Boris and Gleb Monastery

 Boris and Gleb Monastery

 

Description of the Boris and Gleb Monastery

Dmitrov Borisoglebsky Monastery is a monastery of the Sergiev Posad diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, located in the city of Dmitrov, Moscow Region. The monastery has been known since the second half of the 15th century.

The ensemble of the monastery includes: Borisoglebsky Cathedral of the 16th century, monastery stone walls with the gate of St. Nicholas Church and fraternal cells of the 17th century, the chapel of the Holy Spirit of the 20th century.

There is a legend, which is not documented by anything, connecting the emergence of the monastery with Yuri Dolgoruky, who founded Dmitrov in 1154.

Boris and Gleb Monastery  Boris and Gleb Monastery

History

Base
The construction and development of the monastery is associated with the growing influence of the Dmitrovsky principality and the power of the Dmitrovsky princes. For the first time in documentary sources, the monastery as already existing is mentioned in the will of Prince Yuri Vasilyevich in 1472. The stone Borisoglebsky Cathedral was built in the same style, and, most likely, at the same time, in the 16th century, with the Assumption Cathedral of the Dmitrov Kremlin. The construction of the cathedral dates back to the first third of the 16th century.

Until the 17th century, the monastery was a princely one and depended for management and maintenance only on its patrons - the Dmitrov and Moscow princes. Possibly, already from the 15th century, the abbot of the monastery bears the rank of archimandrite. The first archimandrite known from documents was Archimandrite Theodosius (1519).

After the Great Trouble
During the Polish-Lithuanian invasion, most likely, the monastery was devastated, like Dmitrov and its environs. In 1610, during a fire under the Poles, the archive of the monastery burned down. The stone cathedral was not damaged.

In 1652-1664, by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the monastery was assigned to the Novgorod Bishops' House (it was intended for Bishop Nikon, the future patriarch for a residence near Moscow). In 1682, the Borisoglebsky Monastery was assigned to the Zaikonospassky Monastery.

In 1672, the monastery suffered a fire that destroyed many of the wooden buildings. From this moment, the restructuring of the Holy Gates, monastery walls, cells into stone begins. In 1685-1687, a stone gated Nikolskaya church with a refectory was built.

In 1724-1726 he was again assigned to the Novgorod Bishop's House. In both cases of loss of independence, the monastery was managed by Novgorod builders.

The architectural complex of the monastery was formed in the 18th century. By our time, the following have been lost: the Intercession Hospital Church (1702), which was completely rebuilt in 1791, the eastern cells and some outbuildings.

Land Secularization
After Catherine's decree of 1764 on the secularization reform, the lands belonging to the monastery with settlements were transferred to the State College of Economy.

Boris and Gleb Monastery remained the only monastery of Dmitrov, the other two - Pyatnitsky and Nikitsky - were abolished, only parish churches remained. The Trinity Monastery on the Berezovets River was abolished even earlier, in the 17th century.

In the middle of the 18th century, the monastery was going through difficult times, the buildings were very dilapidated. Nevertheless, by the end of the century, he found the means to rebuild the Church of the Intercession (its last wall was dismantled along with the northern monastery wall during construction in the second half of the 1990s), in the first half of the 19th century, to build the rector's building. In 1888 (according to an erroneously read date on the cross), the 500th anniversary of the monastery was celebrated, which caused an increase in interest in it. Under the supervision of I. P. Mashkov, the cathedral was restored in its original form, the buildings were restored, in 1902 P. A. Ushakov built a spiritual board at the donation of E. S. Lyamina.

Revolution of 1917. Dmitlag
After the revolution in 1918, the monks from Borisoglebsky were transferred to the Nikolo-Peshnoshsky monastery, and the sisters of the Turkovitsky convent, evacuated from western Ukraine, were accommodated in it. Since 1921, sisters from the Zaraisk Bogoroditskaya Bakhrushinsky women's community of the Ryazan diocese joined them. In 1926, the Borisoglebsky Monastery was finally closed and its buildings were given to the Museum of Local Lore.

