Eletsky Monastery of Chernihiv or Yelets Assumption Monastery is one of the oldest Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Ukraine. It was erected in the middle of the 11th century during reign of prince Svyatoslav Yaroslavich.
Yelets Assumption Monastery (Ukrainian: Yelets
Assumption Monastery) is an Orthodox convent of the Chernihiv
diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, located in the city of
Chernigov. Historically, it was a male monastery; after the
resumption (since 1992) - female.
One of the first and
richest monasteries of Kievan Rus. The construction of the Cathedral
Cathedral of the Dormition is associated with the name of the
founder of the Olgovichi dynasty, Prince Oleg Svyatoslavich of
Chernigov (d. 1115). This monument has almost completely survived to
our time, although with later layers in the Ukrainian Baroque style.
Location and architecture
The Yelets Assumption Monastery is
located on the right, high bank of the Desna River, between the
territory of the former Chernihiv citadel and the nearby
Trinity-Ilyinsky Monastery. The Yelets Monastery is one of the
historical and architectural sights of Chernihiv. The architectural
ensemble of the monastery includes:
The Assumption Cathedral was
built at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries (the exact date is
unknown) on the model of the church of the same name in the Caves
Monastery in Kyiv. This is one of the first temples in Russia,
during the construction of which equal-layer masonry was used. To
compensate for the loss of decorative facades, the architects
carried out their grouting, followed by a breakdown of the surface
in the manner of white stone squares. The difference from the Kyiv
temple is that there were small narthexes on three sides, and a
chapel with an apse was built in the southwestern corner - similar
to those known from the monuments of Old Ryazan. Fresco painting of
the 12th century is highly artistic, but has been preserved very
fragmentarily. In the 17th century, the cathedral was renovated in
the Baroque style, the domes were rebuilt.
Adjoining Church of
St. Apostle James - the tomb of Yakov Kondratievich Lizogub, built
in 1689 (consecrated on September 14, 1701). Located on the south
side of the cathedral
Gate bell tower 36 meters high (1670-75).
Erected on the site of an earlier, wooden bell tower
Refectory
and Peter and Paul Church of the 18th century, built over the Yelets
caves (1069) and cells of the same period (the earliest brick
residential building in Left-Bank Ukraine)
Stone protective walls
Ruins of the abbot's house of the 18th century
The wooden house
of St. Theodosius of Chernigov (1688) is the oldest wooden building
in the Left-bank Ukraine.
The mountain on which the Yelets
Assumption Monastery stands is pitted and riddled with many
underground passages, caves and catacombs. So, an underground
gallery 70 meters long connects the Assumption Cathedral and the
Peter and Paul Church. Outstanding figures of Russian and Ukrainian
history and culture are buried on the territory of the monastery -
A. S. Miloradovich, Leonty Polubotok, Yakov Lyzogub. Near the
monastery complex there is an archaeological monument of the middle
of the 10th century, the Black Grave barrow.
According to the legend set forth in the annals,
the Yelets Assumption Monastery was founded on the site of the icon
of the Most Holy Theotokos miraculously found on one of the fir
trees on February 3 (or November 3), 1060. Both the icon and the
monastery got their name from these fir trees. The Kyiv prince
Svyatoslav Yaroslavich is considered the founder of the monastery.
In 1069, the “father of Russian monasticism,” St. Anthony of the
Caves, lived in this monastery. In the middle of the 12th century,
at the place where the holy icon was found, the 25-meter Assumption
Cathedral was built.
In 1239, during the Mongol-Tatar
invasion, the monastery was plundered and destroyed. Since 1445,
Prince Ivan Mozhaisky owned Chernigov, who began the restoration of
Chernigov shrines. At the same time, the Yelets Monastery was also
repaired.
At the beginning of the 16th century, following the
results of the Russian-Lithuanian war, Chernihiv became part of the
Russian state. Due to its border position, Chernigov became the
object of many campaigns and sieges, during which the Yeletsky
Assumption Monastery, located outside the city fortifications, also
suffered. It was plundered during the Polish-Lithuanian siege of
1579, but the greatest destruction and loss took place during the
Time of Troubles during the devastation of Chernigov by the Polish
troops of Samuil Gornostai. The domes and walls of the monastery
churches collapsed, the ancient Yelets-Chernigov icon of the Mother
of God was irretrievably lost. The surviving monks fled to Moscow.
Ermine's attempt to take out the heavy monastery bells ended in
failure.
After the Deulino Treaty in 1618, Chernihiv went to
the Commonwealth, the Polish authorities handed over the monastery
to the Uniates, who repaired and restored it. The Uniate abbot of
the Yelets Monastery, Cyril Tranquillion-Stavrovetsky, published in
1646 the first book in Chernihiv - his valuable work by Perlo.
In 1649, the Poles were finally expelled from Chernigov, and the
monastery again becomes Orthodox. Among his abbots were such church
and cultural figures as Dimitry of Rostov, Lazar Baranovich,
Theodosius of Chernigov, Ioanniky Galyatovsky, and others. The
latter reconstructed the Assumption Cathedral, built the refectory
of the Peter and Paul Church, set up a library in the monastery and
ordered a magnificent iconostasis (he died from an incendiary bomb
in 1941). In the first half of the 17th century, Sergius, a monk of
the monastery, compiled a “Sermon about a Certain Elder”, which
tells about a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
The monastery was
a wealthy owner: until 1786, when the secularization of monastic
estates spread to the south of Russia, the Yelets Monastery owned
almost 2.5 thousand serf souls, 8 taverns, a distillery, 9 mills, 7
bakeries, etc.
From 1823 to 1828, Archimandrite Jerome
(Vizersky), who, according to the Russian Biographical Dictionary,
“brought it to an excellent condition in all respects,” was the
rector of the Yelets Assumption Monastery.
In 1921, the
Yelets Assumption Monastery was closed.
In 1992, the
monastery complex was again transferred to the church and resumed as
a women's one. In the period 2012-2013, the Ukrainian artist O. V.
Lyashenko painted icons for the iconostasis of the monastery church.