Description of the attraction
The Cheremenets Ioanno-Theological Monastery is located in the Luga region, on a peninsula on Lake Cheremenets. The first mention of Cheremenets in documents can be found in the Votskaya Pyatina Census Book of 1500, but it does not contain exact information when exactly it was founded. Historians have a version that the monastery arose at the end of the 15th century, but excavations carried out on the territory of the monastery indicate an earlier time of the monastery's origin.
According to legend, on the island where the monastery now stands, during the reign of Prince Ivan III in 1478, an icon of John the Theologian, the holy Apostle and Evangelist, appeared to Mokiy, a peasant in the village of Rusynya. Upon learning of this phenomenon, the prince ordered the founding of a monastery on the island in honor of this saint.
In the scribal books of Novgorod, which belong to the Shelonskaya pyatina, one can find information that among the monastery buildings in 1581-1582. there were cells, churches, a mill, stables. All buildings, except for the cathedral, were made of wood.
In 1680 the monastery was conquered by Lithuanian troops, some of the brethren were taken prisoner, and some were beaten. All the monastic cells were burned, but the monastery buildings and temples survived. Later, the monastery was rebuilt again.
The monastery has always been independent, only at the end of the 17th century. an attempt was made to attribute it to the Vyazhischsky Nikolaevsky monastery near Novgorod. But local landowners stood up for the Cheremenets monastery, and the monastery managed to maintain its independence, despite the fact that its treasury, bread and papers were taken to Vyazhischi.
During the reign of Catherine II during the establishment of the states, in 1764 the monastery was "out of the state", on its own support. The monastic treasury consisted of donations from pilgrims, income from land and private donations.
After the revolutionary events of 1917, an agricultural cartel was created in the monastery, where the remaining monks worked. The rest of the monastery was given to a children's boarding school, which was separated from the monastery by barbed wire.
In 1930 the monastery was closed, and its premises were given to the Krasny Oktyabr artel. Almost all the monks were arrested. The cemetery with the burials of local nobles and abbots of the monastery was completely destroyed. Subsequently, a gardening school was located here, and from 1967 until 1980 - the Cheremenets tourist base, the remains of which still remain on the monastery territory.
In 1995, the Inspectorate for the Protection of Monuments began work to preserve the structures of the St. John the Theological Cathedral. In 1997, the monastery was returned to its status with the blessing of the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga. On May 21, 1999, on the patronal feast of the monastery, the icon of St. John the Theologian was transferred from the Luga Kazan Cathedral to the monastery. In 2000, the former Kinovia of the St. Petersburg Alexander Nevsky Lavra was handed over to the monastery courtyard.
There were two churches in the monastery: the main one was the St. John the Theological Cathedral with five chapters, built in the 16th century. from white limestone (stood on a mound in the center of the island), and a small stone church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, which was built in 1707 on the site of the wooden church of the Nativity of the Virgin.
Above the porch of the Theological Cathedral towered a high bell tower in the form of an octagonal pillar, crowned with a dome with a cross. They sailed to the island by boats. The pier was located on the south side, and the main gate was also located there. There was another entrance near the main gate. A hotel was built between the entrance to the fence and the gates of the monastery. There was another inn nearby, converted from a grain barn. Behind these buildings, an orchard was laid out along the entire gentle slope. At the end of the 19th century. made the third entrance to the monastery. It was located in the southeastern part of the island and became the main one. A road ran along the isthmus connecting the island with the coast to this entrance. The cells were built into the fence of the monastery. At the end of the 19th century. built a stone brotherly refectory and a building for the brothers.
Workshops were organized in the monastery: a shoemaker's and a tailor's. There were also utility rooms: a brewery, a bakery, a glacier. Vegetable gardens and outbuildings were located on a small island, which was later added to the main island.
By the beginning of the 20th century. quite a lot of buildings were located on the island: a dairy, a barn, a cowshed, a hay barn, a glacier, a smithy, baths, a barn with a barn, laundries. The monastery provided itself with everything necessary.
In 1903, according to the project developed by the engineer-architect N. G. Kudryavtsev, a wooden building of the parish school, which consisted of two floors, was erected. The monks of the Cheremenets monastery taught the peasant children of the surrounding villages.
In 1914 the project of the cathedral in the Byzantine style was approved by N. G. Kudryavtsev, but work on its construction was never started due to the outbreak of the war.
Today, the central place of the composition of the monastery is the ruins of the Theological Cathedral, which stands on the highest point of the hill. Nearby there is a small belfry on wooden supports. Here is the almost restored Church of the Transfiguration, from which an ancient stone staircase leads to the foot of the hill.
The shrine of the monastery is a miraculous revealed icon of John the Theologian of the 15th century. In 1895, the Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich presented her with a large silver lamp.