In 1932, the museum was transferred to the Assumption Cathedral, and the Dmitlag Department of the OGPU (NKVD) was placed in the monastery - a branch of the Gulag for the construction of the Volga-Moscow Canal. Adjacent streets: Komsomolskaya, Pionerskaya, Chekistskaya, Bolshevikskaya, Inzhenernaya, Energeticheskaya, Shlyuzovaya - formed the "town of Dmitlag", where engineers and civilian workers settled.

From the 1940s to the 1970s, the monastery housed a military unit, later various institutions and organizations. The fraternal building was used for housing.

Monastery restoration
In 1993, the restoration of the monastery began. In 2003, it had eight monks: Rector Archimandrite Roman (Gavrilov), three hieromonks, two hierodeacons, and two novices. On August 31, 2003, the visit of Patriarch Alexy II took place. On August 6, 2004, Metropolitan Yuvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna again consecrated the revived and restored Borisoglebsky Cathedral. By 2008, there were nine inhabitants in the monastery.

 

Patrimonial possessions

The patrimonial possessions of the monastery were according to letters of grant from the specific Dmitrovsky princes Yuri Vasilyevich and Yuri Ivanovich. According to the census books of 1627-1628, after the Polish-Lithuanian invasion, there are:

1). Monastic settlement in 13 yards and 16 service people. The settlement also includes a meadow along the Yakhroma River, which yields 100 hay hay. According to the census books of 1685, there are 25 households and 71 people.

2). In Povelsky camp. The village of Lavrovo (Nikolskoye) with lands, there is an old wooden Nikolskaya church in it. Wastes adjoined the village, which used to be villages (before the Polish-Lithuanian invasion): Danilkovo, Redkino, Novy Pond, Ivanishchevo, another Redkino, Tarabeevo-Vostrikovo on the Strukailovka River, Ovdeevskaya Wasteland. Also, the village of Orekhovo with the monastery courtyard, which included wastelands: Mitusovo (Matusovo?), Varsino, Shishkino, Privernino, Otushkino, Oksenovo. And the wastelands, where the village of Breino-Urusovo used to be and the villages: Kokourova, Kholmina, Turbysheva, Pykhina, Potapova. Also half of the village, which was the village of Afanasovo on the Yakhroma River and the mill bridge with the Muravyovo wasteland. Also repairs Simonkov with wastelands: Star, Obraztsovo, Koshcheikovo (Troshcheikovo?). Total: 25 wastelands with a monastery courtyard with 2 children, 5 courtyards with 10 children. According to the census of 1685, 12 households and 64 people, the church was moved to Orekhovo.

The village of Orekhovo is mentioned on Poklonnaya Gora in the northeastern outskirts of Dmitrov. Now the Dmitrovsky excavator plant and the private sector are located there along Vodnikov Street.

3). In the Vyshegorodsk camp. The village of Kostina at the former village of Novoye with wastelands. These are former villages: Zabolotye, Wild, Konyukhovo, Simonov, Putvino, Prokofeevo (now Prokoshevo?), Levino, Stoltsy. Also wastelands: Protasovo, Maslovo and Polikarpovo. In the village of Kostino there are 3 households with 6 peasants. In 1678 - 12 yards.

4). In Kamensky Stan. The village of Turbichevo on the Zolotukha River with the monastery courtyard and the Church of the Archangel Michael. The villages belonged to the Turbichevskaya patrimony: Arbuzovo, Kargashino, Malygino, Romanovo, Podsosenye, Selivanovo with wastelands: Vekirevo, Lukino, Tyutkovo, Perdyaevo, Yurovo. Wastes on ponds: Lagunovo, Shilino, Fomkino, Sherepovo; at the ravines of Kormukhino and Lyukhnevo. Wastelands along the Zolotukha River: Golovkovo, Kazakovo, Mikhnevo; along the river Kinersha - Myasnikovo. In total in Kamensky Stan: 1 village, 7 villages and 16 wastelands. Total 15 with monastery courtyards + 5 empty: 30 people. In 1678, Turbichevo with its surrounding villages had 58 households.

