Spasso- Yakovlevsky Monastery (Спасо-Яковлевский монастырь) was found in 1389 by bishop Saint Jacob (or Yakov or Iakov) in Russian (died 27 November 1392) on the shores of Lake Nero in South- Western part of Rostov. Bishop Jacob was kicked out of the city for granting amnesty to a woman who was destined for execution. Bishop's kindness saved her, but Rostov residents refused to keep Jacob as their spiritual leader. He settled near a spring, constructed a wooden chapel and a small house. Subsequent generations of monks constructed Cathedral of Conception of Saint Anna (Zachatievsky Cathedral) in 1686. Masters from Yaroslavl painted the interior walls and ceiling of the new church. Metropolitan Jonah Sysoevich consecrated the first stone building in Spasso Yakovlevsky Monastery. Additionally Savior Transfiguration Cathedral (Spaso- Preobrazhensky Cathedral) also dates to the same time period.
Medieval period
Founded in 1389 by the Bishop of Rostov,
St. Jacob. Expelled from the city by his flock (for
pardoning a criminal who was awaiting execution), Jacob
settled south of Rostov, not far from the Church of the
Archangel Michael (founded back in the 11th century by St.
Leonty of Rostov; the last building of this church was
demolished in the 1930s) , next to the source (now there is
a 1996 chapel above it), where he cut down a small wooden
church with his own hands and consecrated it in honor of the
Conception of the Most Holy Theotokos. Soon a small
community of like-minded people of the exiled bishop was
formed near the church; Thus a new home was born.
After the death of Bishop Jacob, his local veneration as a
saint began; his burial was guarded as a shrine. The general
church glorification was performed by the Makarievsky
Cathedral in 1549. His relics rest under a bushel in the
Church of the Conception of St. Anna.
The monastery
was called Zachatievsky (by the name of the main temple
dedicated to the Conception of the righteous Anna) or
Iakovlevsky (by the name of the founder of the monastery).
From the time the monastery was founded (XIV century) until
the second half of the 17th century, all the buildings of
the Zachatievsky Monastery were exclusively wooden (none of
them have survived to this day).
The first stone
building of the monastery was the Trinity Cathedral, later
Zachatievsky Cathedral (1686), built on the site of the
wooden church of the same name. The cathedral is five-domed,
with three altar apses, without rich decorative decoration;
at that time he had a hipped bell tower with six bells.
Metropolitan of Rostov Iona Sysoevich consecrated the
cathedral. In 1689 the cathedral was painted by Yaroslavl
masters. A stone canopy was erected over the tomb of St.
Jacob.
Monastery in the 18th century
In 1702-1709
the monastery was under the special care of the Rostov
Metropolitan Dimitry of Rostov. Arriving on March 1, 1702 in
Rostov at the behest of Peter the Great, he was solemnly
welcomed in the Yakovlevsky Monastery and immediately served
a thanksgiving service in the Trinity (future Zachatievsky)
Cathedral. According to legend, on the same day he indicated
the place of his future burial - in the southwestern corner
of the temple.
Dimitry of Rostov was buried on
November 25, 1709 in the Trinity Church. A wooden tomb with
epitaph verses written by a friend of the deceased, the
locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, Metropolitan Stefan
(Yavorsky) of Ryazan, was built over the place of his
burial. In addition, according to the will of the deceased,
the monastery received two icons of the Mother of God: the
private Bogolyubskaya with Rostov saints and the especially
revered Vatopedi.
In 1725, by order of the Rostov
Bishop Georgy (Dashkov), the northern Zachatievsky chapel
was added to the Trinity Cathedral, which was rebuilt into a
separate church in the 19th century. Alexander Melnik
pointed out that according to the inventory of 1738, this
chapel was dedicated not to the Conception of the Most Holy
Theotokos, but to Saints Joachim and Anna. In 1754, by
decree of Arseny (Matseevich), the cathedral was renamed
Zachatievsky (the same as its wooden predecessor was called;
the name is still preserved), and the chapel was named after
Jacob of Rostov.
On September 21, 1752, while
repairing the church floor, the relics of St. Demetrius of
Rostov were uncovered; according to the hagiographic
narrative, the relics and clothes of the saint, untouched by
corruption, were examined three times by church hierarchs.
