The most venerable Sergius retreated into the wilderness, seeking solitude. After the first students came to him, for a long time there were exactly twenty of them, according to the number of apo-hundred fishing; however, subsequently the number of foreigners in the abode increased significantly, and some of them -or their abode with the same community-but-residential charter, which was adopted in the monastery of the Holy Trinity-and- tsy. It is believed that the scholars and spiritual friends of Sergius, who founded new monasteries, were near lo-so-ro-ka, and about five-de-sya-of these mo-na-sty-rays have built their own abode.

Ar-hi-epi-skop Nik-kon (Rozh-des-tven-sky), author from-dan-no-go in Ser-gi-e-vom Po-sa-de in 1885 “Zhi -tiya Ser-gia Ra-do-tender-sko-go”, in her book, ma-ket ko-roy, decorated gra-vu-ra-mi Ra-shev-sko -th, presented at the exhibition, two chapters are dedicated to the teachings of the pre-eminent: to those who lived in the family no obi-te-li, and by the fact that I served the Lord for her pre-de-la-mi.

On right: Services and lives of Sergius and Nikon of Radonezh. 1768. Cursive writing. L. 1, 120 rev. - scribal records
Aleksandrovsky administrative affairs of the sub-office clerk Ivan Zubov. L. 1, vol. - output thumbnail
in paints with the image of Rev. Sergius. L. 2 - table of contents. NIOR RSL, f. 178/I (Museum collection), No. 3061.1.
Left: Collection of stories and legends. Con. XVIII - beginning XIX century. Cursive. L. 1 vol. — 26 rev. — “The Tale
about the Mamaev massacre." L. 17 rev. — “Message from Abbot Sergius.” L. 19 - drawing “Duel of Peresvet”
and Chelubey." Feather, coloring book. NIOR RSL, f. 344 (Collection of Shibanov P.N.), No. 186.

We learn about many of them from the life, which was carefully and lovingly compiled by the teaching of Sergius, foreign-com Tro-i-tse-Ser-gi-e-va mo-na-sty-rya, for-me-cha-tel-Russian spiritual pi-sa-te-lem Epi- fa-ni-em the Most Wise, in 1417-1418, that is, a quarter of a century after the death of the saint. This life in the se-re-di-not of the 15th century is partly re-ra-bo-tal and do-pol-nil but-you are a chu-de-sa-mi scribe and Hagio-Count Pa-ho-miy Lo-go-fet (he received the order for this work, apparently, in connection with the ob-re- those-no-relics in 1422 and the number of saints). In the future life, more than once, the -you-mi chu-de-sa-mi.

There are many lists of the life of Sergius in different editions, and the question is about the number of these editions in the -I don’t consider it settled yet. But one way or another, in the lists presented in the ex-position, and the earliest of them date back to the 15th century , we see a story about the miraculous vision of Sergius, and a chapter about Isa-a-ki silently, who pre- -a similar blessing was said about the foreign movement, and the news about the battle over Ma-ma-em, in some -a swarm of blessings and prayers for the help of the abbot of Tro-its-ko-go-on-sta-rya-play-ra-whether not-appreciated- no role (image of the bit-you foreigner Tro-its-ko-mo-na-sta-rya Aleksandr Per-re-sve-ta, who-ro-th Ser-giy bla-go-said on the abuse, with the military ta-ta-ri-n Che-lu-be-em we see on mi-ni-a-ty-re from collection from the end of the 17th century). Lists of life tell us about the creation of new mo-na-sty-rays - Kir-zhach-skogo, An-d-ro-ni-ko- va, Si-mo-no-va, Go-lutvin-sko-go and others - with Ser-gi-em or his ino-ka-mi.

According to the lists of the life of Sergius, at the exhibition you can get acquainted with the Russian lives and services of his father -according to the similar teachings of Ni-ko-nu Ra-do-tender-sko-mu, Sav-ve Sto-ro-zhev-sko-mu, Afa-na-this you-soc-ko- mu, Av-ra-amiya Ga-lits-ko-mu (otherwise - Chukh-lom-sko-mu), Kir-ril-lu Be-lo-zer-sko-mu, Gri-go-riu Pe- l-shem-sko-mu. In the in-the-res-shy collection of the 16th century we are looking at the lives of saints Dmitry Pri-luts-ko, Paul Ob-nor-sko-go, Sav-you Sto-ro-zhev-sko-go and Ste-fa-na Makhri-shchskogo. After all, it’s true that you don’t need to go to the students of Sergius, but to his friends and co-workers -kam, like Saint Ste-fa-na of Perm, the life of someone, a decorated mi-ni-a-ty-roy, so -same pre-sta-le-but on you-sta-ke. In the singing gathering of the 17th century, in the service of the pre-additional Kirill Be-lo-zer-sky on the crus -ko-vyh but-tah.

Left: Life St. Sergius Radonezhsky. XVI century Half-tired. L. 1 - Life of the Venerable
and our God-bearing father Sergius the Wonderworker. L. 165 rev. - The word is commendable to our reverend father
Sergius. NIOR RSL, f. 304/I (Collection of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra), No. 698.
On right: View of the Moscow stauropegial Simonov Monastery.The monastery was founded in 1370 with the blessing of St. Sergius of Radonezh by his student and nephew - Venerable Feodor. The Monk Sergius of Radonezh considered the Simonov Monastery to be a “branch” of his Trinity Monastery and always stayed here when he came to Moscow on business.

By the way, you will see the lists of lives of the most well-known and most well-known in Russia saints—students of Sergius. And those saints, whose lives are rarely found in Russian literature, are listed in the “Book, Chapter” go-le-my Description of the Russian saints.” This book presents a list of Russian saints, about each of whom there are two or three lines, but if the saint was a student of Sergius, this is certainly mentioned.

At the exhibition, a re-lik-viya from the funds from-de-la ru-ko-pi-sey - Evan-ge-lie, priz- above-the-le-having-neck of the student and the closest-to-she-pre-e-ku Ser-gia - pre-pre-ne-to-no-to Ra-do-tender -sko-mu, - per-ga-men-naya ru-co-writing of the ru-be-zha of the 14th-15th centuries.

It is important to note that in the hand-written book tradition, the life of Sergius and his service very often coexist with life -ti-eat and service-battle to Ra-to-tender-sko-mu, and hand-co-writing, completing ex-po-zi-tion, presenting -this is exactly the collection. Its specialness is that it was re-pi-sa-na from the printing of 1646, where the life of Sergius is was edited by Si-mo-na Azary-na, to-the-complete-no-no-you-chu-de-sa-mi.

In a separate display, there are three beautiful anniversaries from 2014 - an album, from Tro- and-tse-Ser-gi-e-voy lav-roy, and ka-ta-lo-gi exhibition in the Museum of Ancient Russian Art named after. An-drey Rub-le-va and in the State-Dar-ts-t-ri-che-sky Museum. The last one lasts until October 13, 2014, and features several significant memorials -kov from the fund-dov from-de-la ru-ko-pi-sey RSL.

Left: Collection of liturgical choirs. Second floor. XVII century. Half-written and cursive. L. 23 - service
in memory of our venerable father Kirill, abbot of Belozersky. NIOR RSL, f. 218 (department meeting
manuscripts), No. 101.
On right: Service and life of Kirill Belozersky. 17th century NIOR RSL, f. 310 (Collection of V. M. Undolsky),
№ 1166.

During the disasters of the Russian people caused by the Tatar invasion, the Orthodox Church did not limit itself to moral teachings alone, but gave society high examples of Christian feat. Earlier than all and more than all the saints who appeared in the Moscow land, St. Sergius, the founder of the famous Trinity-Sergius Lavra, acquired universal popular veneration. In the eyes of all the people, he received the significance of a God-given patron, intercessor and prayer book for the entire Russian land. Therefore, one can agree with Father Pavel Florensky, who said about it this way: “To understand Russia, one must understand the Lavra, and in order to delve into the Lavra, one must peer with an attentive gaze at its founder, recognized as a saint during the life of the “wonderful old man, St. Sergius,” as his contemporaries testify to him" .

Miniature from the facial life of St. Sergius of Radonezh

At the beginning of the 14th century, the noble and noble Rostov boyars Kirill and Maria had a second son, who was named Bartholomew at baptism. The years of infancy and childhood were marked by miraculous manifestations of God's grace in him. To the great surprise of everyone around him, the born baby observed strict abstinence in food from the very first days of his life. On Wednesday and Friday he did not take his mother's milk, and the same happened on other days when his mother ate meat. Over the years, the youth Bartholomew grew not only physically, but also spiritually. Strict fasting, love for the temple of God and prayer and other Christian virtues marked the beginning of Bartholomew's great service to God.

When Bartholomew was seven years old, he was sent to learn to read and write. But the boy was not given a diploma. No matter how hard he tried, spending whole nights over a book and fervently praying to God for help, he still could not learn to read and lagged behind his peers. But the pious youth did not give up hope in God’s mercy and continued to offer fervent prayers for help.

And so the blessing of the angelic old man, whom Bartholomew met in the forest, opened his mind to the perception of the teaching, in which he finally began to succeed. At the same time, the unknown elder predicted to the parents of the boy: “Know that your son will be great before God and people for his virtuous life. He will lead many with him to the understanding of the Divine commandments." . After this, the boy attached himself to reading with all his soul and heart. Holy books, completely forgetting all the fun typical of children.

Soon Kirill, ruined by frequent trips with the Rostov prince to the Horde and constant raids by the Tatars, moved with his entire family to the quiet town of the Moscow principality of Radonezh. Here the young ascetic Bartholomew decides to leave worldly life forever and retire to a monastery.

But the request of his parents to repose their old age forced him to postpone the fulfillment of his intention. After some time, having taken monastic vows, Cyril and Maria reposed into eternal life . Having prayerfully escorted his parents into eternity, Bartholomew, passing on the earthly inheritance younger brother Peter, persuaded his elder brother Stefan, who by that time had become a widower and had become a monk, to go together to look for convenient place for desert living. They stopped ten kilometers from Khotkov on a hill called Makovets, surrounded on all sides by a forest full of wild animals. Here they erected a cell and a small church, which, with the blessing of Metropolitan Theognostus, was consecrated in the name of the Holy Trinity. But the brothers were not together for long. Soon Bartholomew, alone, began to endure the hardships and deprivations of a desert life, which Stephen, who retired to the Moscow Epiphany Monastery, could not bear. At the age of 23, Bartholomew was tonsured into monasticism by Abbot Mitrofan with the name Sergius.

For several years the young monk spent his life in complete solitude; God alone and the silent desert witnessed his exploits. Day and night Sergius remained in fasting, prayer and fighting invisible enemies who made every effort to drive him out of the desert. But soon rumors about the holy life of the hermit spread throughout the surrounding area, and the first disciples began to come and settle with him. Twelve monks gathered around the Saint, and this number remained unchanged for a long time. But then the number of brethren increased; Hegumen Mitrofan came here, thanks to which the Divine Liturgy began to be celebrated regularly in the church.

