Valdaysky Iversky Monastery

Image of Valdaysky Iversky Monastery

Location: Novgorod Oblast  Map

Constructed: 1653 by patriarch Nikon

 

Description of the Valdaysky Iversky Monastery

Valdaysky Iversky Monastery (Иверский Валдайский монастырь) is a Russian Orthodox convent located in Novgorod Oblast in Russia. It was found in 1653 by the orders of patriarch Nikon.

 

History

Ascending the patriarchal throne on July 25, 1652, Nikon expressed his intention to found a monastery in Russia in the image and likeness of the Iversky monastery on Mount Athos. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich approved the patriarch's enterprise and allocated funds from the treasury for the construction of the monastery. According to the testimony of Pavel Aleppsky, the monastery was supposed to be built in the "Athos architectural traditions", even the monastic vestments had to correspond to the Greek models.

The choice of the site for the monastery is related to the vision that Nikon had during his trip to Solovki for the relics of Metropolitan Philip. In the summer of 1653, construction began, and by the fall two wooden churches were built and were ready for consecration. The cathedral church was consecrated in honor of the Iberian icon, and the warm one - in the name of St. Philip of Moscow. The Patriarch appointed Archimandrite Dionysius as the first abbot of the monastery.

When he first visited the monastery under construction in February 1654, Nikon renamed the Valdai settlement into the village of Bogoroditskoye, and also named Valdai Lake Saints, having previously consecrated it and lowered the Gospel and the cross to the bottom (as the local legend says). A letter from the patriarch to the king has survived, where he reports a vision over the island of a sign in the form of a pillar of fire. The monastery itself, in addition to the previous name, was named "Svyatoozersky".

In 1653, under the supervision of the Patriarch, the stone construction of monastery churches and buildings began. Nikon himself consecrated the newly created monastery; by order of the Patriarch in February 1654, the holy relics of the righteous Jacob of Borovichsky were transferred to the monastery from the Borovichi monastery.

In May 1654, a royal charter was awarded, which assigned to the monastery not only Lake Valdai with islands, but also other estates: Borovichi, Yazhelbitsy, Vyshny Volochek. Old Russian and some other monasteries of the Novgorod land were assigned to the monastery.

In 1655, more than 70 brethren of the Belarusian Orsha Kuteinsky monastery moved to the monastery. Among the inhabitants at that time was the future Patriarch Joachim, as well as Isaac of Polotsk, the brother of Simeon of Polotsk. The monks brought with them all their property and printing house to a new place. With the arrival of the Kutein monks, printing and bookbinding began to develop.

In 1656, the construction of the Assumption Cathedral was completed. On December 16 of the same year, he was consecrated. Metropolitans Macarius of Novgorod and Pitirim of Sarsk, Archbishop Lavrenty of Tver and numerous clergy from various dioceses of Russia attended the celebration together with the Patriarch. The cathedral is distinguished by simplicity and monumentality of architectural forms. In 2008, Patriarch Alexy II renamed the Assumption Cathedral into a cathedral in honor of the Iverskaya icon of the Mother of God.

By the beginning of the 18th century, the monastery fell into decay. From 1712 to 1730 the monastery with all property and land was assigned to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, which was under construction. Even a large monastery bell was transported to the monastery of the northern capital. In 1764 the Iversky Monastery was placed in the first class.

In 1919, the monastery was transformed into the Iberian labor artel, numbering 70 people, and had 5 hectares of monastic land and 200 hectares of orchards, vegetable gardens, plowing, pastures.

In 1927, the artel examined the People's Commissariat for Land, in the report of which it was noted that the labor community "is too closely connected with the Iberian miraculous icon." The last remark was the reason for the removal of the artel from registration; the monastic community was liquidated, and the Iberian Icon in an expensive setting was taken away in an unknown direction.

Subsequently, on the territory of the monastery there were: a historical and archival museum, a museum of local history, workshops, a home for the disabled for participants in the Great Patriotic War, and a forest school for children with tuberculosis. In the 1970s, a village was created on the island, and a recreation center was opened on the territory of the monastery.

 

Restoration and recent history

In 1991, the monastery, which was in disrepair, was returned to the Novgorod diocese. The first abbot of the monastery after the transfer of its diocese was hegumen Stephan (Popkov). In 1998, Archbishop Leo (Tserpitsky) consecrated the Church of the Epiphany. Services were resumed in the Assumption Cathedral. At the end of 2007, the complex restoration of the monastery was completed.

On May 5, 1997, by the decree of Archbishop Leo, Archimandrite Ephraim (Barbinyagra) was appointed the abbot of the monastery. In June 2002, he was replaced, and on November 25, 2007, by a decree of Patriarch Alexy II, Ephraim was reinstated.

The shrine of the monastery was a copy of the Iberian Icon of the Mother of God, which in the 1950s-1980s was kept in the only functioning church of the Valdai region - the Peter and Paul (cemetery) church in the city of Valdai. Her new precious robe made by the masters of Zlatoust - A.A. Lokhtachev, N.V. Lokhtacheva. and Lokhtachev D.A., was consecrated on December 25, 2006.

 

On January 11, 2008, Patriarch Alexy II was expected by his arrival at the monastery to consecrate the restored Assumption (Iversky) Cathedral. On January 12, the Patriarch celebrated Divine Liturgy in the cathedral church, before performing the rite of minor consecration of the cathedral. After the liturgy, the Patriarch served a prayer service, which was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In April 2008, there were reports of the decision to gild the five domes of the Iberian Cathedral for the first time, which "will require about three thousand so-called 'golden books'". The current motley coloring of the facades and the gilding of the domes have no precedents in the history of the monastery.

On September 19, 2009, Cyril, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, visited the Valdai Iversky Monastery. In January 2011, the restoration of the fresco painting of the Assumption (Iversky Cathedral), in the altar and in the entire church to the lower tier was completed. There is a small museum dedicated to Patriarch Nikon and the history of the monastery.

By the decision of the Holy Synod of December 27-28, 2011, Metropolitan Leo was appointed (journal No. 173) the head of the Novgorod metropolitanate and approved (journal No. 169) as the rector (priest-archimandrite) of the Iberian Valdai Monastery. The nun Irina (Frolova) was appointed the manager of the monastery.

 

Composition and architecture

Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1653-56)
Refectory Church of the Epiphany (1657-58) with bread and brewery (1668-69)
Gate Church of Michael the Archangel (1680s, the top was rebuilt at the end of the 18th century)
Gate Church of Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow (1874)
Hospital Church of Jacob Borovichsky with hospital and refectory chambers (1702, rebuilt in the 19th century)
Tent bell tower (1679-89)
Governor's building (XVII century)
Treasury building (1680s)
Fraternal corps (early XVIII century)
The buildings are strange, living room, stable (XIX century)
Stone fence with towers from the 18th century.
Nikolaev (Mikhailovskaya) Tower (1680s)
Chapel with the burial vault of the Panayevs (1870)