Boldinsky Holy Trinity Monastery, the oldest of the monasteries currently operating in the Smolensk region, is located 15 km east of Dorogobuzh, next to the Old Smolensk road. It was founded in 1530 by the Monk Gerasim.
The ascetic activity of Gerasim was aimed at the creation of monasteries on the lands conquered by Moscow from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Soon after its foundation, the Boldinskaya monastery turned into the richest and most influential monastery in the entire Smolensk land.
In the 1580s-90s, a large stone building was developed in the monastery. It was during these years that the main monastery buildings were built - the Trinity Cathedral, the refectory with a warm hipped-roof church of the Presentation of the Most Holy Theotokos, a pillar-like three-tiered hexagonal bell tower, the walls of the monastery.
The architectural ensemble of the Boldinsky Monastery was an outstanding masterpiece of Russian architecture, the only ensemble known to us during the reign of Fyodor Ioannovich. The architecture and facade decoration of the Trinity Cathedral date back to the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Imagine, in a deep province there was a temple, in beauty and grandeur equal to one of the best cathedrals in Moscow.
The Boldinskaya monastery was located near a busy road - the tract leading to the western borders of Russia. Archers who went on a campaign, tsarist ambassadors, and merchants stayed here. The Life of the Monk Gerasim preserved a description of the miracle of the healing of the Tsar's ambassador, Mikhail Bezdnin, in 1585 thanks to a prayer service at the saint's shrine. Those. even then the relics of St. Gerasim were known and revered as miraculous.
A big blow to the Boldinsky monastery was inflicted by the Troubles of the beginning of the 17th century and the Polish invasion. From 1617 to 1654 The Dorogobuzh region was part of the Commonwealth, in which the state religion was Catholicism.
After Russia conquered the Smolensk lands from Poland in 1654, the Boldinsky monastery was revived, but could not retain its former riches. In 1764, according to the manifesto signed by Catherine II, all the lands were taken away from the monastery (as well as from all the monasteries of the Russian state). This led to the decline of monasteries, many of which were closed due to poverty. The benefactors helped to survive the Boldinsky monastery, of which the prince was distinguished by his generosity. Andrey Nikolaevich Dolgorukov.
In 1929, by order of the Soviet government, the monastery was closed. During the Great Patriotic War, a partisan base was located here. In March 1943, when the front line approached Dorogobuzh, the Nazis mined all the old buildings: the Trinity Cathedral, the refectory with the Vvedensky temple, the bell tower - and blew them up.
The revival of the Boldino monastery from oblivion is associated with the name of the outstanding architect-restorer P.D. Baranovsky. The first restoration project in his life Baranovsky drew up in 1912 for the refectory chamber with the Vvedenskaya church of the Boldin monastery. In 1964, Petr Dmitrievich returned to Boldino, to his native Dorogobuzh region, to begin the revival of the masterpiece of architecture blown up by the Nazis. It was through his works that the bell tower rose from the ruins of amazing beauty on the basis of the surviving measurements and photographs.
In 1991, the Boldinsky Monastery was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church and resumed its activities. Over the past years, the refectory with the Vvedenskaya church and the stone wall with four towers, the Tikhvin church, as well as the wooden house of the hegumen, the gatehouse at the Holy Gates, the stone cell building, the stone treasury building, and the wooden chapel at the monastery cemetery have been restored.
In 2001, during the clearing of the southern aisle of the Trinity Cathedral, the relics of the Monk Gerasim were uncovered. Now the reliquary with the relics of the monk is in the Trinity Cathedral, restored in 2010. With the uncovering of the relics of its holy founder, the Boldin Monastery began a new stage in history.
Being the spiritual support of the life of Orthodox people, the Boldin Monastery also became the resting place of many representatives of such noble families of Russia as the Zvenigorod princes, noblemen Pushkins, Pleshcheevs, Godunovs, Saltykovs.
Currently, the monastery necropolis has been revived. Among the surviving burials is the family tomb of the representatives of the glorious Smolensk (Dorogobuzhsky district) noble family of the Vistitskys of the late 18th - early 19th centuries.
