Description of the attraction
The Joseph Volotsky Monastery near Volokolamsk is one of the most picturesque places in the Moscow region. This is both an Orthodox shrine and a powerful fortress of the 17th century, with white-stone walls decorated with tiles and brick patterns. Now it is a functioning monastery, on the territory of which a unique Bible museum is located.
Joseph Volotsky - the founder of the monastery
Saint Joseph of Volotsk lived at the end of the 14th - beginning of the 15th century. For 18 years he was a monk of the monastery in Borovsk and the closest student St. Pafnutia Borovsky … After his death, he was appointed abbot, but the monks did not accept him - and then he left to found his own monastery near Volokolamsk. Joseph himself was from a Volotsk noble family Sanin, there were their ancestral estates. Joseph had friendly relations with the son of the Moscow prince for a long time Vasily the Dark Boris, who was the Volotsk prince during those years.
1479 is considered the year of the foundation of the monastery. Allocated funds for it prince Boris … In those years, a dense forest grew here, but legend says that a terrible storm cleared the place for the monastery. At first, the monastery consisted of several wooden cells and a small church near the spring, but already in 1486 a stone was built Cathedral in honor of the Assumption of the Virgin … Paints it famous Dionysius … Joseph himself draws up the charter for the monastery. The charter is "communal", that is, all the property of the fraternity is considered common and all are equal to each other.
Joseph Volotsky was a writer and theologian. He defended the right of the Church to have earthly riches. He and his followers, Josephites ”, Argued with the movement of the so-called“non-possessors”, who believed that a monk should think exclusively about God, and not be concerned with the economy. Joseph thought that the church should be strong, that its mission is preaching and charity, and without money it is impossible to carry out active good. This problem is still being debated. One way or another, his monastery and the monasteries founded by his students were rich, reasonably organized, and could help the surrounding residents: they treated, fed in hungry years and gave them the opportunity to earn money. He also cared about preaching - he owns the opinion that heretics who embarrass the people should be persecuted by the state. Joseph died in 1515, and already in 1579 he was canonized.
Famous prisoners
Under Joseph, the monastery grew rapidly. The Volotsk prince and princess donate the surrounding lands to him. In the monastery itself starts book correspondence workshop … In the middle of the 16th century, stone construction continued actively. A wall with nine towers is being erected here: the monastery becomes one of the most powerful fortresses protecting the Russian lands from the northwest.
After the canonization of the founder, pilgrims flow here, and the fortifications begin to be used as a place of imprisonment for state criminals and heretics - you cannot escape from here. Here sat the famous non-possessor Vassian the Kosoy, who at one time argued with Joseph, and eventually died in captivity in his monastery. Another non-possessor, "the first Russian intellectual", was serving a harsh sentence here. Maxim the Greek … Now both the one and the other are canonized and revered in the monastery on an equal basis with the founder.
During the Time of Troubles, the monastery fortress takes an active part in hostilities. The monastery maintains Vasily Shuisky, and in 1606 he was besieged by the troops of the rebel against him Ivan Bolotnikov … But this time it was not possible to take the fortress. But after four years it is occupied by a Polish detachment. hetman Rozhinsky … Artillery is transported here from Tushino. But in 1610 the Russian-German-French troops knocked the Poles out of the monastery. Some of the cannons remain in the monastery in memory of the liberation.
And then he himself is imprisoned here Vasily Shuisky … He was overthrown and forcibly tonsured into a monk. The former tsar spends some time in the Joseph Volotsk monastery until he is taken to Poland.
During the fighting, the monastery was badly damaged, so in the middle of the 17th century, a grandiose construction began here. Almost the entire modern complex of the monastery was built at that time.
Walls and towers
New fortress walls are being erected by the master Trofim Ignatiev … These are powerful walls with three rows of loopholes. The main fortifications are located in the northwest: Lithuania and Poland are still considered the main opponents. The attack is expected from there. All towers are made different - they have from eight to twenty-four faces. Two towers had stone ends, the rest were wooden (they were replaced by stone ones already in the 18th century). The tallest tower, Kuznechnaya, is forty-four meters high. The thickness of its walls is two and a half meters. The stairs inside the towers could enter the passage inside the wall between the narrow loopholes and fire at the enemy.
But the walls and towers were not only of strategic importance. The snow-white towers with tiled patterns were also beautiful and still boggle the imagination. Each tower has its own unique decorations and patterns.
