Location: Staritsa Map
Found: first half of 16th century
Staritskiy Uspenskiy Monastery (Старицкий Успенский Монастырь) is located near town of medieval town of Staritsa in Tver Oblast in Russia. Although Russian Orthodox monks lived sparsely in the regions since yearly medieval times the beginning of the monastery is usually dated to the first half of the 16th century then two monks from Kiev Pechersk Lavra came to the region. Trifon and Nikandr constructed few buildings on a grounds that once were owned by duke Andrey of Staritsa, younger son of Ivan III the Great and uncle of Ivan IV the Terrible. Among most notable leaders of the monastery is future first patriarch Job of Moscow who was hegumen (monastery leader) of the monastery between 1559- 1571 before moving to capital. Monastery was closed in 1919 by Bolsheviks and building was simply left unattended. In 1997 the monastery was returned to Russian Orthodox Church and it is currently an active monastery.
According to legend, the monastery was founded in 1110 by two monks
of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra: “... in 1110, two monks from the Kiev caves
Tryphon and Nikandr came to the tract Stary Bor and began to live there
and teach the word of God to those who came to them.” Gradually, other
monks also came here - a desert brotherhood was formed. A wooden church
was built, near which settlements, villages arose, and in 1297 the city
of Staritsa was founded. The only reliable mention of the monastery that
existed in Staritsa dates back to 1312, when the monastery was destroyed
during the internecine war between the princes of Tver and Moscow.
The monastery was re-founded in the first half of the 16th century
under Prince Andrei Ivanovich Staritsky, although local tradition claims
that monastic life was conducted at a small distance from the Volga
coast as early as the 12th-13th centuries.
Since 1559, the
monastery was ruled by Archimandrite Job, a native of Staritsa. In 1571
he was sent as rector of the Moscow Simonov Monastery, later became the
first Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'.
In 1606, during the reign
of False Dmitry, Patriarch Job was sent to the Staritsky Monastery,
where he died two years later. At the place of his burial in the corner
of the Assumption Cathedral, a four-tiered bell tower with a chapel was
built. In 1652, at the behest of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the relics of
Job were solemnly transferred from Staritsa to the Assumption Cathedral
of the Moscow Kremlin.
The heyday of the monastery dates back to
the 17th century. It differed from other cloisters by an extensive
system of underground communications. In 1764, the lands were taken away
from the monastery, and only 12 monks remained.
The monastery was
closed in 1919, and in the 1930s the wall with corner towers surrounding
the monastery was dismantled. In 1944, repairs began in the monastery,
but the main buildings remained mothballed.
In 1997, the Holy
Synod, chaired by Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus', decided:
“To bless the opening of the Assumption Monastery in the city of
Staritsa of the Tver diocese for the resumption of monastic life in it.”
By 2013, the monastery buildings were restored to their original form.
The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
Mary (1530) of white hewn stone with five large domes, decorated with
kokoshniks, was built by Prince Andrei Staritsky. In the temple are the
relics of the schema-nun Pelagia, the mother of Patriarch Job.
Stone
two-storey rectory building (1530s) with a fraternal refectory, kitchen
and cells.
Gate Church in the name of St. John the Theologian (1694)
with an arched gallery, built on the site of a brick church that burned
down in 1681.
Church of the Entry into the Church of the Most Holy
Theotokos (1570), two-storey, tented, with a pointed top, built by Ivan
the Terrible.
Trinity Church (1819), stone, two-story, built at the
expense of Major General Alexei Tutolmin. On the lower floor is the tomb
of the Tutolmins.
Chapel with a font in the name of George the
Victorious.
Mausoleum (tomb) of I. F. Glebov, located at the porch of
the Assumption Cathedral.
The Patriarchal Metochion of the Holy
Dormition Staritsky Monastery is the Church of St. Job Patriarch of
Moscow and All Rus' (Moscow, Mozhaisk Highway, 54)
Monk Tryphon (1110-1127)
monk Nikandr (1110-1153)
monk Misail
(1110-?)
Monk Porfiry (?-1164)
monk Theodoret (1164-1193)
monk
Alexander (1193-1203)
abbot Irinarch (1203 −1203)
abbot Alexander
(1203-?)
abbot Gerasim (?-?)
hegumen Simeon (?-1220)
abbot
Barsanuphius (1200-?)
hegumen Jonah (?-?)
abbot Nikandr (?-?)
hegumen Kirill (? - ?)
hegumen Isaiah (?-1240)
hegumen Varlaam
(1240-?)