The Trinity Cathedral housed the tomb of the Dolgorukov family. Here are buried grandfather (Nikolai Vladimirovich) and grandmother (Ekaterina Andreevna), father (Andrei Nikolaevich) and two uncles (father's brothers: Nikolai Nikolaevich and Vasily Nikolaevich) of two prominent statesmen of Russia - the Minister of War (1852-1856), head of the III department of the Own His Imperial Majesty's Chancellery and Chief of Gendarmes (1856-1866) Prince. Vasily Andreevich Dolgorukov and the famous Moscow Governor-General (1865-1891) Prince. Vladimir Andreevich Dolgorukov.
At the present time, there is hardly another monastic monastery in our Fatherland, which has revived to life, and an active life, from complete destruction and desolation.
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The Boldinsky monastery is the most ancient of the existing and functioning monasteries in the Smolensk region. It is located about 15 kilometers east of the city of Dorogobuzh. The old Smolensk road runs not far from the monastery.
The Boldinsky monastery was founded by the Monk Gerasim in 1530. Gerasim set as his ascetic goal the creation of Orthodox monasteries on the lands passed from the principality of Lithuania to the Moscow state. After some time, the Boldinsky Holy Trinity Monastery turned into a very influential and rich Orthodox monastery of the Smolensk region. The wealth of the Boldinsky monastery grew and was replenished due to large donations from the boyars, due to the granting of lands by the sovereign, due to its own rather active economic activity.
The monastery flourished in the late 16th - early 17th centuries. At that time, the monastery owned more than hundreds of Russian villages and villages, several mills, boarding and hunting grounds, cattle yards, fishing, in cities such as Dorogobuzh, Vyazma, Moscow, Smolensk, it had its own monastery courtyard and trading shops. At the very end of the 16th century, a large stone construction was launched in the Boldinsky Holy Trinity Monastery. The five-domed Trinity Cathedral, the refectory with the Church of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, and the bell tower were erected.
A big blow to the Boldinsky monastery was struck by the Time of Troubles, which fell at the beginning of the 17th century and the invasion of the Poles. From 1617 to 1654, the Dorogobuzh lands were under the control of the Kingdom of Poland, and Catholicism was the state religion in it. During the Time of Troubles the monks of the monastery for the most part left it, and then, the lands and the monastery itself was transferred to the Smolensk Jesuit collegium (educational institution of the Catholic Church).
After 1954, when Moscow again recaptured the Dorogobuzh land from the Poles, the monastery was restored, but its possessions were noticeably reduced, and by the second half of the 17th century amounted to about two dozen villages. The year 1764 was marked by the fact that Empress Catherine II took away their lands from the monasteries, which were later distributed to the nobles. This caused the decline of monasteries, a very large number of which became inoperative due to poverty. At this time, the Boldinsky monastery was able to survive thanks to the charitable contributions of parishioners, one of the major donors was Prince Andrei Dolgorukov.
And again the monastery is experiencing its heyday in the 70-80s of the XIX century. Hieromonk, and then Archimandrite Andrey (Vasiliev), was appointed rector at this time. In his management, within 24 years, all the temples and buildings of the monastery were restored and repaired, new Holy gates, cells, buildings for household needs, a hotel, a rector's house, a mill on the lake, a prosphora, were planted, a huge garden was planted. A stone chapel was rebuilt in the place where the cell of the Monk Gerasim (founder) once was, about 50 meters from the monastery. On the basis of ancient lists, Archimandrite Andrew wrote and then published The Life of the Monk Gerasim.
At the beginning of the 20th century (1919-1927), under the leadership of P.D. Baranovsky, restoration work is underway in the Boldinsky monastery, a history and art museum is being created. At the same time, a wooden church from the village of Usvyatye was transported to Boldino. At the end of 1929, the Soviet government ordered to close the Boldinsky monastery. In the future, the Trinity Cathedral will be assigned as a granary, a separator for milk processing is installed in the chapel, the refectory Vvedensky temple is re-equipped as a collective farm cheese factory.
