The monastery was founded in 1530 by the Monk Gerasim of Boldinsky. In the 16th century, the monastery repeatedly received gifts: land from the tsar, large contributions from boyars and wealthy people; the monastery was engaged in its own trade and fishing activities. By the end of the 16th century, the monastery owned more than 80 villages and villages in the Dorogobuzh district, about 20 monastery villages in other districts, mills, hunting and boarding grounds, cattle yards, and fishing. Monastic farmsteads and shops existed in Dorogobuzh, Vyazma, Smolensk, Moscow. The monastery owned mills, hunting and boarding grounds, cattle yards, and fishing.
Stone construction in the monastery began in the 1590s. Then the five-domed Trinity Cathedral was built (blown up, now almost restored), the bell tower (preserved), the refectory with the Church of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary (preserved) and the walls (rebuilt). According to the hypothesis of P.D. Baranovsky, the sovereign architect Fyodor Kon took part in the construction.
From 1617 to 1654, the Dorogobuzh region was part of the state of the Rzeczpospolita. The monastery was deserted; later its buildings were transferred to the Smolensk Jesuit Collegium. The monastery was revived in 1654, when the Smolensk lands again became part of the Russian kingdom. The monastery was unable to retain its former riches: by the end of the 17th century, it owned about 20 villages.
XVIII - early XX century
At the beginning of the 18th century, Saint John (Maksimovich) opened a printing house in the monastery. It published liturgical books, textbooks, works of spiritual and moral content, including the works of John himself, translations from Latin.
In 1764, according to the manifesto signed by Catherine II (1764), all the lands were taken away from the monastery. A benefactor, Prince Andrei Dolgorukov, rendered great assistance to the monastery.
In the 1870s and 1880s, the monastery began to flourish again. Hieromonk (later Archimandrite) Andrei (Vasiliev) was appointed rector. During his 24-year management of the monastery, all the existing buildings and temples of the monastery were repaired and rebuilt, new Holy Gates were built, a chapel on the site of St. Gerasim Boldinsogo, wooden cells, outbuildings, a hotel for pilgrims, a rector's house, a prosphora, a mill on the lake, a garden (700 roots) was planted. On the basis of two ancient texts, he also wrote and published a new Life of the Monk Gerasim.
In 1919-1927, restoration work was carried out at the monastery under the leadership of P.D. Baranovsky. In the former monastery buildings, a history and art museum was organized, the exposition of which, among other exhibits, included fragments of tiled stoves of the 17th-18th centuries, a wooden sculpture collected by M.I. Pogodin. A wooden church from the village of Usvyatye was transported to the territory of the monastery.
Abolition and revival of the monastery
In November 1929, the monastery was officially closed. In the Trinity Cathedral there is a granary, in the Vvedensky temple - a collective farm cheese factory, in the chapel - a separator for milk processing.
During the Great Patriotic War, the Boldinsky Monastery was the base of partisan detachments; repair shops were located in the buildings of the former monastery. In March 1943, during the retreat, the Germans mined and blew up ancient buildings - the Trinity Cathedral, the Vvedensky Church and the bell tower.
In 1964, the restoration of the monastery began according to the surviving measurements and photographs under the leadership of P.D. Baranovsky. They continue to this day (the leader is A.M. Ponomarev, a student of Baranovsky).
In 1991 the Boldinsky monastery was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church.
Currently, a stone wall with four towers, a bell tower, a refectory chamber with the Vvedenskaya church have been restored. Other buildings include a wooden hegumen's house, a gatehouse at the Holy Gates, a stone cell building, a stone treasury building on the basement, a wooden chapel at the monastery cemetery. The stone chapel was rebuilt into a church dedicated to the Monk Tikhon of Kaluga. Trinity Cathedral was consecrated by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia in June 2010.
The monastery necropolis was revived. Among the surviving graves is the grave of the Vistitsky family, with a metal fence and two granite columns, including Stepan (Stefan) Vistitsky, the author of one of the first textbooks on tactics and his sons - Mikhail Stepanovich (major general, in 1812 was appointed M. I. Kutuzov, Quartermaster General of the Russian Army) and Stepan Stepanovich (Major General, who at the end of 1812 led the Smolensk militia).
The monastery has courtyards in Dorogobuzh and Safonovo.
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 St. 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 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-like 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 built 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 close 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 of 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. Through 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 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 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 gospel parables by Moscow sovereign icon painters - Postnik Dermin and Stefan Mikhailov.
