Location: Kargopolsky District Map
Monastery Found: 15th century
The Assumption Alexander-Oshevensky Monastery (Александро-Ошевенский Монастырь) is an active male Orthodox monastery of the Plesetsk diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, located in the village of Pogost (Oshevenskoye) of the Kargopol district of the Arkhangelsk region of Russia.
The monastery was founded in the 1460s by the Monk Alexander
Oshevensky (1427-1479, in the world - Alex, in his youth he took
monastic vows in the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery). The birth of the
monastery is evidenced by the life of its founder. On the advice of his
father, who had moved to the Kargopol lands, the Monk Alexander of
Oshevensky came to the Churyuga River and here, forty-four versts from
Kargopol, built a hermitage in the place of a wild forest. The
construction was led by his father - Nikifor Osheven. Already during the
life of the monk, the first monastery church, Nikolsky, was erected.
After the death of St. Alexander, the monastery began to fall into
decay. The monastery was empty, only 5 elderly monks remained in it. The
situation began to change for the better in 1488, when the son of the
local priest Maxim, who ruled the monastery until 1531, was elevated to
the abbot of the monastery. Under him, the number of brethren increased,
the monastic land holdings increased, another church was built - in
honor of the Assumption of the Virgin. In the future, the monastery was
often subjected to various troubles: in the middle of the 16th century,
the voivode I. M. Yuryev, a relative of Ivan IV's wife Anastasia, wanted
to "ruin" the monastery. The monks had to conduct land litigation with
the peasants; more than once in the 16th-18th centuries churches burned,
monks grumbled.
After the fire that happened on May 6, 1706, in
1707 the construction of the preserved stone two-story Assumption Church
began.
In 1834, the existing over-gate St. Nicholas Church was
erected.
The Oshevensk monastery was of great importance for the
local region and raised six monasteries. Pachomius of Kensky (former
Kensky Monastery) came out of it, raising Anthony of Siya (Trinity Siya
Monastery); the Monk Cyril, the founder of the Syrinsk monastery, and
other ascetics who founded monasteries that have long since ceased to
exist.
Before the revolution, the monastery had a fairly
developed economy: livestock, arable and hay land, forest allotments,
and fishing.
In 1928 the monastery ceased to exist. In 1928, the
shrine with the relics of St. Alexander Oshevensky was opened in the
presence of local residents, representatives of the volost and district
Soviets. The monastery cathedral was plundered and turned into ruins by
the middle of the 20th century.
In the late 1960s, the question
of the restoration of the monastery was raised, which was not carried
out. A number of its buildings were used until the 70s for household
needs (there was a school in the monastic building).
Currently,
the monastery is at the very beginning of the path of restoration and
needs urgent help.
Since 1907, the monastery had its own
courtyard in St. Petersburg with a chapel in honor of St. Panteleimon.
The monks left the courtyard in 1919, and it was finally closed in
January 1931.
On March 15, 2001, Bishop Tikhon of Arkhangelsk and
Kholmogory gave his blessing to the reconstruction of the monastic
community of the Alexander Oshevensky Monastery and the organization of
restoration work. The first rector of the modern period was Hieromonk
Theodosius (Zmushko), who cleared the monastery of debris, repaired the
chapel, revived the activity of the parish, and opened a Sunday school.
But in June 2002 he left the monastery due to illness. In 2008,
Hieromonk Cyprian (Chukhleb) was appointed as acting abbot of the
monastery. Under him, work was carried out to reconstruct the roof of
the St. Nicholas Gate Church, where in the spring of 2009 an iconostasis
was installed and services began to be performed, work was begun to
restore the buildings of the monastery. In the fraternal building, two
cells were insulated and landscaped. The bell tower of the Assumption
Cathedral was repaired, bells were purchased. In April 2016, Hieromonk
Cyprian filed a petition for dismissal from his post due to illness. The
request was granted. On August 1, 2016, hegumen Theodosius (Kuritsyn)
was appointed abbot of the monastery as Metropolitan of Arkhangelsk and
Kholmogory.
The newly appointed Bishop of Plesetsk and Kargopol
Alexander, who visited the monastery on May 21, 2017, said: “This was my
first episcopal service at the Alexander-Osheve monastery, and I can say
with confidence that no one has ever served in this, the only surviving
gate church of the monastery. Bishop: Everything is inconvenient there!
The stairs are steep and the ceiling is low. And so, if I were a little
taller, I would not have been able to walk up the stairs in full
dress.<…> For myself, I see certain areas of activity in relation to the
restoration and restoration of the monastery. It is necessary to meet
with the head of the fund for the restoration of the monastery. I
roughly imagine in which direction we need to move and we will move.
With the help of God and the help of the state, restoration should
begin. I hope to finish."
1. St. Nicholas Church 2. St. Aleksander Oschevensky Chapel 3. Uspenskaya Church (Assumption Church) 4. Bell Tower 5. Holy Gate 6. Utility Gate 7. Water Gate 8. West Gate 9. Towers 10. Igumen's (abbot) Quaters 11. Horses 12. Cattle
Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(1707) is the main temple of the monastery. Previously, it was a large
two-story temple with six aisles and a bell tower. Today it is in ruins
- only the outer camps remain of it, the last remnants of the vaults can
collapse at any moment. The cathedral is in need of urgent emergency
response work. In the right aisle of the lower temple, the relics of the
founder of the monastery Alexander Oshevensky rest under a bushel.
Gate Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (1834). It hosts regular
services.
Stone fence with turrets.
A well dug by Alexander
Oshevensky himself. Once there was a unique chapel above the well.
The monastery building - the monks now live in it.
Abbess' Corps
(mothballed).
Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God (not
preserved). wooden hipped church in the style of "wonderful pattern".
Only the skeleton of the foundation in the form of a cross has been
preserved.
Around the monastery there are a number of places
associated with the name of Alexander Oshevensky:
two tracer stones
with depressions similar to the imprint of a human foot. These “tracker”
boulders are reminiscent of the cult of sacred stones, which was once
widespread among the Finno-Ugric peoples. According to legend, the
"footprints" on the stones were left by the Monk Alexander, so touching
them has healing power. The pilgrims who went to the monastery, with
their bare feet, stood in these "footprints", believing in a speedy
deliverance from illnesses.
a spring over which a small wooden cross
is placed. From here originates the Aleksandrovsky stream, which flows
into the lake of the same name. This spring is considered holy because
the Monk Alexander stopped there during his journey.
the disappearing
river Halui goes underground at one end of the village of Halui, and
comes out at the other, one and a half kilometers from the place of
departure. Before leaving, the river splits into two branches. The water
of the left enters a dead end with a steep bank and disappears in this
funnel. Up there is a cross hung with offerings. The right sleeve is of
a different nature: the water in it flows, flows, and suddenly -
everything, only foam.