5). The village of Veretye-Kutach on the Dubna River and the Paz River. At the village there is a monastery yard and St. George's Church on a churchyard between the rivers Dubna and Paz. Villages adjacent to the village: Meledino on the Paz River, Ivantsevo and Kutach on Dubna, Starikovo on Dubna and the Perdosh River, Gorelukha, Yudino and Strashevo on Dubna. Also repairs: Vlasovsky on the Kunem-Vyazye River, Matyukov, Mikhailov, Ortyomovo-Zaimishche, Mytnya-Zrikhin, Mytnya-Olkhovichnaya, Mane, Zhilin, Kosyakov, Mininsky, Nazimets, Pozdichey, Usachevsky, Kharkino, Khvatkov, Fursov on Dubna, Yarinsky. Former settlements after the Polish-Lithuanian intervention (wastelands): Golovinets on Sestra, Strelka and Romantsevo on Dubna, Gridinskaya, Doronino, Legkorukovo, Metkovo, Kholm, Proninskaya and Derenskaya along the Kunem River, Kunichino-Ramenye and Yakovlevsky repair, Baranov repair, Vtykilevo , Zubarevo, Selfishness, Larkino, Melentyev Pochinok, Ovinishche, Tikhonovskaya, Zhukovo-Zaimishche, Olkhovik, Zobovo, Garevo, Karpova, Krivovskaya, Klimova, Obramova, Korovaevskaya on the river Perdosh, Kovrigino, Kostino, Lavrovo, Panovka. And wastelands: Borok on Kunem and Krivets on Dubna. In total: a village and a churchyard with a church, 7 villages, 21 repairs, 35 wastelands. Total: 26 yards and 38 people. According to the census books of 1678, the village of Veretye with villages is already listed. Villages were restored from the wasteland: Zhukovo-Zaimishche, Krivets, a mill with 3 millstones was built on it, Olkhovik on the Olkhovka River, Zobovo, Yarinsky repair (Yafimino), Legkorukovo (Filippovo), Strelka. Some of the other wastelands were plowed up for arable land, some received new names. Total: 80 courtyards, excluding the monastery with 339 inhabitants.

In addition to the land, the monastery had: 5 mills at the beginning of the 17th century (some from the 17th century): under the village of Krivtsova, under the village of Strelka, along the Paz and Dubna rivers, Berezovets. There was fishing along the rivers Kunyami, Berezovets, a pond at the monastery was used to save the caught fish. The monastery was also engaged in firing bricks and making shots. The water mill on the Iksha River in the Vyshegorodsky camp was leased by the monks. Subsequently, on the site of the mill in 1907, a Saxon J. V. Pege built a wire and nail factory with a water wheel, which served as the beginning of the village of Iksha.

The monastery also included a century-old pine forest in the Timonovsky volost (Timonovsky staircase).

After the secularization of 1764, by Catherine’s decree, only garden and garden land was left behind the monastery, a fishless pond for drinking horses near the stable, a pit behind the monastery for storing beer and kvass. Hay land was left on the Orekhovaya wasteland with a barnyard and the Mitusova wasteland (now Matusovo field). The right to fish on the Yakhroma River with payment for it to the treasury of money. In 1766, an inventory of the remaining monastic possessions was compiled.

Now the courtyard (patrimony) of the monastery is located near the village of Svyatogorovo.

 

Architecture

The oldest building is the stone Cathedral of Boris and Gleb, built, according to the architect S. A. Gavrilov, probably in the middle of the 16th century. The dating of the cathedral according to a fragment of a tombstone with the date 1537 is erroneous. The laying of a fragment of stone in the wall of the northern apse dates back, presumably, to the time of the rectorship of Archimandrite Tikhon III (circa 1840), who was interested in the history of the monastery and inserted the Borisoglebsky cross into the wall of the cathedral. During the time of Dmitlag, the stone was lost, but was found again under the porch platform in 1993.

The four-pillar double-altar cathedral with three apses was built on modern white-stone cellars. The cathedral ended with two chapters, of which only one has been preserved. The second small dome was above the Voznesensky aisle, located in the southeastern compartment and the southern apse, enlarged during construction to accommodate the aisle. The icon of the Ascension of the Lord was located in the icon case of the main western facade, and in one document of the 17th century the monastery was called Voznesensky. Perhaps, before the construction of the Borisoglebsky Cathedral in the middle of the 16th century, the main throne of the old cathedral was Ascension. According to tradition, during the construction of the church with a new dedication of the main altar, the main altar of the old temple was transferred to the southern apse. Horizontal platforms were found above the western part of the northern branch of the vault, behind the middle zakomara of the northern facade. Perhaps there was a small belfry here. Around the cathedral stood porches with plank roofs on wooden pillars.