After the death of Mitrofan, the brethren unanimously began to ask Sergius to assume the rank of presbyter and abbess over them. Realizing himself unworthy, Sergius refused for a long time, but the brethren insisted. In 1354, Bishop Afanasy, who was in Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, ordained Sergius to the priesthood and confirmed him in the rank of abbot . This is how the Trinity Monastery was founded, which later became a great shrine of the Russian people.

Having become abbot, Sergius did not seek glory and honor, but only increased severity towards himself, setting an example for everyone in his work and prayer. The monk himself chopped wood, brought water, dug the garden, baked bread, sewed clothes and shoes, helped others build cells, prepared prosphora and everything necessary for the sacred ceremony. At first the monastery was very poor. In the absence of candles, they often used a torch, liturgical books were written on birch bark, liturgical vessels were wooden, vestments were sewn from simple dyed material. The abbot and the brethren sometimes lived from hand to mouth. But the mighty spirit of the Reverend did not allow the brethren to become despondent, and in difficult moments help always came.

Subsequently, access to the monastery for those seeking monastic life was expanded. Among the newcomers was Smolensk Archimandrite Simon, who left the city monastery to carry out monastic obedience in the monastery of the wondrous ascetic. Saint Philaret (Drozdov) said about his prudent humility: “He realized quite early that it was more useful to be a novice of St. Sergius than to be a boss in another place.” . At his expense, a more spacious monastery church was built.

The venerable abbot always helped those in need. The monastery gates were open to pilgrims and wanderers. Everyone was provided with hospitality, material assistance and spiritual guidance.

The deep humility and works of St. Sergius became known outside the Motherland. Patriarch of Constantinople Philotheus (Kokkin) sent Abbot Troitsky a blessing, a cross and a letter in which he asked to introduce a cenobitic charter in the monastery. Having consulted with Metropolitan Alexy, Saint Sergius joyfully accepted and fulfilled the wish of the Patriarch, since he himself had previously wished for this. According to the new charter, monks were forbidden to have personal property, common ownership of property was introduced, a common meal for everyone and the obligation to work in the monastery household to the best of their ability. But it was not easy to change the previously established order. Dissatisfied people appeared among the monks, some even left the monastery. Among these was Sergius’s elder brother Stefan, who, having returned from Moscow to the Trinity Monastery, began to challenge the Reverend’s right to be abbess. Having learned about this, the humble Sergius secretly withdrew from his monastery and founded new monastery. The absence of the holy abbot immediately affected the entire structure of life in the monastery. The brethren began to ask Saint Alexy to return Abbot Sergius to them. Only after intense requests from the brethren and the archpastor's blessing did the founder return to the holy monastery.

During his lifetime, Saint Sergius was noted by God for the gift of miracles and spiritual insight. Through his prayer, an abundant source of water appeared near the monastery. He resurrected a dead boy and healed a demoniac. Once during the liturgy an angel was seen serving with the abbot; another time a mysterious fire was seen entering the Holy Chalice. There is a known case when St. Sergius, while having a meal in the monastery, stood up and greeted St. Stephen of Perm, who at that moment blessed him, driving past the monastery at a considerable distance. The greatest blessed consolation of the Reverend was the visit of the Most Holy Theotokos with the Apostles Peter and John. The Mother of God appeared to her saint in his cell and announced that Her mercy would flow endlessly in his holy monastery.

Saint Alexy, who knew the holiness of St. Sergius, wanted to see him as his successor. To the insistent convictions of the saint, the Trinity abbot responded with a request not to drive away his poverty from his shrine, since he considers himself unworthy of the bishopric . After the death of Metropolitan Alexy (f 1378), Saint Sergius raised his voice against the illegal claims to the metropolitan throne of Mityai (Archimandrite Michael) and considered Saint Cyprian the legitimate metropolitan.

Saint Alexy of Moscow

The path of the earthly life of St. Sergius was coming to an end. Six months before his death, he received a revelation about the time of his departure to God. After this, the blessed elder handed over the management of the monastery to his disciple Nikon, and he himself became silent. In the autumn of 1392, the monk gathered his disciples around his deathbed and gave them his final instructions. On September 25, filled with the gracious consolation of the communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, Abba Sergius departed to the Lord. After 30 years, his incorruptible relics were miraculously found, and all Holy Rus' began to fervently venerate and offer prayers to the illustrious saint of God . The covenants of St. Sergius to his disciples - to preserve the Orthodox faith, unanimity and peace among themselves, unfeigned love, humility and hospitality - became the most important covenants for the entire subsequent life of the Trinity brethren and the entire Russian society.

Civil and church historians highly appreciate the significance of the activities of St. Sergius of Radonezh. His glorious name has forever entered the annals of our state. Moving away from the bustle of the world, the desert dweller did not move his heart away from his earthly fatherland. He was always a guardian of his native land, a mourner for his native people, a man of prayer for them and an intercessor before God.

Time Mongol yoke, in which the Monk Sergius lived, was marked not only by material ruin and external disasters, but also by a state of spiritual emptiness and moral decline. Historian V.O. Klyuchevsky characterizes the state of Russian society at that time in the following way: “People helplessly gave up, their minds lost all vigor and elasticity and hopelessly indulged in their deplorable situation, not finding or looking for any way out. What’s worse, the horror of the fathers who survived the storm was infected by the children born after it.” . In order to throw off the hated yoke and build a strong independent state, the Russian people had to raise and strengthen their moral strength. This internal mission - the moral education of the people - which served as preparation for and ensuring the success of the external historical mission of the Russian state, was taken upon by St. Sergius .

A life full of exploits, humble service to others and phenomena of grace gave the founder of the Trinity Monastery the great moral influence that he exercised on his contemporaries. The fame of the unusual abbot spread far beyond the monastery fence. Princes and boyars, ordinary townspeople and peasants flocked to the Trinity Monastery, and no one left without consolation and without peace in their souls. Thus, the desert turned into a place of blessed help for everyone. “Unfeigned love” was embodied in the love of strangers and charity that distinguished the monastery of the Holy Trinity from its very foundation.

Venerable Sergius, like Saint Alexis and others the best people of that time, I felt all the harmfulness of the appanage division of the Russian state. Therefore, he dedicated the first church of the monastery to the Holy Trinity, seeing in this a call for the unity of the entire Russian land. “He builds the temple of the Most Holy Trinity, “so that by constantly looking at it” - in the words of the biography of St. Sergius - to overcome the fear of the hated division of the world. The Trinity is called Life-Giving, that is, the beginning, source and spring of life, as consubstantial and inseparable, for unity in love is life and the beginning of life, while enmity, discord and division destroy, destroy and lead to death. Deadly separateness is opposed by life-giving unity, tirelessly achieved by the spiritual feat of love and mutual understanding. According to the creative plan of the founder, the Trinity Church, which he ingeniously, one might say, discovered, is the prototype of the gathering of Russia in spiritual unity, in brotherly love.” .

The temple icon of the Holy Trinity, painted by the famous icon painter Reverend Andrei Rublev, expressed the spiritual essence of the temple itself. According to the thoughts of Father Pavel Florensky, “in it, in the midst of a rebellious time of peacelessness, internecine strife and Tatar raids, an endless, imperturbable, indestructible world, the “supreme world” of the Heavenly World, opened up to the spiritual gaze of Russian people. The enmity and hatred reigning in the earth was opposed by mutual love flowing (...) in the eternal unity of the Heavenly spheres" .

Our modern historian writes about this: Sergius of Radonezh “with his Makovian community-Cenovia (...) gave Russia a living example of love and like-mindedness. The highest embodiment of these saving principles for humanity was the image of the consubstantial Trinity, beloved by Sergius.” .

Anyone who came to the monastery on Makovets found himself in an atmosphere of love, goodwill and order. Here “everyone does his job, everyone works with prayer, and everyone prays after work; a hidden fire was felt in everyone, which, without sparks or flashes, was revealed by the life-giving warmth that enveloped everyone who entered this atmosphere of work, thought and prayer. The world saw all this and left encouraged and refreshed... The mood of moral concentration and social brotherhood that arose from these observations”, the people who visited this monastery, along with water from the source of the Venerable One, carried it to their corners and shared it drop by drop with others .

“By the example of his life, by the height of his spirit, St. Sergius raised the fallen spirit of his native people, awakened in them confidence in himself, in his strengths, and inspired faith in his future.” . The Russian people, having received from the Monk a sense of spiritual strength and moral vigor, rebelled against their enslavers and, after a long and stubborn struggle, won.

The fame of St. Sergius spread especially widely during the reign of Moscow Grand Duke Dimitri Donskoy, who deeply revered the St. Sergius and even invited him to be godfather their children. The Moscow prince and Saint Alexy saw the Trinity abbot as their closest associate and therefore often, in difficult circumstances, resorted to him for help and advice. Saint Sergius provided them with great support in uniting the Russian lands around Moscow, which gradually accumulated forces for a decisive fight against the Tatars. Father Sergius, “a native of Rostov, who himself directly observed the sad fate of his Motherland, tormented by the Tatars and not protected from internal feudal strife due to the weakness of the Rostov prince, was naturally brought up in the spirit of the ideas of the unity of Russian lands and the struggle against the Mongol-Tatar yoke. Of course, he quite deliberately had to be among the active supporters of Moscow." , since he believed that only by uniting under the rule of one prince, the Russian land could achieve a glorious future. Alien to interference in everyday affairs, the abbot appears, however, on the field social activities when it becomes necessary.

In this regard, it should be noted that St. Sergius is sometimes called a politician. This definition of the saint’s social activity is not entirely correct, since all of his “politics” came from a feeling of ardent love for the suffering Russian people and the Fatherland. Therefore, it would be more accurate to characterize Abbot Sergius as an ardent patriot of his Motherland.

In 1358, Abbot Sergius went to his native Rostov and persuaded Prince Constantine to recognize the power of the Moscow Grand Duke over himself. . Another time, in 1365, the hermit-conciliator went on behalf of Grand Duke Dimitri Ivanovich to Nizhny Novgorod to Prince Boris, who did not recognize the power of the Moscow prince and took away the Nizhny Novgorod inheritance from his brother Dimitri Konstantinovich. When Boris refused reconciliation, Abba Sergius, according to the authority given to him by the Metropolitan, threatened to stop worship in all Nizhny Novgorod churches .

