Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery (Иосифо-Волоколамский монастырь)

Image of Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery

 

Location: 17 km Northeast of Volokolamsk, Moscow Oblast      Map

Established: 1479 by Joseph Volotsky

 

Description of Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery

Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery is a Russian Orthodox monastery is located 17 km Northeast of Volokolamsk in Moscow Oblast in Russia. It was established in 1479 by Joseph Volotsky. Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery is a medieval Russian Orthodox convent that was founded in 1479 by Saint Joseph of Volokolamsk. By the middle of the XVI century, the monastery became one of the richest in Russia, as it was patronized by Tsar Ivan the Terrible. The oldest building of the Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery is a monumental refectory, built in 1504. It is an one room, structure, modeled after the Moscow Kremlin's Faceted Chamber. North side of the refectory is believed to be a burial site of Malyuta Skuratov. He became famous as one of the worst henchmen of Ivan the Terrible. Fortunately for Russians he was killed in 1573 during a siege.

Assumption Cathedral of Joseph-Volokolamsk Monasterywas built in the late XVII century at the expense of the deacon Zachariah Silin. The Cathedral is a square in layout and richly decorated with tiles, friezes, columns, domes with the original tent roof. Inside the cathedral is dominated by miraculously preserved carved iconostasis of the XVII century adored by golden columns. Basement of the church also holds a crypt with the body of the monastery founder, Saint Joseph of Volokolamsk. Most of church's frescoes date back to the early 20th century. It was painted by Palekh masters in pseudo- medieval style.

Five-domed Gate Church of St. Peter and Paul was completed in 1589 thanks to contributions of Malyuta Skuratov that he left to the monastery in his will. It is largely kept its historic appearance and undergone very few changes.

Outside defensive wall and towers date back to the middle of the XVII century. New walls replaced military medieval fortifications that were badly damaged during the Time of Trouble in the late 16th and early 17th century. At the time of the construction these walls and towers were still used for military defense, but monastery residents added figural polychrome brickwork and tiles to improve its appearance and make it more festive.

At the end of the XVII century, the monastery bell tower was erected reaching a height of 10 levels. Its height was only five meters below bell tower of Ivan the Great in the Moscow Kremlin, what was the tallest building in Moscow for several centuries. The bell tower was blown up during the World War 2. Today only few ruins are visible today under a protection of a wooden canopy.

Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery had always a dual service. On one hand it was a religious convent. But on the other hand premises of Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery served as a dungeon for political and war criminals. In different times it house political prisoners like Vasily Shuisky, artists like Maxim the Greek, Polish and Napoleonic French prisoners of war.

 

History

The monastery was founded in 1479 by St. Joseph in the name of the Dormition of the Mother of God. It belonged to the Novgorod diocese.

The funds for the construction of the monastery were given by Prince Boris Vasilyevich Volotsky (1449-1494). After Boris Vasilyevich's death, his son Fyodor Borisovich became prince, with whom Joseph had disagreements. In February 1507, Joseph, who was personally acquainted with Grand Duke Vasily III, appealed to him and Metropolitan Simon of Moscow with a request to transfer the monastery to the Moscow diocese. This resulted in a conflict with Archbishop Serapion of Novgorod and Pskov.

In the XV century, the First stone cathedral was built. In its place is now the Cathedral church of the Dormition of the Mother of God (1688-1696), built in the style of the Moscow Baroque.

In the year of the monastery's foundation, the first wooden church appeared in it, which was replaced by a stone cathedral in 1486. It was painted by the painter Dionysius. In 1490, an octagonal bell tower was built next to the cathedral — the prototype of the bell tower of Ivan the Great in the Moscow Kremlin. In its lower tier there was a temple of the Smolensk Hodegetria (1495).

The main surviving buildings date back to the XVI—XVII centuries. Other buildings include the Refectory with the Church of the Epiphany (1504), the gate church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul (1679), the hermitage with the Church of All Saints (1856-1860). Stepan Polubes, known for his work in the New Jerusalem and Solotchinsky monasteries, worked on the creation of tiled ornaments.

In 1543, Gury became the abbot of the monastery. He ruled the brotherhood for nine years, and St. Herman took vows at the monastery with him. After the conquest of Kazan in 1552 and the establishment of the episcopal see there, Gury was elected archbishop by lot.

