The Ivanovo Monastery in Moscow is one of the oldest women's monasteries not only in the capital, but also in Russia. It was a favorite place of pilgrimage for Russian tsars, a dungeon for noble women and is still full of secrets and mysteries.
Riddle of history
The Ivanovo Monastery in Moscow is one of the oldest churches not only in the capital, but also in Orthodox Russia. Not a single document has been preserved, at least hinting at the time of its construction. The monastery inventory from 1763 reports: “And when this monastery was built, under which the sovereign, and by what state certificate, and in which year, there is no exact news about that in the designated monastery.” Modern architects and historians believe that the compound appeared in the 15th century, as evidenced by the preserved ancient foundation.
The legend of the construction of the monastery says that the John Monastery was built at the behest of Elena Glinsky, the Grand Duchess, who decided to erect a temple in honor of the birth of her eldest son, Ionne. The story has a continuation - supposedly the birth of the future king was accompanied by an unprecedented thunderstorm with a storm, which is why his temperament was appropriate - spontaneous, and the monarch's nickname - Dark.
The John the Baptist Monastery was mentioned in the will of Vasily I in 1423. At the end of the 15th century, the estate fell into decay, and a convent was built near the Vladimir Church .
According to another assumption, the Ivanovo Monastery in Moscow appeared at the turn of the 14-15th centuries and performed defensive functions. Being built on a hill (Ivanovo Hill), he occupied the best position that ensured the safety of the Great Posad and the Ion-Zlatoustinsky Monastery (destroyed in 1930).
You can give a few more reasoned hypotheses about the time of the appearance of the monastery, but only a miracle or further searches of archaeologists will reliably find out the exact date.
Development
The first repair of the cathedral took place in the second half of the 15th century; it is believed that Tsar Ivan the Terrible contributed to the renovation. The Ivanovo monastery in Moscow did not have its own estates and lived only with the donations of parishioners and benefactors, of whom there were many. The main funds for the maintenance of the monastery came from the royal family, this obliged the monastery to make certain concessions to the donors, which earned a story full of secrets and mysteries for the monastery.
By the beginning of the 18th century, a high stone fence and a gate church were built around the monastery, consecrated in honor of the Origin of the honest trees of the Holy Cross of the Lord. The center of the monastery ensemble was the cathedral. Stone buildings on the territory appeared by decree of Peter I, who commanded to replace all the wooden structures. The construction was carried out with state money.
The Napoleonic company brought destruction to the Ivanovo Monastery in Moscow. The fire of 1812 completely destroyed the monastery, and the threat of abolition loomed over it. In 1860-1879, part of the cells and the cathedral were restored on the site of ancient groundings. The author of the project was the architect M. Bykovsky.
The revival of the monastery was promoted by Lt. Col. Elizabeth Mazurina, who posthumously donated 600 thousand rubles for a good cause. Her sister-in-law, Maria Alexandrovna Mazurina, became the executor and performer of the will of the deceased. Through her efforts and diligence, the monastery acquired those forms that amaze with grace and beauty today.
Soviet period
After the revolution, the Ivanovo Convent in Moscow was one of the first to be closed in 1918. Since 1919, a concentration camp was established on the territory of the monastery, which in a short time received special status. In 1923, the prisoners held here were used for forced labor, and since 1927 a specialized department has been operating here, where the criminal behavior and crime as a phenomenon were studied for scientific purposes. Since 1930, the Ivanovo camp became part of one of the labor colonies in Moscow.
By 1917, the Ivanovo Monastery in Moscow was inhabited by 43 nuns, 33 novices and more than a hundred women on probation. Before closing the monastery, everyone was evicted to a monastery farm near Moscow to work in the commune. In 1929, all private farms were nationalized, and those who did not want to accept such a proposal were imposed huge taxes. The sisters had to sell all the property, and themselves for two years interrupted by random earnings. In 1931, by decision of the authorities, the sisters were imprisoned in Butyrka prison, after an early trial everyone was sent to exile in Kazakhstan.
By 1980, most of the former monastery was run by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. A shooting gallery was located under the altar in the basement; a sports hall, a swimming pool, and a sauna were arranged on the territory. In the premises of the cathedral was equipped with archival storage. A sewing workshop worked in the clergy house, and Mosenergo services occupied several other premises. All the buildings of the Ivanovo Monastery in Moscow have not been repaired since 1917, which led to almost the loss of cultural and historical heritage.
Rebirth
In 2002, the Ivanovo Monastery in Moscow was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church . History made another round, and the revival of the monastery in the rank of stavropegic began. Some buildings are still at the disposal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. In the village of Ostrov, on the territory of a former noble estate, the courtyard of the monastery, where the almshouse is already working, is being equipped with the help of sisters.