Tendencies to overcome the specific fragmentation of Rus', clearly outlined in the 14th century. and supported by all layers of Russian society, created the prerequisites for achieving its state independence. While Moscow was strengthening, the opposite process was taking place in the Golden Horde: the weakening of the khan’s power and division into separate parts. Proof of this is the fact that in twenty years (1360-1380) fourteen khans changed there . This created favorable conditions for the Russian people to fight for liberation from dependence. In 1378, the Russian army defeated the Horde army on the Vozha River (the right tributary of the Oka) near Pereyaslavl in Ryazan. This already meant open war. Khan Mamai began to prepare a new campaign against Rus' and for this purpose concluded an alliance with Lithuania and an agreement with the Ryazan prince Oleg, Moscow’s constant rival for the great reign. . Prince Dimitri Ivanovich decided to go to battle with the Horde. A huge Russian army gathered on the campaign, which had the character of a national militia.

The Radonezh ascetic became especially famous for his active participation in the preparation of the Battle of Kulikovo, which marked the beginning of the liberation and revival of Russia. We can say that St. Sergius morally and psychologically prepared this first major victory of the Russian people over the Tatars.

Before going on a hike Grand Duke, full of worries and thoughts, went to the Trinity Monastery for advice and blessing. Here Saint Sergius, after mass and a meal, blessed the prince with the holy cross and said: “Go, sir, without fear! The Lord will help you against your godless enemies!” - and then quietly added, turning to Dimitri alone: ​​“Defeat your enemies...” . At the request of Grand Duke Demetrius, Saint Sergius, for moral support of the Russian warriors, blessed two of his monks - former warriors Alexander Peresvet and Andrei Oslyabya - for the battle with the Horde army.

Encouraged by the prediction and blessing of the Reverend, Prince Dimitri, at the head of the Russian army, set out on a campaign. Before crossing the Don, a military council was convened. Here some suggested crossing, while others told Prince Demetrius: “Don’t go, because there are many enemies, not only Tatars, but also Lithuania and Ryazanians.” The prince began to hesitate. “Then a letter arrived from the Venerable Abbot Sergius with a blessing from the holy elder to go against the Tatars: “So that you, sir, go, and God and the Holy Mother of God will help you,” wrote Sergius.” . Demetrius, under the influence of the letter, transported his army. Before the start of the battle, the prince addressed his comrades with the words: “Fathers and brothers! For the sake of the Lord, strive for the Christian faith and for the holy churches. Death then is not into death, but into eternal life." .

V.M. Vasnetsov. "Duel of Peresvet with Chelubey"

Before the battle, the gigantic hero Chelubey emerged from the Tatar army and began to challenge the Russians to a duel. The Trinity monk Alexander Peresvet came out to meet him. His head was covered not with a helmet, but with a schema placed on him by Saint Sergius. In parting, he said: “Fathers and brothers, forgive me, a sinner! Brother Oslyabya, pray to God for me! Reverend Sergius, help me with your prayer!” . After this, he fought with the Tatar, and both fell dead. By the feat of self-sacrifice, the monk of the Sergius Monastery showed the Russian soldiers an example of evangelical love, laying down his soul for his neighbors. The Battle of Kulikovo, as predicted by Abbot Sergius, ended in the complete victory of Russian weapons. The enemies were defeated and fled. During the formidable battle, Holy Abbot Sergius offered up heartfelt prayers with his brethren in the church, but with his soul he was on the battlefield and clearly saw the course of the battle, calling out the names of the fallen. After the victory, Prince Dimitry Donskoy arrived at the monastery with gratitude to God and the Trinity Abbot. Together they offered prayers for the repose of the fallen soldiers.

"Dmitry Donskoy, who was wounded in the battle with Mamai, on the Kulikovo Field."
Engraving by B.A. Chorikova

Already an old man, Sergius, at the request of the Grand Duke, went on foot to Ryazan to reconcile Prince Oleg Ivanovich with Moscow. This warlike prince often devastated Moscow's possessions and did not want to listen to talk of peace. And only Saint Sergius managed to change his ferocity to meekness . Oleg concluded an eternal peace with the Moscow prince, which was later even sealed by a family union: Oleg’s son married Dimitri’s daughter . On May 19, 1389, Abba Sergius was present at the death of Prince Dimitry Donskoy. Here he signed his will, where it was first established new order inheritance of the great reign - from father to son .

Such was the arduous and multi-useful patriotic and peacemaking activity of St. Sergius, aimed at the benefit of his dear Fatherland and the Russian people. During his lifetime he was a great mourner for Rus' and after his blessed death he became a prayer book for her before God.

Archpriest Anatoly Lazarev. Trinity-Sergius Monastery in the history of the Russian Church and state. - M., Nikeya Publishing House, 2015.

NOTES

The exact time of birth of St. Sergius has not been established. Historians attribute this event to the period from 1314 to 1324. Thus, Professor E.E. Golubinsky calls 1324; Metropolitan Macarius (Bulgakov), Archpriest A.V. Gorsky and Hieromonk Nikon (Rozhdestvensky) - 1319; IN. Klyuchevsky and N.S. Tikhonravov - 1322 Famous modern scientist, doctor historical sciences N. S. Borisov as a result of careful consideration this issue came to the conclusion that St. Sergius was born on May 3, 1314. Due to differences of opinion, many events from the life of St. Sergius are dated differently by historians. The only thing that is indisputable is that in 1354 Sergius became abbot of his monastery. Also, many researchers consider the date of the repose of the Reverend to be 1392.

Florensky Pavel, priest. Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius and Russia. Published in the materials of the Central Accreditation Center of the MDA. Sat. 9. - M., 1919. (Typescript).

Nikon (Rozhdestvensky), hieromon. Life and exploits of St. Sergius. Ed. 2. - M., 1891.

The Venerable Schemamonk Kirill and Schemanun Maria, parents of Abbot Sergius, were canonized as saints of Russia Orthodox Church at the Council of Bishops March 31 - April 4, 1992

Nikon (Rozhdestvensky), hieromon. Life and exploits of St. Sergius. Ed. 2. - M., 1891.

Filaret (Drozdov), Metropolitan. Essays. T. 4. - M., 1882. P. 195.

A chronicle collection called the Patriarchal, or Nikon's, chronicle. IV. - St. Petersburg, 1897. P. 63-64.

Nikon (Rozhdestvensky), hieromon. Life and exploits of St. Sergius. Ed. 2. - M., 1891. P. 218.

Klyuchevsky V.O. Tales of foreigners about the Moscow state. - M„ 1916. P. 8.

Klyuchevsky V.O. Meaning prp. Sergius for the Russian state and people // Klyuchevsky V.O. Essays and speeches. - M., 1913. P. 206.

Florensky Pavel, priest. Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius and Russia. Published in the materials of the Central Accreditation Center MDA. Sat. 9. - M., 1919. (Typescript). P. 246.

Florensky Pavel, priest. Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius and Russia. Published in the materials of the Central Accreditation Center MDA. Sat. 9. - M., 1919. (Typescript). P. 248.

Borisov N.S. Sergius of Radonezh. - M., 2009. P. 102.

Klyuchevsky V.O. The gracious educator of the Russian folk spirit // Trinity Flower. No. 9. Ed. 2. - Trinity-Sergius Lavra, 1899.

Klyuchevsky V.O. The gracious educator of the Russian folk spirit // Trinity Flower. No. 9. Ed. 2. - Trinity-Sergius Lavra, 1899. P. 20-22.

Messages from the Zagorsk Museum. Vol. 3. 1960. P. 16.

Brief history of the USSR. Part 1. Ed. 2. USSR Academy of Sciences. - L., 1972. P. 52.

The compiler of the life of St. Sergius, Archbishop Nikon (Rozhdestvensky), reports that the Radonezh abbot managed to force the Nizhny Novgorod prince Boris to reconcile with his brother Prince Dmitry. While modern researcher N.S. Borisov believes that the Nizhny Novgorod prince did not listen to the Reverend and, because of his reluctance to reconcile, subsequently lost his freedom and died in captivity.

Brief history of the USSR. Part 1. Ed. 2. USSR Academy of Sciences. - L., 1972.

The Ryazan prince Oleg Ivanovich took this step not for the sake of a military alliance with the Tatars, but to preserve his principality, which was on their way to Moscow, from destruction by enemies. In the Battle of Kulikovo, Ryazan squads also fought bravely on the side of the Russians. According to the author of “Zadonshchina”, among the dead were 70 Ryazan boyars.

40 monasteries were founded. From these, in turn, came the founders of another 50 monasteries. The saint's followers sought solitude, but people flocked to them in any wilderness. The monks again fled into the deep forests, but each time, like footprints in the snow, the monasteries remained behind them. The NS correspondent followed these steps.

Despite the extensive network of railways, Russia is a country where regular buses reign. Residents of some Sudislavl talk about Rybinsk, Totma or Yaroslavl, just as Muscovites talk among themselves about Novokosin, VDNKh or Lefortovo. And into what kind of nooks and crannies do these rattling antediluvian cars get into on sandy and clayey roads! I followed them from village to village, pushing in queues to the bus station ticket windows, driven by an irresistible desire to see a real hermit at least once.

Abraham

In the 14th century, the disciples of Sergius of Radonezh dispersed from him on foot in order to spread throughout the Russian land the spirit of a special, Sergius monasticism, the spirit of desert living, combined with love for people, far from their teacher. Abraham of Galicia was one of the first to receive from the monk. Sergius of Radonezh monastic tonsure. According to his life, Abraham died in 1375 at a “very old age,” which means he was much older than Sergius, who at that time was about 56 years old.

Having left with a blessing to seek a solitary life, the Monk Abraham came to Galich. Having walked around the large lake on which the town stood, he found a place under a high mountain, where he decided to rest and pray. For several days Abraham asked the Mother of God to indicate the place of his hermitage. And then, finally, he heard a voice calling him to the mountain. Having climbed it, Abraham saw on the tree the icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness”. He began to pray even more fervently and... “the icon moved on the tree and hung on the saint’s hand, but was carried by no one.” At this place Abraham dug himself a dugout and stayed to live.

Abraham did not remain in obscurity for long. Prince Dmitry Fedorovich of Galich soon found out about him and sent Abraham an invitation to his city. Naturally, with an icon. Many miracles were performed from the icon in Galich, and the prince was generous with land and money for the monastery. This first Avraamiev Monastery, in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God, was practically engaged in enlightening the local people - the Chud. When the monastery became crowded, Abraham left again, but the disciples found him again. So Abraham was forced to found a second monastery seventy kilometers from Galich, in honor of the position of the Robe of the Mother of God. Soon history repeated itself, and Abraham had to found a third monastery on the Viga River in the name of the Cathedral of Our Lady. Finally, for the last time the monk made an attempt to live in solitude, but even then his disciples came to him. Twenty kilometers from the third monastery, on the high shore of Lake Chukhloma near the town of Chukhloma, the fourth Avraamiev Monastery arose in honor of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary. He has remained to this day.

