nicholas Monastery in Maloyaroslavets is a pioneer in the development of communication management in dioceses. By the way, Sister Varvara is a graduate of the Center for Orthodox Communications, which clearly helps her in working with guests.
After a detailed inspection of Otrada, our guide took us to the monastery churches. In the Church of the Korsun Icon of the Mother of God, we prayed at the image of the “Vsetsaritsa” - a copy of the icon kept in Vatopedi.
“Many miracles happened with this image,” Sister Varvara told us. – There was such a story: one of our nuns fell ill with cancer, she fervently prayed to the image of the “All-Tsarina” - and the disease stopped. For some reason, she left the monastery, and soon the illness made itself known. This sister repented, returned to the monastery, steadfastly endured the illness and departed to the Lord peacefully.
The main temple of the monastery - St. Nicholas Cathedral - is almost fifty meters high. We venerated a particle of the relics of the monastery’s heavenly patron, St. Nicholas: it was brought in 2001 from Bari. And at the northern deacon’s gate hangs an epitrachelion from Athos, which was used to cover Elder Joseph of Vatopedi, the teacher of Archimandrite Ephraim, during confession. The sisters and parishioners kiss the epitrachelion and place it on their heads.
My attention was drawn to an unusual icon of the Mother of God with the image of Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov and the inscription “1812–2012”, made for the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Maloyaroslavets. From the monastery there is a view of the field where this turning point for the Patriotic War of 1812 unfolded, an 18-hour battle. There were also battles on the monastery territory.
We also visited the lower Church of All Saints. With the blessing of the abbess, it is illuminated only by candles and lamps, without the use of electricity.
Then we went into a beautiful spacious refectory, where a table was set for us. There we also saw the girls rehearsing dances. They were guided by the elderly teacher Yuri Nikolaevich, the father of one of the nuns of the monastery, who had previously served in the Moscow theater.
After a delicious and satisfying lunch, Sister Varvara took us to the abbot’s building to see Abbess Nikolai. Mother is a charismatic and strong person, at the same time kind and caring as a mother. A quarter of a century ago, she took over the monastery, which was destroyed and abandoned, restored and improved it, created and raised an orphanage for children to a high level. The monastery has monasteries and farmsteads, and 17 abbesses have emerged from its walls.
Over tea with Jerusalem delicacies, mother talked about the current life of the monastery and was interested in our impressions. I asked how the monastery in Maloyaroslavets established such extensive contacts with the Holy Mountain. And the abbess said that in 2000, the monastery’s confessor, Schema-Archimandrite Mikhail (Balaev), blessed her to write a letter to Schemamonk Joseph of Vatopedi.
“I was surprised then: “Why?” recalled the abbess. - Father said to this: “Then you will find out everything.” And so it happened. I wrote about our monastery, the elder sent a heartfelt response. We corresponded until his death in 2009. Through the efforts of Elder Joseph, Athonite pilgrims began to come to us.
Not without well-deserved pride, the abbess noted the external relations of the monastery. The Chernoostrovskaya monastery is a key attraction of Maloyaroslavets, attracting bishops and clergy of the Russian and other Local Orthodox Churches, high-ranking federal officials, foreign diplomats, cultural and educational figures to the small town with a population of less than 30,000 people.
– The Austrian Ambassador Margot Klestil-Löffler really liked us. She visited us, our choir performed at her residence in Moscow, and with the assistance of the ambassador, our girls toured Austria. Twice we had a boys' choir from the Austrian Catholic monastery of St. Florian perform.
Bruno Weinberg, who came from a famous family of piano manufacturers, came with the choir and donated an Austrian grand piano to the Otrada shelter.
Mother also shared with us the pain of her heart caused by the publication last year of the book “Confession of a Former Novice.” The author attended the St. Nicholas Chernoostrovsky Monastery and after leaving she wrote a “story” about her experience. Abbess Nicholas and the sisters are listed in the book under their own names, the monastery is actually equated to a totalitarian sect, the abbess is accused of the fact that the girls in Otrada are poorly fed and suffer beatings. But even after a superficial acquaintance with the holy monastery and shelter, it becomes clear: the book is written with extreme bias, the author pursues goals that are far from the desire to reveal the truth about the Maloyaroslavl monastery.
“The publication of Confessions of a Former Novice provoked real persecution,” mother complained. – There was talk about closing the shelter and the monastery. Unfortunately, some of our neighbors believed the libel. Someone asked our pupil: “How do they feed you?” The girl, who has a thick build, was not at a loss: “Can’t you see it from me?” One priest also took part in the campaign against the monastery, but after visiting us, he completely changed his mind and made a public apology.