For sisters, courses are open for several years, where they study the Holy Scripture, the catechism, the history of the Church, Orthodox works and much more. In 2008, a museum was founded at the monastery, where exhibits are objects found during restoration work, as well as archival materials preserved in the walls of the monastery from the time of the archive. Some documents relate to 1918, when the Ivanovo Monastery in Moscow was closed. Photos and video materials of past eras are also presented in the museum.
Special shrines
Ivanovo Nunnery is so ancient that even the stones from which the walls are built are shrines in it. The bright glory of the monastery in the 17th century was brought by the blessed Saint Martha who lived here. She was honored in the royal family, and it was believed that after her death she continued to protect the Romanovs' house. From 1638 her relics were tremblingly kept in the main cathedral, but after the revolution they were seized for burial at the Vagankovsky cemetery. The further fate of the shrine is unknown. Today, an elegant marble tombstone has been preserved.
Another extraordinary shrine of the monastery is the miraculous icon of St. John the Baptist with a copper hoop attached to its icon case. It is attached by a metal chain and is considered a measure of the head of St. John the Baptist. On the rim you can read the half-erased inscription made by Slavic script: "The Great Forerunner and Baptist of the Savior John pray to God for us." According to some statements, the age of the hoop is counted from the 19th century and was previously stored in the chapel of the monastery, as there are records in the annals of the monastery. The hoop and icon are considered shrines, helping believers to get rid of many diseases.
Age-old secrets of the monastery
The Moscow Ivanovo Monastery was not only a place of prayer or a monastic feat, but also a place of exile for women from noble families. The tradition of sending Ivan the Terrible to the gate of objectionable ones, sending two wives of his son to the monastery cellars. For many unwanted wives, the monastery became a place of forced tonsure, their relatives donated large sums to the sisters for the maintenance of noble prisoners and the monastery itself.
The Detective Department added gloomy fame, sending women imprisoned here in political intrigues or criminal cases. The monastery walls became the last refuge for schismatics, who, after torture and humiliation, under the guise of insane people, were sent to the stone cells of the Ivanovo monastery under the supervision of nuns.
Famous prisoners
For some time, the founders of the whip sect, Ivan Suslov and Prokofy Lupkin, were buried in the monastery. Their graves were visited by Moscow apologists of faith for a long time, until a trial of the whips in 1739 took place, after which the graves were torn up, their bodies burned and the ashes scattered in the wind.
One of the famous prisoners of the monastery was the ominous Saltychikha (Daria Nikolaevna Saltykova), who tortured more than 100 people in the estate near Moscow. The atrocities lasted for seven years and ceased only through the personal intervention of Catherine II, who had just ascended to the throne. Saltykov was tried by a civil court in 1778 and sent to serve his eternal imprisonment.
In the monastery, they built a special cell for her - they dug a deep hole over which a wooden building without windows was erected, only when they brought food, put a candle, it was all the light that she had seen for many years. During the monastery services she was brought closer to the place from which prayers were heard, correspondence and conversations were banned. So she spent 11 years, after which they made a slight indulgence, moving to a cell with a small window through which anyone could talk to her.
Another famous captive was Princess Tarakanova - the daughter of Queen Elizabeth. After spending forty years outside of Russia, returning and talking with Catherine II, she retired to the Ivanovo Monastery. The princess lived in the monastery with comfort; in monasticism she received the name Dosifei. A cell was allocated for her in two rooms with a stove, a novice was assigned to serve, a considerable sum was allocated from the treasury annually, funds from numerous donors came, the princess spent most of the donations for alms and donations. After her death, she was buried in the Novospassky Monastery, the tombstone appeared only after 100 years and has survived to this day.
This is far from all the secrets of the monastery, everyone can learn more and attend the service today by visiting the Ivanovo Convent in Moscow. Address: Maly Ivanovsky Lane, Building 2.
How to get there
In the monastery, services are held daily in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist or in the church of St. Elizabeth the Wonderworker. The morning liturgy takes place from 7:30 in the morning; evening service begins at 17:00. The chapel of St. John the Baptist, where everyone can touch the miraculous image and the hoop, is open seven days a week.
Where is the Ivanovo Monastery in Moscow? On the Ivanovo Hill in the Small Ivanovsky Lane, in the house number 2. By appointment, the nuns conduct excursions for everyone. The program includes visits to the churches of the monastery, the museum, which is part of the Ivanovo Monastery in Moscow. The address, how to get to the monastery - many ask about it. You need to go by metro to the Kitay-Gorod station, then follow Solyansky passage and Zabelin street to Maly Ivanovsky lane, house 2. Contact phone - (495) 624-01-50.