In the XVI century, kings began to go to the monastery to pray. The monastery also became a place of imprisonment for the enemies of the sovereigns and heretics, monk Vassian Kosoy (in the world Prince Vasily Ivanovich Patrikeev-Kosoy), Maxim the Greek, Tsar Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky, heretics Matvey Bashkin and Vasily Kuritsyn were imprisoned in it; a prominent figure of the schism Gerasim (Firsov) spent his last years here.

 

The Time of Troubles

During the Time of Troubles, the Joseph-Volotsky Monastery supported the government of Vasily Shuisky. In 1606, the monastery was besieged by Bolotnikov's troops.

In 1609-1610, the monastery was besieged by Polish troops. In 1610, the monastery was occupied by a detachment of Colonel Rozhinsky, an associate of False Dmitry II — the "Tushinsky thief". In March 1610, there was a small skirmish between Poles and monastery servants and peasants in the monastery. Fighting them off, Rozhinsky unsuccessfully fell on his side shot through near Moscow. The wounds opened, and a few days later Rozhinsky died. His detachment, which remained under the command of Captain Rutsky, was driven out of the monastery by Russian-Swedish troops led by Voivode Valuev and General Gorn. In memory of this event, cannons recaptured from the Poles were left to the monastery, from which fireworks were fired on holidays.

The defeat of Dmitry Shuisky's troops near Klushin by Sigismund's army on June 24 (July 4), 1610 and the uprising in Moscow led to the fall of Vasily Shuisky. On July 17 (27), 1610, Vasily IV Ioannovich was dethroned and forcibly tonsured a monk by part of the boyars, metropolitan and provincial nobility (see Semiboyarschina), and refused to pronounce monastic vows himself. The boyars sent the former tsar to the Joseph-Volotsky Monastery, where he was detained for some time in the German Tower, and his brothers to the Belaya Fortress, from where it was more convenient to transport them to Poland.

In September 1610, Vasily Shuisky was extradited (not as a monk, but in secular clothes) to the Polish Hetman Zholkevsky, who took him and his brothers Dmitry and Ivan to Smolensk in October, and later to Poland.

 

Later history

During the Russian-Polish war at the beginning of the XVII century, Polish prisoners of war were held here, and during the Patriotic War of 1812, French prisoners were held there. From 1777 to 1823, the monastery had a school for the children of priests.

The relics of St. Joseph rest in the monastery; Princes John and Theodore Borisovich Volotsky are also buried; Metropolitan Daniel, exiled here by John the Terrible; Archbishop of Novgorod Theodosius; head of the oprichniks Malyuta Skuratov (Grigory Lukyanovich Skuratov-Belsky); landowner of the village Yaropolets N. I. Goncharova (mother-in-law of A. S. Pushkin).

The monastery had a large library containing books, manuscripts, charters, deeds and other documents from the XV century. Ancient objects were kept in the sacristy.

In February-March 1858, peasant unrest began in the central provinces in connection with rumors about the "will". In the spring of 1859, sober unrest began — a mass protest in 1858-1859 by the tax-paying population of Russia against the tax-paying system in connection with an increase in the indirect tax on vodka. So, on May 31, 1859, in the Volokolamsk district of the Moscow province, a crowd of three thousand people smashed drinking establishments at a fair near the Iosifo-Volokolamsk Monastery.

1895 — the rector Archimandrite Sergius.

1903 — rector Archimandrite Gerontius, treasurer and economist — Hieromonk Irakli.

1907 — rector Archimandrite Nifont, treasurer — Hieromonk Irakli, acting steward — Hierodeacon Meletius, dean of the monastery — Hieromonk Pavel. The number of brothers is 65 monks.

1908 — the same, but the treasurer is Hieromonk Paphnutius.

Until 1917, the monastery was the venue for fairs of the Kaleevskaya volost of the Volokolamsk district.

After the October Revolution of 1917, the monastery was transformed into the "Joseph Agricultural Labor Commune". The monks unanimously elected their treasurer, Hieromonk Paphnutius, as the chairman of the commune.

In 1922, the commune was liquidated and the monastery was closed. The ancient manuscripts, documents and books of the monastery were mostly transported to Moscow and are currently in the RGADA, GIM, RSE, as well as in St. Petersburg - in the archive of the St. Petersburg branch of the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Until 1929, the monastery was geographically located in the Buigorodsky parish of the Volokolamsk district of the Moscow province. After 1929, the monastery was located on the territory of the Volokolamsk district of the Moscow region. Now it is the territory of the Volokolamsk city district.