On April 22, 1757, the canonization of St. Dmitry of Rostov
took place. The number of pilgrims to the monastery
immediately increased significantly. At the western wall in
the same year a guest yard was built for pilgrims. On the
instructions of Metropolitan Arseny (Matseevich), the
monastery's housekeeper kept a notebook where pilgrims could
write down their stories about miraculous healings at the
tomb of the saint. The resulting large handwritten book,
which covers events from 1753 to 1764 and contains a
description of 288 healings, is now kept in the archives of
the Rostov Museum.
In 1758, from the silver mined at
the Kolyvan mines, by order of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, a
shrine was created for the relics of Dimitri of Rostov. The
silver was engraved with an epitaph to Saint Demetrius
composed by Mikhail Lomonosov. On May 25, 1763, the first
religious procession from the Assumption Cathedral of the
Rostov Bishop's House to the Spaso-Yakovlevsky Monastery
took place, which has been held annually since then (up to
the 1917 revolution).
Several inventories of the
monastery dating back to the middle of the 18th century have
been preserved: a wooden chopped fence with a gate in each
wall (both the fence and the gate were covered with a
plank). The main - Saints - gates, decorated with paintings,
were located on the eastern side. The remaining three gates
were entry gates, and next to each there was a small
entrance gate. Near the western wall were the rector's
quarters - wooden, with four rooms and a vestibule, the
stairs from which led to the dormitory. On the south side
there were stone fraternal cells, in the northeast corner
there were several wooden cell buildings. On the eastern
side there were wooden outbuildings: a barn, a stable, a
shed, two stone cellars; near the Holy Gates there was a
bakery with a kitchen; in the southeast corner is a stone
kitchen and a brewery. Behind the eastern wall of the fence
was a monastery courtyard, on which there were three huts,
behind the western wall - a guest yard for pilgrims.
From 1764, according to the manifesto of Catherine II, until
1888, the monastery was considered stauropegial, that is,
directly subordinate to the Holy Synod.
In the same
year, the buildings of the abolished Spaso-Pesotsky
Monastery, which stood nearby, were attributed to the
monastery, including the monumental Spaso-Preobrazhensky
Cathedral of the 17th century (this is the only building of
the Spaso-Pesotsky Monastery that has survived to this day).
For this reason, in 1765-1836 the monastery was officially
called the Spaso-Jakovlevsky Zachatievsky Monastery.
In the 1760s, a carved wooden iconostasis, made by carvers
S. Sholomotov and S. Bocharov, was placed in the
Zachatievsky Cathedral. In 1780, icons were painted
specifically for this iconostasis by the Kharkov icon
painter V. Vedersky.
In the second half of the 18th
century, the wooden walls of the monastery were replaced by
a stone fence. Towers with light openwork silhouettes
appeared on the corners and above the gates, and a high
three-tiered bell tower appeared above the eastern gates. In
the monastery courtyard, two-story fraternal cells and the
rector's building were built.
At the end of the 18th
century, the art of the enamel icon flourished in the
Spaso-Yakovlevsky Monastery. The emergence of this craft in
Rostov is associated with the name of Metropolitan Arseniy
(Matseevich), who invited icon painters to Rostov, who
worked in contemporary styles for that time, to update old
and paint new icons. Among them were masters of enamel
icons. At first, the Rostov Bishop's House was the center of
the enamel craft, and after the transfer of the Bishop's
House to the Yaroslavl Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery, which
had been abolished by that time, the Spaso-Yakovlevsky
Monastery became the main customer for enamel icons, where
pilgrims bought them as a memento of visiting the monastery.
In 1794-1802, the Demetrius Cathedral was built at the
expense of Count Nikolai Sheremetev. This classicist temple
was designed by the Moscow architect Nazarov and the serf
architects Dushkin and Mironov. Sheremetev wanted to create
a temple worthy of the relics of St. Demetrius of Rostov,
which, as the count expected, would be transferred here
immediately after construction was completed. However, the
higher clergy of the Yaroslavl diocese, taking into account
the will of Demetrius himself, did not bless the transfer of
the relics from the Conception Cathedral to Dimitrievsky.
