Prosveshcheniya ul., ☎ +7 4942 57-25-89. 09:00–17:00, services daily at 08:00 and 17:00. A huge and important monastery (est. 1330), which contains the Museum of Wooden Architecture, the Bogoroditsky Cathedral (est. 1552), and the Spaso-Preobrazhenskaya Church (which was made without a single nail). 50 RUR.
The Epiphany-Anastasia Monastery (Богоявленско- Анастасиин Монастырь) is a female (previously, until 1847 — male) monastery of the Kostroma diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, located in Kostroma. In the Epiphany Cathedral there is the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God, a miraculous icon of the Mother of God revered by the Russian Orthodox Church, known as one of the shrines of the Romanov dynasty.
1. Bogoyavlenski Cathedral
2. Smolenski Church
3. Bell tower
4. Memorial cross on the site of a destroyed Saint Nicholas Church
5. Former Hospital wing, currently used as living quarters of the nuns of Bogoyavlensky Convent
6. Former kinder garten, currently used as living quarters of the nuns of Bogoyavlensky Convent
7. Former Dining Hall, currently houses Kostroma Seminary
8. East Wing, former residence of the head of the monastery
The monastery was founded by a disciple and relative of St. Sergius
of Radonezh, who came from the Moscow region, the Monk Nikita, the
former rector of the Vysotsky Monastery in Serpukhov, and then the
Vysoko-Pokrovsky Monastery in Borovsk.
Initially, all the
buildings of the monastery were wooden. In the 16th century, the wooden
walls of the monastery protected Kostroma on the outskirts of the city.
In 1559, the construction of the Cathedral of the Epiphany began - the
oldest of the surviving stone structures in the city of Kostroma. The
initiator of its construction was Abbot Isaiah (Shaposhnikov), and one
of the largest donors was Prince Vladimir Andreevich Staritsky, cousin
of Tsar Ivan the Terrible.
In the 16th century, two convents were
assigned to the monastery - Anastasiin (founded by the daughter of
Dmitry Donskoy - Anastasia) and Krestovozdvizhensky.
In 1569, the
monastery was visited by Prince Vladimir Andreevich Staritsky, who was
heading with an army to defend Astrakhan; the brethren, led by the
abbot, met him with honor, which, together with the solemn reception
given to the prince by the inhabitants of Kostroma, served as an
occasion for the entourage of Tsar Ivan the Terrible to slander the
prince before him. At the end of the same year, Prince Vladimir was
killed by order of the tsar in the Alexander Sloboda. The royal wrath
fell on the Epiphany monks: a significant part of them, together with
Abbot Isaiah, was also executed in 1570 (Hegumen Isaiah was buried in
the basement of the Epiphany Cathedral he built).
Time of
Troubles
The monastery suffered during the Time of Troubles. At the
end of 1608, detachments of False Dmitry II, led by A. Lisovsky,
besieged the Epiphany Monastery. Despite the defense of the monastery,
which was conducted by monks and monastery peasants, on December 30,
Polish troops broke into the monastery, plundered it and destroyed it.
At the same time, 11 monks died: three hieromonks - Trifilius, Macarius
and Savvaty, hierodeacon Afinogen, monks - Varlaam, Dionysius, Job,
Cyril, Maxim, Joasaph and Guriy, 5 monastic servants: Vasily, Ivan,
Stefan, Nikita and Diomede, and 38 monastery peasants (subsequent
generations of the monastery’s inhabitants, right up to the revolution,
annually performed funeral services on December 30 in memory of the
fallen defenders of the monastery).
Monastery in the XVII-XIX
centuries
Significant restoration work was carried out in the 17th
century. The church of the Holy Apostle John the Theologian was built in
the monastery - it was consecrated on May 8, 1610 by Patriarch
Hermogenes (not preserved). In 1607-1618, a two-story two-domed Three
Saints (later Sretenskaya) church was erected (not preserved), in the
1620s - a belfry with a church in the name of St. Sergius of Radonezh in
the lower tier (not preserved). In 1642-1648, instead of wooden ones,
stone walls with six towers were built around the monastery, turning the
monastery into a powerful fortress (among the main contributors to its
construction, along with the boyar M. M. Saltykov, was Patriarch
Joseph). The walls are only partially preserved, the only tower that has
survived to this day has been turned into a bell tower. The Cathedral of
the Epiphany was rebuilt (on three sides it was surrounded by a gallery,
and on the north side the chapel of St. Nicholas was added). The
painting of the Cathedral of the Epiphany was taken up in 1667 by
masters Gury Nikitin and Sila Savin, but, unfortunately, the ancient
frescoes have not been preserved.
Tombstones are preserved in the
basement of the Epiphany Cathedral, in particular, the burials of the
elder Nikita and the sons of Prince Vasily Borovsky belong to the 15th
century. In the 17th century, the Bogoyavlensky Monastery was patronized
by the boyar family of the Saltykovs, who created their family cemetery
within the walls of the monastery. In the basement of the Epiphany
Cathedral were buried okolnichy Mikhail Mikhailovich (monk Misail, +
1608), his sons - boyars Boris Mikhailovich (+ 1646) and Mikhail
Mikhailovich (+ 1671), grandson Pyotr Mikhailovich (+ 1690, statesman in
the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, head of the Little Russian order),
great-grandson of the stolnik Fyodor Petrovich (+ 1682, died in Moscow
during the Streltsy rebellion) and others.