During the Great Patriotic War, the monastery served as one of the partisans' bases, and repair shops were immediately located. Retreating from the Dorogobuzh lands, German troops mined and blew up all the stone buildings of the monastery. The post-war years left the ruins of the monastery in complete desolation. The locals gradually used bricks from the destroyed buildings for their own needs. Only in 1964, guided by the surviving photographs and measurements, under the leadership of P.D. Baranovsky, restoration work begins again. And they are nearing their end, only now they are led by a student of Pyotr Dmitrievich - A.M. Ponomarev.
Smolensk Information Center of Culture and Tourism "Smolensky Terem" /
Boldinsky monastery is almost 500 years old. Its founder is the Monk Gerasim. On May 9, 1530, he consecrated here the first wooden Trinity Church with the side-chapel of St. Sergius of Radonezh.
Gerasim arranged a monastery near a small river, among centuries-old oaks, from the ancient name of which "bolda" is the name of the area. The monastery of Gerasim became quickly known. Very soon the number of the brethren reached 127 people.
The Monk Gerasim died in 1554. After living for 66 years, he was buried in the chapel of Sergius of Radonezh Trinity Cathedral in Boldino. For his pious deeds in the Russian borderlands, Gerasim was named the Boldin miracle worker and was canonized.
Soon the monastery became the center of the spiritual life of the region. Large monetary donations and constant royal care allowed the Boldin monks to start stone construction. By the end of the 16th century, the five-domed Trinity Cathedral with two symmetrical side-chapels - John the Theologian and Boris and Gleb, the refectory chamber with the tent-roofed church of the Presentation of the Most Holy Theotokos and the six-sided pillar-shaped three-tiered bell tower - were raised here. Each structure was a masterpiece of the golden age of Russian architecture.
The undeniable artistic merit of the Boldin buildings spoke of the participation of the best tsarist masters in their creation. The sovereign master Fyodor Kon ', the church master Terenty, the sovereign icon painters Postnik Dermin and Stepan Mikhailov were creating here, the evangelical bell for the belfry was cast in 1587 in Moscow by the literary Ivan Afanasyev.
The monks of the Boldinsky monastery were famous for their scholarship. It is probably no coincidence that the abbot of the monastery, Joseph, installed by Gerasim in 1554, was nicknamed the red-writer. And the next hegumen Anthony, who later became Bishop of Vologda, wrote the life of the Monk Gerasim before his departure.
Unfortunately, at the beginning of the 17th century, the peaceful course of life in the Smolensk region was disrupted. Captured by foreigners in 1611, Boldin Monastery became a haven for the Jesuits.
After the expulsion of the Polish-Lithuanian invaders, the Orthodox monastery in Boldino was renewed in 1654, but had not yet reached its former greatness, despite the attention of both Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and his son Peter I.
The Boldin Monastery was also desecrated during the Napoleonic invasion, when the French turned Orthodox churches into stables.
However, the smoke of the conflagrations dissipated, the monastery walls whitewashed, and again the evangelism summoned the Orthodox to the church. A lot of people flocked to Boldino for fairs that took place on patronal holidays - on Trinity Day in the summer and on the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos in winter.
At the end of the 19th century, the active and enlightened abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite Andrey, built new wooden cells and a hotel for pilgrims. Through his labors, the life of the Monk Gerasimos was restored and published in 1893.
The years passed. Many ancient buildings of the monastery were distorted, lost their original splendor. In 1912, the young restorer Pyotr Baranovsky proposed a unique method for the restoration of an architectural monument. But the restoration was only started in 1921.
Simultaneously with the restoration work on the territory of the monastery, a museum was created under the leadership of Baranovsky. Scientific restoration and museum work were organically intertwined with the natural monastic life.
The year 1922 has come. In May of this year, the local authorities confiscated church property, and the relics of the Monk Gerasimos were desecrated. The museum construction started by Baranovsky was gradually curtailed. In 1928, all restoration work in Boldino was stopped, and a year later the director of the museum and the remaining monks were repressed.
