Location: Pereslavl- Zalessky, Yaroslavl Oblast Map
Established: 14th century by Ivan I of Moscow Kalita
Goritsky Monasteryis (Успенский Горицкий монастырь) located in Pereslavl- Zalessky, Yaroslavl Oblast in Russia. It was constructed in 14th century by Ivan I of Moscow Kalita, althoug today the oldest parts of the current ensemble date to 17-18th centuries. In the Middle Ages the monastery owned numerous villages, including Bolshie Sokolniki, Veslevo, Veskovo, Voskresenskoe, Dubnevo, Yermov, Ilinskoe, Kruzhkovo, Maurino, Nila, Pertsevo, Rodioncevo, Slavitino, Solomidino, Chasnicy, Chentsi, Chernitskoye on Oselka, Chernitskoye on Shahe, Yaropoletsi and others. Unfortunately, the historical information about this monastery is very brief, fragmentary and unclear, since the monastery's archive was destroyed in an accidental fire on June 12, 1722. All the information about it was obtained from various secondary sources. Here is the information that is available about the monastery:
The monastery archive was destroyed in a fire on June 12, 1722, in
connection with which historical information about the monastery of the
pre-Petrine era is short, fragmentary and unclear. The time of the
foundation of the Bogoroditsky Monastery on a hill (“goritsa”) south of
Pereslavl traditionally dates back to 1362, that is, to the time of the
monastic colonization of North-Eastern Rus' by the disciples of Sergius
of Radonezh.
Devastated in 1382 by the army of Tokhtamysh. There
is a legend that on the eve of the invasion and the destruction of the
monastery, Grand Duchess Evdokia, the wife of Dmitry Donskoy, came there
on a pilgrimage. She and several other people allegedly miraculously
escaped from the Tatars by sailing on a raft to the middle of Lake
Pleshcheyevo and hiding behind thick fog. Then, in memory of her
salvation, Evdokia restored the monastery at her own expense, and in
Pereslavl a tradition was established on the sixth Sunday after Easter
to arrange a religious procession on boats from the Goritsky monastery
and the mouth of Trubezh to the middle of the lake.
As is usually
the case in such cases, legends later appeared that the monastery
already existed at the beginning of the 14th century under Ivan Kalita,
and even supposedly in the 12th century. Supporters of the ancient times
of the monastery often add that it was in this monastery that St. Dmitry
Prilutsky took tonsure. In the 15th century, Daniel of Pereslavsky was a
resident of the monastery, and later hegumen, who in 1508 moved to the
Trinity Danilov Monastery founded by him nearby (on the same hill).
In the Middle Ages, the monastery owned numerous villages, including
Bolshiye Sokolniki, Veslevo, Veskovo, Voskresenskoye, Dubnevo, Ermovo,
Ilyinskoye, Kruzhkovo, Maurino, Nila, Pertsevo, Rodiontsevo, Slavitino,
Solomidino, Chashnitsy, Chentsy, Chernitskoye on Oselka, Chernitskoye on
Shakhe, Chernetskoye-Kniazhskoye, Yaropoltsy and others.
After
the abolition of the monastery
In 1744, the monastery was abolished
and given to the premises of the bishop's house of the newly established
Pereslavl diocese. During the stay of the bishops in it, many of the
former buildings were demolished “because of dilapidation”, and in their
place appeared: the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
Mary and the so-called Gethsemane (between 1753 and 1761); bell tower
with the Church of the Epiphany 1768-1777; at the same time (instead of
the ancient ones) part of the fence with towers was rebuilt. These later
parts start from the bell tower, then go along the north side and partly
along the west. At the same time, a pond was dug out "for precaution
against fire cases", which was filled through pipes connecting it with
another pond outside the walls of the monastery; this pond has survived.
In 1788 the Pereslavl diocese was abolished. The former monastery
ceased to serve as a bishop's residence, although the Assumption
Cathedral continued to be used as a citywide cathedral for another half
a century. By the decision of the Vladimir Ecclesiastical Consistory of
1838, the status of the cathedral was returned to the ancient
Transfiguration Church in the Kremlin, and in the Assumption (Goritsky)
Cathedral, due to its considerable distance from the city center, it was
prescribed to hold services only “on temple and deliberate holidays”.
In 1887, the dilapidated ensemble of old buildings was damaged by a
hurricane, which demolished the tops of the towers. At that time, the
Pereslavl Theological School was located on its territory. Gethsemane
was demolished into bricks in 1883. In 1904, the interior view of the
former monastery showed a sad picture of desolation: “the vast space,
surrounded by walls, is a wasteland overgrown with grass, with piles of
garbage and an overgrown pond; on one side are two churches and a few
insignificant new buildings, lost in the vast wasteland; the fence,
gates and towers are dilapidated and dilapidated.”
Soviet and
post-Soviet period
After the revolution in 1919, the Pereslavl
Museum-Reserve was transferred to the monastery. The main restoration
work continued from the 1950s to the 1970s (including under the
direction of I. B. Purishev). In the 1960s, two wooden chapels from the
surrounding villages were moved to the museum grounds. As of 2020,
almost all buildings are dilapidated and in need of repair.
In
2012, the Russian Orthodox Church indicated a desire to reclaim the
monastery complex, but as of 2022, services are held only in the gate
church.
Monastery buildings
Assumption Cathedral (1750s)
with the famous multi-tiered iconostasis in the Elizabethan Baroque
style - now an exposition and storage;
Church of the Epiphany with a
bell tower (XVIII century), now a methodological department; one of the
best views of Pereslavl opens from the upper tier;
the Church of All
Saints with the Refectory (end of the 17th century), now an exposition
and storage;
the gate church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
(XVII-XVIII centuries) was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church, now
the temple is operating, services are held by the Goritsky Bishops'
Compound;
the Holy Gates and the Gatekeeper's Chamber, now the
Tourist Office;
fortress walls and towers (XVII-XVIII centuries), now
storage facilities.
The most ancient buildings of the monastery,
undoubtedly existing in the 17th century, are two gates, one of which is
“Saints”; the southern fence with one tower and the Church of All
Saints, which has almost lost its ancient appearance due to later
additions. The “Holy Gates” with the Church of St. Nicholas represent
one of the outstanding examples of ancient Russian architecture and
therefore have been repeatedly depicted and described in various
publications; of these, the most valuable are the drawings placed in the
edition of F. Richter, where you can see all the details of processing.
The year of construction of the gate is unknown, but is usually cited as
an example of a "pattern" of the middle of the 17th century.
The
buildings of the religious school
the building of a religious school
(XIX century), now an art gallery;
bath (XIX century), now the
administration building;
belfry (XIX century), now an observation
deck.
Brought or built in Soviet times
Chapel of the
Intercession from the village of Starovo (XIX century);
the chapel of
St. George from the village of Foninskoye (end of the 19th century);
a bust of Yuri Dolgoruky by the sculptor S. M. Orlov is a bust
repetition of the monument on Tverskaya Square in Moscow (1963).