Simonov Monastery how to get there. A wonderful story about the Simonov Monastery. A dark streak in the life of the monastery

In 1405, a stone cathedral church in the name of the Assumption was built in the monastery Holy Mother of God, the construction of which began in 1379.
In 1476, the dome of the cathedral was severely damaged by a lightning strike, so at the end of the 15th century the temple was rebuilt by an unknown Italian architect.
At the end of the 17th century, the cathedral was painted by an artel of Moscow royal masters.
At the same time, a carved gilded iconostasis was made, in which the main relic of the monastery was located - the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God, of which St. Sergius of Radonezh blessed Dmitry Donskoy for the Battle of Kulikovo.
A golden cross sprinkled with diamonds and emeralds was also kept here - a gift from Princess Maria Alekseevna.

" " on Yandex.Photos

The old towers and walls of the monastery were built in the 16th century.
It is believed that they were erected by the “sovereign master” Fyodor Savelyevich Kon, the builder of the Smolensk Kremlin.
The circumference of the monastery walls was 825 m, height - 7 m.
Of the surviving towers, the corner tower “Dulo” especially stands out,
crowned with a high tent with a two-tier watchtower.

" " on Yandex.Photos

Fortified under Boris Godunov, the monastery repelled the attack of the Crimean Khan of Gaza II Giray in 1591.
The Simonov Monastery has repeatedly served as Moscow's shield against its enemies.
Over the long years of its existence, the Simonov Monastery more than once took on the onslaught of enemy hordes, was subjected to Tatar raids, and during the Time of Troubles was ravaged and destroyed almost to the ground.

" " on Yandex.Photos

The other two surviving towers - the pentagonal "Kuznechnaya" and the round "Salt" - were built in the 1640s, when the monastery's defensive structures, damaged during the Time of Troubles, were being rebuilt.

" " on Yandex.Photos

The new refectory of the Simonov Monastery became one of the most significant buildings of the late 17th century.
The lavishly decorated building was brightly painted “checkerboard,” a painting style that imitates faceted stonework.

" " on Yandex.Photos

The Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit at the refectory was built in 1700 at the expense of Princess Maria Alekseevna, sister of Peter I.
In the 19th century, two chapels were added to it.

" " on Yandex.Photos

In former times, the monastery was one of the most famous and revered in Russia: people flocked here great amount people, and large monetary deposits.

Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin immortalized the Simonov Monastery:

“... the most pleasant place for me is the place where the gloomy, Gothic towers of the Simonov Monastery rise. Standing on this mountain, you see right side almost all of Moscow, this terrible mass of houses and churches, which appears to the eye in the form of a majestic amphitheater: a magnificent picture, especially when the sun shines on it, when its evening rays glow on countless golden domes, on countless crosses ascending to the sky! Below are lush, densely green flowering meadows, and behind them, along the yellow sands, flows a bright river, agitated by the light oars of fishing boats or rustling under the helm of heavy plows that sail from the most fruitful countries Russian Empire and provide greedy Moscow with bread.
Further away, in the dense greenery of ancient elms, the golden-domed Danilov Monastery shines; even further, almost at the edge of the horizon, the Sparrow Hills are blue. On the left side you can see vast fields covered with grain, forests, three or four villages and in the distance the village of Kolomenskoye with its high palace.”

" " on Yandex.Photos

The monastery was especially loved by Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich (the elder brother of Peter I), who had his own cell here for solitude.
In 1771, the monastery was abolished by Catherine II and, due to the spreading plague epidemic at that time, it was turned into a plague isolation ward.
Only in 1795 was it restored to its original quality at the request of Count Alexei Musin-Pushkin.

IN Patriotic War 1812 Simonov Monastery was destroyed by the French. After the liberation of Moscow, the brethren returned to the monastery.

" " on Yandex.Photos

The monastery bell tower was also famous throughout Moscow.
Yes and bell ringing, judging by the chronicles, was outstanding in that bell tower.
Thus, in the Nikon Chronicle there is a special article “On Bells”, which talks about the strong and wonderful ringing of bells,
coming, according to some, from the cathedral bells of the Kremlin, and according to others, from the bells of the Simonov Monastery.
And when to 19th century It fell into disrepair, then the famous architect Konstantin Ton (the creator of the Russian-Byzantine style in Moscow architecture) erected a new one over the northern gate of the monastery in 1839.
Its cross became the highest point in Moscow (99.6 meters).

" " on Yandex.Photos

On the second tier of the bell tower there were the churches of John, Patriarch of Constantinople, and St. Alexander Nevsky,
on the third there is a belfry with bells (the largest of them weighed 16 tons),
on the fourth - the clock,
on the fifth there is an exit to the head of the bell tower.
This majestic structure was built at the expense of the Moscow merchant Ivan Ignatiev.