A terrible fate awaited the monastery during the Great Patriotic War. Boldino was one of the first settlements liberated by partisans in the still occupied territory at the beginning of 1942. The Germans responded with punitive operations. In revenge on the partisans, the Nazis blew up the Trinity Cathedral, the bell tower, the refectory with the Vvedenskaya Church in March 1943.
Only in 1964 did Pyotr Dmitrievich Baranovsky manage to start construction work. Since the 70s, the restoration of the architectural appearance of the monastery has been carried out under the guidance of a student and closest assistant of the Baranovsky architect A.M. Ponomarev.
The first restored building of the monastery was the monastery bell tower, which was blown up during the war. Due to the rare strength of the brickwork, it did not turn into a heap of rubble, but fell apart into huge shapeless pieces, the weight of the largest fragments was 20-40 tons. This made it possible to restore the bell tower by the method of anastilosis, that is, by returning to their places the preserved, scattered fragments.
On December 4, 1997, on the feast of the Entry into the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad consecrated the restored Vvedensky refectory church. The temple was completely destroyed, and now, as a symbol of the victory of good over evil, of creative forces over destructive ones, it rises above the endless Russian expanses.
Throughout Russian history, monasteries have been the centers of the spiritual, cultural, and national life of the Russian people. Therefore, today the revival of Russia is impossible without the revival of its holy monasteries. In May 1991, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church decided to reopen the Holy Trinity Monastery in Boldinsky and to appoint Abbot Anthony (Mezentsev) as its rector. On December 4, 1997, on the feast of the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos, Abbot Anthony was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.
Today there are 21 novices in the monastery. By their efforts, the monastery buildings are being restored and built, an apple orchard has been planted, for which the monastery has always been famous, but most importantly, spiritual life is being created within the walls of the monastery, spiritual treasures are collected bit by bit.
On May 14, 1998, on the day of memory of the Monk Gerasim of Boldinsky, a general diocesan holiday was held for the first time in the Holy Trinity Boldin Monastery, which it was decided to celebrate annually. Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, accompanied by the clergy of the diocese, served the Divine Liturgy with a large crowd of pilgrims.
Holy Trinity Cathedral
A wooden cathedral church in honor of the Holy Trinity with a side-altar in the name of St. Sergius of Radonezh was built in the 1530s next to the first buildings of the monastery. The stone cathedral in honor of the Holy Trinity with side-chapels in the name of the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian and the noble princes Boris and Gleb was built in 1585-1591, according to legend, at the expense of the monk Nicholas, from the noble family of the Arsenyevs.
The church master Terenty, who supervised the construction work, was mentioned in the monastery's receipts and expenditure books. The cathedral was painted with frescoes in Byzantine traditions on plots from the Gospel parables by Moscow sovereign icon painters - Postnik Dermin and Stefan Mikhailov.
An ancient, revered image of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God was kept in the cathedral. The temple was blown up in 1943. In 1991-2000, excavations of the ruins of the temple were carried out.
Church of the Introduction
The wooden refectory church in honor of the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos was built in the 1530s. The stone two-storey refectory Vvedensky temple with a kelar chamber was built in the 1590s. In 1843, under the abbot, Abbot Nikodim, on the second floor of the refectory, next to the Vvedensky Church, a chapel was built in honor of St. Mitrofan of Voronezh.
The temple was blown up in 1943. The first floor was restored in the 1960s. Restoration work was carried out in 1995-1997. Part of the roofing work was carried out by the team of A. E. Kopeichikov. The Vvedensky Church, revived from the ruins, was consecrated by Metropolitan Kirill on December 4, 1997. Metropolitan Kirill celebrated the Divine Liturgy on the feast day of St. Gerasim in the church in 1998.
The iconostasis and painting of the Vvedensky Church and the refectory chamber on the second floor were made by Belarusian masters, under the direction of S. Petrov.