Almost at the same time, the Holy Trinity Convent in Guatemala, which was so close in spirit to the Chernoostrovsky Monastery, received a serious challenge: the country's prosecutor general demanded that Abbess Inez vacate the building of the monastery orphanage by the end of April. The reason was that the 1996 government decree on the transfer of this premises to the shelter for 50 years was not made public (which is required by law). But the publication of the decree is the responsibility of state bodies, and not of the abbess. The case is currently pending before the Supreme Court of Guatemala. God willing, Mother Ines will be able to save the orphanage, where about 400 orphans and children from disadvantaged families are being raised.
Frankly, we planned to spend no more than two hours in Maloyaroslavets, but, captivated by the cordiality of the abbess, sisters and pupils of Otrada, we did not notice how the time flew by. The tea party ended a few minutes before the all-night vigil on the eve of the Feast of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, and mother invited us to stay for the service and overnight. We gratefully agreed.
In the St. Nicholas Cathedral, the abbess gave us a place closer to the salt, near the relics of St. Nicholas. We witnessed the blessing on the cassock: the abbess placed two sets with a cassock, a cowl and rosary on the reliquary of the patron of the monastery and then handed them to the novices. The children's choir sang beautifully, in particular they sang “Kyrie eleison” in Greek. At some point, the girls handed out a bouquet of willows with a candle to each person praying.
At the end of the service, Sister Cosma, in charge of the monastery hotel, came up to us to take us to the rooms provided for us. The guest house has been recently renovated and is clean and quiet. The rooms have new furniture and have everything you need. Sister Cosma did her best to make us feel comfortable. After dinner and tea with the abbess, we fell asleep.
In the morning, after praying at the Divine Liturgy and receiving the Holy Mysteries of Christ, we said goodbye to Mother Nicholas and set off on our way. It was a little sad to leave the Chernoostrovskaya monastery on a pleasant sunny day, where we unexpectedly but joyfully spent a day. It was not possible to stay in Optina Pustyn, which according to the original plan was the main goal of the trip. True, even a short stay with the Optina elders turned out to be filled with memorable episodes. But that's a completely different story...
Photo by Daniil Afrin and from the author’s collection
[1] In 2004, Father Arsenios (Patsalos) and Patriarch Peter VII of Alexandria and All Africa died in a plane crash off the Greek coast.
Current state[edit]
In 1991, the buildings of the Nikolaevsky Chernoostrovsky Monastery were transferred to the Kaluga diocese. Nowadays it is a functioning monastery. In 1992, in the former hospice house of the Chernoostrovsky monastery, the Maloyaroslavets City Art Gallery named after E. A. Chernyavskaya was opened (Lenin Square, 12), where paintings by Maloyaroslavl artists are exhibited.
In 2005, the Chernoostrovsky Monastery carried out restoration of the ceilings and interior decoration of the St. Nicholas Church.
In 2006, the bell tower was restored (recreated) (architects Andrei Anisimov and Vladimir Sharapov).
In 2007, a white stone carved iconostasis was installed (architect Andrei Anisimov and Olga Ermakova, artist Alexander Brusov).
In 2009, the main gate of the monastery was restored and a white-stone water-blessed chapel was installed (a gift from architect Andrei Anisimov to the Otrada orphanage), the authors were Andrei Anisimov and Natalya Blednova, artists Alexander Brusov and Anna Verdi from the “Partnership of Restorers”. The restoration work carried out in the monastery from 2005 to 2009 was also carried out by specialists from the “Association of Restorers” under the leadership of Andrei Anisimov.
Currently, the Otrada children's shelter has been opened at the monastery, where girls from disadvantaged families are brought up.
Nikolo-Chernoostrovsky Monastery in the 20th century
At the beginning of the last century, the monastery walls experienced many shocks. Beginning in 1917, with the Bolsheviks coming to power, mass closures of churches and monasteries were carried out throughout Russia. The Chernoostrovsky Monastery in Maloyaroslavets, which was closed by special order at the beginning of 1918, did not escape this fate.
An emergency commission was created in relation to the monastery, by order of which the buildings were searched, and the most valuable property was confiscated in favor of the Soviet government. The current abbot of the monastery at that time, Archimandrite Ilya, was arrested and was subsequently evicted outside it, going into long-term exile.
The Maloyaroslavets Chernoostrovsky monastery ceased to function. Only St. Nicholas Church remained open to believers, existing as a separate temple only until 1929.
And yet, the preservation of the monastery buildings can be considered exceptional luck. The local Soviet authorities did not destroy the monastery, preferring to use it for urgent and more practical needs. In the 1920s, a pedagogical technical school was opened in the Maloyaroslavets Monastery, and a museum was opened in the church itself.
After the Great Patriotic War, the monastery, which also escaped destruction, was used as apartments for citizens who had lost their own homes.
The monastery began a new life after 1991, when the monastery building was transferred to the Kaluga diocese, with whose funds the monastery buildings were restored.