" " on Yandex.Photos

By 1917, there were six churches with eleven altars on the territory of the monastery:
Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, consecrated in 1405;
refectory church in the name of the Tikhvin icon Mother of God(previously - in the name of St. Sergius of Radonezh);
Church of St. Alexander of Svirsky;
the Church of the Origin of the Honest Trees, located above the western gate;
Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker - above the eastern gate;
Church in the name of John, Patriarch of Constantinople,
and the church of St. Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky - in the second tier of the bell tower.

Simonov Monastery, 1st class, stauropegial, in Moscow, on the edge of the city, on the banks of the Moscow River, opposite Derbenevskaya embankment. Founded by the disciple of St. Sergius Feodor. In 1788 the monastery was abolished; restored in 1795; in 1812 it was devastated by the French. Enjoying almost from the very foundation the advantage of stauropegy and having been enriched by contributions and precious gifts from princes, tsars, boyars and citizens, the Simonov Monastery has been considered from time immemorial one of the first Russian monasteries. It achieved its greatest prosperity in the last century. The famous chant composed by Hieroschemamonk Victor, which delighted Emperor Nicholas I, brings high spiritual pleasure to every lover church singing. Main Cathedral in the name of the Dormition of the Mother of God has survived from the founding of the monastery. Built in the Byzantine style, it was restored and consecrated in 1896; in the lower tier of the iconostasis there are icons remarkable in their antiquity: the Assumption of the Mother of God, Life-Giving Trinity and the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God; it also houses the Simonovskaya Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, in a chapel built in Her honor, which formerly belonged to Saint Tikhon of Voronezh and became famous in 1832 miraculous healing seriously ill woman. In 1839, the monastery was decorated with a majestic bell tower.

Near the Simonov monastery, a pond dug by the Monk Sergius, lined with birch trees and surrounded by a rampart, has been preserved. On the day of Midsummer it takes place here procession from the Simonov Monastery. On the site of the original foundation of the monastery, in the parish Church of the Nativity, the monks brothers Peresvet and Oslabya rest; over their tomb there is a tent made of black oak; In its present form, this tomb was built in 1870.

From the book by S.V. Bulgakov “Russian monasteries in 1913”

Simonov Monastery was founded in 1370 by the nephew (according to other sources, student) of St. Sergius, Theodore (who later became Bishop of Rostov), led. book Dimitri Ivanovich. The monastery got its name from Simon, a boyar named Khovrin, who donated land to the monastery. The monastery was founded on the site where the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Stary Simonovo is now located, an ancient one-domed temple in which the warrior monks Peresvet and Oslyabya are buried. In 1379, the monastery was moved to a new location, located not far from the previous one, at the same time the Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God was founded, one of the oldest buildings in Moscow that survived into the twentieth century. The church was consecrated in 1405. different years Venerables labored in the monastery. Kirill Belozersky, St. Job and sschmch. Hermogenes, All-Russian Patriarchs. Many events in Russian history are connected with the Simonov Monastery.

In 1771, the monastery was abolished and, due to the outbreak of the plague, turned into a plague quarantine, but in 1795, at the request of Count Musin-Pushkin, it was restored again. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the monastery was one of the richest and most famous Russian monasteries. On its territory, surrounded by twelve towers, there were 6 churches with 11 altars and a huge bell tower (architect K.A. Ton).

Since 1923, part of the monastery housed a museum. His guidebook was published and restoration work was planned in 1927. The last church of the monastery was closed in May 1929. On the night of January 21, 1930, on the 6th anniversary of the death of V.I. Lenin, the Simonov Monastery Cathedral and the walls around it were blown up. In 1932-1937 on the site of most of the monastery by architects L.A., V.A. and A.A. The Vesnins built the Palace of Culture of the Automobile Plant named after. I.A. Likhacheva.

By 1990, the following buildings were preserved in the monastery: fortress walls (three spindles); Salt Tower (corner, southeast); Blacksmith tower (pentahedral, on the south wall); "Dulo" (corner, southwestern tower); "Water" gate (1/2 of the 17th century); "Kelarsky building" (or "Old" refectory, 1485, XVII century, XVIII century); “New” refectory (1677-1683, architects P. Potapov, O. Startsev); "Sushilo" (malt, 16th century, 2/2 17th century); Treasury cells (1/3 of the 17th century). One closed temple with 5 thrones was preserved, while five other temples with 6 thrones were destroyed.

