Location: Yaroslavl, at the address: pos. Tolga, 1.
How
to get there: by bus # 34 from the center of Yaroslavl (stop
"Red Square") or by boat from the River Station in
Yaroslavl.
The official website of the monastery:
http://montolga.ru
Opening hours: 06-20: 00. Free admission.
Tolga Vvedensky Monastery is a Russian Orthodox convent situated on the left bank of the Volga river. It was found in 1314. Tolga Monastery contains several churches around its area. This includes Church of Saint Nicholas (1672), Tolga monastery was closed in 1926 by Soviet government. In 1987 Tolga was transferred back to the Orthodox Church. It was the first convent in Yaroslavl Oblast that was returned to church and re- settled by nuns.
History of the monastery
The Tolgsky monastery
was founded in 1314. Tradition connects this event with the
acquisition of the icon of the Mother of God on the Tolga River,
which became its main shrine. It is believed that the first church
of the Presentation of the Mother of God into the Temple, in which
the wonderful icon was placed, was built exactly on the same day. It
was, of course, made of wood. Such churches in Russia were called
"ordinary".
The monastery was built and grew rich. Like many
Russian monasteries, it was destroyed during the Time of Troubles.
In the 17th century, it was rebuilt: new brick churches appeared in
place of wooden ones, a stone fence was erected. This construction
is associated with the name of Abbot Gordian, who headed the
monastery for 27 years: from 1673 to 1700. Under him, the most
extensive version of the Tale of the Tolga Icon was collected and
written down, which describes its appearance and the miracles that
came from it. This text is the main source on the early history of
the monastery.
The monastery continues to change and build in
the 19th century: new cell buildings and a hotel for pilgrims
appear. At the beginning of the 20th century, the 600th anniversary
of the monastery is magnificently celebrated, and a major renovation
is taking place. From 1907 to 1914 the bishop of Yaroslavl and
Rostov and the abbot of the monastery was Fr. Tikhon (Belavin) is
the future patriarch. The abbots of the monastery at the beginning
of the 20th century are now revered as hieromartyrs: Archimandrites
Seraphim (Samoilovich) - he was shot in 1937, and Methodius
(Lvovsky) - shot in 1919.
In 1918, the Tolgsky monastery
supports the Yaroslavl rebellion against the Bolshevik regime and
helps its participants to hide after the suppression. In August
1918, the Red Guards burst in here. There were found 12 officers,
with weapons and documents. Of course, all of them were arrested,
and the monastery itself was also subjected to repression.
Nevertheless, the monastery continues to exist until 1929. Nuns from
the devastated Kazan women's monastery settled in the hotel, some of
the premises were occupied by a children's colony, an almshouse and
a military unit. But in the 1930s everyone was already evicted from
here. The territory was transferred to Volgostroi, which is engaged
in the construction of hydroelectric power plants on the Volga, the
premises were occupied for the housing of employees and technical
structures. Then the children's colony returns here.
In 1987,
when the 1000th anniversary of the baptism of Rus was celebrated,
the monastery was revived. It became the first nunnery to be opened
after the revolution. Now it is one of the richest, most beautiful
and prosperous monasteries in Russia.
What to see in the
monastery
Above the Holy Gates - the main entrance to the
monastery - there is a gateway Church of St. Nicholas in 1672. Once
on the sides of the temple there were two round gate towers, giving
it a monumentality, but they have not survived. The temple was
adjacent to the bishops' chambers and was used as the home church of
the bishops. In Soviet times, its head was blown up, and the
entrance arch itself was laid. Now the temple has been restored and
painted again.
The Church of the Exaltation of the Cross is
the earliest building of the monastery, it was built in 1625. This
is a warm refectory temple, now it is still used in winter. It was
rebuilt many times during the 18th-19th centuries. several
side-chapels were added to it. A major renovation was carried out in
the middle of the 19th century: the windows were widened and the
vaults were raised. On the one hand, a two-story building for the
bishops' chambers was attached to it, and on the other, a gallery
connecting the temple with the cold Vvedensky Cathedral.
During the Soviet era, the cathedral was significantly damaged. A
cinema was located in it, and the metal ties of the dome that
interfered with watching films were removed. As a result, in the
1960s, the ceilings and the dome collapsed. The temple was restored
in 1999 and painted again under the direction of the artist Nikolai
Mukhin. Now it is in this cathedral that the main shrines of the
monastery are located: the relics of St. Ignatius Brianchaninov and
the Tolga Icon.
The revered Tolga icon, which miraculously
appeared to Bishop Prokhor, was apparently written in the 13th
century. It has been kept in the Tolgsky Monastery since its
foundation. In 1919, the painting was restored, it was cleared of
later recordings by the artist F. Modorov. Then the icon was kept in
the Yaroslavl Museum, at one time it was exhibited in an
anti-religious exposition in the Church of Elijah the Prophet, then
in the exposition of the museum itself. The icon was returned to the
monastery in 2003. It was one of the first ancient icons donated to
the church. The preservation of painting requires special attention
from museum workers. The icon is in a special icon case, which
allows maintaining the necessary microclimate for it. It is only
opened for regular examinations by specialist restorers twice a
year.
