For tourists traveling along the routes of the "Golden Ring" of Russia, the beautiful building of the Cathedral in Ivanovo, where the residence of the Ivanovo-Voznesensky and Kineshemsky Metropolitan is located, is of great interest. This temple is located on the territory of a male monastery, which opened in the late 1990s. Of the twelve monasteries existing in the diocese, seven, like the Holy Dormition, were created from members of parish communities. And they all continue the ancient traditions of Russian monasticism.
History of the monastery
In the southeast of modern Ivanovo, from the beginning of the 18th century, there was the Assumption Pogost. In 1815, monks from the Intercession Monastery, with the permission of Archimandrite Xenophon, moved a wooden church to this old cemetery. And five years later, a bell tower was erected at the old church, the project of which, executed in the traditions of mature classicism, was prepared by the provincial architect Evgraf Yakovlevich Petrov.
View of the Assumption Monastery in urban development
However, time passed, and the wooden church grew old and destroyed. Therefore, E.Ya. Petrov created a project for a new brick church. The sponsors of the expensive stone construction were the Ivanovo-Voznesensk industrialists - Nikolai Stepanovich Shodchin and Kosma Ivanovich Butrimov. Large-scale construction work lasted for 9 years. Finishing the building was already financed by Anton Nikolaevich Shodchin. The cemetery church was finally ready by the fall of 1843, and was consecrated by Archimandrite Polycarp.
The facades of the temple were decorated in the spirit of classicism, and several ancient icons were brought here from the old wooden church. It is interesting that for all the icon-painting images, benefactors ordered salaries made of wrought silver with gilding. In the 70-80s of the XIX century, a refectory was added to the temple and connected to the bell tower building.
View of the Assumption Monastery from Smirnov Street
In the early 1920s, the young Soviet state carried out massive seizures of expensive church utensils from Orthodox churches. The Assumption Church was no exception, and 288 kg of silver items were taken out of it, many of which were of great historical and artistic value. Later, in 1924, the Ivanovo authorities described the personal belongings of the church head Nikolai Terentyevich Shchapov and accused him of hiding valuables from requisition. Under this pretext, the lease agreement with the Orthodox community was not renewed, and the religious building was transferred to the local branch of the Renovationists, the so-called "Living Church".
The black streak in the history of the temple did not end there. In 1933, when the Soviet state was actively fighting religion, the Assumption Church was closed, and the old churchyard was razed to the ground. At the same time, tombstones were used for the manufacture of road curbs. On the former cemetery land, the Melange Combine set up its own park of culture and recreation and built a dance floor, a reading room and a summer cinema on the former graves under the telling name "Balagan". Although the place was given over to mass entertainment, the townspeople remembered its history and began to call the park of culture “the park of the living and the dead”.
View of the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Assumption Monastery
Since 1933, a dormitory was made in the church and even in its altar, in which about 180 people (49 families) lived. Over the next several decades, the temple continued to collapse, and its interior was completely destroyed. And although the main volume of the religious building was preserved well, in the middle of the last century the church chapters and side porticos were completely demolished. And only the lower tier was left from the church bell tower and a shower room was equipped in this room. Since 1950, the rebuilt church building has been used by Ivgoreletroset, an enterprise serving electrical communications in Ivanovo.
The Assumption Church was one of seven in Ivanovo that survived the years of Soviet power. And he became the last of the old temples that the state returned to the believers. In 1992, an initiative group of Christians registered the Dormition parish, and three years later divine services were resumed here.
By the decree of the Ivanovo Archbishop, the church first received the status of a temple under the monastic community. Then, in the spring of 1998, after the restoration was carried out by order of Patriarch Alexy, the Dormition Monastery was opened.
The current state of the monastery and the visiting regime
More than 25 inhabitants live in the monastery and its courtyards. Today one of the main activities of the monastery is active social service. Monks help the needy residents of Ivanovo and displaced persons, and also constantly visit city hospitals and orphans. In addition, courses for parishioners operate at the monastery, youth and scout movements are developing, and a bishop's choir has been created.
Interior of the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The monastic territory on Smirnov Street in Ivanovo, with an area of more than 3 hectares, is surrounded by a brick wall. It is open for visits daily from 10.00 to 17.00. At the former monastery cemetery, there is a veneration cross in memory of all those buried here. The role of the lost bell tower is played by a small graceful memorial chapel, erected in the monastery courtyard in 2002. In addition, the construction of a new 4-storey building was recently completed.
In addition to the land in the city itself, the men's monastery has two farmsteads in the Ivanovo district. Kazanskoe is located in the village. Kotsyno, on Shkolnaya street, 17, and the Znamensky skete - in the village. Bunkovo. In addition to them, the monastery courtyard is also the Church of the Resurrection of the Word, which is located in the village. Tolpygino of the Privolzhsky district of the region on Central street, 25.
View of the Church of the Royal Passion-Bearers of the Assumption Monastery
The monastery also supervises four Orthodox churches in the village. Lezhnevo and two hospital churches in Ivanovo - the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and the church dedicated to the image of the Mother of God "Assistant in childbirth."
There are two churches in the Ivanovo male monastery - the Assumption and the Royal Passion-Bearers. The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was re-consecrated in 1995. In addition to the main chapel, it has side chapels dedicated to the Nativity of John the Baptist and the Holy Great Martyr Barbara. More recently, in 2014, this temple received the status of the cathedral of the diocese, and after a major reconstruction, church services are held here daily at 8.00 and 17.00.
View of the Church of the Royal Martyrs from the side of the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The main volume of this beautiful five-domed church is a two-tiered quadrangle covered with a four-pitched roof. Its lower tier is double-height, and the upper tier is deaf and only has false decorative openings. The semicircular apse of the altar consists of three parts and is noticeably lowered in comparison with the main volume of the temple.
The Church of the Royal Passion-Bearers was built in the monastery park. This picturesque one-domed temple has been hosting believers since 2007.
View of the territory of the Assumption Monastery from the Church of the Royal Passion-Bearers
How to get there
The monastery is located on the street. Smirnova, 76, in the Leninsky district of Ivanovo.
By car. On the M7 highway from the capital to Ivanovo, you can drive 4.5-5 hours (290 km). From the southern outskirts of the city you need to go along the Lezhnevskaya and Bubnova streets, and then turn right onto the street. Smirnova, on which the monastery is located.
Monastery bell tower
By train or bus. From the Yaroslavsky railway station in Moscow to Ivanovo, the train reaches in 7 hours. The railway station is located in the central part of Ivanovo. In addition, it takes 6 hours to get from the Central Bus Station in Moscow near the Shchelkovskaya metro station to Ivanovo by direct or transit buses.The bus station in Ivanovo operates in the southern part of the city and is 6.5 km away from the railway station. Bus number 8 and trolleybus number 5 go around the city to the monastery - stop "Male Monastery" ("Social town").
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