In 1923, a museum was established in the monastery, occupying the Tikhvin Church with a refectory. Since 1931, there was a film club in the refectory. It was restored from 1955 to 1966. and from 1982 to 1990. The community of the deaf and hard of hearing of the Tikhvin Church was registered in 1991 and held prayer services on the territory of the Simonov Monastery. In 1995, the remains of the monastery ensemble were transferred to the Church.

Source: http://www.ortho-rus.ru/cgi-bin/or_file.cgi?5_1581

Drying (XVI-XVII centuries). According to surviving documents, it was intended for storing food supplies and drying malt and grain. The building was built simultaneously with the refectory by the architect Parfen Potapov (according to other sources, Parfen Petrov) and was originally surrounded by a gallery on pillars. The first floor of the building is occupied by two identical chambers; on the second and third floors there are large pillarless halls.

Treasury cells (XVII century). The Treasury Corps (1620-1630s) at the Water Gate - which replaced the current iron gates. Simonov Monastery, Vostochnaya street 4, bldg. 7

Old refectory (XV-XVIII centuries). The Old Refectory - the name of the 20th century, the Cellar Building - the name of the 19th century, the Bread Chamber - the name of the 18th century. In 1485, the “Kelarsky” building was built - a two-story building near the southern section of the wall, which was the old refectory. It is one of the oldest buildings not only of the monastery itself, but also of Moscow in general.

Enclosure walls (1640s). The new walls of the monastery, which have partially survived to this day, and some of the towers, which can still be seen today, were built in 1630, while the new fortress included fragments of the old fortress built by Fyodor Kon. The circumference of the monastery walls was 825 m, the height was 7 m. Of the surviving towers, the corner tower “Dulo”, topped with a high tent with a two-tier watchtower, stands out especially. The other two surviving towers - the pentagonal "Kuznechnaya" and the round "Salt" - were built in the 1640s, when the monastery's defensive structures, damaged during the Time of Troubles, were being rebuilt. The Watchtower and Tainitskaya monastery towers have been lost.

Blacksmith Tower (1640s). One of the three towers of the Simonov Monastery that have survived to this day. The tower has a pentagonal shape and is located on the southern only surviving wall of the monastery. This smallest tower of the monastery was erected in the 1640s, and its high tent was completed over the next 40 years. The tower has a single-tier observation post, unlike other towers, where it is two-tiered.

Churches of the Simonov Monastery: St. Alexander of Svirsky 1700, Honest Trees 1593 - above the western gate; Nicholas the Wonderworker - above the eastern ones and in the name of John, Patriarch of Constantinople, and Alexander Nevsky - in the second tier of the five-tier bell tower, built by Ton in 1839.

Based on materials from http://oldboy.icnet.ru/SITE_2103/MY_SITE/Monast/SIM_MON_MOS/SUSH.htm

Palace of Culture ZIL, built in the 1930s. on the site of the destroyed part of the monastery is the largest and final architectural monument of Soviet constructivism by the Vesnin brothers. Located in Moscow on Vostochnaya Street, 4. Construction 1930-1937. Built on the territory of the necropolis of the Simonov Monastery in the 1930s. destroyed by the Bolsheviks. Numerous representatives of ancient Russian noble families were buried at this place, including the Vadbolskys, Golovins, Durasovs, Zagryazhskys, Islenevs, Muravyovs, Naryshkins, Olenins, Soimonovs, Tatishchevs, Shakhovskys and many others. The burials were not preserved because they were demolished during working clean-up days. To promote the oblivion of Russian history, the Bolsheviks built the ZIL Palace of Culture on the site of the Simonov Monastery necropolis.

The ancient Simonov Monastery was founded in 1730 with the blessing of Sergius of Radonezh (Bartholomew) (between 1314-1322 - 1392) by his student and nephew - the Monk Fedor (Ivan) (c. 1340-1394), a native of Radonezh, who took monastic vows at the Intercession Khotkov Monastery. At the head of the Simonov Monastery, the Monk Fyodor became famous as a spiritual mentor; he was the personal confessor of Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy. In 1338, Saint Fedor became Archbishop of Rostov. He died on November 28, 1394 and was buried in the Assumption Cathedral of Rostov the Great.

The monastery got its name from the name of the monk Simon, in the world of the boyar Stefan Vasilyevich Khovrin, who donated the land for the monastery. On these lands - south of Moscow, ten miles from the Kremlin - the monastery was founded. Initially, the Simonov Monastery was located slightly lower along the Moscow River, near the high road to Moscow, and Fyodor, trying to find solitude, chose another place for the monastery, not far from the old one. In 1379 the monastery was moved to its current location. Only the parish church of the Nativity in Stary Simonovo remained in the old place, under the bell tower of which in the second half of the 18th century the graves of the heroes of the Battle of Kulikovo Alexander Peresvet (d. 1380) and Rodion Oslyabi (d. 1380 or after 1389) were discovered. Having survived terrible destruction and for a long time served as a compression station at the Dynamo plant, this church is now operational again.