After the closure of the monastery, an orphanage was located on its territory, and the Detgorodkov Secondary School was located in the fraternal building. The Assumption Cathedral was adapted as a cinema hall. The iconostasis with ancient icons was blocked by a cinema screen.

 

The Great Patriotic War

At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the main part of the orphanages was evacuated, many children died on the way.

On September 30, 1941, Army Group Center launched an offensive against Moscow (Operation Typhoon). They were opposed by the troops of the Western Front of the Red Army. By mid-October 1941, fighting was underway in the Volokolamsk direction. Its defense was entrusted to the 16th Army of Lieutenant General K. K. Rokossovsky. The territory of the monastery was occupied by the troops of the Red Army.

By the end of October 1941, the German troops of the 4th Army and the 4th Tank Group shot down the formations of the Western Front from the Mozhaisk line of defense almost along its entire length and gradually pushed them back to Moscow.

According to the order of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command dated November 17, operational engineering group No. 2 was tasked with creating anti-tank and anti-personnel barriers in the main directions: Teryaeva Sloboda, Klin, Rogachevo, Dmitrov and Istra, Solnechnogorsk, Yakhroma.

During the retreat of the Red Army, the bell tower with the temple of the Smolensk Hodegetria (1495) located in its lower tier was blown up, from which Moscow could be seen in clear weather. The perpetrator of the explosion was Mikhail Koryakov, a journalist and later a writer who described the explosion in his books.

At the end of October, Wehrmacht units occupied Teryaevo, the monastery, and all the surrounding villages.

On December 18, 1941, the territory of the monastery was liberated by soldiers of the 84th separate Marine Rifle Brigade of the 1st Shock Army of the Western Front during the Klinsko-Solnechnogorsk offensive operation. After the liberation, the orphanage returned to the monastery. (Irina Vasilyevna Pozdeeva, in particular, grew up here.)

The monastery was restored, but not completely. The unique bell tower has not been restored yet.

 

The New Monastery

It was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church on May 15, 1989; since 1999 it has the status of a Stavropol territory. Until November 2003, the abbot of the monastery was Metropolitan Pitirim (Nechaev).

On June 12, 2003, the relics of St. Joseph of Volotsky were discovered in the Joseph-Volotsky Monastery and placed in a shrine in the lower church of the Assumption Cathedral. The burial was uncovered by archaeologists Yu. A. Smirnov, M. V. Frolov and P. E. Rusakov at a depth of 225 cm — where, according to legend, the Monk Joseph Volotsky was buried. A detailed medical and forensic study of the relics, with the blessing of Metropolitan of Volokolamsk and Yurievsky Pitirim, was conducted by Honored Doctor of the Russian Federation, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor V. N. Zvyagin; forensic experts M. E. Berezovsky, N. V. Narina, S. A. Aunapu; anthropologist M. A. Grigorieva and other researchers.

On June 12, 2004, the chains of St. Joseph Volotsky were transferred to the Joseph-Volotsky Monastery, which had previously been stored first in the historical, architectural and art museum "New Jerusalem" in Istra, and then in the museum and exhibition complex "Volokolamsk Kremlin". Currently, the chains are located in the Assumption Cathedral of the monastery, near the southern wall and are available for worship.

On June 14, 2004, Patriarch Alexy II visited the monastery, which celebrated the 525th anniversary of its foundation, and celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Assumption Cathedral.

On June 14, 2009, a monument to St. Joseph was unveiled near the monastery (on the south side) — a full-length bronze sculpture three meters high on a two-meter stone pedestal. The sculptor is Sergey Isakov.

On October 13, 2009, Patriarch Kirill visited the monastery and celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Assumption Cathedral.

Since December 2004, the monastery's vicar has been Archimandrite Sergius (Voronkov).

There is a hotel for 120 people at the monastery.

