Holy Trinity Barnickiy Monastery (Троице-Варницкий монастырь) was found by archbishop Ephraim in 1427. It was dedicated to Saint Sergius of Radonezh who was born and raised in a small village of Barnickiy on the outskirts of Rostov. Today it is considered to be a suburb. For most of its history Holy Trinity Barnickiy Monastery was made of wooden buildings. Its main Holy Trinity Cathedral was build in stone only in 1763- 71. In 1826- 28 Winter Vvedenskaya Church was constructed by finances donated by merchants of Rostov. Life of the Orthodox Community ended in 1919 when monks were arrested, executed or exiled from the area. Today The monastery is returned to its rightful owners, Russian Orthodox Church and its complex is being reconstructed.
The Trinity-Sergius Varnitsky Monastery has been known from documents
since 1614. The researcher of Rostov church antiquities A. A. Titov
wrote:
Our pious ancestors, in order to perpetuate in the memory of
future generations the place of the homeland of the great companion of
the Russian land, having erected a temple and a monastery in Varnitsy
Rostov, in imitation of the Trinity monastery founded by Sergius, also
called it Trinity. As for the name "Varnitsky", it was assigned to the
monastery because until the end of the 17th century there were salt
pans.
According to legend, the monastery was founded by
Archbishop Ephraim of Rostov in 1427 in Varnitskaya Sloboda on the
outskirts of the city of Rostov at the birthplace of St. Sergius of
Radonezh, a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church, five years after
finding the relics of St. Sergius. It is believed that the territory
occupied by the Trinity-Sergius Varnitsky Monastery, in the XIV century,
was part of the estate of Cyril and Mary, the parents of St. Sergius.
This tradition, linking Varnitsy with the birthplace of Sergius of
Radonezh, is, according to E. E. Golubinsky, very late and cannot claim
to be particularly reliable.
The monastery was poor and for a
long time could not afford stone construction; in 1725-31 acted as a
female, and the monks and monks were relocated to the Transfiguration
Monastery of the Savior. The main temple, as in the Trinity-Sergius
Lavra, is the Trinity Cathedral (until 2014), which first became stone
in 1763-1771 at the request and at the expense of the Rostov Bishop
Athanasius (Volsky). The main altar was dedicated to the Holy Trinity,
the southern chapel - to St. Sergius and Nikon of Radonezh, the northern
chapel - to Saints Athanasius and Cyril of Alexandria. The bishop
consecrated the Trinity Cathedral on October 16, 1771.
Until
1764, abbots were at the head of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, after
the monastic reform, the monastery left behind by the state was headed
by builders. The Winter Vvedenskaya Church was built in 1826-1828 with
the money of Rostov merchants.
In 1919, the Trinity-Sergius
Monastery was closed, and in subsequent years it was almost completely
destroyed. The Trinity Cathedral, the fence, residential and commercial
buildings were destroyed, a highway was laid across the territory. Only
the rebuilt Vvedenskaya Church survived (it was set up as an incubator
for a poultry farm) and the brethren's cell building.
In 1991, a
miracle happened in the monastery: a woman who could not walk spent the
whole service under the icon of St. Sergius of Radonezh, praying for
healing. After the service, she was able to get up and leave the church
on her own.
Outside the gates of the monastery is the Poklonny
Cross, on the site of which, according to legend, there was a meeting
between little Bartholomew and the elder of Chernoriz.
Saint
Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and Saint Righteous John of Kronstadt
celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the monastery
After the return of the land plot with a few ruins to
the Church (February 13, 1995), its restoration began. By 2010, the
architectural ensemble of the monastery was rebuilt. In 2000-2003, the
Trinity Cathedral was built, the Vvedensky Church was restored and
renewed, a church was built over the Holy Gates in honor of St. Cyril
and Mary (2003-2004), residential, service and administrative buildings
were built. In 2014, a cathedral was erected in honor of St. Sergius of
Radonezh, it has side chapels in honor of St. Vitaly of Alexandria and
Elena, Queen of Serbia.
Now the Trinity-Sergius Varnitsky
Monastery - the courtyard of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra - is under
the direct jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill.
The monastery has an Orthodox gymnasium and a boarding school for young
men studying in the 10th and 11th grades.
At the monastery there
is a hotel that is ready to accommodate pilgrims and guests of the
monastery, the Monastic Shop and the Coffee House are open daily, where
products are sold, including those of their own production (honey,
kvass, fruit drink, sbiten)