The Monk Sergius of Radonezh considered the Simonov Monastery to be a “branch” of his Trinity Monastery and always stayed there when he came to the golden-domed one. From the walls of the Simonov Monastery came a whole galaxy of outstanding ascetics and church leaders: St. Kirill Belozersky (Kozma), St. Jonah, Metropolitan of Moscow, Patriarch Joseph (Vladimir), Metropolitan Gerontius, Archbishop John of Rostov (d. 1525), the famous figure of non-covetousness Vassian, in the world Prince Vasily Ivanovich Kosoy-Patrikeev. Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich Romanov (1661-1682) especially loved to visit the Simonov Monastery; cells were built here for him. In 1771, under Catherine II (1729-1796), the monastery was abolished and, due to the spreading plague epidemic at that time, turned into a plague quarantine. In 1795, at the request of Count Vasily Vasilyevich Musin-Pushkin, the monastery was restored.

The towers and walls of the monastery were built in the 16th century. They were erected by the “sovereign master” Fyodor Savelyevich Kon, an outstanding Russian architect and builder of the Smolensk Kremlin. Fortified under Boris Fedorovich Godunov, the monastery repelled the raid of the Crimean Tatars of Kazy-Girey. New walls of the monastery and part of the towers were built in 1630, while parts of the old fortress were included in the new fortress. The circumference of the monastery walls was 825 m, the height was about 7 m. Of the surviving towers, the corner tower “Dulo”, topped with a high tent with a two-tier watchtower, stands out. The other two surviving towers, the pentagonal Kuznechnaya and the round Solevaya, were built in the 1640s, when the monastery’s defensive structures, damaged during the Time of Troubles, were being rebuilt. Three gates led to the monastery: eastern, western and northern. In memory of repelling the attack of the Crimeans in 1591, the gate church of the All-Merciful Savior was built. In 1834, the Gate Church of St. was erected above the eastern gate. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

In 1832, a decision was made to build a new bell tower of the Simonov Monastery. The funds for the construction were provided by the merchant Ivan Ignatiev. The initial project in the style of classicism was drawn up by the architect N.E. Tyurin. The bell tower was founded in 1835, but then its design was changed; it was erected in the Russian style according to the design of K.A. Tones. Construction was completed in 1839. In its appearance and location, the bell tower repeated the bell tower Novodevichy Convent. Its height was more than 90 m. The largest bell hanging on the bell tower weighed 1000 pounds. A clock was installed on the fourth tier.

Back in 1405, a stone cathedral church was built in the monastery in the name of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1476, the dome of the cathedral was severely damaged by a lightning strike. At the end of the 15th century, the temple was rebuilt by one of Fioravanti’s students according to the model of the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin. At the end of the 17th century, the cathedral was painted by an artel of Moscow royal masters. At the same time, a gilded carved iconostasis was made, in which there was main shrine monastery - the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God, with which Sergius of Radonezh blessed Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy for the Battle of Kulikovo. A golden cross studded with diamonds and emeralds was also kept here - a gift from Princess Maria Alekseevna. The son of Dmitry Donskoy, Konstantin Dmitrievich Uglitsky, the princes Mstislavsky, Tyomkin-Rostovsky, Suleshov, and the boyars Golovins and Buturlins were buried in the monastery cathedral.

The refectory of the Simonov Monastery was built in 1680 at the expense of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich by an artel of masons led by Parfen Petrov. It included parts of the previous building in 1485. When constructing the new building, Parfen Petrov used details of early Moscow architecture that the monastery authorities did not like. They filed a lawsuit against the master, and three years later the refectory was rebuilt. This time the work was supervised by the famous Moscow master Osip Dmitrievich Startsev, who built a lot in Moscow and Kyiv. Along with Yakov Grigorievich Bukhvostov, he is the second outstanding architect of the 17th century. The names of Startsev and Bukhvostov often appear side by side in documents of that time: they were a kind of “friends-rivals” who worked in the Moscow Baroque style, but had a pronounced originality. The new refectory of the Simonov Monastery became one of the most significant buildings of the late 17th century. The lavishly decorated building was brightly painted "checkerboard" - a painting style similar to faceted stonework. The Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit at the refectory was built in 1700 at the expense of Princess Maria Alekseevna, sister of Peter I Alekseevich. In the 19th century, two chapels were added to it.

