Description of the attraction
In the city of Suzdal, on one of the banks of the Kamenka River, there is an ancient Alexander Monastery. According to ancient legends, it was built with the support of Alexander Nevsky, because in 1240 he decided to build a monastery in honor of the victory over the Swedish troops and consecrate it in the name of his guardian angel.
It is known that in the 14th century the monastery was especially popular among Moscow princes, for example, Ivan Kalita himself, and also his son Ivan bequeathed large land plots to the monastery. From that moment on, the Alexandrovskaya women's monastery, which soon became a man's, began to be called the "Great Lavra". There is an opinion that during this period of time the monastery was a burial vault intended for the Suzdal princesses, because this is evidenced by several surviving gravestones, on which there were inscriptions - Agrippina (1362) and Maria (1363).
The first buildings were made of wood and have not survived to this day. From 1608 to 1610, the Polish-Lithuanian army literally completely burned Suzdal, and along with it, the Alexander monastery. Many decades passed when the long-awaited revival of the monastery began. In 1695, the Metropolitan of the city of Suzdal received from Natalya Kirillovna - the mother of Peter the Great and the Tsarina - funds for the purpose of building a new church with a bell tower, which after construction was consecrated in the name of the feast of the Ascension of the Lord.
In the first decades of the 18th century, one of the most demanded and talented craftsmen of the city of Suzdal, I. Gryaznov, independently surrounded the Alexander Monastery with a high stone fence, equipped with turrets, which were elegantly stylized as defensive structures; this man also built the Holy Gates.
In the middle of 1764, when Empress Catherine II was carrying out a reform concerning the secularization of lands, it was envisaged to close a number of monasteries. According to the surviving sources, the Alexander monastery was to be abolished, while the main church of the monastery - Voznesenskaya - began to act as a parish church.
At the end of 2006, the Alexander Monastery was transferred under the authority of the Vladimir-Suzdal diocese, so it again resumed its work only as a men's monastery.
There is a bell tower at the monastery, which is located next to the Ascension Church. The bell tower can be seen from afar; it impresses with its height and stateliness due to its slender tent. The uniqueness of the bell tower lies in the fact that it is the only one in the whole of Suzdal, built according to the hipped-roof type and does not contain any facade decorations. The belfry is characterized by an octahedral massive pillar, which is placed on a small low quadrangle, in fact, completely devoid of decorative design. The tent is decorated with modest arched openings, and is also equipped with dormer window openings; it perfectly emphasizes the clean and even edges of the quadrangle. From the very top of the belfry, you can see an amazingly beautiful panorama that opens up all the environs of the city of Suzdal.
The Alexander monastery is surrounded by a brick fence built in the 18th century along the entire perimeter; only some fragments have survived from it, as well as the main gate, equipped with a gate tower. The architectural design of the gate is very simple - there are two octons, which are stacked on top of each other and covered with planks. In the very first tier of the gate, there is a wide passable arch, while the upper part of the tower is crowned with a small dome. It is important to note that it is no coincidence that the entire ensemble of gates is very similar to the Holy Gates of the famous Monastery of the Robe. Both objects were designed and built by the same master named Ivan Gryaznov, who played a key role in the construction of the Monastery of the Robe.
One of the most important churches of the Alexander monastery is the Ascension Cathedral, which today is called the Alexandria Cathedral. The temple has two side-chapels, one of which is warm and is intended for worship in the winter season.
