Sretensky Monastery (Gorokhovets)

 Sretensky Monastery (Сретенский монастырь) (Gorokhovets)

 

Location: Sovetskaya 5

 

 

Description of the Sretensky Monastery

Sretensky Monastery (Сретенский монастырь) is a women's Russian Orthodox monastery in Gorokhovets. Upon its construction in the 17th century (1658) it became one of the most prominent features in Gorokhovets. Its 35 meter high Bell Tower stands out among other buildings. Original buildings of the monastery were wooden. In 1678 two wooden churches were added to this religious complex including warm winter Sergievskaya Church and cold summer Sretenskaya Church. In the last decades of the 17th century wooden structures of Sretensky Monastery were replaced by stone buildings. Local merchant Semen Efimovich Ershov donated money to construct the main cathedral of Sretensky Monastery.

Sretensky Monastery in Gorokhovets was closed when Soviets came to power. It was closed until early 1990's when abbey was reopened as an Eastern Orthodox monastery.

 

The entrance to the monastery unexpectedly leads not to the cathedral, but to the hipped bell tower, which rises as much as 35 m. On both sides, the bell tower is adjacent to two-story stone cell and utility buildings, which replaced wooden buildings in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Against their modest background, churches look very advantageous and elegant.

The Central Sretensky Cathedral was built in 1689 with the money of the richest Gorokhovets merchant Semyon Yershov. The size of the temple corresponds to the taste of local architects of that time: a refectory and the main volume with apses.

The exterior of the temple is richly decorated: along the entire perimeter, the cornices of the facades are decorated with ornamented kokoshniks. The windows are marked with carved architraves, which differ in drawings on the southern and northern walls, and the domes of the cathedral are covered with glazed tiles playing in the sun.
Behind the Sretensky Cathedral there is a low three-part church of St. Sergius of Radonezh of the 17th century. The decoration of the exterior is very stingy, especially against the backdrop of the Sretensky Cathedral. The interior is also modest, enlivened only by a tiled stove from the 18th century.

An interesting fact is that the monastery in the entire history of its existence acted for a very short time. In 1764, as a result of a church reform, it was abolished, and the nuns were transferred to Arzamas. Cell buildings were converted first into county offices, then into a city prison, and later into wine and salt shops. In Soviet times, the temples of the monastery were used as storage facilities, and the rest of the buildings were used as housing. The revival of the Sretenskaya convent took place only in 2001.

Practical information
Address: Vladimir region, Gorokhovets, st. Sovetskaya, 3. Tel.: +7 (49238) 2-37-65.

The monastery is open for visiting daily from 7:00 to 20:00.