Years passed over the relics of St. Abraham, resting in the basement of the Church of the Intercession, institutions changed: a monastery, an orphanage, a machine and tractor station, a school, and now again a monastery. In the twenties, the miraculous icon of Tenderness, which accompanied Abraham in his labors and travels, disappeared. The waist-length icon of St. Abraham, with the miraculous “Tenderness” icon in his hands, remains especially revered by the modern brethren of the monastery. Still preserved are the cross from the saint’s chains, the ancient embroidered cover from his shrine, and the “Kazan” icon of the Mother of God, which, according to the observations of the monks and parishioners, is renewed by itself. Her appearance is truly unusual. It was as if someone had been diligently scrubbing the soot from their face, but had not yet been able to wipe it off completely.

Arriving in Galich, I change to a regular bus to Chukhloma. It's a short drive, but a long one. Broken roads and abandoned temples in the forest accompany the northern landscape outside the window.

Sunny spring 2012. The lake overflowed widely. Thickets of willow trees can be seen far away on the water surface. The acting rector, Archimandrite Michael, goes to the service at the Assumption Church and blesses the pilgrims along the way: “Are you looking for some water? I must warn you: the water in spring is dirty, so you can wash your face, but I don’t recommend drinking.” A special feat of the monks of the Abraham Monastery was to carry water from the saint’s well up the mountain to the monastery kitchen. The mountain is very steep. This is especially difficult in winter. In the nineties of the 20th century, this feat looked the same as during Venerable Abraham. Now there is a chapel above the well, a staircase with a bench for rest is built along the slope, but the spirit of the monastic feat has not disappeared from the monastery. Travelers are greeted strictly, but with love. Women will have to humble themselves; they will be fed in the refectory only after the men.

Now there are about 30 inhabitants in the monastery. Huge yellow crosses from the five-domed Church of the Intercession, built in 1607 “by faith and promise” of Tsar Vasily Shuisky over the relics of the saint, stand in the ground behind the altar, like heroes at an outpost. “When they were found, they didn’t know where to put them, so they put them in the monastery cemetery,” says the monk-tour guide. Among those buried in the monastery are Princess Elena Dolgorukova (sister of the first wife of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich), the founder of the noble Lermontov family, George Lermont, and all his descendants.

The darkness of the small, pillarless Assumption Church with narrow loophole windows. Two monks sing “My soul magnifies the Lord.” They sing in unison, in booming, stern voices. On “The most honorable cherub...” the voices suddenly, like two wings, spread out in different directions, and the song circles like a beautiful bird under the dome of the ancient temple.

Of the monasteries founded by Abraham of Galitsky, only the Intercession Monastery near the town of Chukhloma has survived. Here, in the basement of the monastery cathedral, the relics of the saint rest. In the photo: Intercession Cathedral, tombstone over the burial place of St. Abraham

Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in the Intercession Cathedral. According to the observations of monks and parishioners, the image is renewed by itself

Kirill

The nephew of the okolnik Demetrius Donskoy, Kosma, really wanted to become a monk. Muscovite, educated, career ahead, and suddenly this happens. Everyone was afraid to tonsure him: the okolnichy would be angry. Only the abbot of the Makhrishchi monastery, Stefan, decided. And so Kosma became a monk of the Moscow Simonov Monastery, Kirill. Abbot Sergius of Radonezh often visited the monastery. He came to visit his nephew, the abbot of the Simonov Monastery, Archimandrite Theodore. But often, bypassing the abbot’s cell, Abbot Sergius first went to Kirill’s bakery and talked with him for a long time.

One day Kirill heard the voice of the Mother of God: “Kirill, go to Belo Ezero. There is a place prepared for you there.” He left the monastery and headed into the forests of the Belozersk side to find a secluded place for prayer. A native of those places, the future Reverend Ferapont, went with him. Kirill was then 60 years old. The place they found turned out to be difficult to access and surrounded on almost all sides by the water of Lake Siverskoye. This is what was needed. They put up a cross, dug a dugout and built a chapel for themselves, and when people began to flock to them, the monks decided to build the first stone church in the monastery in honor of the Dormition Holy Mother of God. The year was 1397.

Now the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery consists of two monasteries. Like a nesting doll within a nesting doll, inside the Uspensky there is a small Ioannovsky Monastery. During the years of the oprichnina, the exiled boyars generously donated to the monastery, and the area around the first stone Assumption Church began to become overgrown with buildings and churches, and the Holy Hill, the place of the first labors of the monk, on which there were only two churches - in honor of the Nativity of John the Baptist and St. Sergius - so and stayed behind her fence.

“It was along this path that the brethren came to Kirill’s cell. First we had to look into the chapel, maybe my father was praying there - Monk Daniel and I climb the Holy Hill - this is now the name of the oldest part of the monastery, where Kirill began his residence. Father Daniel unlocks the lock of the stone chapel case, under which an unsightly wooden frame has stood for six centuries. “This is the same chapel that the monk cut down for himself with his own hands.” You cannot enter the chapel, you can only dive under the low frame of the small door, thus bowing almost to the ground. In the twilight, a cross appears before the newcomer, heavily hewn and out of shape at the edges. “These are pilgrims. You know... Well, they chewed on it, so they decided to put it in a case too. True, it doesn’t help much,” says Father Daniel, as if apologizing for the reverend’s admirers. The cross stands in the middle of the chapel, occupying almost the entire space. Father Daniel never comes inside. He kneels in the doorway and, obeying some inner command, begins to sing the solemn melody of the troparion: “We worship your cross, Master...”

During the 30 years of Kirill’s reign, 60 brethren gathered in the monastery. Cyril died in 1427, leaving the monastery prosperous. The brethren grieved and asked Cyril to take them with him to another world. Over the next year, for various reasons, 30 people from the brethren died. A temple was built over the relics of the saint in honor of Kirill Belozersky, just next to the first Assumption Cathedral of the monastery, and a heavy and rich silver tombstone was placed inside the temple. By the beginning of the 18th century, an entire settlement had formed at the monastery, from which the city of Kirillov subsequently grew.

September 15, 1918, Kirillov. Several people are walking along the old Goritsa road. In front is the Bishop of Kirillov Barsanuphius (Lebedev), with a staff and in a hood, behind him is a nun and four more laymen. They are accompanied by about twenty Red Army soldiers and pushed with rifle butts. Here is the turn to the shooting range, to the Zolotukha hill. There can be no more doubt. “We are being led to our calvary,” the bishop says calmly. They lined everyone up. Raising his hands to the sky, the bishop prays. Shots are heard around and people fall, the bishop reads a prayer over their bodies for the exodus of the soul from the body. The bullets haven't reached him yet. “Put your hands down!” - an irritated Red Army soldier runs up. The Lord turns to face him, lowers his hands: “Amen. I finished. Now you finish.” A Red Army soldier shoots a bishop at point-blank range.

The body of Bishop Barsanuphius was not given to the believers; he was buried in a common grave at the shooting range. To the beginning of the Great Patriotic War There was not a single priest or monk left in Kirillov.

In the nineties, the revival of the monastery began. The first liturgy was celebrated in the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh. Nowadays the monastery coexists with the museum; the Sergievsky (only in summer) and Kirillovsky (summer) temples are active. all year round). Reception and accommodation areas large quantity There are no pilgrims in the monastery yet. One of the new traditions of the monastery was the annual procession On September 15, to the place of execution of Bishop Barsanuphius of Kirillovsky, who was canonized.

Today, the large Assumption Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery functions as a museum. On its territory, like a nesting doll in a nesting doll, is the active St. John’s Monastery

City festivities often take place in the Kirillo-Belozersky museum complex. The sounds of noisy fun penetrate beyond the walls of St. John’s Monastery, but the monks assure that this does not bother them

The chapel, cut down six centuries ago by St. Kirill of Belozersky. To enter here, you have to bend down, bowing almost to the ground

In the middle of the chapel, occupying almost all of its space, there is a cross, severely broken off at the edges by overly zealous pilgrims

Souvenir trade in front of the museum walls - carved wanderers, schema-monks, painted eggs...

Sudislavl. For a pilgrim following in the footsteps of the disciples of St. Sergius, this provincial town is a junction station. Roads to both Galich and Chukhloye pass through it.

Paul

Significantly moving away from the sign with an arrow to the Holy Trinity Pavlo-Obnorsky monastery, the Vologda-Rybinsk bus stops on the highway, an hour’s drive from the town of Gryazovets. The arrow points to the forest, but there are two turns leading there. Try to choose where to turn, if you can check your choice only after walking five kilometers. Actually, at this distance from the highway there is an ancient monastery founded by St. Paul of Obnor in 1414.

Rainy chilly evening. There is no one on the highway, only girls on the side of the road. Time is running out: you need to have time to walk five kilometers, see everything in the monastery, return on foot to the highway and catch the bus in the opposite direction. Otherwise I won’t get on the Moscow train. “Girls! Can you tell me how to get to the monastery?” - I turn to them. “Oh, you’re turning the wrong way! You need to go to Kosikovo. So you’ll go straight and end up in a monastery!” - the girls yell at me over the noise of the highway.

The forest road makes a smooth bend, gets lost under the mountain and emerges from a deep ravine, revealing a slender pine forest on opposite side and a small village with several stone buildings. These buildings are the Pavlo-Obnorsky Monastery, in the past one of the largest monasteries in the Russian North. In 1924, the main Trinity Church of the monastery was destroyed, and its icons, some of which were painted by Dionysius himself, were confiscated to the Tretyakov Gallery, the Russian Museum and the Vologda Museum-Reserve.

The Monk Paul was from Moscow. He, too, was one of the first disciples of the Abbot of Radonezh, like Abraham, and at one time even carried out obedience in his cell. For 15 years Paul lived as a hermit not far from the Trinity Monastery, but people began to flock to him, and he asked St. Sergius for a blessing to retire even further into impassable forests. According to his life, Pavel lived for three years in the Komel forests in the hollow of a huge linden tree before, “guided by God,” he set off along the Nurma River and found a deserted place on its banks for a new residence.

In the 14th century, the northern forests were filled with hermits. Another disciple of St. Sergius, Sergius of Nuromsky, found Paul serenely feeding forest birds. Some of the birds easily sat on Pavel’s head. From then on, Paul and Sergius began a friendship, in whose memory a chapel was subsequently erected in the Pavlo-Obnorsky Monastery. Soon lovers of silence again came to Paul’s forest solitude. There is nothing to do, at first Paul did not want to let them in, but he remembered that Sergius, his teacher, instructed to love everyone and not refuse help to anyone, and decided to found a monastery in honor of the Holy Trinity. Having placed another monk at the head of the monastery, he continued to live in his cell. In January 1429, St. Paul died.