The 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 brothers 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, 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 weighs 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.
, Local history
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SLIDE 2. Holy Trinity Gerasimo-Boldinsky Monastery.
The Holy Trinity Gerasimo-Boldinsky Monastery is located in the Smolensk region. It is located 15 kilometers east of the city of Dorogobuzh on the shore of an artificial lake, which was built in the floodplain of the Boldinka River. The old Smolensk road runs not far from the monastery. The Boldinsky monastery is the most ancient of the existing and active monasteries in the Smolensk region. It was founded by the Monk Gerasimos in 1530.
SLIDE 3 The founder of the monastery is the Monk Gerasim.
The Monk Gerasim of Boldinsky was born in 1490 in Pereyaslavl Zalessky. He was a novice of the Goritsky monastery with Elder Daniel Pereyaslavsky. Gerasim helped the elder in building temples and cells, performed feats of fasting and prayer, served the poor brethren with his craft - he was a shoemaker.
Saint Gerasim, having received the elder's blessing for hermitage, settled near the city of Dorogobuzh in the Smolensk land, in a wild forest inhabited by snakes and animals. The saint was attacked many times by robbers, but he patiently endured all grievances and prayed for the offenders. To feed his own, he hung a box on a tree by the road: those passing by put there pieces of bread, but these pieces were sometimes taken away by other poor people, for which the monk only thanked God. Subsequently, the watchman of his pieces appeared - a raven; if an unkind person approached the box, the raven raised a cry and, flying, beat its wings on the face of an unwanted visitor, and even pecked out the eyes of the predatory animals and put them to flight.
By a special vision, he crossed to Boldin Mountain, where a huge oak stood at the source. The locals beat him with sticks and wanted to drown him, slandered him to the governor of Dorogobuzh, bribed him to drive the elder away. The governor wanted to put Gerasim in prison like a vagabond. The Monk Gerasim patiently endured the abuse, kept silent and prayed. The royal envoy from Moscow, seeing Saint Gerasimos, bowed down and asked for his blessing, as he had previously seen the saint together with the Monk Daniel at the Tsar's. The governor was frightened, asked for forgiveness from the elder, promised to protect him from attacks, donated to him for the construction of the monastery. From that time on, Saint Gerasimos began to receive those who wanted monastic deed to him, and the brethren gathered to him.
In addition to the Boldino monastery, the Monk Gerasim founded in the city of Vyazma a monastery in the name of John the Baptist, not far from Dorogobuzh he restored a small monastery that had existed since the end of the 15th century, in the volost village of Svirkovy Luki on the left bank of the Dnieper River. He built a temple in honor of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos (according to other sources, the Vvedensky and Nikolsky temples). In 1547, in the Bryansk forests, the monk founded the Trinity-Vvedensky Monastery
SLIDE 4 The relics of the Monk Gerasim of Boldinsky.
The relics of the Monk Gerasim are hidden in the Trinity Cathedral in Boldino. A prayer service is served daily, with a special prayer being read to the Monk Gerasim. In the 20s of the XX century, the relics were lost, the monastery was partially destroyed. During the Great Patriotic War, all the monastery buildings were blown up, only the wooden church of the Monk Gerasim survived. In 1991, it was consecrated and blessed by the restoration of the monastery by Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, now His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. The relics of the Monk Gerasim were found on July 17 (New Style) 2001 in the Theological side-altar of the destroyed Holy Trinity Cathedral at the beginning of the restoration of the church. Now the relics of the monk are in the newly built Holy Trinity Cathedral.
SLIDE 5-7 North entrance to the monastery, fence, Holy gate.
Western gate.
Southwest Tower.
The fence is brick walls that cover the entire territory of the monastery. It was restored in 1993. In the northern wall of the fence are the Holy Gates, rebuilt at the beginning of the 20th century. Arched gates and wickets on the other sides of the fence look much simpler.
SLIDE 8-10 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 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.
SLIDE 11-13 Bell towers of the Holy Trinity Gerasimo-Boldinsky Monastery.
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, rebuilt from the ruins in the 1980s with the participation of student construction teams of the Smolensk Pedagogical Institute and the Dorogobuzh site of the SSNRPM restoration. Since autumn 1990, the bell tower has been used for its intended purpose.
SLIDE 14-17 Church of the Presentation of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple.
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 the 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.
SLIDE 18-19 Church of Tikhon Zadonsky.
On the site of the first cell of the Monk Gerasim, near an ancient oak tree in the 1890s, the brothers 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. The 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.