Count Nikolai Sheremetev was the largest benefactor in the
entire history of the monastery: in addition to building the
cathedral, he donated vestments, gold and silver church
utensils to the monastery. Even after the death of
Sheremetev (1809), the monastery received a golden miter
with precious stones on the reliquary with the relics of St.
Demetrius, made in St. Petersburg according to the will of
the count. In memory of Sheremetev, Dimitrievsky Cathedral
is often called Sheremetevsky.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the “grave elder”
Amphilochius labored in the monastery, who for 40 years
every day for many hours stood in front of the shrine with
the relics of St. Dimitri Rostovsky. After the death of the
elder in Rostov, his local veneration was established.
The Church of St. Jacob Rostovsky. The construction of
the church was carried out with the active participation of
Archimandrite Innokenty at the expense of the benefactor of
the monastery - Countess A. A. Orlova-Chesmenskaya (who had
previously participated in the restoration and restructuring
of the Novgorod Yuriev Monastery). The murals were made by
Timofey Medvedev (they have not survived to our time).
In 1836, the porch of the Zachatievsky Cathedral was
erected. On the porch there are tombs in the form of
sarcophagi, including the coffin of Hieromonk Amphilochius
(d. 1824) and Archimandrite Innokenty (d. 1847), on the
right - Polezhaev Mikhail Mikhailovich (d. 1876) and Vera
Leonidovna (d. 1885).
In the 1860s, the main
iconostasis of the Demetrius Cathedral was rebuilt. Now it
was a triumphal arch made of artificial marble (designed by
K. A. Dokuchievsky).
In 1836, the Holy Synod, at the
request of Archimandrite Innokenty, approved the new
official name of the monastery - Spaso-Jakovlevsky Dimitriev
Monastery.
Catherine the Second, Alexander the First,
Nicholas the First, Alexander the Second, Nicholas the
Second came to the monastery on pilgrimage. The monastery
kept a huge collection of books and manuscripts, a valuable
archive of notes and historical documents.
In 1909,
the tradition of transferring the relics of St. Demetrius of
Rostov from the Conception Cathedral to Dimitrievsky: from
May 25 to October 28, the relics were annually in the
Dimitri Cathedral (as its builder, N. P. Sheremetev,
wanted), the rest of the time - in Zachatievsky. The
transfer of the relics was accompanied by a religious
procession with a large gathering of people.
At the
beginning of the 20th century, new churches were consecrated
inside the buildings that already existed by that time. In
1912, a cave church in honor of the Resurrection of Christ
was opened in the St. Jacob’s Church, and in 1916, a chapel
in honor of the Vatopedi Icon of the Mother of God (the
latter was donated by S. P. Kolodkin “in eternal remembrance
of the slain warrior Theodore”). In 1909, a temple in honor
of the Tolga Icon of the Mother of God was opened in the
southwestern tower - the house church of the abbot of the
monastery. From this church, one could climb the stairs to
the observation deck of the tower, from where a panorama of
the city was opened.
From February 27, 1909, until the closing of the
monastery, the rector was Bishop (later Metropolitan) Joseph
(Petrovykh).
In 1914, the monastic hospice was given over to
a military hospital with 150 beds.
After 1917, services in
the monastery were held only in the Yakovlev Church.
In 1919,
on the basis of the Decree on Museum Property dated October 10,
1918, the Yakovlevsky Monastery, as a monument of ancient Russian
art, with all the buildings in it, as well as church utensils, was
transferred to the jurisdiction of the Museum Department of the
People's Commissariat of Education.
On April 25, 1919, an
agreement was signed between the Rostov Uyezd Soviet of Deputies and
the rector of the monastery, Bishop Joseph (Petrovykh),
Archimandrite Tikhon (Shigin), treasurer Hieromonk Dimitry
(Plyashkovich), sacristy hieromonk Venedikt (Zhiltsov) (18 monks in
total) on transferring the churches to the monastery for perpetual
use Zachatievsky, Iakovlevskaya, Dimitrievskaya,
Spaso-Preobrazhenskaya, Tolgskaya, Voskresenskaya,
Skorbyashchenskaya. An inventory of the property of the monastery
and temples was compiled.