On the territory of the Simonov Monastery there was an extensive cemetery where the poet Dmitry Vladimirovich Venevitinov, the writer Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov, his son Konstantin Sergeevich Aksakov, the composer Alexander Alexandrovich Alyabyev, the famous bibliophile and collector merchant Alexei Petrovich Bakhrushin, Nikolai Lvovich Pushkin, as well as numerous representatives of ancient history were buried. Russian noble families - Zagryazhskys, Olenins, Durasovs, Vadbolskys, Soimonovs, Muravyovs, Islenevs, Tatishchevs, Naryshkins, Shakhovskys.

In the early 1930s, all the main buildings of the Simonov Monastery were destroyed. The Assumption Cathedral, bell tower, and gate churches were destroyed. Watchtowers and Taininskaya towers, all the graves on the territory of the monastery were destroyed. From the monastery, only the southern wall with towers, the refectory church with the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit and outbuilding- “malt” or “dried”. On a place sacred to Russian people, the ZIL “palace of culture” was built.

From the book by A.Yu. Nizovsky "The most famous monasteries and churches of Russia." 2000. Veche.

At the end of the 19th century. Moscow. Simonov Monastery Simonov Uspensky (East Street, 4), men's monastery in the south-eastern part of Moscow, on the left bank. Founded in 1370 by the student and nephew of Sergius of Radonezh, Theodore, on the lands of the boyar S.V. Khovrina (monk... ... Moscow (encyclopedia)

SIMONOV MONASTERY, male, founded around 1370 southeast Moscow, around 1379 moved to a new location; enjoyed the patronage of the Moscow Grand Dukes. In the 16th century Vassian Patrikeev, Maxim Grek and others lived in it. During the plague epidemic of 1771... Modern encyclopedia

- (Uspensky) male, founded ca. 1379 in the southeast of Moscow. He had the largest land holdings. Vassian Patrikeev, Maxim Grek and others lived in it. Abolished after the October Revolution. In the 1930s most of the buildings were destroyed. Preserved... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (Uspensky), male, in the southeast of Moscow. Founded in 1370 by the student and nephew of Sergius of Radonezh, Fedor, on the lands of S. V. Khovri na (monk Simon, hence the name of the monastery). In 1379 it was moved to its current location. Vassian Patrikeev,... ...Russian history lived in it

Simonov Monastery- SIMONOV MONASTERY, male, founded around 1370 in the south-east of Moscow, moved to a new location around 1379; enjoyed the patronage of the Moscow Grand Dukes. In the 16th century Vassian Patrikeev, Maxim Grek and others lived in it. During the plague epidemic of 1771... Illustrated encyclopedic Dictionary

- (Uspensky), male, founded around 1379 in the southeast of Moscow. He had the largest land holdings. Vassian Patrikeev, Maxim Grek and others lived in it. Abolished after 1917. In the 1930s. most of the buildings were destroyed. Architectural... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Simonov Uspensky monastery, in Moscow, founded around 1379, 0.5 km from the old S. m. (founded in 1370). S. m. was also a fortress that protected the capital from the south, from the side of the Moscow River and the Brashevskaya road. At the end of the 14th and beginning of the 15th centuries. WITH … Great Soviet Encyclopedia

- (Simonov male stauropegial 1st class monastery) in Moscow. Founded approx. 1370 nephew and student of Rev. Sergius of Radonezh, St. Theodore, the first archbishop of Rostov, in the place where the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary is now... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

Simonov Assumption Monastery, founded c. 1379 0.5 km from the old S. m. (founded in 1370). S. m. was also a fortress that protected the capital from the side of the Moscow River and the Brashevskaya road. In the end 14 start 15th centuries S. m. enjoyed the patronage... ... Soviet historical encyclopedia

Simonov Monastery- a monastery in Moscow, founded in 1379. It served as a fortress protecting the approaches to the city. Throughout the 14th and 17th centuries it was one of the most famous and influential monasteries in Russia. From among his monks came four Patriarchs: Job, Hermogenes... Orthodox encyclopedic dictionary

Books

Moscow Simonov Monastery. , A. Tretyakov. Reproduced in the original author's spelling of the 1893 edition (publishing house "Moscow. Printing house of A. I. Snegireva")...
Moscow, which we lost, Konstantin Petrovich Mikhailov. Today's Moscow is no longer the Third Rome. All that remains of the former City of Soroka Sorokov are faded photographs and bright memories. Today's Moscow is a disabled city, a crippled city. And although I myself...

Moscow Simonov Monastery in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 1st class, stauropegial (invalid)

The monastery received its name from the name of the monk Simon, in the world of the boyar Stefan Vasilyevich Khovrin, who donated the land for the monastery. On these lands - south of Moscow, ten miles from the Kremlin - the monastery was founded.