WITH LIDE 20 Chapel, burial place of respected monks.
SLIDE 21 Oak planted by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.
SLIDE 22 The wells of the monastery.
SLIDE 23-24 Monastery Garden
SLIDE 25 Compound in Dorogobuzh: Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God
SLIDE 26 Compound in Safonovo (Smolensk Region): Compound in Safonovo: Church of St. Prince Vladimir Equal to the Apostles
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 weighs 500 kilograms. Particular assistance in the construction of the temple was provided by the chairman of the Safonov city executive committee, PS Osipov. 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.
SLIDE 27 Thank you for your attention!
This article offers the history of the creation of the shrine and a description of this outstanding monument of Christianity.
Historical background
The Boldinsky monastery was founded through the efforts of the Monk Gerasim. On the 9th day of May 1530, this man conducted the rite of consecration of the first wooden Trinity Church.
Gerasim chose the bank of the river as the location of the monastery, where amazing century-old oaks grew. Previously, they were called bolds, so the area became known as Boldinskaya. Gerasim's habitat soon became widely known. The brethren were actively replenishing the ranks, and soon there were almost 130 people living with them.
The life of the Monk Gerasim was interrupted at the year 67. He was buried in the first chapel created by this man. The reverend deeds with which Gerasim distinguished himself served as a reason for the canonization of this Christian.
Achievements of the golden age
After the death of Gerasim, the monastery became even more popular. The spiritual life of the Smolensk region was concentrated here. Thanks to the receipt of large monetary donations under the constant tutelage of the royal authority, the monks were able to erect stone structures.
The end of the sixteenth century was marked by the appearance on the territory of the Boldinsky monastery:
- The five-domed Trinity Cathedral, to which two symmetrical chapels are attached in honor of such saints as John the Theologian, Boris and Gleb.
- The room of the refectory chamber, where it is located in honor of such a large Christian holiday as the Introduction to the Temple of the Virgin.
- Hexahedral construction of a pillar-like three-tiered bell tower.
All the described structures of the Boldinsky monastery became masterpieces that marked the golden age in Russian architecture.
The best of the best
The Boldinsky monastery of the Smolensk region has a lot of undeniable artistic merit. The best tsarist masters took part in their creation:
- Fedor Kon, master of the sovereign;
- Terenty, church master;
- Postnik Dermin, icon painter;
- Stepan Mikhailov, icon painter;
- Ivan Afanasyev, literary
The Boldinsky monastery of the Smolensk region was famous for its learned men. whom the Monk Gerasim appointed during his lifetime, was called a red-writer. The next abbot of Boldin, Anthony, Bishop of Vologda, managed to write a work on the life of the Monk Gerasim.
Hard times
The monastery of Gerasim Boldinsky went through a difficult time, when at the beginning of the seventeenth century it was captured by the Jesuits. It took almost half a century to return the shrine to Orthodox Christians again. As before, the monastery was not deprived of royal attention and patronage. But it took time and money to return the buildings to their former luxury.
The next difficult period was the capture of the monastery by Napoleonic soldiers. They kept their horses within the walls of the temple, setting up a stable there.
But the conflagrations dissipated, the monks whitewashed the walls clean, and, to the sound of the gospel, the faithful again rushed to prayer.
Revival
The Boldinsky Monastery is the venue for fairs that were held in honor of patronal feasts twice a year - on the day of the Holy Trinity and the winter celebration of the Most Holy Theotokos.
The end of the nineteenth century was marked by the construction of new wooden cells, a hotel appeared where pilgrims could stay. Through the efforts of Archimandrite Andrey, in addition to the listed works, it was possible to restore the cell where the Monk Gerasim, the founder of the monastery, lived.
The Holy Boldinsky Monastery was also influenced by the times. When the beauty of the buildings began to fade, at the beginning of the 20th century, the efforts of the young restorer Pyotr Baranovsky proposed a unique method for carrying out restoration work. But the architectural monument began to be restored only in the thirties.
In parallel with the restoration work, Baranovsky began to create a museum.
At this time, due to the influence of the policy of the new Soviet regime, the persecution of believers began, up to the desecration of the relics of Gerasim, the founder of the monastery. Years of godless power were lost for the restorers. Moreover, these people were repressed.
The Great Patriotic War brought new losses. Then the Nazis destroyed the buildings of the Trinity Cathedral, the bell tower, the refectory and the Vvedenskaya church.