On March 14, 1923, the Rostov
Museum received from the Spaso-Jakovlevsky Monastery the
Spaso-Preobrazhensky Church with all the icons. The act of transfer
was signed by Archbishop Joseph and museum employee G.K. Shlyakov.
A community of the former Spaso-Jakovlevsky Demetrius Monastery
was created. The Charter was adopted, one of the clauses of which
reads: Composition of the community: every citizen belonging to the
Orthodox cult can be a member. Enrollment is carried out by the
general meeting when voting. There are 128 people on the list of the
community. A list of preachers has been compiled - 13 (from the
priests and brethren of the monastery). The chairman of the
community is Archbishop Joseph (Petrovykh).
1924. More than
50 portraits (clergymen, kings, donors of the monastery) were
transferred to the Rostov Museum from the rector's cells.
On
May 20, 1924, the Rostov Museum received 14 silver items from the
sacristy of the monastery - a branch of the museum.
1925. 36
icons were received from the Conception Church in the Rostov Museum.
Archbishop Joseph appealed to the police with a request to allow
a religious procession on August 19 with the Vatopedi Icon of the
Mother of God and the image of St. Demetrius in the Rostov district.
Permission has been granted.
1926. Archbishop Joseph turned
to the police with a request to allow a religious procession with
the Vatopedi Icon of the Mother of God in the Petrovskaya,
Karashskaya, Ilyinsko-Khovanskaya volosts. A positive response was
received.
1927. A letter from the community of the former
monastery was sent to the city authorities: “In view of the
absolutely unbearable burden of the tax on the churches of the
Jacoblevsky Monastery (about 14 million), the community of the
monastery has the honor to declare that: 1) for a long time it has
not used the Church of the Savior at all, keeping it only as
archaeological value, and therefore asks now to transfer it entirely
to the local archaeological department; 2) the community plans to do
the same with the Church of the Conception, which they also do not
use at all for their services due to the extreme cold and strong
draft of the through wind even in the warm season; 3) the temples of
Yakovlevsky and Sheremetevsky, which remained behind, the community
may find it possible to keep for themselves if the communal
department finds it possible to ease the burden of the tax and find
the amount required for payment. For the chairman of the community -
Archimandrite Tikhon "
On October 9, 1928, the Presidium of
the Yaroslavl Provincial Executive Committee decided to terminate
the contract with the religious community of the Iakovlevsky
Monastery and close the temples: Bearing in mind that on the
territory of the Iakovlevsky Monastery there is a children's town
created by the PEC, between whose children and worshipers there are
misunderstandings, and that functioning churches create
inconvenience for the upbringing of children outside of religion,
and given that the community is very small in composition, believers
who can send their religious needs to the surrounding churches both
in the city itself and in nearby rural prayer buildings, to
recognize as necessary the termination of the contract with the
religious community of believers , to transfer prayer buildings of
historical significance to the Rostov Museum for the deployment of
their branch, which they proposed for opening, asking for the
approval of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee for this.
1929. The Rostov Museum received an application from the
community of believers of the former Spaso-Jakovlevsky Dimitriev
Monastery for the issuance of the relics of St. Demetrius and part
of the utensils from the sacristy of the Spaso-Jakovlevsky Dimitriev
Monastery for the community of the Church of Michael the Archangel,
into which the community of this monastery joined. The Academic
Council of the museum decided to refuse the request due to the
possibility of using the relics in the expositions of the museum
department in the Spaso-Jakovlevsky Dimitriev Monastery.
At
the end of 1928, the contract with the community was terminated, and
the temples were transferred to the museum. An orphanage was located
in the rector's chambers, people who came from the villages settled
in the fraternal buildings. In the same year, part of the manuscript
collection of the former Spaso-Yakovslev Monastery was transferred
to Moscow (now - to the RGADA). Since 1930, military and commercial
warehouses have been placed in the temples.
In the 1980s, a
carved 18th-century baroque iconostasis from the Church of the
Conception was dismantled. At present, only its skeleton has been
preserved.
