Description of the attraction
The Staraya Ladoga Nikolsky Monastery is located in the village of Staraya Ladoga, on the left bank of the Volkhov River, five hundred meters from the Rurik Fortress. Today it is a monastic monastery and a historical monument of the glory and piety of the Russian people.
The monastery was founded in the 12-13th centuries. Most likely, the Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was built at the same time. Its foundation dates back to the time of the victory of Prince Alexander Nevsky over the Swedish invaders in 1240.
The first documented information about the monastery is found in the census quitrent books of the Vodskaya pyatina and Obonezhskaya pyatina in 1496, which included the monastery. There were about 20 villages behind the monastery. According to the census of 1628, in the Nikolsky monastery there were two stone churches: in honor of St. John Chrysostom and in honor of St. Nicholas. By order of the Novgorod Metropolitan, Korniliy, in 1695 the Tikhvin Church, built in the Zelenetsky Monastery, was dismantled and moved to the Nikolsky Monastery.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the monks brought here the relics of the Monks Herman and Sergius of Valaam. They stayed here until 1718, and then they were transferred to the Valaam Monastery.
In 1810, a district and parish school for the children of the clergy was opened at the monastery. From 1841 to 1862, a school for children living in the village worked at the monastery. In 1924 the monastery and cathedral were closed. And in Soviet times, a school, warehouses for agricultural machinery, dormitories were located on the territory of the monastery. Most of the buildings fell into disrepair. It was only by a miracle that the beautiful paintings in the Church of St. John Chrysostom were preserved. In 1974, St. Nicholas Cathedral was included in the list of architectural monuments of national importance. By the time the Nikolsky Monastery was handed over to the Orthodox Church, the Church of St. Nicholas, the Church of St. John Chrysostom, a number of monastery buildings and a bell tower were preserved in it.
According to legend, St. Nicholas Cathedral appeared in 1241. By the beginning of the 18th century, it had four chapels: Dimitrievsky, Annunciation, Tikhvin Antipievsky and five chapters. Today the building has one chapter and is divided by vaults into two floors - the church itself and the basement.
On the site of a dilapidated 17th century church in 1860-1873, designed by the architect A. M. Gornostayev, the Church of St. John Chrysostom was built. On the walls, vaults and arches of the temple, painting in the form of gospel subjects, made in the style of academic realism, as well as a Byzantine drawing, a geometric ornament, has been preserved to this day.
The bell tower was built in 1691-1692 by Tikhvin craftsmen. Previously, it was crowned with 10 bells, the weight of the largest of them was 100 pounds (it was donated to the monastery by the merchant Alexei Golubkov in 1864 in memory of the deceased merchant Elena). There was also a striking clock on the bell tower, which was later requested to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery.
In the center of the eastern wall is the Holy Gates, which were also built by Tikhvin craftsmen in 1691. The monastery cemetery was located between the temples. The monastery was surrounded by a stone fence, built in 1834-1839. Four stone towers stood at its corners. A chapel was located in one of the towers.
The Ioannovsky Cathedral was attributed to the monastery, which was part of the Old Ladoga Ioannovsky Monastery, founded in 1276 (there are two springs on its territory, one is named after Paraskeva Pyatnitsa). The following were also attributed to the Nikolsky Monastery: the Transfiguration Church in the village of Chernavino on the other bank of the Volkhov and the Church of St. Basil the Great.
The shrine of the monastery is a particle of the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker, which V. V. Goloshchapov brought from Bari. She was brought to the monastery on November 22, 2002 by Metropolitan Vladimir of St. Petersburg and Ladoga. Today, the monastery also contains particles of relics: St. Theodosius Archbishop of Chernigov; Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene; The Monk Lawrence of Chernigov; Holy Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon; new martyrs - Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna and nun Barbara.
Now the monastery continues its revival by the forces of benefactors and monastics.