In 1672, the monastery survived a severe fire, which contributed to its rebuilding into stone: in 1672, under Archimandrite Pitirim, the Holy Gates were built. During the reign of Archimandrite Kallistrat in 1685-1687, St. Nicholas Church with a refectory was built over the Holy Gates, rector's cells were built between St. Nicholas Church and the western wall (the southwestern tower was called the round rector's cell and there was a round tiled stove in it), fraternal cells in the middle part of the eastern wall fences that partially went beyond the fence, preserved until the 20th century. In 1685-1689, under Archimandrites Kallistrat and Joseph (Varyanov), a fence with four corner turrets was built. In 1702, under Archimandrite Sergius (Pustoboyarov), at the expense of Akilina Naryshkina, the hospital Church of the Intercession was erected, which was abolished before the beginning of the 20th century.

In 1656, near the western part of the southern facade of the cathedral, a small Alekseevsky chapel with one dome and a small narthex was built at the expense of the widow of the stolnik Semyon Vasilyevich Chaplin Praskovia. The publications erroneously call the deceased, probably in the pestilence of 1654, the stolnik Alexei Ivanovich. In 1993, a temple-built slab of the Alekseevsky chapel with the name of the steward Semyon was discovered.

Until the end of the 17th century, a porch was added to the porch of the chapel, which reached the western portal of the cathedral, and a hipped bell tower already stood above the porch of the chapel. In this form, the two-domed cathedral with a hipped bell tower was depicted on a tempera drawing of the late 17th century on the wall between the windows of the second floor of the northwestern tower of the monastery fence (the tower was completely dismantled and laid out again in 1996, but without windows and tempera drawing).

Until the end of the 18th century, the bell tower acquired its present form. During the reconstruction, an overlay about a meter thick was made to the southern wall of the Alekseevsky narthex. At the same time, the western porch was completed to the northwestern corner of the cathedral, pitched roofs were made over the zakomaras, and instead of a large dome, another tier of the drum was added above the drum, completed by a small dome. Probably, the southeastern chapter was dismantled at the same time. In the 19th century, a window was cut in place of the icon case with the icon of the Ascension.

In 1834, a chapel of the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God was added to the St. Nicholas Church (on the site of the original northern porch and stairs).

At the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, calorific heating was installed in the cathedral. The brick ducts of the air ducts ran over the graves of the ktitors of the Alekseevsky side chapel, and the temple-built slab with the name of Semyon was used as a bridge over the air duct under the window in the southern wall of the Alekseevsky narthex. In 1901-1902, the architect I.P. Mashkov restored the top of the cathedral, the upper tier with the dome of the 18th century was dismantled, and the dome again became large, and the quadrangle received a pozakomarny covering.

After the restoration of the monastery (1993), work began on the improvement of the territory of the monastery and the "renovation" of monuments. During these works, some valuable architectural elements were lost. In 1996, the northwestern tower was completely rebuilt, where there was a unique tempera drawing of the Borisoglebsky Monastery of the 17th century. Completely, along with the fragments of the 17th century preserved during the restoration, the front masonry was removed from the rector's cells, restored in 1988-89. In place of the original ones, new windows with unprecedented architraves were made. In place of the blank walls, windows with architraves “under the 17th century” were made. In the early 2000s a small one-domed Russian-style chapel of the Holy Spirit, a two-story outbuilding, was being built, the southern and western walls were completely rebuilt. In place of a roof with a genuine drum of the 17th century and a dome covered with aspen plowshare, a domed roof with a gilded dome and outbuildings on the site of the Intercession Church and fraternal cells are being “restored”.

Church service items
During the archaeological excavations carried out in 1988, to the south-west of the Borisoglebsky Cathedral, the remains of a semi-dugout 1.4 m deep and 2.6 m wide with post holes in the corners were discovered. Remains of ceramics of the late 13th - early 14th centuries were found on its floor. The same pottery was found in a layer of buried turf along with a fragment of a glass bracelet.