1988. Grocery storehouses for trade were removed
from the temples of the monastery. A branch of the Rostov Museum was
opened in the monastery. In the summer, the Demetrius Church is open
for guided tours.
1990. The Rostov Museum purchased bells
cast in Voronezh by the Diopside firm for the bell tower of the
Jacoblevsky Monastery, a branch of the museum. The Ministry of
Culture allocated 56,000 rubles for the purchase of 8 bells.
April 15, 1991 the monastery was returned to the Russian Orthodox
Church. By the decision of the Holy Synod of May 7, 1991, according
to the report of the Archbishop of Yaroslavl and Rostov Platon
(Udovenko), the monastery was renewed.
The relics of the
Rostov saints Abraham and Demetrius are buried in the monastery. The
Vatopedi Icon of the Mother of God, which is the cell icon of St.
Demetrius of Rostov, also resides here. In the St. Jacob’s Church of
the Spaso-Yakovlevsky Monastery, a tomb complex was arranged over
the relics of St. Jacob. Partially preserved monastery necropolis.
In 1996, a small wooden chapel was again built above the spring
(architect M. Pankratov, Moscow), consecrated on December 10 by
Archbishop Mikhei (Kharkharov) of Yaroslavl and Rostov in honor of
St. Jacob.
All three temples located on the territory of the
monastery are built in a single line along the eastern wall of the
monastery - this gives the external appearance of the monastery a strict
classical look.
Conception Cathedral
The modern building of
the cathedral (originally consecrated in honor of the Trinity) was built
in 1686 in a patterned style. The vaults support four pillars. The altar
is separated by a stone wall with an iconostasis. Arches are thrown
between the pillars and walls.
In the 19th century, the cathedral
was surrounded by outbuildings. The northern stone Iakovlevsky
(originally Zachatievsky) chapel was built in 1725. The porch of the
cathedral was erected in 1836. On the porch there are tombs in the form
of sarcophagi: on the left, the coffin hieromonk Amfilohiy (d. 1824) and
Archimandrite Innokenty (d. 1847) are buried, on the right are the
Polezhaevs Mikhail Mikhailovich (d. 1876) and Vera Leonidovna (d. 1885).
Inside, frescoes from 1689 have been preserved. On the altar wall
(at the level of the local row of the iconostasis - in the right niche)
there is an inscription in four rows:
Summer 1689 May 28th day the
church was started with mural painting by Yaroslavl masters
Frescoes are designed in yellow, blue, brown tones. In the wall niches
on the sides of the iconostasis are depicted: on the right - the holy
righteous Joachim and Anna, on the left - St. James. The upper tier of
wall paintings depicts Old Testament events related to the forefather
Abraham and the appearance of the Holy Trinity to him. The lower tier of
the walls is painted with frescoes for evangelical events. On the
pillars are depicted warrior-martyrs.
Demetrius Cathedral
Dimitrievsky Cathedral is often called Sheremetevsky in honor of its
builder - Count N. P. Sheremetev, as well as his son D. N. Sheremetev
(who arranged a new iconostasis here in 1869-1870) and grandson S. D.
Sheremetev (who also made several large contributions to the monastery).
The cathedral was erected in 1795-1801 in the classical spirit
according to the design of the Moscow architect E. S. Nazarov and the
serf architects Sheremetev Mironov and Dushkin. The temple is
pillarless, the huge dome rests on strongly protruding pylons, decorated
with two pairs of pilasters made of artificial marble. The cathedral is
very light thanks to the windows of the altar, high side windows and
oblong windows of the drum.
In front of the entrance to the
temple there is a refectory with vaulted ceilings, which rest on two
square pillars. In the refectory there are two aisles dedicated to St.
Demetrius of Thessalonica and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
Dimitrievsky temple was built as cold; only the aisles were heated,
where services were performed year-round.
Initially, all the
iconostases of the temples were wooden, but in the 1860s the iconostasis
of the main temple was replaced with a new one - in the form of a
triumphal arch made of artificial marble (designed by K. A.
Dokuchievsky).
The temple is decorated with stucco work by Ivan
Fokht and G. Zamaraev. The main sculptural image of the temple - "The
acquisition of the relics of St. Demetrius of Rostov" - is located on
the pediment of the north side.