Interestingly, a monastery was opened here in 1991. But for some reason the monks did not stay here and gradually dispersed to other monasteries. Therefore, in 1993, by resolution of the Holy Synod, it was decided to make the monastery a women’s monastery.
Currently, not only the nuns themselves have found shelter within the walls of the monastery, but also children from poor and disadvantaged families - a women’s boarding school has been opened at the monastery, sheltering several dozen children of different ages. The sisters of the Chernoostrovsky monastery have raised more than one generation of orphans.
Architectural and planning appearance of the monastery ensemble[edit]
The present appearance of the monastery was formed by the middle of the 19th century. It includes 3 churches: St. Nicholas Cathedral, built in memory of the victory of Russian troops in the war with Napoleon, with a temple in honor of All Saints and a temple in honor of the Korsun Icon of the Mother of God. The cathedral began to be built by Archimandrite Macarius (Fomin) in 1812. The cathedral took more than 30 years to build and was built in 1843 under the abbot of St. Anthony of Optina. On August 26, 1843, its main chapel was consecrated. The height of the cathedral is 47 meters. The dome rests on four columns of the Corinthian order; the middle of the temple forms a large rotunda.
In the choir of the cathedral there is a chapel in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord.
There is a porch adjacent to the cathedral, from which there is a staircase to the lower platform of the monastery and the entrance to the Church of All Saints.
The Church of All Saints was a monastery burial vault.
The monastery also has a temple in honor of the Korsun Icon of the Mother of God. Double decker. In the choir there is a chapel in honor of Saints Anthony and Theodosius of Pechersk.
In addition to churches, the monastery complex has: a three-tiered bell tower over the Holy Gates, hospital cells, 3 two-story monastic buildings, a hospice and a stone fence with towers.
Previously, outside the territory of the monastery there were 2 stone houses, cattle and horse yards, a cloth factory, a brick factory, a bakery and ponds.
Napoleonic invasion, 1812
A special milestone in the monastery’s history can be considered the Napoleonic invasion, which left indelible marks on the walls of the monastery in the form of marks from bullets and grapeshot, which the soldiers of the French army showered on the monks and civilians who took refuge within the walls of the monastery. In memory of these events, these military markings on the gate are still not removed.
In 1812, a real battle unfolded in the Maloyaroslavets area, in the center of which was the monastery, no longer active at that time. The gates of the monastery suffered the most; they were almost completely riddled with shrapnel and bullets. And yet the gates survived and thereby saved many lives. But it is not even this that deserves close attention, but the miracle that occurred associated with the face of Christ written above the gate. Neither before nor after the battle not a single bullet hit the icon depicting Jesus.
Local residents considered this a good sign and spread the news about it throughout Russia. It even reached Emperor Alexander I himself, who ordered the restoration of the monastery to begin in 1813.
The Emperor decided not only to restore the monastery and once again attract monks to its walls, but to turn these places into a monument to the events of the Patriotic War of 1812. The emperor's wishes were exactly fulfilled: in 1813 the monastic cells were restored and rebuilt, the following year the Korsun Church was built, and in 1821 the Holy Gate and bell tower were built.
In fact, by 1839, the restoration of the St. Nicholas Chernoostrovsky Monastery was completed, and in 1843, the illumination of its main temple, St. Nicholas Cathedral, built under the leadership of the architect Vitberg, took place.
Shrines[edit]
The monastery sacristy and the richest library were looted and destroyed in the first years of Soviet power; no ancient church utensils survived.
In the monastery there are two reliquary crosses of modern work, with many particles of holy relics, a carved crucifix with a particle of the Life-Giving Tree of the Cross of the Lord, the Robe of the Lord and a stone from the Holy Sepulcher.
The monastery houses a foot of the relics of St. Anthony of Optina, who for thirteen years was the abbot of the St. Nicholas Monastery and, as is known, suffered especially from leg disease here.
Many icons were donated over the years. Icons with particles of the relics of St. Kiev-Pechersk ascetics, Rev. Elders of Optina, Rev. Sergius of Radonezh, Rev. Seraphim of Sarov, Rev. Theodosius of Totem, St. John of Tobolsk, prepmts. St. Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, Bethlehem babies, Peter and Fevronia of Murom. There are also particles of the relics of the Athonite elder Joseph the Hesychast and the venerable martyr Cosmas Protus, killed by the Latins.
In the monastery cemetery there is the revered grave of Schema. Anthony (20th century).
Monastery territory
Despite the fact that the history of the Chernoostrovsky Monastery goes back five centuries, its modern appearance was formed only at the end of the 19th century. The currently operating monastery consists of three churches: St. Nicholas, All Saints and the Korsun Icon of the Mother of God.