In 1815/1816, the famous historian K. F. Kalaidovich, after the scandal of 1814 in Vladimir, first spent a short time in a lunatic asylum, and then hid from criminal prosecution for about a year in the Nikolo-Peshnoshsky Monastery. Being formally a novice of the monastery, he studied the surroundings. Having visited the Borisoglebsky Monastery, he was the first to discover a carved white stone cross depicting the Trinity, the Crucifixion and Saints Basil, Nicholas and George, presumably in the masonry of the northern pylon under the arch of the Alekseevsky chapel of the Borisoglebsky Cathedral. In a letter of 1817, he wrote about his find. But the cross after Kalaidovich was again lost. The cross was found again by Archimandrite Tikhon in 1840 under the altar of the Alekseevsky chapel and inserted into the wall to the right of the western portal.

In the 1930s, after the Dmitlag local history museum was expelled from the monastery by the OGPU workers, the Dmitlag people cut down the faces of all the saints, threw mortar over the cross and stuck a partition to this place. In 1982, the cross was removed from the wall and transferred to the Dmitrov Museum for the sake of safety. The first cross was published by the teacher of the Russian language of the Dmitrov Theological School N. N. Bylov in 1888. Bylov named the year 1388 as the date of creation of the cross. His interpretation of the date turned out to be inaccurate, but it turned out to be very useful for justifying the celebration of the 500th anniversary. I. A. Shlyapkin, who studied ancient Russian crosses, in 1906 for the first time published a drawing from a photograph of the cross and proposed to clarify the date by 1467, but probably timidly, because neither M. N. Tikhomirov (1462), nor M. A. Ilyin, nor G. V. Popov (1447). T.V. Nikolaeva again returns the dating to 1467, but calls him worship and calls the right saint Gregory. After the cross was removed from the masonry of the wall in 1982, it was studied by the architect S. A. Gavrilov and published in the journal Soviet Archeology of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR 1985, issue 2. from 213-222. At the bottom of the cross is the inscription: "In the summer of 1467, a cross was erected for the annunciation of the Holy Mother of God in the month of March" (the inscription has not been completed). On the right end of the lower crossbar, the end of the inscription: "on Pantelei above the voshchesnik". It was a tomb cross over the murdered and not having time to repent Panteley.

 

Abbots

1 - Archimandrite Theodosius (1519), the first of the abbots of the monastery, authentically established according to documents.
2 - builder Joachim (Larionov) (1611/12)
3 - builder Serapion (Odintsov)

In the synodics of the Borisoglebsky monastery of 1654, they are mentioned without dates - they were before 1611/12?
4 - archimandrite - Jonah
5 - archimandrite - Vasyan
6 - archimandrite - Varlam
7 - archimandrite - Isaiah
8 - archimandrite - Nikandr
9 - archimandrite - Gerasim
10 - Archimandrite Gennady (1618)
11 - builder Cyprian I (1623)
12 - Cyprian I (4.1624-17.01.1633) was transferred from builders to archimandrites
13 - Archimandrite Macarius (1642-1644)
14 - Archimandrite Joachim (1646-1651)
15 - Archimandrite Tikhon I (1651-1652)

In 1652-1664 the monastery belonged to the Novgorod Metropolitan House (Nikon)
16 - builder Alexander (1652-1654?), "black priest"
16 - builder Ephraim (1655-1656), "black pop"
17 - builder Abraham (1656-1663) (Novgorodets)
18 - Abbot Abraham (1664-1665) transferred from the builders
19 - Archimandrite Abraham (1665-1869) from abbots.
20 - Archimandrite Savvaty (1669 - August 1671)
21 - Archimandrite Pitirim (1672-1780)
22 - Archimandrite Cornelius (1680-1683)
23 - Archimandrite Tikhon II (1683-1684)
24 - Archimandrite Kalistrat (1684-1688)
25 - Archimandrite Joseph (Varyanov?) (1688-1692)
26 - Archimandrite Simeon (1694-1698)
27 - Archimandrite Sergius I (Pustoboyarov) (1698-1702)
28 - Archimandrite Evfimy (1703-1707)
29 - Archimandrite Adrian I (1707 - 14.6.1712)
30 - Archimandrite Matthew (Shumerin) (1713 - January 1715)
31 - Archimandrite Adrian II (1715-10.1722)
32 - Archimandrite Melchizedek (Borschov) (March 1722-16.2.1723)