The rector, abbot Amphilochius, a monk and four laborers stand on mats in front of the modest tombstone of St. Paul in a wooden chapel on the site of the church of St. Paul of Obnor and Sergius of Radonezh, which was blown up in 1930. The prayer service at the relics after the evening service does not last long, then everyone venerates the tombstone, under which the relics of the saint lie. On the way from the chapel to the refectory, the abbot untangles the straps, puts them in his pocket, and listens attentively to the story about the purpose of the late visit. “Please take photographs. And we don’t leave women to spend the night,” the abbot’s decision is harsh, but fair. Four monks do not live in the forest to give shelter to women.

I go out the gates of the monastery. We need to get to the track quickly. The rain has already soaked through the jacket and envelops the forest in a dark veil. As night approaches, the likelihood of spending the night in the forest increases. The only hope is for the monk, maybe somehow everything will work out. A car comes out from behind the mountain.

Can you give me a lift to the highway?

Maybe we can take you straight to Gryazovets? Where do you want to go there, to the station or to the bus?

...Evening Gryazovets station. The train to Moscow is two hours away. I'm sitting at the station, eating delicious buns, received as a gift from kind people who picked me up on the road. I silently pray - I thank the saints for the successful completion of my extreme journey. The main thing is not to doubt and rely on our saints. They certainly won't let you down!

Irina SECHINA

We have collected all (or almost all) preserved and even poorly preserved monasteries founded by Sergius of Radonezh and his disciples.

Sergius of Radonezh, the most revered Russian saint, founded ten monasteries during his life. Numerous disciples continued his work and founded 40 more monasteries. These students had their own students, many of whom also founded monastic communities - in the 15th century, Muscovite Rus' became a country of monasteries.

Ferapontov Monastery, Kirillovsky district, Vologda region

In 1397, two monks of the Simonov Monastery - Kirill and Ferapont - came to the Belozersk Principality. The first dug a cell near Lake Siverskoye, the second - between lakes Passky and Borodavsky, and over the years the most famous monasteries of Northern Thebaid grew from these cells. Ferapontov Monastery is much smaller, but ancient (there are no buildings in it younger than the middle of the 17th century), and is included in World Heritage UNESCO thanks to the complex of frescoes of Dionysius in the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (1490-1502).

Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Sergiev Posad, Moscow region

Sergius founded the main Russian monastery while still a devout layman Bartholomew: with his brother-monk Stephen he settled on Makovets Hill in the Radonezh Forest, where he built the Church of the Holy Trinity with his own hands. A couple of years later, Bartholomew became a monk with the name Sergius, and then a monastic community formed around him, which by 1345 had formed into a monastery with a cenobitic charter. Sergius was revered during his lifetime, walked around Rus' and reconciled warring princes, and finally in 1380 he blessed Dmitry Donskoy for the battle with the Horde and gave him two monastic warriors Alexander Peresvet and Rodion Oslyabya to help him.

In the Trinity Monastery in 1392, Sergius reposed, and thirty years later his relics were found, to which the people were drawn. The monastery grew and became more beautiful along with Russia, and survived the devastation of Edigei's horde in 1408, and the siege of Pan Sapieha by the Polish-Lithuanian army in 1608-10. In 1744, the monastery received the status of a monastery - the second in Rus' after the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Nowadays it is a grandiose architectural complex worthy of the largest Russian Kremlins - about 50 buildings behind an impregnable wall 1.5 kilometers long. The oldest churches are the Trinity Cathedral (1422-23) and the Holy Spiritual Church-Bell Tower (1476), and it was for the first that Andrei Rublev wrote his great “Trinity”. The Assumption Cathedral (1559-85) is one of the largest and most majestic in Rus'. The bell tower (1741-77) is taller than Ivan the Great, and on it hangs Russia's largest 72-ton Tsar Bell. Temples, residential and service chambers, educational and administrative institutions, relics and graves of historical figures, a museum with unique exhibits: the Lavra is a whole city, as well as a “city-forming enterprise” of the rather large city of Sergiev Posad.

Annunciation Kirzhach Monastery. Kirzhach, Vladimir region

Sometimes Sergius left the Trinity Monastery for several years, but wherever he settled, a new monastery arose. So, in 1358, on the Kirzhach River, Sergius and his disciple Simon founded the Annunciation Monastery, where another disciple Roman remained as abbot. Nowadays it is a small cozy convent on the high bank - on one side the city of Kirzhach, on the other - endless meadows. In the center is the white stone Annunciation Cathedral of the early 16th century and the Church of the All-Merciful Savior (1656).

Bobrenev Monastery. Kolomna, Moscow region

One of the heroes of the Battle of Kulikovo, Dmitry Bobrok-Volynsky, came to Moscow from what is now known as Western Ukraine and became so close to Prince Dmitry that together they prepared a plan for the battle with Mamai. Bobrok was given military cunning: when after 5 hours of battle the Russians began to retreat, his ambush regiment hit the rear of the Tatar army, thereby deciding the outcome of the battle. Returning victorious, Bobrok, with the blessing of Sergius, founded a monastery near Kolomna. Nowadays it is a small cozy monastery in a field between the Novoryazanskoe highway and the Moscow River with the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (1757-90) and other buildings of the 19th century. The best way to get to the monastery is from the Kolomna Kremlin along the most picturesque path through the Pyatnitsky Gate and the pontoon bridge.

Epiphany Staro-Golutvin Monastery. Kolomna, Moscow region

The large monastery on the outskirts of Kolomna is clearly visible from the railway, attracting attention with the thin false-Gothic turrets of the fence (1778), similar to minarets. Sergius founded it in 1385 at the request of Dmitry Donskoy, and left his student Gregory as abbot. Until 1929, there was a spring in the monastery, which, according to legend, flowed where Sergius said. In the Middle Ages, the monastery was a fortress on the road to the Steppe, but most of the current buildings, including the Epiphany Cathedral, date back to the 18th century.

Holy Trinity Monastery, Ryazan

One of Sergius’ missions was a kind of “diplomacy of general authority” - he walked around Rus', reconciling warring princes and convincing them of the unity of the Russian cause. The most rebellious was Oleg Ryazansky: on the one hand, Ryazan competed with Moscow for leadership, on the other hand, it was open to attacks from the Horde, and therefore Oleg led double play on the verge of betrayal. In 1382, he helped Tokhtamysh, seized Kolomna from Dmitry... Things were heading towards a new collapse of Rus', but in 1386 Sergius came to Ryazan and by some miracle prevented the war, and as a sign of peace he founded the small Trinity Monastery. Nowadays it is a modest city monastery with a decorative fence and churches XVII (Troitskaya), XVIII (Sergievskaya) and XIX (icons Mother of God"Signs-Kochemnaya") centuries.

Boris and Gleb Monastery. Pos. Borisoglebsky (Borisogleb), Yaroslavl region

Sergius founded several more monasteries as if “in collaboration” - not with his disciples, but with the monks of his generation. For example, Borisoglebsky, 18 versts from Rostov, where Sergius was born, together with the Novgorodians Theodore and Paul in 1365. Later, the recluse Irinakh, who lived here, blessed Kuzma Minin for the defense of Rus'. The magnificent architectural complex developed in the 16th-17th centuries, and from the outside, especially when looking at the gates (of which the monastery has two), towers or a three-span belfry, it resembles a slightly simplified Rostov Kremlin. There are several churches inside, including the Cathedral of Boris and Gleb from the 1520s.

Mother of God Nativity Monastery. Rostov Veliky

This monastery was founded by the disciple of St. Sergius, the monk Fyodor, in the teacher’s homeland, and in the fabulous landscape of Rostov it took its place a block from the Kremlin. The first stone church was founded by Metropolitan Jonah Sysoevich in 1670. Nowadays it is a large, but at first glance not very spectacular (especially against the background of the Rostov Kremlin!) ensemble of temples, buildings and fences of the 17th-19th centuries. Moreover, it is worth approaching it and taking a closer look.

Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery. Zvenigorod, Moscow region

After the death of Sergius, the new abbot of the Trinity Monastery, Nikon, almost immediately went into a six-year retreat, leaving Sergius’s other student Savva as abbot. Immediately after Nikon's return in 1398, Savva went to Zvenigorod and, at the request of the local prince, founded a monastery on Mount Storozhka. As the name suggests, the place was strategic, and in the 15th-17th centuries the monastery turned into a powerful fortress. But this monastery was especially revered by the Russian tsars, who sometimes retired to it for prayer and peace: the road here from Moscow was called the Tsar’s Road, and now it is nothing more than Rublyovka. The monastery stands in an extremely picturesque place, and behind the impregnable walls hides an exemplary “fairy-tale city” from the time of Alexei Mikhailovich - elaborate chambers, elegant bell towers, kokoshniks, tents, tiles, a white and red ensemble. It even has its own Royal Palace, as well as an excellent museum. And in the center is the small white Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, consecrated in 1405, during the life of Savva the Wonderworker.

Nikolo-Peshnoshsky Monastery. Lugovoe village, Dmitrovsky district, Moscow region

One of the most beautiful monasteries in the Moscow region, founded in 1361 by Sergius’s disciple Methodius, was undeservedly forgotten - since 1960, a psychoneurological boarding school, closed to outsiders, lived within its walls. Hidden inside are St. Nicholas Cathedral from the early 16th century, a very elegant bell tower, and several more churches and chambers. The boarding school is now in the process of moving, and the churches are at the beginning of restoration.

Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery. Vologda

The Vologda region was called the Northern Thebaid for the abundance of secluded and fabulously beautiful monasteries, founded during the heyday of the Russian North - a country of merchants, fishermen and monks. The Prilutsky Monastery on the outskirts of Vologda, with its powerful faceted towers, looks like a Kremlin much more than the Vologda Kremlin itself. Its founder Dmitry met Sergius in 1354, being the founder and abbot of the Nikolsky Monastery in Pereslavl-Zalessky, and not without the influence of Sergius’ ideas he went to the North, hoping to find solitude somewhere in the wilderness. In 1371, he came to Vologda and built a large monastery there, funds for which were allocated by Dmitry Donskoy himself, and for all subsequent centuries the monastery remained one of the richest in Russia. From here Ivan the Terrible took shrines on his campaign against Kazan; During the Time of Troubles, the monastery was destroyed three times; in 1812, relics of monasteries near Moscow were evacuated here. The main shrines are the icon of Dmitry Prilutsky with his life and the Cilician Cross, which he brought from Pereslavl, and are now kept in the Vologda Museum. Behind the powerful walls of the 1640s there is the Spassky Cathedral (1537-42), the Vvedenskaya Church with a refectory chamber and covered galleries (1623), a number of buildings of the 17th-19th centuries, a pond, the grave of the poet Batyushkov, a wooden Assumption Church (1519), brought in 1962 from the closed Kushtsky monastery - the oldest tented church in Russia.