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Church of St. Tikhon of Zadonsky
On the site of the first cell of the Monk Gerasim, near an ancient oak tree in the 1890s, the brethren of the monastery erected a small stone church in honor of the Monk Tikhon of Kaluga. In 1990 it was restored and since October regular services in the monastery have been resumed. Roofing work and gilding of the iconostasis were carried out by the team of A. E. Kopeichikov. Metropolitan Kirill consecrated a church in honor of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk in May 1991. Before the restoration of the Vvedensky temple, all divine services were held in it.
Bell tower
Between the cathedral and the refectory at the end of the 16th century, a high three-tiered bell tower was erected, which, according to the inventory of 1744, had a “striking clock”. In 1587, master Ivan Afanasyev cast an evangelical bell for the monastery in Moscow. In 1871, seven bells hung on the upper tier of the bell tower - from a large 50 pounds (819 kg) cast in 1861 to a small 25 pounds (10.2 kg).
In the middle tier there was a sacristy, in which valuable utensils were kept. The bell tower was blown up in 1943 and rebuilt from the ruins in the 1980s with the participation of student construction teams from the Smolensk Pedagogical Institute and the Dorogobuzh section of the SSNRPM restoration. Since autumn 1990, the bell tower has been used for its intended purpose.
Church of st. Equalap. Prince Vladimir
Compound of the monastery. Address: 215700, Smolensk region, Safonovo, Oktyabrsky per., 4.
The parish in the city of Safonovo was founded in December 1988. The stone church in honor of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir of Kiev was built in 1989-1991 at the expense of the city administration and parishioners. The temple is arranged for 1500 people, with a three-tiered 27-meter bell tower. The bell tower has five bells, the larger one weighing 500 kilograms.
Particular assistance in the construction of the temple was provided by the chairman of the Safonov city executive committee, PS Osipov (1993). Most of the household work was carried out by the headman of the parish, N.K. Zolotukhin. Roofing works, installation of domes and crosses were carried out by the repair and construction team of A. E. Kopeichikov.
The temple was consecrated by Metropolitan Kirill in December 1991. Hegumen Anthony (Mezentsev) was awarded a club for the labors he carried out. By the decree of Metropolitan Kirill of July 11, 1994, the Vladimir parish was transformed into a courtyard of the Gerasimo-Boldinsky monastery. The iconostasis of the temple was made by the Safonov carvers, following the model of the iconostasis of the Intercession Church in the village of Dubrovo, Temkinsky District. The iconostasis was consecrated by Metropolitan Kirill at the Divine Liturgy on October 29, 1994. In 1997 the altar of the temple was painted.
In fact, we were going to the city of Vyazma, which is located about two hundred kilometers from Moscow. Reading about the city before the trip, we were interested in the description of the 16th century monastery in the village of Boldino. On the Internet, we found a lot of reviews about this monastery and decided to go there, especially since it is located only 50 km from Vyazma along the old Smolensk road.
As always, we mapped the route along country roads.
These are the beauties we passed along the way.
If we photographed every beautiful place, we would not be back yet. 
As I said, traveling around the Moscow and Tver regions, we saw many operating farms. There were even more of them in the Smolensk region. Agriculture does not just exist, but is also developing. On the way, we met several modern complexes under construction. 
The road on the first section of the road was quite decent. There were almost no cars. 
The Galitsin-Muromtsev estate in the village of Prechistoye. 
Paintings on the walls have been preserved inside. We discovered the estate quite by accident on the way to Vyazma. We did not have time to inspect the ruins and we limited ourselves to a couple of pictures. 
At some point, it seemed to us that we arrived at a dead end. But it turned out that we just did not immediately notice the bypass road around the Vazuz hydro unit. 
The hydraulic system includes 3 reservoirs - Vazuzskoye, Yauzskoye and Verkhne-Ruzskoye. This is the most remote reservoir in the Moscow supply system. Construction began in 1957 and finished in 1970. The hydroelectric complex is managed in the village of Karmanovo. There are plans to build a 10MW hydroelectric power station on the basis of this reservoir.
It is impossible to inspect the dam closer because all approaches are fenced with a barbed wire fence. 
It was very unexpected to meet such a monument in the village of Karmanovo. 