Archimandrite Leonid (?-?)
Archimandrite Philaret (?
−1272)
Archimandrite Meofody (?-?)
hegumen Lavrentiy (?-?)
hegumen Anthony (?-?)
hegumen Jonah (? - ?)
hegumen of Theodosius
(?-?)
hegumen Savva (?-1283)
abbot Simeon (1283 −1289)
abbot
Barnabas (1289-1287)
Abbot Cyprian (?-?)
abbot German (?-?)
hegumen Joseph (?-?)
hegumen Arseniy (?-?)
hegumen Bogolep (?-?)
hegumen Serapion (?-1292)
hegumen Dorotheos (1292-1304)
abbot
Jacob (1304-1312)
Archimandrite German (1551-1553)
Archimandrite
Ignatius (1553-1559)
Archimandrite Job (May 6, 1569[8]—1571)
Archimandrite Pimen (1601-1607)
Archimandrite Dionisy (mid-1605 or
August 1607 [9] - 1610)
Archimandrite Methodius (1617-1623)
Archimandrite Joseph (1623-1653)
Archimandrite Leonid (1653-1655)
Archimandrite Tikhon (1655-1658)
Archimandrite Isaiah I (1658-1662)
Archimandrite Varlaam (1662-1669)
Archimandrite Sergius (1669-1672)
Archimandrite Varlaam II (1672-1683)
Archimandrite Isaiah II
(1683-1697)
Archimandrite Cornelius (1697-1716)
Archimandrite
Joachim (1716-1719)
Archimandrite Melchizedek (1719-1722)
Archimandrite Jonah (1722-1732)
Archimandrite Tarasy (1732-1769)
Archimandrite Bartholomew (1763-1768)
hegumen Filimon (1769-1770)
abbot Christopher (1770-1776)
abbot Macarius (1776-1783)
abbot
Arseny (Moskvin) (1783)
abbot Alexander (1783-1785)
abbot
Amphilochius (1785−1785)
hegumen Elpidiphoros (1785-1792)
Abbot
Pavel (1792-1795)
hegumen Varlaam (1795-1796)
Archimandrite
Joasaph (Sretensky) (May 14, 1796-1798)
Archimandrite Anastassy
(Schepetilnikov) (October 28, 1798 - September 28, 1806)
hegumen
Anthony (1806-1807)
Archimandrite Ioanniky (1807-1808)
Archimandrite Sergius (1808-1808)
Archimandrite Seraphim (1808-1811)
Archimandrite Joasaph (1811-1816)
Archimandrite Vladimir (1816-1818)
Archimandrite Irenaeus (1818-1821)
Archimandrite Innokenty
(Alexandrov) (August 15, 1821 - August 2, 1823)
Archimandrite
Seraphim (1823-1824)
Archimandrite Anthony (1824-1825)
Archimandrite Macarius (1825-1832)
Archimandrite Alexander
(1832-1856)
Archimandrite Theodore (1856-1858)
Archimandrite
Adrian (1858-1865)
abbot Meofodiy (1865-1866)
Archimandrite
Gabriel (1866-1867)
abbot Polycarp (1868-1871)
abbot Mark
(1871-1871)
Archimandrite Gabriel (1871-1884)
abbot Vitaly
(1884-1884)
Archimandrite Agafangel (1884-1888)
abbot Arseny I
(1888-1894)
abbot Alexy (1894-1894)
abbot Arseny II (1894-1896)
Archimandrite Nicholas (1896-1905)
hegumen Tikhon (1905-1908)
Archimandrite Pavel (1908-1918)
hegumen Tikhon (1918—?)
Abbot
Alexy (?—1923)
Abbot Kirill (?—1928)
Metropolitan Ambrose
(Ermakov) (since November 20, 2020)
governors
Hegumen Germogen
(Chirkov) (1997 - October 12, 2007)
hegumen Dimitry (Sevostyanov)
(October 12, 2007 - July 9, 2019)
Hieromonk Paisiy (Novozhenov) (July
15, 2019 - September 24, 2021)
Abbot Damaskin (Leonov) (since
September 24, 2021)