Assumption Cathedral
The building that has survived to this day - 1692 year the buildings. This is an example of classical Moscow architecture of the 17th century: a majestic five-domed temple, decorated with belts of tiles, carved half-columns, architraves and cornices. The temple has large windows for this time, so it was always light inside. The iconostasis was also carved. Some of the icons from its oldest part have survived to our time and are now in the Museum. Rublev in Moscow. The murals of the temple have changed significantly over time. It was last painted in 1904 by a Palekh painter N. Safonov … The same artel will later paint the Faceted Chamber in Moscow. The lower church of the monastery was rebuilt in the 18th century from the burial vault of the Volokolamsk princes and monastic abbots. A temple was built here, dedicated to Joseph Volotsky himself, and his relics are now located here.
Nearby was a stone Bell tower with chimes. In the middle of the 19th century, it began to tilt and it took a long time to strengthen and rebuild. But the bell tower did not survive to this day - it was blown up in 1941.
In addition to the main cathedral, the monastery is interesting refectory, built on the model of the Moscow Palace of Facets around one pillar, abbot's corps and treasurer's corps … In 1679 over the holy gates was built an elegant gate church of Peter and Paul.
XX-XXI centuries
After the revolution, this monastery, like many others, was turned into “ labor commune . All the same monks lived here, and the abbot became the chairman. In 1922 the commune was also liquidated. The monastery became orphanage, arranged in the cathedral cinema, and the main values were dispersed in the capital's museums.
In 1941, battles broke out around the fortress again. The front line passed along the Volokolamsk direction: Soviet troops, stubbornly resisting, retreated. When retreating from the monastery, the bell tower was blown up - after all, Moscow was visible from it. In the fall of 1941, the territory of the monastery was occupied by the Germans, and in the winter of 1941 it was liberated again. After the war, the orphanage returned here.
The monastery was returned to the Church in 1988. Have been opened relics of St. Joseph … With the blessing of the abbot, a scientific study of the body was carried out. The approximate date of death was confirmed and even a disease was diagnosed, which gave the picture that is described in the life: weakness, exhaustion and severe headaches. Since 2001 cancer with relics exhibited in the lower temple of the cathedral for worship.
In 2004, the chains of St. Joseph were officially handed over to the monastery from the museum; now they are also exhibited in the Assumption Cathedral. In 2009 was installed monument to st. Joseph works of the sculptor S. Isakov.
One of the shrines of the monastery is Volokolamsk Icon of the Virgin … This is an exact copy of the Vladimir Icon, according to legend, made in 1572 by order and vow of a certain nobleman. This nobleman is considered Grigory Belsky, better known to us as famous Malyuta Skuratov, oprichnik and associate of Ivan the Terrible. The monastery believes that before his death, Malyuta repented of all his crimes, and the icon donated by him immediately began to work miracles. Now the icon itself is in the museum. A. Rublev in Moscow, and her exact list is honored in the monastery.
Malyuta Skuratov-Belsky was generally connected with this monastery quite closely. Here his father and one of the brothers were monks, and here he was buried. The king himself Ivan the Terrible and Malyuta's relatives gave rich donations to the monastery for the commemoration of his soul.
Bible Museum
Now the monastery houses a unique museum - the Museum of the Bible. This is a continuation of traditions, because once there was a workshop for rewriting books and a huge monastery library. In the museum you can see unique books: Bible of 1581, richly engraved Elizabethan Bible of 1751, modern Bibles in various editions. The oldest book of the museum - French Bible 1568 … The museum occupies three halls in total. A separate exposition is dedicated to the Volokolamsk Metropolitan Pitirim - the first abbot of the revived monastery.
Not far from the monastery is skete of all saints … It was founded in 1855 on the site of the very first cell of St. Joseph and the source he once found. The building of the almshouse of 1903 has been preserved there - in Soviet times there was a hospital in the skete. Now the skete is being revived.
Interesting Facts
In 2013, a commemorative 25-ruble coin with the silhouette of the monastery was minted.
It was here that the battle scenes of the film "War and Peace" based on the novel by L. Tolstoy directed by S. Bondarchuk were filmed. The population of the surrounding villages was employed as extras. Now the monastery has a memorial plaque dedicated to these filming.
The monastery now bakes its own bread and produces its own dairy products.
On a note
- Location: Moscow region, Volokolamsk district, Teryaevo village.
- How to get there: By train in the Riga direction from Moscow to the station. Volokolamsk, then by bus to the station. with. Teryaevo.
- Official website:
- Free admission.