The wall paintings were mostly
made by the Rostov artist Porfiry Ryabov at the beginning of the 19th
century. The Holy Trinity is depicted in the central dome, the apostles
are depicted on twelve ovals, the evangelists are on the sails, on the
walls are the martyr Alexandra, the Monk Hilarion, St. Alexander Nevsky,
St. Sergius of Radonezh, on the pillars - St. Leonty of Rostov, St.
Nicholas the Wonderworker, in the refectory - ornaments and scenes from
the life of St. Dimitri Rostovsky.
Yakovlevsky Church
Church
of St. Jacob of Rostov was built in 1836 on the site of the old Jacob's
aisle of the Zachatievsky Cathedral. The construction of the cathedral
was carried out with the active participation of Archimandrite Innokenty
at the expense of Countess A. A. Orlova-Chesmenskaya.
The temple
is attached close to the Zachatievsky Cathedral and has a common porch
with it. The Yakovlevskaya church was warm, heated all year round
(unlike the summer Dimitrievsky and the Zachatievsky cathedrals, which
were irregularly heated in the 19th century).
The murals made by
Timofey Medvedev have not been preserved.
Bell tower
Built in
the second half of the 18th century. Three-tiered, rather simple in
architecture, it is somewhat lost against the backdrop of the temples of
the monastery. The decoration of the bell tower is laconic.
The
number of bells changed over time: at the end of the 18th century there
were 4 of them, by the beginning of the 20th century there were 22 of
them, with the largest weighing 12.5 tons (about 3 thousand pounds).
Stone fence
Fraternal cells
Rector's Corps
Overhead chapel
of St. James
It was built over a spring that has been known to the
locals for a long time, is considered healing and, according to legend,
is associated with the name of St. James (although there is no reliable
evidence for this).
The wooden chapel was built in 1996
(architect M. Pankratov, Moscow).
About the first abbots of the Yakovlevsky monastery,
who ruled the monastery after the death of St. James, no information has
been preserved. Separate documents of the 17th century mention the names
of two abbots - Paul (1624) and Joachim (1686).
More or less
detailed information about the abbots of the monastery has been known
since the first years of the 18th century:
18th century
abbot
Nicodemus (mentioned in 1701-1703)
abbot Jacob (1720-1734)
abbot
Joseph (mentioned in 1734)
abbot Raphael (mentioned in 1735)
hegumen Bogolep (mentioned in 1736)
abbot Parmen (1737-1740). Former
hieromonk of the Rostov Bishops' House. Transferred to the Rostov
Petrovsky Monastery.
hegumen Savvaty, (1740-1750). Translated from
the Alexander Hermitage. He died in 1750.
abbot Serapion (1750-1753).
Former hieromonk of the Yaroslavl Tolga Monastery, later transferred to
the Poshekhonsky Nikolo-Tropsky Monastery.
abbot Gabriel (1753-1754).
Transferred from the Resurrection Monastery to Karash.
abbot Cyprian
(1754-1757). Former treasurer of the Rostov Bishops' House. He was
promoted to archimandrite and transferred to the Yaroslavl Tolga
Monastery.
hegumen Hilarion (1757-1758). He was promoted to
archimandrite and transferred to the Yaroslavl Spaso-Preobrazhensky
Monastery.
Archimandrite Bonifaty Boretsky (1758-1761). Former rector
of the Rostov Spaso-Pesotsky Monastery.
Hieroschemamonk Luke
(1761-1763). Transferred from the Kuryazhsky Transfiguration Monastery
near Kharkov. Removed from the priesthood by decree of the Synod, after
which the Uglich Yugskaya Dorofeev Hermitage.
Abbot Pavel
(1763-1764). Transferred from the Yugskaya Dorofeeva Desert. He received
the rank of archimandrite and was transferred to the Uglich Resurrection
Monastery.
Hieromonk Jerome (1764-1765). Former cathedral vicar of
the Rostov Bishop's House.
Archimandrite Pavel (1765-1769).
Transferred from the Holy Spirit Jacob Borovichi Monastery. He died on
November 17, 1769, was buried on the western side of the Zachatievsky
Cathedral.