Initially, the Simonov Monastery was located somewhat lower along the Moscow River, on the high road to Moscow, and Saint Theodore, trying to find greater solitude, chose another place for the monastery, not far from the old one. In the year the monastery was moved to its current location. In the old place, only the parish church of the Nativity in Stary Simonov remained, which has survived to this day.

At the same time it was laid stone church Dormition of the Mother of God. The church was consecrated in the year. That year, the dome of the cathedral was severely damaged by a lightning strike. At the end of the century, the temple was rebuilt by one of Fioravanti's students based on the model of the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin.

The Monk Sergius of Radonezh considered the Simonov Monastery to be a “branch” of his Trinity Monastery and always stayed here during his visits to Moscow. From the walls of the Simonov Monastery in the 17th century came a whole galaxy of outstanding ascetics and church leaders: St. Kirill of Belozersky, St. Jonah, Metropolitan of Moscow, St. Gerontius, Metropolitan of Moscow, Patriarch Joseph of Moscow and All Rus', Archbishop John of Rostov, the famous figure of non-covetousness, Monk Vassian, in the world, Prince Vasily Ivanovich Kosoy-Patrikeev. The Monk Maxim the Greek lived and worked in the monastery.

New walls of the monastery and part of the towers were built in the year, while the new fortress included fragments of the old fortress built by Fyodor Kon. The circumference of the monastery walls was 825 meters, the height was 7 meters. Of the surviving towers, the corner tower “Dulo”, topped with a high tent with a two-tier watchtower, especially stands out. The other two surviving towers - the pentagonal Kuznechnaya and the round Solevaya - were built in the 1640s, when the monastery's defensive structures, damaged during the Time of Troubles, were being rebuilt.

Three gates led to the monastery: eastern, western and northern. In memory of repelling the attack of the Crimean Khan Kazy-Girey, the gate church of the All-Merciful Savior was built in the year. Over the eastern gate, the gate church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was erected in 2016.

One year, on a stormy night, lightning struck the cross of the main dome of the cathedral, and the dome caught fire. While repairing it, they began to rebuild the entire cathedral, for which Grand Duke Ivan III allowed to invite the architect Aristotle's student Fiorovanti.

Seventy years later, the cathedral was rebuilt a second time, and a tented bell tower was erected next to it. As a result of alterations to XVII century the cathedral turned into a tall cross-domed building with an entrance in the center of the western wall, and a low gallery surrounded it on the other three sides. Two staircases led to the gallery from the east, and this especially emphasized the symmetry and solemnity of the building. Almost square at its base, the cathedral stood on a high basement made of white stone. The top ended with a cross vault on four pillars. The ends of the vaults formed zakomaras. In plan, the cathedral had the shape of an eight-pointed cross. The light drum had slit-like window openings, and at its base there were small keel-shaped kokoshniks. When they redid the burnt chapter, the zakomari were closed, and decorative drums were placed in the corners. The cathedral became about five chapters of an onion shape. The shape of the main entrance portal has also changed.

In the city, a sacristy was added to the cathedral on the left side, and a chapel of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God on the right. In the chapel there was an icon of the Lord Pantocrator, which belonged to St. Sergius of Radonezh. According to legend, it was in this image that the monk blessed Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich and his squad before the Battle of Kulikovo. In the sacristy there was a three-leaf fold with which the Monk Sergius blessed the monks of Peresvet and Oslyabya before the battle. The cathedral contained a magnificent five-tiered gilded iconostasis, which housed the Vladimir and Tikhvin icons of the Mother of God from the early 16th century. At the end of the 19th century, the cathedral was renovated outside and inside according to the design of the architect K.A. Tones. The roof covering was converted to a hipped roof, the windows were cut out, and the gallery was glazed. The temple was renovated throughout the year.

In January of this year, the Assumption Cathedral, along with part of other monastery buildings, was blown up. Historians and restorers tried to save this monument, pointing to its antiquity and the 15th century frescoes discovered in the cathedral, but to no avail.

Church of John the Faster and Alexander Nevsky in the bell tower

In the year it was decided to build a new bell tower of the monastery with funds donated by the merchant Ivan Ignatiev. According to the original project, the bell tower was to be built in the classicist style according to the design of N.E. Tyurin, however, at that time the movement for a return to more traditional architecture for Russia was already gaining strength. As a result, by the year a five-tier bell tower 90 m high was erected in the “Russian-Byzantine style” according to the design of K.A. Tones. The belfry, inspired by “Ivan the Great,” was 9 m taller than him. The largest bell hanging on the bell tower weighed 16.4 tons (1000 pounds). A clock was installed on the fourth tier. The bell tower was one of the architectural dominants of Moscow of its time and visually formed a complete picture of the picturesque bend of the Moscow River downstream from the city.