 

The Volokolamsk Icon of the Mother of God and the Monastery

Currently, a version has been adopted, first expressed by the candidate of art criticism Valentina Antonova, according to which the Volokolamsk Icon of the Mother of God (having significant iconographic differences from the original list from the image of the "Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God" revered by the Russian Orthodox Church, made in Byzantium in the XII century) was executed in Moscow in 1572 by order of Malyuta Skuratov for the gate church of the monastery, which had not yet been built by that time. This icon is in the collection of the Andrei Rublev Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art and is represented in its permanent exhibition located in the Church of Michael the Archangel of the Savior Andronikov Monastery. Valentina Antonova explained the donation of the icon in 1572 and other contributions to the monastery of Malyuta Skuratov with a premonition of the abolition of the oprichnina and Malyuta's fear for her own fate. Antonova calls the oprichnik's attempt to atone for his sins before the Lord another reason for Malyuta's generous contributions.

The Volokolamsk icon of the Mother of God has been revered by believers as miraculous for centuries, the day it was brought to the monastery became a church-wide holiday (March 3), believers come to the image in search of solace, healing and admonition. In the Assumption Cathedral of the monastery there is an icon revered as a miraculous list, made in 2007.

 

The Abbots

Joseph Volotsky (1479-1515)
Daniel of Ryazan (1515-1522)
Gerasim (Lenkov) (1522) left the abbacy after two months
Nifont (Kormilitsyn) (1522-1543)
Gury (Rugotin) (1544-1551)
Galaktion (1552-1558)
Pimen (Sadykov) (1558-1561)
Babylon (1562)
Leonid (Protasyev) (1563-1566)
Lawrence (1566-1568)
Leonid (Protasyev) (1568-1573)
Tikhon (Hvorostinin) (1573-1575)
Euthymius (Turkov) (1575-1587)
Varlaam (Belkovsky) (1587) 3.5 months
Euthymius (Turkov) (1587) 5 months
Levky (1587-1590)
Joasaph (1590-1592)
Vassian (1593-1595, 1599-1601)
Gelasius (1595-1599)
Nile (1602-1604)
Arseny (1605-1623)
Misail (1623-1624)
Levky (1625-1634)
Macarius (1634-1641)
Zosima (1642-1652)

 

Archimandrites

Job (1652-1654)
Tikhon (1654-1661)
Cornelius (1661-1666)
Savvati (1666-1668)
Hermogenes (1668)
Gerasim (1668-1673)
Cornelius (1673-1681)
Alexander (1682-1685)
Timothy (1685-1687)
Joasaph (1687-1688)
Ephraim (1689-1690)
Nicholas (1690-1694)
Alexy (1695-1702)
Herman (1702-1722)
Joachim (Chudovsky) (1722-1723), (1728-1738)
Melchizedek (Borshchev) (1723-1727)
Sergius (Prozorovsky) (1727-1728)
Varlaam (1739-1745)
Bishop Serapion (Lyatoshevich) (1745-1753) stayed at the monastery and managed it; there was no archimandrite
Pankraty (Charnysky) (1753)
Pachomius (Simansky) (1753-1758)
Gennady (Dranitsyn) (1758-1760)
Adrian (1761-1766)
Varlaam (Sinkovsky) (1767-1773)
Pachomius (Polyanitsa) (1773-1775)
Boniface (1775-1778)
Nectary (Chernyavsky) (1778-1789)
Evgeny (Romanov) (1789)
Evgeny (Rezantsov) (1794)
Viktor (Prokopovich-Antonsky) (1794-1799)
Justin (Vishnevsky) (1799)
Veniamin (Zhukov) (1800)
Irakli (Evreinov) (1800-1804)
Yevgraf (Muzalevsky-Platonov) (1804-1808)
Gennady (Chelnokov) (1808-1810)
Vladimir (1810-1811)
Jonah (Vasilevsky) (1811-1812)
Leonid (Zaretsky) (1812-1813)
Filaret (Amphitheatre) (1813-1817)
Grigory (Postnikov) (July 29, 1817-1822)
Gennady (Baranovich) (1822-1825)
Gabriel (Ignatiev) (March 18, 1825 — April 4, 1839)
Agapit (Vvedensky) (1839-1852)
Gideon (October 1852-1883)
Sergiy (Sveshnikov) (1883-1896)
Mikhei (Alekseev) (1897-1901)
Gerontius (Kurganovsky) (March 1902 — November 26, 1903)
Nifont (1907-1908)
Innokenty (Bobtsov) (December 11, 1915-1920)

 

Vicars

Metropolitan Pitirim (Nechaev) (1989 — November 4, 2003)
Feoktist (Doroshko) (2003-2004) Interim Manager
Sergiy (Voronkov) (since December 24, 2004)