Pavlo-Obnorsky Monastery. Gryazovets district, Vologda region

The monastery in the upper reaches of the Obnora River in the Vologda region was founded in 1389 by Sergius’ disciple Pavel, who had a 15-year retreat behind him. He lived here alone for 3 years in the hollow of an old linden tree... Once upon a time, the Pavlo-Obnorsky Monastery was one of the largest in Rus', but it was especially unlucky under the Soviets: the Trinity Cathedral (1510-1515) with the iconostasis of Dionysius perished (4 survived icons, sold to museums), the Assumption Church was beheaded (1535). In the surviving buildings there was an orphanage, later a pioneer camp - that’s why the village where the monastery stands is called Yunoshesky. Since the 1990s, the monastery has been revived; on the site of the Trinity Cathedral, a wooden chapel with a shrine of the relics of Pavel Obnorsky was built.

Resurrection Obnorsky Monastery. Lyubimovsky district, Yaroslavl region

A small monastery in deep forests on the Obnor River, 20 kilometers from the town of Lyubim, was founded by Sergius’ disciple Sylvester, who lived in this place for many years in solitude and was accidentally discovered by a lost peasant, after which the rumor about the hermit spread, and other monks flocked there. The monastery was abolished in 1764; the holy spring of Sylvester of Obnor and the Church of the Resurrection (1825) were preserved.

Spaso-Preobrazhensky Nuromsky Monastery. Spas-Nurma, Gryazovetsky district, Vologda region

Spaso-Preobrazhensky Nurom Monastery

Another monastery on the Nurma River, 15 kilometers from Pavlo-Obnorsky, was founded in 1389 by Sergius of Nuromsky, a student of Sergius of Radonezh. Abolished in 1764, the Spaso-Sergievskaya Church in the “northern baroque” style was built in 1795 as a parish church. Now monastic life in this abandoned forest monastery is gradually being revived, the buildings are being restored.

In Kaluga Borovsk, the most famous, of course, is the Pafnutiev Monastery, but its founder came from another, now disappeared Intercession Monastery in the suburb of Vysokoye, founded in 1414 by Sergius’s disciple Nikita, and abolished again in 1764. All that remains is the wooden Church of the Intercession of the 17th century in the monastery cemetery.

Spaso-Andronikov Monastery. Moscow

"Joint project" of Sergius - Andronikov Monastery on the Yauza, now almost in the center of Moscow. It was founded in 1356 by Metropolitan Alexy in honor of the miraculous rescue from a storm on the way to Constantinople. From Sergius he received a blessing and the help of his disciple Andronikos, who became the first abbot. Nowadays the Andronikov Monastery is famous for its white-stone Spassky Cathedral (1427) - the oldest surviving building in all of Moscow. In those same years, Andrei Rublev was one of the monks of the monastery, and now the Museum of Ancient Russian Art operates here. The second large church of St. Michael the Archangel is an example of Baroque, 1690s; the ensemble also includes walls, towers, buildings and chapels of the 16th-17th centuries, and a few new buildings, or rather, restored buildings.

Simonovsky Monastery, Moscow

Another “joint project” is the Andronikov Monastery on the Yauza, now almost in the center of Moscow. It was founded in 1356 by Metropolitan Alexy in honor of the miraculous rescue from a storm on the way to Constantinople. From Sergius he received a blessing and the help of his disciple Andronikos, who became the first abbot. Nowadays the Andronikov Monastery is famous for its white-stone Spassky Cathedral (1427) - the oldest surviving building in all of Moscow. In those same years, Andrei Rublev was one of the monks of the monastery, and now the Museum of Ancient Russian Art operates here. The second large church of St. Michael the Archangel is an example of Baroque, 1690s; the ensemble also includes walls, towers, buildings and chapels of the 16th-17th centuries, and a few new buildings, or rather, restored buildings.

Epiphany-Anastasia Monastery. Kostroma

The brainchild of Sergius’s disciple, Elder Nikita, is the Epiphany Monastery in Kostroma. Not as famous as Ipatievsky, it is older and in the very center of the city, and its shrine is the Fedorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God. The monastery survived a lot, including devastation by Ivan the Terrible and the Poles during the Time of Troubles, but the fire of 1847 was fatal. In 1863, the temples and chambers were transferred to the Anastasinsky Convent. The cathedral now consists of two parts: the white-stone old church (1559) turned into the altar of the new red-brick one (1864-69) - this structure has 27 domes! In place of the corner towers there is the Smolensk Church (1825) and a hipped bell tower. If you manage to look inside, you can see the former refectory (now a seminary) from the 17th century and a very beautiful abbot’s building.

Trinity-Sypanov Monastery. Nerekhta, Kostroma region

The picturesque monastery on Sypanov Hill, 2 kilometers from the town of Nerekhta, was founded in 1365 by Sergius’s student Pachomius - like many other students, and the teacher himself, he went into the forests to seek solitude, dug a cell... and soon the monastery formed around him by itself. Nowadays it is essentially just the Trinity Church (1675) in a fence (1780) with towers and a chapel - in 1764-1993 it was a parish church instead of the abolished monastery. And now - again a monastery, for women.

Jacob-Zheleznoborovsky Monastery. Borok village, Buysky district, Kostroma region

The village of Borok, near the town of Bui, a large railway junction, was in the old days called Iron Bork, as bog ores were mined here. Founded by Sergius’ disciple Jacob in 1390, the monastery played a role in two Russian Troubles: in 1442, Vasily the Dark made it his “base” in the campaign against Dmitry Shemyaka, and at the beginning of the 17th century, Grishka Otrepiev, the future False Dmitry I, took monastic vows here. In the 19th century, the monastery remained the churches of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (1757) and the Nativity of John the Baptist (1765), the bell tower - a “pencil” between them, the fence and cells.

Avraamiev Gorodetsky Monastery. Nozhkino village, Chukhloma district, Kostroma region

One of the brightest successors of Sergius’s work was the monk Abraham, the founder of four monasteries in the remote Galician side (we are, of course, not talking about Galicia, but about Galich in the Kostroma region). Only the Avraamiev Gorodetsky Monastery in the village of Nozhkino, where the saint rested, has survived. Temples are visible from Chukhloma and from the Soligalich road beyond the lake surface: the Intercession and St. Nicholas churches of the 17th century and the Cathedral of the Icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness” with a bell tower, built by Konstantin Ton in the style of his Moscow “masterpiece”. The ruins of two churches of another Avraamiev Novozersky monastery have been preserved opposite Galich, in the village with affectionate name Tenderness.

Cherepovets Resurrection Monastery. Cherepovets

It’s hard to believe that the industrial giant Cherepovets was once a quiet merchant town that grew up in the 18th century near the monastery founded by Sergius’ disciples Theodosius and Afanasy. The monastery was abolished in 1764, but its Resurrection Cathedral (1752-56) remains the oldest building, the historical heart of Cherepovets.

Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. Vologda region, Kirillovsky district

In 1397, two monks of the Simonov Monastery - Kirill and Ferapont - came to the Belozersk Principality. The first dug a cell near Lake Siverskoye, the second - between lakes Passky and Borodavsky, and over the years the most famous monasteries of Northern Thebaid grew from these cells. The Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery is now the largest in Russia, and on an area of ​​12 hectares there are fifty buildings, including 10 churches, only two of which are younger than the 16th century. The monastery is so large that it is divided into “districts” - the Great Assumption and Ivanovo monasteries make up the Old Town, adjacent to which is a vast and almost empty New town. All this is protected by powerful walls and impregnable towers, and once the monastery had its own Ostrog citadel, which also served as an “elite” prison. There are also many chambers here - residential, educational, hospital, economic, also almost entirely from the 16th-17th centuries, one of which is occupied by a museum of icons. In the New Town there is a wooden mill and a very old (1485) Church of the Deposition of the Robe from the village of Borodavy. Add here a glorious history and a beautiful location - and you get one of the most impressive places in Russia. The Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery gave the most “third-order students”: its monks were the ideologist of “non-covetousness” Nil Sorsky, the founder of the Solovetsky Monastery Savvaty and others.

Luzhetsky Ferapontov Monastery. Mozhaisk, Moscow region

Belozersky Prince Andrei Dmitrievich owned several cities in Rus', including Mozhaisk. In 1408, he asked the monk Ferapont to found a monastery there, and Sergius's disciple returned to the Moscow region. Nowadays the Luzhetsky Monastery on the outskirts of Mozhaisk is a small but very solid ensemble with the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (1520), a couple of younger churches and a hipped bell tower behind decorative but impressive walls and towers.

Assumption Borovensky Monastery. Mosalsk, Kaluga region

The southernmost monastery of Sergius’ disciples was founded by the namesake of the “northern” Ferapont - the monk Ferapont of Borovensky. The Kaluga land in those days was a troubled outskirts, which was encroached on by Lithuania and the Horde, and for a defenseless monk to come here to live was already a feat. The monastery, however, survived all the wars... only to close in the 1760s. Founded in the 1740s, the Assumption Church, one of the most beautiful in the South, was already consecrated as a parish church. Nowadays it stands among the fields, abandoned but unshakable, and inside you can see paintings made by Ukrainian masters, including the “All-Seeing Eye” on the vaults.

Ust-Vymsky Michael-Arkhangelsk Monastery. Ust-Vym, Komi Republic

Ust-Vymsky Michael-Arkhangelsk Monastery

Stefan of Perm was born in the merchant Veliky Ustyug in the family of a priest and a baptized Zyryan woman (as the Komi were called in the old days), and went down in history by single-handedly annexing an entire region to Russia - Lesser Perm, the country of the Komi-Zyryans. Having taken monastic vows and settled in Rostov, Stefan studied the sciences, and more than once talked with Sergius of Radonezh, adopting his experience, and then returned to the North and went beyond Vychegda. The Komi were then a warlike people; their conversation with the missionaries was short, but when they tied Stefan up and began to cover him with brushwood, his calmness so shocked the Zyryans that they not only spared him, but also heeded his sermons. So, converting village after village to the faith of Christ, Stefan reached Ust-Vym - the capital of Lesser Perm, and there he met with the pama - the high priest. According to legend, the outcome was decided by a test: a monk and a priest, chained to each other, had to walk through a burning hut, dive into an ice hole on one bank of the Vychegda and emerge on the other... Essentially, they were going to certain death, and the essence of preparedness for it was: Pama was afraid, retreated and thereby saved Stefan... but immediately lost the trust of his people. This was the year of the Battle of Kulikovo. On the site of the temple, Stefan built a temple, and now in the center of Ust-Vym there is a small but very landscaped monastery consisting of two churches from the 18th century (and a third from the 1990s) and a wooden monastic monastery, similar to a small fortress. From two other monasteries of Stephen, the current Kotlas and Syktyvkar grew.