Nowadays
In the mid-seventies, the already well-known restorer Pyotr Baranovsky again began to perform construction work, which was continued by his student and assistant A.M. Ponomarev.
And the restoration of the bell tower, which was blown up by the Nazis during the war, began. This building was erected in such a way that the brickwork was able to survive, falling apart into large parts. Despite the fact that some fragments of the building weighed between 20 and 40 tons, the restorers used a method such as anastomosis - when the fragments were returned to their places.
At the end of the century, a significant event took place - the consecration of the restored Vvedensky refectory church, completely destroyed in the old days. This symbolized the victory of the Christian faith over all the invaders and enemies that made themselves felt during the existence of the monastery.
Let's summarize
The Boldinsky monastery was founded at the beginning of the sixteenth century by the Monk Gerasim. This area immediately began to attract hundreds of novices to its territory. The monks were not only deeply religious, but also literate people, able to create books about the history of the monastery buildings. In peacetime, the Boldinsky monastery always received the patronage of the tsars and was considered the center of the spiritual life of the Smolensk region. But wars of conquest contributed to the destruction of shrines. It took centuries to restore them. The restorers were persecuted and repressed. But times changed, and confidence in the inviolability of the Christian faith grew.
The monastery, created by the novice Gerasim, withstood the difficult times of wars of conquest. This area was originally the center of the spiritual life of the Smolensk region. The cultural and national life of Russians developed here. That is why today the holy monasteries continue to revive. Today, the Boldinsky monastery provides shelter for twenty-one novices. They are engaged in the restoration of buildings and the construction of new structures, they take care of the apple orchard. The collection of spiritual treasures continues to this day.
The Monk Gerasim is commemorated on May 14. It was this day that became considered to be a general diocesan holiday, which will be celebrated annually.
Boldinsky Holy Trinity Monastery is the oldest of the monasteries currently operating in the Smolensk region. It is located 15 km east of Dorogobuzh, next to the Old Smolensk road. The monastery was founded in 1530 by the monk Gerasim.
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.
Due to its location not far from the busy road - the Old Smolensk Road - travelers, merchants, and tsarist ambassadors often stopped here. The Boldinsky Monastery received its heyday at the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th centuries. At this time, the monastery owned more than a hundred 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 courtyards and trading shops.
The Boldinsky monastery shared with the Smolensk land all the difficult periods of history associated with the wars of conquest. During the Smolensk War, from 1611 to 1656, the Boldinsky Monastery was occupied by the Jesuits. In 1764, according to the manifesto signed by Catherine II, all the lands were taken away from the Boldinsky monastery, like all the monasteries of the Russian state. The benefactors helped to withstand the Boldinsky monastery, of which Prince V.I. Andrey Nikolaevich Dolgorukov.
A century later, Napoleon's troops set up casemates for Russian soldiers within the walls of the monastery, and gave the main cathedral as a stable.
In 1929, by order of the Soviet government, the monastery was closed. The Trinity Cathedral was given over to a granary, a separator for milk processing was placed in the chapel, and the refectory Vvedensky church was being re-equipped as a collective farm cheese factory.
At the beginning of World War II, the headquarters of the partisans was located in the Boldinsky monastery, and in March 1943 the retreating Nazi troops mined all the ancient buildings of the monastery: 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. Baranovsky drew up the first restoration project in his life in 1912 for the refectory chamber with the Vvedenskaya church of the Boldin monastery. In 1964, Petr Dmitrievich returned to Boldino again to begin the revival of the masterpiece of architecture blown up by the Nazis. It was by his works on the surviving measurements and photographs that the bell tower rose from the ruins of amazing beauty.
In 1991, the Boldinsky monastery was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church and resumed its monastic activity. Over the years, the refectory with the Vvedenskaya church and a stone wall with four towers, the Tikhvin church, the wooden abbot's house, the gatehouse at the Holy Gates, a stone cell building, a stone treasury building and a wooden chapel at the monastery cemetery have been restored. Next to the Boldinsky monastery there is a picturesque lake.
In 2001, during the clearing of the southern aisle of the Trinity Cathedral, the relics of the Monk Gerasim were uncovered. Now the shrine with the relics of the saint, which are considered miraculous, 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.
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.
Getting to the Boldinsky monastery in the Smolensk region by car, not knowing the road, is not easy. It is better to join a bus tour to the Boldinsky Monastery, which is organized by the Smolensk excursion center. It is planned to build a hotel for pilgrims in the Boldinsky monastery.
Address: Smolensk region, Dorogobuzhsky district, with. Boldino