The Mother of God-Nativity Monastery is located in the center of
Vladimir, on a hill above the valley of the Klyazma River flowing
south from it. In the Middle Ages, it was located on the border of
the Pecherny city, the rampart and moat of which adjoined its
territory on the eastern side. From the west, it is limited by the
ensemble of the Nikolo-Kremlin Church, from the north it faces
Bolshaya Moskovskaya Street. The monastery has an important
town-planning significance, it also determines the silhouette of
Vladimir, it is well visible from the low river floodplain.
According to legend, the monastery was founded in 1175 by Prince
Andrey Bogolyubsky of Vladimir. In 1192, Prince Vsevolod Yuryevich
founded a dormitory here, and a white-stone cathedral was erected in
1192-1196, which is a 4-pillar, three-apsed one-domed temple in the
traditions of Vladimir-Suzdal architecture of the late 12th century
(not preserved). Until 1219, some more work was carried out in the
cathedral, because it was in this year that the temple was
consecrated.
Since 1230, the archimandry has been in the
monastery. Then the monastery became the central monastery of the
entire North-Eastern Rus'. In 1263, Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky was
laid to rest in the monastery cathedral (his relics were discovered
in 1381).
The role of the first monastery of the Vladimir
(and then Moscow) metropolis belonged to the Mother of God-Nativity
Monastery until 1561, when it became the second after the
Trinity-Sergius Lavra.
In the middle of the 17th century,
stone construction was started again in the monastery: in 1654 a
bell tower was erected in the form of a high 8-sided pillar with a
tent, in 1659 state cells were built. In 1667 the monastery became
stauropegial. Under Archimandrite Vincent in 1678-1685, stone tents
were attached to the cathedral, at the same time a fraternal corps
appeared. In the second half of the 17th century, a stone Nativity
church with an adjoining refectory was built, and another volume was
added to the southeastern corner of the state-owned cells. Some
buildings of the 17th century were on the site of the Bishops'
Chambers.
In 1724, by decree of Peter the Great, the relics
of Alexander Nevsky were transferred to the St. Petersburg Alexander
Nevsky Lavra.
In the first half of the 18th century, the
monastery area was surrounded by stone walls with towers. Since
1744, the Bishops' House of the Vladimir Diocese was located here,
which is why in 1748, on the initiative of Bishop Platon, stone
Bishops' Chambers were erected. Approximately during this period,
changes in the decor of tents and porches near the cathedral were
organized.
In 1828-1831, the facades and interior of the
state-owned cells were rebuilt, possibly with the loss of the decor
of the 17th century. In 1831-1840, under the direction of the
provincial architect E.Ya. Petrov, the Bishops' Chambers were
reconstructed.
The next stage in the change in the appearance
of the ensemble was the period associated with the order of
Alexander II on the reconstruction and restoration of the cathedral
and monastery. In 1859-1869, according to the plan of the architect
N.A. Artleben's temple was completely rebuilt in brick, in forms
close to the original, but more fractional and dry. In 1859, a stone
annex was built to the fraternal building, its interior and decor
are changing quite a lot. In 1867, the building of state-owned cells
was rebuilt, 1 more extension was made to it, the decor was changed.
In 1866-1867, according to the plan of the same Artleben, the gate
of the Church of the Nativity of Christ and the refectory were
seriously rebuilt. At the same time, the decor of the Bishops'
Chambers was again slightly changed.
In 1930, the cathedral
and the bell tower were destroyed, later individual interiors were
changed. In the future, the buildings of the monastery were
repeatedly repaired. Several new buildings were erected here. All
historical buildings are made of brick, plastered and covered with
paint.
The Theotokos-Rozhdestvensky Monastery is a unique
ensemble of outstanding historical significance for Vladimir and the
region. The appearance of the buildings that have come down to us
reflects the architecture of the 17th century (residential and civil
buildings), eclecticism and baroque. Despite the losses, the
monastery has retained the appearance of a late medieval monastery
with a free layout.
The wall church in honor of the Nativity of Christ
belongs to the Vladimir Mother of God-Nativity Monastery. Built in 1866.
The architect was N.A. Artleben.
The Church of the Nativity
of Christ with a refectory is an example of a representative eclectic
church with baroque decorative elements inspired by the decoration of
the neighboring Bishops' Chambers. On the ground floor, parts of
buildings from the 17th century are preserved, including the old gate
church.
The elongated two-story building, the northern facade of
which faces the red line of the street, is adjoined by monastery walls
from the west and east. The composition consists of three rectangular in
terms of volumes, which are located one after another at slight angles:
the central elevated one is covered with a pitched roof, two side, lower
and almost the same length - hip roofs. The street facade of the
elevated part is completed by three pediments: on the sides -
triangular, in the center - lobed-keeled. Behind the pediments in the
middle, the base of the drum, square in plan, has been preserved. A
lowered gate joins the building from the east.
The courtyard
and street facades are similar in decoration and structure. In the
middle elevated zone, the flanks are divided into seven axes into two
axes (under the triangular pediments) and the center into three axes
(here, respectively, the middle axis is allocated under the figured
pediment). The side parts of the building are divided into two (eastern)
and three (western) spans. All these articulations in the first floor
were fixed with the help of short blades with square widths, in the
second - with paneled blades. The floors are separated by a cornice with
a curb continuing the cornice of the walls of the monastery. The
developed entablature completes the raised part. The entablature
includes a cornice with denticles.
In the area of the middle
incomplete pediment there is a round window in a profiled frame. All
windows on the first floor are small in size, with frame architraves and
arched lintels; the windows of the second floor of the side parts are
arch-shaped, some of them are false, decorated with modest frames. The
baroque architraves on the high arched windows of the second floor of
the elevated part are impressive. They have fairly high arched sandriks
on horizontal multi-part bases, with volute ears. A cornice with
croutons forms the top of the side volumes.
The portals of
the arches of the entrance, located in the center of the western volume,
and the gates are spectacular: a perspective decor of the openings, on
the sides there are pylons with chamfers and strongly extended
keel-shaped archivolts-peaks resting on them, with round niches in
tympanums.
In the eastern zone of the first floor, the planning
structure of the two-span ancient gates has been preserved. Box vaults
on spring arches cover the former passage. In the increased volume of
the first floor, a large hall in the eastern end and a room near the
southern facade are covered with vaults along the beams. The rest of the
rooms have flat ceilings.
The corridor in the middle part of
the first floor of the western volume contains a ceiling of arches along
the beams, as well as an elongated room to the left of it. On the second
floor, the eastern volume (the sacristy was located here, and once the
old gate temple) is divided into four rooms. They are covered with domed
vaults.
The central volume is occupied by a large temple hall
with a mirror vault. Here on the walls you can see large pilasters,
round niches and archivolts of windows, connecting into an arcade and
passing to the end walls. In the western zone, a staircase leads to 2
long rooms that precede the church.