Vysotsky Monastery. Serpukhov, Moscow region

The monastery on the outskirts of Serpukhov is one of the main attractions ancient city. It was founded in 1374 by the local prince Vladimir the Brave, but to select the place and consecrate it he called Sergius with his disciple Afanasy, who remained with the abbot. The monastery is small, but beautiful: walls with towers from the 17th century, an elegant gate bell tower (1831), the Conception Cathedral from the time of Boris Godunov and several other churches and buildings. But most of all, the monastery is famous for the “Inexhaustible Chalice” icon, which relieves alcoholism, drug addiction and other addictions.

We have collected all (or almost all) preserved and even poorly preserved monasteries founded by Sergius of Radonezh and his disciples.

Sergius of Radonezh, the most revered Russian saint, founded ten monasteries during his life. Numerous disciples continued his work and founded 40 more monasteries. These students had their own students, many of whom also founded monastic communities - in the 15th century, Muscovite Rus' became a country of monasteries.

Ferapontov Monastery, Kirillovsky district, Vologda region

In 1397, two monks of the Simonov Monastery - Kirill and Ferapont - came to the Belozersk Principality. The first dug a cell near Lake Siverskoye, the second - between lakes Passky and Borodavsky, and over the years the most famous monasteries of Northern Thebaid grew from these cells. The Ferapontov Monastery is much smaller, but ancient (there are no buildings at all younger than the mid-17th century), and is included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site thanks to the complex of Dionysian frescoes in the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (1490-1502).

Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Sergiev Posad, Moscow region

Sergius founded the main Russian monastery while still a devout layman Bartholomew: with his brother-monk Stephen he settled on Makovets Hill in the Radonezh Forest, where he built the Church of the Holy Trinity with his own hands. A couple of years later, Bartholomew became a monk with the name Sergius, and then a monastic community formed around him, which by 1345 had formed into a monastery with a cenobitic charter. Sergius was revered during his lifetime, walked around Rus' and reconciled warring princes, and finally in 1380 he blessed Dmitry Donskoy for the battle with the Horde and gave him two monastic warriors Alexander Peresvet and Rodion Oslyabya to help him.

In the Trinity Monastery in 1392, Sergius reposed, and thirty years later his relics were found, to which the people were drawn. The monastery grew and became more beautiful along with Russia, and survived the devastation of Edigei's horde in 1408, and the siege of Pan Sapieha by the Polish-Lithuanian army in 1608-10. In 1744, the monastery received the status of a monastery - the second in Rus' after the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Nowadays it is a grandiose architectural complex worthy of the largest Russian Kremlins - about 50 buildings behind an impregnable wall 1.5 kilometers long. The oldest churches are the Trinity Cathedral (1422-23) and the Holy Spiritual Church-Bell Tower (1476), and it was for the first that Andrei Rublev wrote his great “Trinity”. The Assumption Cathedral (1559-85) is one of the largest and most majestic in Rus'. The bell tower (1741-77) is taller than Ivan the Great, and on it hangs Russia's largest 72-ton Tsar Bell. Temples, residential and service chambers, educational and administrative institutions, relics and graves of historical figures, a museum with unique exhibits: the Lavra is a whole city, as well as a “city-forming enterprise” of the rather large city of Sergiev Posad.

Annunciation Kirzhach Monastery. Kirzhach, Vladimir region

Sometimes Sergius left the Trinity Monastery for several years, but wherever he settled, a new monastery arose. So, in 1358, on the Kirzhach River, Sergius and his disciple Simon founded the Annunciation Monastery, where another disciple Roman remained as abbot. Nowadays it is a small cozy convent on a high bank - on one side the city of Kirzhach, on the other - endless meadows. In the center is the white stone Annunciation Cathedral of the early 16th century and the Church of the All-Merciful Savior (1656).

Bobrenev Monastery. Kolomna, Moscow region

One of the heroes of the Battle of Kulikovo, Dmitry Bobrok-Volynsky, came to Moscow from what is now known as Western Ukraine and became so close to Prince Dmitry that together they prepared a plan for the battle with Mamai. Bobrok was given military cunning: when after 5 hours of battle the Russians began to retreat, his ambush regiment hit the rear of the Tatar army, thereby deciding the outcome of the battle. Returning victorious, Bobrok, with the blessing of Sergius, founded a monastery near Kolomna. Nowadays it is a small cozy monastery in a field between the Novoryazanskoe highway and the Moscow River with the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (1757-90) and other buildings of the 19th century. The best way to get to the monastery is from the Kolomna Kremlin along the most picturesque path through the Pyatnitsky Gate and the pontoon bridge.

Epiphany Staro-Golutvin Monastery. Kolomna, Moscow region

The large monastery on the outskirts of Kolomna is clearly visible from the railway, attracting attention with the thin false-Gothic turrets of the fence (1778), similar to minarets. Sergius founded it in 1385 at the request of Dmitry Donskoy, and left his student Gregory as abbot. Until 1929, there was a spring in the monastery, which, according to legend, flowed where Sergius said. In the Middle Ages, the monastery was a fortress on the road to the Steppe, but most of the current buildings, including the Epiphany Cathedral, date back to the 18th century.

Holy Trinity Monastery, Ryazan

One of Sergius’ missions was a kind of “diplomacy of general authority” - he walked around Rus', reconciling warring princes and convincing them of the unity of the Russian cause. The most rebellious was Oleg Ryazansky: on the one hand, Ryazan competed with Moscow for leadership, on the other, it was open to the attacks of the Horde, and therefore Oleg played a double game on the verge of betrayal. In 1382, he helped Tokhtamysh, seized Kolomna from Dmitry... Things were heading towards a new collapse of Rus', but in 1386 Sergius came to Ryazan and by some miracle prevented the war, and as a sign of peace he founded the small Trinity Monastery. Nowadays it is a modest city monastery with a decorative fence and churches of the 17th (Troitskaya), 18th (Sergievskaya) and 19th (Icon of the Mother of God "Znamenia-Kochemnaya") centuries.

Boris and Gleb Monastery. Pos. Borisoglebsky (Borisogleb), Yaroslavl region

Sergius founded several more monasteries as if “in collaboration” - not with his disciples, but with the monks of his generation. For example, Borisoglebsky, 18 versts from Rostov, where Sergius was born, together with the Novgorodians Theodore and Paul in 1365. Later, the recluse Irinakh, who lived here, blessed Kuzma Minin for the defense of Rus'. The magnificent architectural complex developed in the 16th-17th centuries, and from the outside, especially when looking at the gates (of which the monastery has two), towers or a three-span belfry, it resembles a slightly simplified Rostov Kremlin. There are several churches inside, including the Cathedral of Boris and Gleb from the 1520s.

Mother of God Nativity Monastery. Rostov Veliky

This monastery was founded by the disciple of St. Sergius, the monk Fyodor, in the teacher’s homeland, and in the fabulous landscape of Rostov it took its place a block from the Kremlin. The first stone church was founded by Metropolitan Jonah Sysoevich in 1670. Nowadays it is a large, but at first glance not very spectacular (especially against the background of the Rostov Kremlin!) ensemble of temples, buildings and fences of the 17th-19th centuries. Moreover, it is worth approaching it and taking a closer look.

Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery. Zvenigorod, Moscow region

After the death of Sergius, the new abbot of the Trinity Monastery, Nikon, almost immediately went into a six-year retreat, leaving Sergius’s other student Savva as abbot. Immediately after Nikon's return in 1398, Savva went to Zvenigorod and, at the request of the local prince, founded a monastery on Mount Storozhka. As the name suggests, the place was strategic, and in the 15th-17th centuries the monastery turned into a powerful fortress. But this monastery was especially revered by the Russian tsars, who sometimes retired to it for prayer and peace: the road here from Moscow was called the Tsar’s Road, and now it is nothing more than Rublyovka. The monastery stands in an extremely picturesque place, and behind the impregnable walls hides an exemplary “fairy-tale city” from the time of Alexei Mikhailovich - elaborate chambers, elegant bell towers, kokoshniks, tents, tiles, a white and red ensemble. It even has its own Royal Palace, as well as an excellent museum. And in the center is the small white Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, consecrated in 1405, during the life of Savva the Wonderworker.

Nikolo-Peshnoshsky Monastery. Lugovoe village, Dmitrovsky district, Moscow region

One of the most beautiful monasteries in the Moscow region, founded in 1361 by Sergius’s disciple Methodius, was undeservedly forgotten - since 1960, a psychoneurological boarding school, closed to outsiders, lived within its walls. Hidden inside are St. Nicholas Cathedral from the early 16th century, a very elegant bell tower, and several more churches and chambers. The boarding school is now in the process of moving, and the churches are at the beginning of restoration.

Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery. Vologda

The Vologda region was called the Northern Thebaid for the abundance of secluded and fabulously beautiful monasteries, founded during the heyday of the Russian North - a country of merchants, fishermen and monks. The Prilutsky Monastery on the outskirts of Vologda, with its powerful faceted towers, looks like a Kremlin much more than the Vologda Kremlin itself. Its founder Dmitry met Sergius in 1354, being the founder and abbot of the Nikolsky Monastery in Pereslavl-Zalessky, and not without the influence of Sergius’ ideas he went to the North, hoping to find solitude somewhere in the wilderness. In 1371, he came to Vologda and built a large monastery there, funds for which were allocated by Dmitry Donskoy himself, and for all subsequent centuries the monastery remained one of the richest in Russia. From here Ivan the Terrible took shrines on his campaign against Kazan; During the Time of Troubles, the monastery was destroyed three times; in 1812, relics of monasteries near Moscow were evacuated here. The main shrines are the icon of Dmitry Prilutsky with his life and the Cilician Cross, which he brought from Pereslavl, and are now kept in the Vologda Museum. Behind the powerful walls of the 1640s there is the Spassky Cathedral (1537-42), the Vvedenskaya Church with a refectory chamber and covered galleries (1623), a number of buildings of the 17th-19th centuries, a pond, the grave of the poet Batyushkov, a wooden Assumption Church (1519), brought in 1962 from the closed Kushtsky monastery - the oldest tented church in Russia.

Pavlo-Obnorsky Monastery. Gryazovets district, Vologda region

The monastery in the upper reaches of the Obnora River in the Vologda region was founded in 1389 by Sergius’ disciple Pavel, who had a 15-year retreat behind him. He lived here alone for 3 years in the hollow of an old linden tree... Once upon a time, the Pavlo-Obnorsky Monastery was one of the largest in Rus', but it was especially unlucky under the Soviets: the Trinity Cathedral (1510-1515) with the iconostasis of Dionysius perished (4 survived icons, sold to museums), the Assumption Church was beheaded (1535). In the surviving buildings there was an orphanage, later a pioneer camp - that’s why the village where the monastery stands is called Yunoshesky. Since the 1990s, the monastery has been revived; on the site of the Trinity Cathedral, a wooden chapel with a shrine of the relics of Pavel Obnorsky was built.