This year it was blown up and dismantled into bricks.

Church of the All-Merciful Savior

In the same year, the monastery found itself on the path of the troops of the Crimean Khan Kazy-Girey, and took part in repelling the raid with the fire of the cannons standing on the walls. In memory of this event, a small Spassky Church was built above the ancient western gates.

Every year on August 1, on the day of the Origin (destruction) of the Honest Trees Life-giving Cross of the Lord, a religious procession was made from the temple to the Moscow River to consecrate the water. The temple and its iconostasis were renovated, but the ancient royal doors and some icons were preserved, including the 16th-century image of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In my opinion, of all the Moscow monasteries that suffered from the Bolsheviks, Simonov had it worse than all the others.
Simonov Assumption Monastery (Vostochnaya St., 4) - in the past one of the largest and richest monasteries in Moscow and the surrounding Moscow region. In the XVI-XVII centuries. was part of the belt of fortified monasteries that protected the approaches to Moscow from the south. The vast majority of the buildings were demolished in the 1930s; The area is partially built up.

The exact date of foundation of the monastery is unknown. Perhaps the first monastery arose here during the time of Grand Duke Simeon the Proud. But it is known that the monastery became a monastery, that is, a monastic ascetic community, during the times St. Sergius. The story begins with the Old Simonov Monastery, which was founded with the consent and blessing of Metropolitan Alexy and Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy. Its founder is considered to be the nephew and student of Sergius of Radonezh, Fyodor Simonovsky, the confessor of Dmitry Donskoy, later Archbishop of Rostov.

The area where the monastery was founded was considered at that time one of the most beautiful in Moscow. In 1370, in a pine forest stretching over a deep ravine, on the high bank of Moscow, not far from the deep Bear Lakes, a small Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary was erected. After 140 years it was replaced with a stone one, which has survived to this day in a heavily rebuilt form. This is the same church to whose parish Kozhukhovo still belongs and where you now need to make your way through the territory of the Dynamo plant.

In 1379, on land donated by the merchant Stefan Vasilyevich Khovra, which lay just north of the Old Simonov Monastery, the abbot of the monastery Fedor founded the New Simonov Monastery. And since then both monasteries lived common life. Only Old Simonov became a refuge for silent elders, that is, a more strict level in monasticism compared to New Simonov.

All that remained of the old monastery was the Church of the Nativity, several cells and a cemetery for the burial of departed monks, and then - famous people. The famous Simonovskoye cemetery was closed only in 1919. But still buried in the ground, under the local Children's Park: the first holder of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, comrade-in-arms of Peter I, Fyodor Golovin; the head of the Seven Boyars, who refused the Russian throne three times, Fyodor Mikhailovich Mstislavsky; princes Urusov, Buturlin, Tatishchev, Naryshkin, Meshchersky, Muravyov, Bakhrushin.

Until 1924, there were tombstones here on the graves of the Russian writer S.T. Aksakov and his early deceased friend A.S. Pushkin poet D.V. Venevitinov (on his tombstone there was a black epitaph: “How he knew life, how little he lived”).
The photo below explains how the priests always have the most reliable information and are never wrong.

By the way, why Simonov? Historians believe that the name for the monastery, the settlement around it, the streets, passages and embankment all came from the same S.V. Khovry, who took the name Simon as a monk. There is, however, another version, according to which the name of the monastery was given by the small village of Simonovka, located on the site of the monastery buildings.

The Simonov Monastery is closely connected with the Khovrin family. In the 14th century, Moscow was flooded from the south by Greek and Italian merchants. Especially many guests came from the Genoese colony of Surozh on the Black Sea (guests were then called merchants-wholesalers bringing goods from abroad, and Surozh was the present city of Sudak). Surozhans traded “severe goods” - precious stones and expensive silk fabrics.

Many Sourozh guests, having settled on Moscow soil, gave their names to local villages (Sofrino, Troparevo, Khovrino, etc.). The youngest descendant of the Greek princes, Stefan Vasilyevich, was such a Sourozh guest. His son Gregory received in Moscow the ugly but expressive nickname Khovra or Khovrya, which means “slob”, “untidy person”, “pig” (cf. “havronya”). His children proudly bore the name of the Khovrins.

But that's in the future. In the meantime, Vladimir Grigorievich Khovrin is building the Church of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary in the Simonov Monastery. This temple, one of the largest in Moscow at that time, still stands on a massive white-stone basement and is very decorated in Italian style (Fioravanti, a student of Aristotle himself, took part in its reconstruction at the end of the 15th century). It is known that in the 19th century an icon of the Lord Pantocrator, which belonged to Sergius of Radonezh, was kept in the temple. According to legend, Sergius blessed Dmitry Donskoy with this icon for the Battle of Kulikovo.