The village is small. It doesn't look like planes were being built here anywhere. During the war, fierce battles took place here, but we certainly did not have such aircraft at that time. We managed to find out the history of this monument only after returning from a trip. It turned out that the monument was built by the head of the camp of prisoners who were building the reservoir, in memory of his deceased son, a pilot. 
In karmanovo, there is also a memorial at the burial site of 8,500 Soviet soldiers who participated in the liberation of the region. The ashes from the mass graves of other districts of the Smolensk region were also transferred here. 
In the area of the hydroelectric complex, a decent road turned into a dirt road with many holes. But we did not yet know what lay ahead of us. 
Due to a long bad section of the road, the way to Vyazma took us almost 4 hours instead of the planned 2.5 hours. We decided to immediately go to the monastery, and only then return and explore the city. 
Having passed through Vyazma, we continued our journey along the Staro-Smolensk road. It was along this road that the train of the French army departed in 1812. 
After reading the information on the post, we decided to stop by Lake Semlin. According to legend, it was in this lake that Napoleon flooded a trainload of valuables looted in Moscow. The search for treasures began in 1836. However, the treasure has not been found so far. Or found, but no one knows about it. 
In the 60s of the last century, scientists studied the lake. A high content of zinc, copper and silver was found in the water, which suggests that, perhaps, the treasure is actually located at the bottom of the lake. 
The lake is off the road. About five hundred meters away. The road to the lake is unpaved, but good enough.
There is a path through the forest to the lake. 
The lake water is dark brown, which is typical for peat lakes. 
The place is very beautiful. It was hard to believe that such beauty is located very close to the city and not so far from Moscow. 
After driving a little further, we understood why the French drowned the convoy in the lake. The asphalt ended and this road began. All this, by the way, is the Staro-Smolensk highway. 
I would not recommend going here by car. And after the rain, I think it will be difficult to drive along this road even in an SUV. 
In some areas, our speed was no more than 10 km / h. 
The soil in these places is sandy and therefore the wheels hardly stick on a wet road. 
The origin of the Old Smolensk road dates back to the 15th century. Perhaps it existed before, but no sources have come down to this to this day.
Since its inception, the Smolensk road has played an important historical role. On this road, Prince Sigismund advanced to the east, along the same road Russian troops retreated in 1812, and then the French fled from Moscow. During the Patriotic War, the Germans attacked it and the Russian units retreated.
In the 16th - 18th centuries, this was the main road from Moscow to Europe, which was used by many famous people traveling to and from Europe. There were many inns and post stations along the road, and there were road posts.
As you can see now none of this is left. During our entire journey on the road, we met only one motorcyclist. There is practically no movement in this place or it is minimal. 
We got to the monastery only at 6 pm. There was not a single car in the small parking lot next to the monastery. And this is not strange, given the difficult path to the monastery. 
The monastery was founded in 1530 by the Monk Gerasim of Boldinsky. In 1929 the monastery was closed. The buildings of the monastery housed a collective farm cheese dairy, a milk separator and a granary.
During the Great Patriotic War, the monastery became a base for partisans. In 1943, during the retreat, the Germans blew up the ancient buildings of the monastery. The restoration of the monastery began in 1964. 
The church has amazing acoustics. We arrived just in time for the beginning of the service. 
We have been to many monasteries, but this monastery made a very special impression on us. Very quiet, calm, peaceful place. This is what a monastery should be. For all the time we met no more than 5 people on the territory of the monastery. I recommend that you definitely visit here at least once in order to feel the real monastic solitude and silence.
Back we decided to take a detour through the city of Dorogobuzh. Having approached the Dnieper River, I had a suspicion that we had taken a wrong turn somewhere. But no, it turned out that we were going right. 
And here is the chemical plant. 
After 15-20 kilometers we finally entered the M1 Minsk highway. This path is 30 kilometers longer than the path along the Staro-Smolensk road. In time, too, it turned out about the same. So if you have an SUV, you can drive along the Old Smolensk road. By car it is better to go along the M1 and then through Dorogobuzh.