Hieromonk Herman (1769-1770). Former "cathedral hieromonk"
of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.
Archimandrite Irenaeus Bratanovich
(1770-1775). Translated from the Bryansk Peter and Paul Monastery. On
April 26, 1775, he was consecrated to the rank of bishop and transferred
to the Vologda diocese.
Archimandrite Feoktist Mogulsky (1775-1776).
Translated from the Kyiv Mikhailovsky Golden-Domed Monastery. He was
transferred to the Poltava Holy Cross Monastery, in 1787 he was
consecrated Archbishop of Belgorod.
Archimandrite Amfilohiy
Leontovich (1776-1786). He was transferred from the Poltava Holy Cross
Monastery, after which he was transferred to the Kiev Mezhigorsky
Monastery. After some time, he became the bishop of Pereyaslavl and
Borisopol.
Archimandrite Abraham Florinsky (1786-1797). Translated
from the Epiphany Abraham's Monastery. He died on April 30, 1797, and
was buried behind the altar of the monastery Zachatievsky Cathedral.
19th century
Archimandrite Melchizedek (Short) (1797-1805).
Transferred from the governors of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
Subsequently, he was rector of the Arzamas Vysokogorsky and
Spaso-Evfimievsky monasteries, he died in 1841 as a schemer of the
Optina Hermitage.
Archimandrite Apolinarius (Pulyashkin) (1806-1818).
Transferred from the Moscow Zlatoust Monastery. He died on April 28,
1818, was buried on the south side of the monastery's Zachatievsky
Cathedral.
Archimandrite Innokenty (Poretsky) (1818-1847), promoted
to archimandrite from the hieromonks of the Yakovlevsky Monastery. He
died on February 27, 1847, was buried in the porch of the Conception
Cathedral.
Archimandrite Polikarp (Sosnin), (1847-1867), Translated
from Pereslavl Trinity-Danilov Monastery. He was retired, died on
November 18, 1868, was buried near the southern wall of the Church of
the Conception of St. Anna.
Archimandrite Hilarion (1867-1888),
November 4, 1867 was transferred from the Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery of
the Suzdal diocese.
Bishop Amfilohiy (Sergievsky-Kazantsev)
(1888-1893), Vicar of the Yaroslavl diocese. He died on July 20, 1893,
was buried in the basement of the Church of the Savior.
Bishop Nikon
(Bogoyavlensky) (1893-1895), from the Spaso-Yakovlevsky Monastery was
transferred as a diocesan bishop to Tashkent.
Archimandrite Anthony
(Florensov) (1895-1898), From the Vologda bishops. He was transferred to
rest in the Moscow St. Danilov Monastery.
XX and XXI centuries
Archimandrite Jacob (1898-1906), from the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. He was
transferred to the abbot of the Moscow Donskoy Monastery.
Archimandrite Anatoly (Junger) (1906-1909); died in 1912.
Bishop
Iosif (Petrovykh) (1909-1923), from the abbots of the Yuriev Monastery
of the Novgorod diocese, consecrated bishop of Uglich, vicar of the
Yaroslavl diocese; in 1923 he was consecrated archbishop, since 1926 -
Metropolitan of Leningrad.
Archimandrite Tikhon (Balyaev)
(1928-1929).
After the resumption of the activity of the
monastery in 1991, its abbots were the bishops of the Yaroslavl diocese:
Archbishop Platon (Udovenko) (1991-1993)
Archbishop Mikhey
(Kharkharov) (1993-2002)
Archbishop Kirill (Nakonechny) (2002-2011)
Metropolitan Panteleimon (Dolganov) (2011-2019)
Metropolitan Vadim
(Lazebny) (since 2020)
Abbots of the monastery
Archimandrite
Evstafiy (Evdokimov) (1991-1999)
Hieromonk Dimitry (Burov)
(2000-2003)
Hegumen Seraphim (Simonov) (March 7, 2003 - October 10,
2009)
hegumen Savva (Mikheev) (October 10, 2009 - March 2011)
Hegumen Avgustin (Nevodnichek) (acting from March 23, 2011; May 30, 2011
- May 27, 2022)
hegumen Sergius (Gubin) (since May 27, 2022)