The most worthy of attention is the St. Nicholas Church , erected in honor of the victory over the troops of Napoleon Bonaparte. The temple was built for more than three decades under the personal leadership of Archimandrite Macarius, who, unfortunately, did not see the completion of construction, which was completed only in 1843 under the abbot of St. Anthony of Optina.
The cathedral building is a rather majestic and grandiose structure up to 47 meters high. The single-domed roof of the temple has 4 columns at its base, forming in the middle something like a huge rotunda.
Near the cathedral there is a porch, from where an amazing view of the wide Russian expanses opens.
And from here you can go down to the Church of All Saints, which for a long time was used as a crypt for the burial of monks.
The second largest temple on the territory of the Chernoostrovsky convent is a two-story church, consecrated in honor of the Korsun Icon of the Mother of God .
In the churches of the St. Nicholas Monastery in Maloyaroslavets there are Orthodox shrines: a crucifix with a piece of the Life-Giving Cross and the Robe of the Lord, icons with the relics of the Kiev Pechersk saints, the Optina elders, Sergius of Radonezh, Seraphim of Sarov, Grand Duchess Elizabeth and many others.
Of course, the decoration of the territory is the tall white bell tower, which is located in the center of the monastery. It is impossible now to imagine that at the end of the 20th century only the lower tier remained of this snow-white beauty.
The road leading to the main St. Nicholas Church passes directly under the bell tower, through the Holy Gates. And here, inside, under the glass, there is a wooden sculpture of Nikolai Ugodnik, in front of which a lamp is burning.
The territory of the monastery is very beautiful, flowers are fragrant around.
Immediately beyond the entrance to the territory there is a chapel of the icon of the Mother of God “Consolation and Consolation”, where you can drink holy water.
To the right of the road is the building of the Orthodox shelter “Otrada” for girls and the temple consecrated in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Otrada and Consolation”.
It was very funny to watch how several teenage girls (orphan pupils) learned to roller skate with great enthusiasm and corresponding emotions. They accelerated along stone paths, slid down at speed and did not always successfully try to brake in front of the lawn (to the ringing laughter of their friends).
And if you go a little further and turn right from the bell tower, then here you can find a holy spring.
In order to collect consecrated spring water and plunge into the font, you need to go down the stone steps into the ravine.
How to get there[edit]
Directions:
You can get from Moscow to Maloyaroslavets in three ways: by train from the Kievsky railway station (travel time is about two hours), by bus (from the Yugo-Zapadnaya or Teply Stan metro stations), by your own car along the Kievskoe highway (turn to Maloyaroslavets - in Obninsk). To the city center, where the monastery is located, follow the signs.
Address:
Kaluga region, Maloyaroslavets, st. Kutuzova, 23.
Tel.:
(48431)2-14-69.
Official site.
Links[edit]
- History of the monastery on the website of the Maloyaroslavets Deanery
- Maloyaroslavets. Nicholas Chernoostrovsky Monastery. Photos
- Monasteries of the Kaluga diocese
- Abbots of the Chernoostrovsky Monastery
- Location of the Maloyaroslavets Chernoostrovsky Nikolaevsky Monastery
- History of the foundation of the Chernoostrovsky monastery
- The history of the Chernoostrovsky monastery from the first written information at the beginning of the 17th century until its abolition in 1775.
- History of the Chernoostrovsky Monastery from restoration in 1800 to 1862
- Churches and other buildings of the Chernoostrovsky Nikolaevsky Monastery
- Possessions of the Chernoostrovsky monastery from its origins to 1863
- Benefactors and funds of the Chernoostrovsky monastery
The first historical information about the monastery
The first mention of the existence of a monastery in Maloyaroslavets dates back to the beginning of the 17th century. But, apparently, the first buildings on its territory appeared two or three centuries earlier, which makes it impossible to determine the exact date of its foundation.
According to the most common version, the founders of the Nikolaev Chernoostrovsky monastery are the Obolensky princes, who built the St. Nicholas Church on the site of a wasteland at the end of the 14th century. But most likely, the princes had no direct relation to the emergence of monastic foundations in these parts. It is more likely that the first monks appeared here only in the 16th century, and by order of the princes, only the St. Nicholas Church itself was erected, which gave the name to the future monastery.
Be that as it may, already in the census books of the 17th-18th centuries there is a mention of vigorous activity within the walls of the Chernoostrovsky monastery. During the Time of Troubles, the monastery was destroyed almost to the ground, but already in 1659 it resumed its activities, restored at the expense of the local treasury and wealthy parishioners.
However, the abbot of the monastery was unable to completely resume his activities and attract the required number of monks. Gradually the buildings fell into disrepair, the monks began to beg, and the monastery was closed. This sad event happened in 1775, by which time only the most devoted monks remained here, who decided to restore the former glory of the monastery on their own.
