Description of the attraction
The Kyltovsky Exaltation of the Cross Monastery is the first women's monastery in the Komi Republic, which was built at the end of the 19th century. The Exaltation of the Cross Monastery is located in the village of Kyltovo, Knyazhpogostsky District.
The site for the construction of the monastery was not chosen by chance. According to legend, the "Cross of the San" (so named after the wooden cross located here) is associated with divine providence. According to the stories of the nuns of the monastery, a pious Christian lived here as a hermit, who placed a large wooden cross next to his hut. When he died, the lost travelers found the emitting cross. Therefore, a place on the banks of the river. Kyltovka was named "Cross Camp", and that wonderful cross is still kept in the monastery and has the gift of healing. In addition, the monastery is called the Exaltation of the Cross in honor of the feast of the Exaltation of the Life-Giving Cross.
The opinion about the date of the appearance of the cross in this place is ambiguous. Researcher Gagarin Yu. V. says that the relic was created in 1862 and connects the legend of its appearance with the name of the elder Vasily Pesterev, who drowned in the 1820s. in Vymi. The nuns of the Kyltov Monastery and Hieromonk Tikhon are sure that the cross was created much earlier - in the 18th century.
The Kyltov Monastery was revived in 1995, after which it attracted a lot of public attention. The history of its creation is interesting.
The question of creating an Orthodox women's monastery in Komi was raised back in the 1860s. The project of creating a monastery for the training of daughters of priests in the Ust-Sysolsk district belonged to Alexander Zavarin. Initially, it was proposed to set up a monastery in Vatch or Ust-Vymi, but due to lack of funds, the matter never stopped. Only in 1888, due to the need for a "spiritual educational institution" and to strengthen the position of the official church on lands with Old Believer influences, the construction of a women's monastery began "formally". In 1890, the Stefanovskaya wooden church, a two-storey Gostiny house made of wood, a two-storey wooden storeroom and a log cellar were built.
The construction of the monastery became possible after the merchant Afanasy Bulychev, the owner of the Seregovsky salt plant and the ship owner in 1892 for these purposes donated 2,5 thousand acres of land together with the outbuildings in Kyltovo and 17, 5 thousand rubles for the maintenance of the monastery. A. Bulychev, as the owner of the factory, was interested in creating an almshouse at the monastery for the widows of the factory workers; in the first five years, the merchant promised to supply bread, salt and sea fish to the monastery at the rate of 20 monks.
By 1893, about 20 acres of land were sown with bread, bricks were brought in for the construction of a church and a residential building, church utensils, furniture, liturgical books, dishes, bells were prepared. In 1893 a decision was made to open a monastery; it began to operate in 1894.
In the Holy Cross Monastery in Kyltovo, nuns settled, who came from the Shenkuren Monastery, they were led by the future abbess Filiret. In a relatively short period of time, a stone cathedral, a wooden church, one stone and five wooden dwelling and utility buildings were built in the Kyltov Monastery, and a stone fence was erected. The Kyltov Monastery had a large economy: in addition to land, a tar-making and pottery factories, a herd of 40 cows, and large sums of money.
The Kyltovsky monastery was a major center of religion in the Komi region. Local shrines, including the one cut down by the elder V. Nesterov's cross attracted many pilgrims. In the fall of 1911, the construction of a five-domed stone church in the Russian-Byzantine style was completed. The temple was consecrated in honor of the Reverend Solovetsky miracle workers Savvaty and Zosima. In total, by 1911 there were 44 buildings in the possession of the monastery. A gold embroidery workshop and the only icon-painting workshop in the region worked in the monastery.
In 1918 the monastery was closed, but the community continued to operate until 1923 as a labor agricultural cooperative, where former nuns worked. Later, almost all of them were repressed.
In 1923, on the territory of the former monastery, a “Kyltovsky children's town” was organized for homeless children. There was a kindergarten, a state farm "Kyltovo", two elementary schools, a blacksmith's, sewing, shoemaking, carpentry, and other production training workshops. In 1930, the Children's Town was liquidated. The agricultural department of Ukhtpechlag was organized here, and then Sevzheldorlag.
Now, part of the fence, the cathedral, and the rebuilt fraternal building have survived from the buildings of the monastery. In 1971 the monastery was taken under protection as an architectural monument.
Today the monastery has been revived. Abbess Stephanida is his abbess. On the territory of the monastery there are two active churches: the Monk Athanasius of Athos and the Monks Zosima and Savvaty.