On the territory of
the monastery, the Refectory building of the 17th century has been
preserved - a three-story building with beautiful window frames (they
are especially elegant on the upper floors).
In the 50s of the
18th century, the Nikolskaya (“Saltykovskaya”, as Kostroma residents
usually called it) church was built (consecrated in 1760); it was built
over the tomb of Major General Mikhail Saltykov by his widow Ekaterina
(nee Sheremeteva). It was a high baroque temple of the "octagon on a
quadrangle" type, with a tiered completion. In Soviet times, it was
demolished. In the 19th century, the outer staircase of the Refectory,
which led to the rooms on the second floor, was removed and the entrance
was marked with an elegant porch.
After the secularization reform
of 1764, the Anastasin Monastery was abolished, its nuns were
transferred to the Assumption Cathedral in the Exaltation of the Cross
Monastery - after that the monastery was named Anastasiin-Exaltation of
the Cross. In 1773 the Exaltation of the Cross Monastery was destroyed
by fire, and the nuns were again housed in the buildings of the former
Anastas'in Monastery. After the Epiphany Monastery was almost destroyed
by fire in 1847, at the request of Mother Superior Maria, it was
assigned to the Anastas'in Monastery in 1863, after which the latter
received the name of the Epiphany-Anastas'in (or
Anastas'in-Bogoyavlensky). In 1890, he was ranked among the 3rd class of
monasteries, he was in charge of the Nazareth and Pokrovskaya deserts.
Soviet period
In 1918 the monastery was closed, but the Cathedral
of the Epiphany became a parish church and operated until 1924. Since
1925, the building of the closed cathedral housed the provincial
archival bureau, which later became the regional archive. In the years
1920-1930, the monastery walls and most of the towers were almost
completely destroyed, the Nikolsky (“Saltykovsky”) temple and the
Nikolskaya chapel were destroyed. In 1982, a fire broke out in the
Cathedral of the Epiphany, which was used as a repository of the
regional archive, destroying the remains of the cathedral's frescoes of
the 17th century.
The plan of the monastery has the shape of a trapezoid. The territory
of the monastery is limited by streets: Simanovsky (former Epiphany)
from the west, Kozuev (formerly Novo-Troitskaya) from the east,
Pyatnitskaya from the south, Komsomolskaya (former Troitskaya) from the
north. The square towers of the walls protruded significantly forward,
there were four corner towers and two passage towers, and they were
located in the middle of the western and eastern sides. The seventh, in
the center of the southern spindle, protruded outward. Only the corner,
southwest and west towers have survived, but have been extensively
rebuilt.
The main building is the Cathedral of the Epiphany, the
oldest surviving temple of the monastery. Built in 1559-1565, it had
five domes and a three-part altar apse. In 1672, the interior of the
cathedral was painted with frescoes, possibly by Kostroma masters headed
by Gury Nikitin and Sila Savin. But they didn't survive. In 1825, the
Smolensk Chapel was built on the basis of a corner square tower. It had
a sloping dome, and its cupola had a two-tier order decor with Tuscan
columns. At the same time, the corner northwestern, northeastern and
southeastern towers and the entire western side of the monastery fence
were rebuilt. To the south of the bell tower, new gates were broken. To
the north of the Smolensk chapel, along the fence line, two-story
hospital cells were built.
The monastery was revived as the Epiphany-Anastasiin female by the
decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on July 20,
1990. In March 1991, the first nuns arrived from the Dormition
Pyukhtitsky Monastery.
On August 17, 1991, the Epiphany Cathedral
became the cathedral church of the Kostroma diocese of the Russian
Orthodox Church. The main shrine of Kostroma, the Feodorovskaya Icon of
the Mother of God, was moved here. In 1991, divine services began in the
Smolensk church. In 2006, the church in the name of St. Sergius of
Radonezh and St. Nikita of Kostroma was restored in the basement of the
cathedral.
In 1993-1997, the western and hospital buildings were
settled, and in 2001, the eastern building (also called the rectory),
which were used as residential buildings. With the participation of the
administration of the city of Kostroma, the monastery wall was
completely restored along Simanovsky (Bogoyavlenskaya) Street. The
monastery cemetery was revived, and a memorial cross was erected on the
site of the destroyed Nikolsky ("Saltykovsky") temple. The monastery has
two hotels for pilgrims and clergy visiting the monastery.
In
2002, a monument to St. vlkm. Theodore Stratilat, consecrated on the day
of the celebration of the Theodore Icon of the Mother of God by His
Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus'.
Currently,
the Kostroma diocesan administration and the Kostroma theological
seminary (in the building of the Refectory) are located on the territory
of the Epiphany-Anastasia Convent. The passage of visitors to the
territory of the monastery is prohibited; only the outer entrances of
the Epiphany Cathedral and the chapel are open.
At the monastery
there is a shelter for orphans in the name of St. John of Kronstadt and
an almshouse for the elderly in the name of St. Mary Magdalene.