The second, after St. Fedor, abbot of the monastery was St. Kirill, later called Belozersky. This “spiritual grandson of Sergius” (a student of his student), according to legend, lived in a cell near the temple, where a white stone chapel is now installed. Here the Mother of God appeared to him and announced: “Go to White Lake, and there you will be saved.”

And Kirill, together with his friend Ferapont, set out and founded one of the most famous Russian monasteries - Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, on Siverskoye Lake. And Ferapont founded the famous Ferapont monastery just twenty miles away.

In 1380, Dmitry Donskoy brought the bodies of warrior-monks of the Trinity Monastery Rodion (Arian) Oslyabi and Alexander Peresvet (boyar Bronsky) to this small Old Simonov Monastery in 1380. Their graves are located here to this day. The Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary has always been very revered by Muscovites as the burial place of the heroes of the Battle of Kulikovo. Grand dukes and kings came here for courage. This is the grave.

The temple was closed in 1928, and it ended up on the expanded territory of the Dynamo plant, which in 1934 was renamed the Kirov plant. In a closed and disfigured church by that time, the plant placed its compressor station, and powerful mechanisms literally shook the walls of the ancient building, built in 1504, the resting place of the Great Russian heroes.

The first to raise the question of the fate of the monument and the graves of Peresvet and Oslyabi was the artist Pavel Korin. The topic was silent for a long time, and it was raised again in 1979, on the eve of the anniversary of the Battle of Kulikovo, but again nothing happened, since production capacity was much more important than the memory of Russian heroes. And only in the 80s was it possible to win back its compressor station from the Dynamo plant - the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Stary Simonovo. In 1989, the consecration of the temple took place.

By this time, the tombstones at the supposed burial site of Peresvet and Oslyabi had already been restored. This is not an exact location, because there is an option that their graves, along with their ashes, were ravaged and completely destroyed.

In memory of those difficult times, when the temple stood in desolation and the graves were desecrated, the “Monument to the Lost Bells,” as local parishioners call it, was created. These are fragments of bells, which in the 20-30s were thrown from bell towers and sent for the needs of industrialization, simply put, melted down.

These remains of bells were found already in the 80s of the last century in the foundry of the Dynamo plant.

As legend has it, in 1370, two hundred meters south of the church Sergius of Radonezh himself dug a deep, never-drying lake called the Holy. Later it expanded and turned into Lisin Pond, which at the end of the 18th century Muscovites called Lisin. These places were brought out by N.M. Karamzin in his story “ Poor Lisa».

After B.M. Fedorov remade Karamzin’s sentimental story “Poor Liza” into a play, Muscovites in love began to walk in crowds along the shore of the pond, named by Lizin, and carved their names on trees. There was even a caustic epigram on this pilgrimage:
“Here Liza drowned, Erast’s bride,
Get warm, ladies, there’s room for everyone.”

Little remains today of the once rich monastery. On the site of the Holy (Liza) Pond now stands the administrative building of the Dynamo plant.

Well, we can only imagine what was here in the old days from the notes left by Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin:

“... the most pleasant place for me is the place where the gloomy, Gothic towers of the Simonov Monastery rise. Standing on this mountain, you see on the right side almost the whole of Moscow, this terrible mass of houses and churches, which appears to the eye in the form of a majestic amphitheater: a magnificent picture, especially when the sun shines on it, when its evening rays glow on countless golden domes, on countless crosses ascending to the sky! Below are lush, densely green flowering meadows, and behind them, along the yellow sands, flows a bright river, agitated by the light oars of fishing boats or rustling under the helm of heavy plows that sail from the most fertile countries of the Russian Empire and provide greedy Moscow with bread.

...On the other side of the river one can see an oak grove, near which numerous herds graze; there young shepherds, sitting under the shade of trees, sing simple, sad songs and reduce the summer days, so uniform for them. Further away, in the dense greenery of ancient elms, the golden-domed Danilov Monastery shines; even further, almost at the edge of the horizon, the Sparrow Hills are blue. On the left side you can see vast fields covered with grain, forests, three or four villages and in the distance the village of Kolomenskoye with its high palace.”

Reading these lines, you involuntarily try to see the surroundings of the monastery at the end of the 18th century. See and compare them with the current ones, for example, as in the photo above...
In my opinion, I took the best image of Peresvet and Oslyaby from a high relief from the wall of the Donskoy Monastery.

Fais se que dois adviegne que peut.

Cancer

Books

You may also like