There was no question of going to Vyazma again. We still had to drive about 250 km to the house. We decided to postpone the trip to Vyazma. But I think that if we go to Vyazma again, we will definitely visit the Boldinsky monastery. And there it is already difficult to say whether we will have time to inspect Vyazma. In any case, to be continued ...
The Boldinsky monastery is the most ancient of the existing and functioning monasteries in the Smolensk region. It is located about 15 kilometers east of the city of Dorogobuzh. The old Smolensk road runs not far from the monastery.
The Boldinsky monastery was founded by the Monk Gerasim in 1530. Gerasim set as his ascetic goal the creation of Orthodox monasteries on the lands passed from the principality of Lithuania to the Moscow state. After some time, the Boldinsky Holy Trinity Monastery turned into a very influential and rich Orthodox monastery of the Smolensk region. The wealth of the Boldinsky monastery grew and was replenished due to large donations from the boyars, due to the granting of lands by the sovereign, due to its own rather active economic activity.
The monastery flourished in the late 16th - early 17th centuries. At that time, the monastery owned more than hundreds of Russian villages and villages, several mills, boarding and hunting grounds, cattle yards, fishing, in cities such as Dorogobuzh, Vyazma, Moscow, Smolensk, it had its own monastery courtyard and trading shops. At the very end of the 16th century, a large stone construction was launched in the Boldinsky Holy Trinity Monastery. The five-domed Trinity Cathedral, the refectory with the Church of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, and the bell tower were erected.
A big blow to the Boldinsky monastery was struck by the Time of Troubles, which fell at the beginning of the 17th century and the invasion of the Poles. From 1617 to 1654, the Dorogobuzh lands were under the control of the Kingdom of Poland, and Catholicism was the state religion in it. During the Time of Troubles the monks of the monastery for the most part left it, and then, the lands and the monastery itself was transferred to the Smolensk Jesuit collegium (educational institution of the Catholic Church).
After 1954, when Moscow again recaptured the Dorogobuzh land from the Poles, the monastery was restored, but its possessions were noticeably reduced, and by the second half of the 17th century amounted to about two dozen villages. The year 1764 was marked by the fact that Empress Catherine II took away their lands from the monasteries, which were later distributed to the nobles. This caused the decline of monasteries, a very large number of which became inoperative due to poverty. At this time, the Boldinsky monastery was able to survive thanks to the charitable contributions of parishioners, one of the major donors was Prince Andrei Dolgorukov.
And again the monastery is experiencing its heyday in the 70-80s of the XIX century. Hieromonk, and then Archimandrite Andrey (Vasiliev), was appointed rector at this time. In his management, within 24 years, all the temples and buildings of the monastery were restored and repaired, new Holy gates, cells, buildings for household needs, a hotel, a rector's house, a mill on the lake, a prosphora, were planted, a huge garden was planted. A stone chapel was rebuilt in the place where the cell of the Monk Gerasim (founder) once was, about 50 meters from the monastery. On the basis of ancient lists, Archimandrite Andrew wrote and then published The Life of the Monk Gerasim.
At the beginning of the 20th century (1919-1927), under the leadership of P.D. Baranovsky, restoration work is underway in the Boldinsky monastery, a history and art museum is being created. At the same time, a wooden church from the village of Usvyatye was transported to Boldino. At the end of 1929, the Soviet government ordered to close the Boldinsky monastery. In the future, the Trinity Cathedral will be assigned as a granary, a separator for milk processing is installed in the chapel, the refectory Vvedensky temple is re-equipped as a collective farm cheese factory.
During the Great Patriotic War, the monastery served as one of the partisans' bases, and repair shops were immediately located. Retreating from the Dorogobuzh lands, German troops mined and blew up all the stone buildings of the monastery. The post-war years left the ruins of the monastery in complete desolation. The locals gradually used bricks from the destroyed buildings for their own needs. Only in 1964, guided by the surviving photographs and measurements, under the leadership of P.D. Baranovsky, restoration work begins again. And they are nearing their end, only now they are led by a student of Pyotr Dmitrievich - A.M. Ponomarev.
Smolensk Information Center of Culture and Tourism "Smolensky Terem" /