Since 1988, it is in this church that the relics
of St. Ignatiy Bryanchaninov. He was born in 1807, came from an old
noble family and was going to become an officer: he studied in
Petersburg, moved in literary circles, but his vocation was
precisely the monastic life. Dmitry (that was his name in the world)
was discouraged by everyone: both his parents and the leader. book
Mikhail Pavlovich, and Emperor Nicholas I, and in the end he still
received his resignation only due to poor health. He entered the
Alexander-Svirsky monastery against the will of his father, became a
spiritual writer and theologian, and since 1857 - a bishop. He was
canonized in 1988.
There is a copy of another icon in the
church, which is revered as miraculous - this is a copy from the
Athos icon "Economissa". It is believed that she is especially
helpful in all household and financial matters.
The brick
Vvedensky Cathedral was built on the site of the very first
monastery church in 1681-83. It is believed that the author of the
project was the Rostov Metropolitan Iona Sysoevich, a talented
architect. This is a typical four-pillar, five-domed temple with a
high porch and an extensive lower part: it was intended to serve as
a burial vault. Almost immediately after its construction, the
cathedral was painted by Yaroslavl and Kostroma craftsmen - some
fragments of these frescoes have survived. The cathedral underwent a
major renovation in the middle of the 19th century, then a new
iconostasis was installed and the paintings were updated. The
current painting is the result of the work of restorers in the 1980s
and 90s: the original frescoes of the 17th century are partially
recreated here, the painting of the 19th century is partially
preserved. The restorers used the surviving graphs - the outlines
used by the Yaroslavl icon painters for their work. This made it
possible to recreate the painting of the 17th century as accurately
as possible.
In Soviet times, a working model of the Rybinsk
hydroelectric complex was located in the Vvedensky Cathedral, and
the interior decoration was significantly damaged. Since 1964,
restoration has been carried out in stages, the last work was
completed in 2008, when the walls were decorated with mosaic icons.
The cathedral is still "cold", services are held in it only in the
summer.
The bell tower of the cathedral was built in 1685 and
rebuilt in 1826. Once upon a time 11 bells rang on it - the first of
them were cast with funds donated by Tsar Mikhail. All of them were
thrown from the bell tower in 1929 during the closure of the
monastery; none of the old bells have survived. And yet, the current
bells are old, collected from museums and churches of the Yaroslavl
diocese, these are bells cast in the 19th century, not in the 20th.
Tradition connects the construction of the Savior Church with
Ivan the Terrible. The Tsar donated the ancient image of the Savior
Not Made by Hands to the monastery - and a special wooden church was
built for the icon. At the beginning of the 18th century, it was
replaced by a stone one. It is a graceful nine-domed Baroque church.
In the middle of the 18th century, a hospital building was added to
it, and then several more outbuildings: there was a kitchen, a
bakery, a refectory, etc.
This temple was the tomb of the
Yaroslavl nobility. In particular, A.P. Melgunov is buried here.
This is a famous figure of the 18th century, since 1777 - the
Yaroslavl governor. He did a lot for the development of the region:
he compiled the first topographical descriptions, supported trade
and culture, tried to limit the tyranny of the landowners in
relation to the serfs.
Lieutenant General Nikolai Tuchkov,
the eldest of the four Tuchkov brothers, one of the prototypes of
Andrei Bolkonsky from L. Tolstoy's novel War and Peace, is also
buried here. He was wounded in the Battle of Borodino near the
Utitsky barrow and died of his wounds in Yaroslavl.
Some of
the noble burials were plundered in the 20th century, some remained
intact and were found during the restoration process. Now on the
Spassky Church there are memorial plaques in memory of the funeral
here.
At the southern wall of the Spassky Church there is a
chapel built in 1893. It was placed over the burial of monks and
peasants who died during the capture of the monastery by the Poles
in 1609.
Another chapel - a wooden one - was erected over the
spring in 2000. It is dedicated to St. Tryphon.
A cedar grove
and ponds have been located near the monastery since the 16th
century. In the 1970s, they tried to renovate the grove, but the new
cedars took root badly: the old drainage system had time to
collapse. Now there are just over twenty ancient trees left here,
which are more than 200 years old, several trees about 50 years old,
planted in the 20th century, and more than a hundred young cedars.
Interesting Facts
Tradition says that the first cedars in the
monastery were planted from the cedar cones that Yermak sent from
Siberia as a gift to Ivan the Terrible.
In the hollow of one of
the old cedars, already in the 50s, a gold treasure was found, left
by one of the White Guards during the Yaroslavl rebellion.