In 1724-1727 the monastery was again assigned to the Novgorod Bishop's House.
33 - builder - Irinarkh (1724)
34 - builder - Anthony (1727)
35 - Archimandrite Cyprian II (Skripitsyn) (1727-1732)
36 - Archimandrite Andronik (January 17, 1731 - October 1733)
37 - governor Joseph (31.10.1733-20.12.1733)
38 - Archimandrite Victor (Podgorsky) (12/20/1733-16/1/1739 (?))
39 - Archimandrite Adrian III (1736)
40 - Archimandrite Paul I (May 20, 1740-1756)
41 - Archimandrite Iakinf (Karpinsky) (1757-1758)
42 - Archimandrite Nifont (1758-1760)
43 - Archimandrite Bogolep (Gorodetsky) (1760-1762)
44 - Archimandrite Jerome (20.6.1762-5.12.1763)
45 - Archimandrite Joseph (Averkov) (9.3.1763-1771)
46 - Abbot Ioanniy (?) (10/20/1771-1775)
47 - Abbot Jacob (1775-30.3.1779, 1780?)
48 - hegumen Paul II (Naumov) (1781-22.6.1785)
49 - hegumen Nikandr (13.10.1785-20.4.1786)
50 - Abbot Ioanniky (20.4.1786-10.1794 (1797?))
51 - hegumen Apollinaris (Pulyashkin) (5.11.1794-1802)
52 - Archimandrite Alexander (Alekseev) (16.1.1803-10.2.1804)
53 - Archimandrite Gideon (Fomin) (April 17, 1804-1806)
54 - Archimandrite Macarius (Bryushkov) (08/09/1806-1810)
55 - Archimandrite Evgeny (Kazantsev) (6.8.1810-11.8.1811)
56 - Archimandrite Dositheus (Golenishchev-Kutuzov) (August 28, 1811-July 20, 1816)
57 - Archimandrite Arseny (Koznorov) (26.7.1816-4.7.1819)
58 - Archimandrite Theophylact (4.7.1819-1822)
59 - Archimandrite Platon (Berezin) (March 26, 1822-1826)
60 - Archimandrite Evlampy (Pyatnitsky) (19.3.1826-28.3.1830)
61 - Archimandrite Platon (Kazan) (17.7.1830-31.12.1830)
62 - Archimandrite Theophilus (1.2.1832-1835)
63 - Archimandrite Tikhon (Uglyansky) (3.2.1835-1846)
64 - Archimandrite Jacob (Krotkov) (9.2.1847-31.8.1855)
65 - Archimandrite German (Sokolov) (11.9.1855-1872)
66 - Archimandrite Michael (1872-1880)
67 - Abbot Sergius II (1880-1882)
68 - Archimandrite Sergius II (1882-1888)
69 - Archimandrite Panteleimon (Ivan Alekseevich Pospelov) (1890-1892)
70 - Archimandrite - Feofan (Boris Glebov 1831-1897) 1895-1897, transferred from the Savvo-Storozhevsky Monastery in Zvenigorod, brother of the TSL governor Pavel Glebov.
71 - Archimandrite Dionysius (Sosnovsky) (1898-1901)
72 - hegumen Theodosius II (1902-1907) until 1907
73 - Archimandrite Theodosius II (1907-1918) from abbots
74 - Archimandrite Roman (Gennady Mikhailovich Gavrilov, 1957), 1993-2005,
75 - Abbot Augustine (Anatoly Viktorovich Shornikov), since 2005

 

Shrines

The ark with particles of the relics of the Holy Apostles Andrew the First-Called and the Evangelists Matthew and Luke, Saints John Chrysostom, Gregory the Theologian, Theophan the Recluse Vyshensky, Sts. Peter and Fevronia of Murom, Great Martyr George the Victorious and many other saints.
Part of the Cross of the Lord.
Ark with particles of the relics of Saints Boris and Gleb