Resurrection Obnorsky Monastery. Lyubimovsky district, Yaroslavl region

A small monastery in deep forests on the Obnor River, 20 kilometers from the town of Lyubim, was founded by Sergius’ disciple Sylvester, who lived in this place for many years in solitude and was accidentally discovered by a lost peasant, after which the rumor about the hermit spread, and other monks flocked there. The monastery was abolished in 1764; the holy spring of Sylvester of Obnor and the Church of the Resurrection (1825) were preserved.

Spaso-Preobrazhensky Nuromsky Monastery. Spas-Nurma, Gryazovetsky district, Vologda region

Spaso-Preobrazhensky Nurom Monastery

Another monastery on the Nurma River, 15 kilometers from Pavlo-Obnorsky, was founded in 1389 by Sergius of Nuromsky, a student of Sergius of Radonezh. Abolished in 1764, the Spaso-Sergievskaya Church in the “northern baroque” style was built in 1795 as a parish church. Now monastic life in this abandoned forest monastery is gradually being revived, the buildings are being restored.

In Kaluga Borovsk, the most famous, of course, is the Pafnutiev Monastery, but its founder came from another, now disappeared Intercession Monastery in the suburb of Vysokoye, founded in 1414 by Sergius’s disciple Nikita, and abolished again in 1764. All that remains is the wooden Church of the Intercession of the 17th century in the monastery cemetery.

Spaso-Andronikov Monastery. Moscow

"Joint project" of Sergius - Andronikov Monastery on the Yauza, now almost in the center of Moscow. It was founded in 1356 by Metropolitan Alexy in honor of the miraculous rescue from a storm on the way to Constantinople. From Sergius he received a blessing and the help of his disciple Andronikos, who became the first abbot. Nowadays the Andronikov Monastery is famous for its white-stone Spassky Cathedral (1427) - the oldest surviving building in all of Moscow. In those same years, Andrei Rublev was one of the monks of the monastery, and now the Museum of Ancient Russian Art operates here. The second large church of St. Michael the Archangel is an example of Baroque, 1690s; the ensemble also includes walls, towers, buildings and chapels of the 16th-17th centuries, and a few new buildings, or rather, restored buildings.

Simonovsky Monastery, Moscow

Another “joint project” is the Andronikov Monastery on the Yauza, now almost in the center of Moscow. It was founded in 1356 by Metropolitan Alexy in honor of the miraculous rescue from a storm on the way to Constantinople. From Sergius he received a blessing and the help of his disciple Andronikos, who became the first abbot. Nowadays the Andronikov Monastery is famous for its white-stone Spassky Cathedral (1427) - the oldest surviving building in all of Moscow. In those same years, Andrei Rublev was one of the monks of the monastery, and now the Museum of Ancient Russian Art operates here. The second large church of St. Michael the Archangel is an example of Baroque, 1690s; the ensemble also includes walls, towers, buildings and chapels of the 16th-17th centuries, and a few new buildings, or rather, restored buildings.

Epiphany-Anastasia Monastery. Kostroma

The brainchild of Sergius’s disciple, Elder Nikita, is the Epiphany Monastery in Kostroma. Not as famous as Ipatievsky, it is older and in the very center of the city, and its shrine is the Fedorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God. The monastery survived a lot, including devastation by Ivan the Terrible and the Poles during the Time of Troubles, but the fire of 1847 was fatal. In 1863, the temples and chambers were transferred to the Anastasinsky Convent. The cathedral now consists of two parts: the white-stone old church (1559) turned into the altar of the new red-brick one (1864-69) - this structure has 27 domes! In place of the corner towers there is the Smolensk Church (1825) and a hipped bell tower. If you manage to look inside, you can see the former refectory (now a seminary) from the 17th century and a very beautiful abbot’s building.

Trinity-Sypanov Monastery. Nerekhta, Kostroma region

The picturesque monastery on Sypanov Hill, 2 kilometers from the town of Nerekhta, was founded in 1365 by Sergius’s student Pachomius - like many other students, and the teacher himself, he went into the forests to seek solitude, dug a cell... and soon the monastery formed around him by itself. Nowadays it is essentially just the Trinity Church (1675) in a fence (1780) with towers and a chapel - in 1764-1993 it was a parish church instead of the abolished monastery. And now - again a monastery, for women.

Jacob-Zheleznoborovsky Monastery. Borok village, Buysky district, Kostroma region

The village of Borok, near the town of Bui, a large railway junction, was in the old days called Iron Bork, as bog ores were mined here. Founded by Sergius’ disciple Jacob in 1390, the monastery played a role in two Russian Troubles: in 1442, Vasily the Dark made it his “base” in the campaign against Dmitry Shemyaka, and at the beginning of the 17th century, Grishka Otrepiev, the future False Dmitry I, took monastic vows here. In the 19th century, the monastery remained the churches of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (1757) and the Nativity of John the Baptist (1765), the bell tower - a “pencil” between them, the fence and cells.

Avraamiev Gorodetsky Monastery. Nozhkino village, Chukhloma district, Kostroma region

One of the brightest successors of Sergius’s work was the monk Abraham, the founder of four monasteries in the remote Galician side (we are, of course, not talking about Galicia, but about Galich in the Kostroma region). Only the Avraamiev Gorodetsky Monastery in the village of Nozhkino, where the saint rested, has survived. Temples are visible from Chukhloma and from the Soligalich road beyond the lake surface: the Intercession and St. Nicholas churches of the 17th century and the Cathedral of the Icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness” with a bell tower, built by Konstantin Ton in the style of his Moscow “masterpiece”. The ruins of two churches of another Avraamiev Novozersky monastery have been preserved opposite Galich, in a village with the affectionate name Tenderness.

Cherepovets Resurrection Monastery. Cherepovets

It’s hard to believe that the industrial giant Cherepovets was once a quiet merchant town that grew up in the 18th century near the monastery founded by Sergius’ disciples Theodosius and Afanasy. The monastery was abolished in 1764, but its Resurrection Cathedral (1752-56) remains the oldest building, the historical heart of Cherepovets.

Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. Vologda region, Kirillovsky district

In 1397, two monks of the Simonov Monastery - Kirill and Ferapont - came to the Belozersk Principality. The first dug a cell near Lake Siverskoye, the second - between lakes Passky and Borodavsky, and over the years the most famous monasteries of Northern Thebaid grew from these cells. The Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery is now the largest in Russia, and on an area of ​​12 hectares there are fifty buildings, including 10 churches, only two of which are younger than the 16th century. The monastery is so large that it is divided into “districts” - the Great Assumption and Ivanovo monasteries make up the Old Town, to which the vast and almost empty New Town adjoins. All this is protected by powerful walls and impregnable towers, and once the monastery had its own Ostrog citadel, which also served as an “elite” prison. There are also many chambers here - residential, educational, hospital, economic, also almost entirely from the 16th-17th centuries, one of which is occupied by a museum of icons. In the New Town there is a wooden mill and a very old (1485) Church of the Deposition of the Robe from the village of Borodavy. Add here a glorious history and a beautiful location - and you get one of the most impressive places in Russia. The Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery gave the most “third-order students”: its monks were the ideologist of “non-covetousness” Nil Sorsky, the founder of the Solovetsky Monastery Savvaty and others.

Luzhetsky Ferapontov Monastery. Mozhaisk, Moscow region

Belozersky Prince Andrei Dmitrievich owned several cities in Rus', including Mozhaisk. In 1408, he asked the monk Ferapont to found a monastery there, and Sergius's disciple returned to the Moscow region. Nowadays the Luzhetsky Monastery on the outskirts of Mozhaisk is a small but very solid ensemble with the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (1520), a couple of younger churches and a hipped bell tower behind decorative but impressive walls and towers.

Assumption Borovensky Monastery. Mosalsk, Kaluga region

The southernmost monastery of Sergius’ disciples was founded by the namesake of the “northern” Ferapont - the monk Ferapont of Borovensky. The Kaluga land in those days was a troubled outskirts, which was encroached on by Lithuania and the Horde, and for a defenseless monk to come here to live was already a feat. The monastery, however, survived all the wars... only to close in the 1760s. Founded in the 1740s, the Assumption Church, one of the most beautiful in the South, was already consecrated as a parish church. Nowadays it stands among the fields, abandoned but unshakable, and inside you can see paintings made by Ukrainian masters, including the “All-Seeing Eye” on the vaults.

Ust-Vymsky Michael-Arkhangelsk Monastery. Ust-Vym, Komi Republic

Ust-Vymsky Michael-Arkhangelsk Monastery

Stefan of Perm was born in the merchant Veliky Ustyug in the family of a priest and a baptized Zyryan woman (as the Komi were called in the old days), and went down in history by single-handedly annexing an entire region to Russia - Lesser Perm, the country of the Komi-Zyryans. Having taken monastic vows and settled in Rostov, Stefan studied the sciences, and more than once talked with Sergius of Radonezh, adopting his experience, and then returned to the North and went beyond Vychegda. The Komi were then a warlike people; their conversation with the missionaries was short, but when they tied Stefan up and began to cover him with brushwood, his calmness so shocked the Zyryans that they not only spared him, but also heeded his sermons. So, converting village after village to the faith of Christ, Stefan reached Ust-Vym - the capital of Lesser Perm, and there he met with the pama - the high priest. According to legend, the outcome was decided by a test: a monk and a priest, chained to each other, had to walk through a burning hut, dive into an ice hole on one bank of the Vychegda and emerge on the other... Essentially, they were going to certain death, and the essence of preparedness for it was: Pama was afraid, retreated and thereby saved Stefan... but immediately lost the trust of his people. This was the year of the Battle of Kulikovo. On the site of the temple, Stefan built a temple, and now in the center of Ust-Vym there is a small but very landscaped monastery consisting of two churches from the 18th century (and a third from the 1990s) and a wooden monastic monastery, similar to a small fortress. From two other monasteries of Stephen, the current Kotlas and Syktyvkar grew.

Vysotsky Monastery. Serpukhov, Moscow region

The monastery on the outskirts of Serpukhov is one of the main attractions of the ancient city. It was founded in 1374 by the local prince Vladimir the Brave, but to select the place and consecrate it he called Sergius with his disciple Afanasy, who remained with the abbot. The monastery is small, but beautiful: walls with towers from the 17th century, an elegant gate bell tower (1831), the Conception Cathedral from the time of Boris Godunov and several other churches and buildings. But most of all, the monastery is famous for the “Inexhaustible Chalice” icon, which relieves alcoholism, drug addiction and other addictions.