Murom is an old Russian city of the Vladimir region. It covers an area of 43 km 2 . 100 thousand people live in it. In this small town there are five monasteries and more than ten churches. About the temples and monasteries of Murom will be discussed in this article.
From the history of the city
For the first time, Murom is mentioned in the annals of 862. During archaeological excavations on the territory of the Kremlin, samples of molded Murom ceramics dating back to the 10th century were discovered. In those days, the city was the subject of civil war. He became the center of an independent diocese in 1998. The Moscow period in the history of this city begins in 1392.
The first temple in Murom appeared in the XI century. In the 19th century, mechanical and iron foundries, cotton and flax spinning mills operated here. In 1863, a water tower was built.
Most of the temples of Murom in Soviet times were ruined. Several parish churches founded in the 16th-17th centuries were demolished by the Bolsheviks. In the 1920s, the main temple of Murom, the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin, was erected in the 16th century by order of Ivan the Terrible. The restoration of the surviving shrines began in the 90s.
Temples of Murom
The oldest of the existing monasteries is the Transfiguration of the Savior. It was founded in the XI century, first mentioned in the annals of 1096. Other monasteries of Murom: Resurrection, Annunciation, Holy Trinity, Holy Cross Exaltation.
One of the temples of Murom, erected in the Middle Ages, is the Church of Cosmas and Damian. It was built on the spot where the tent of Ivan IV once stood in the days of the Kazan campaign. Temple address: Murom, Embankment, building 10.
The Church of the Ascension of the Lord was founded in 1729. Located at Moskovskaya Street, 15A. The relics of St. Elijah of Muromets are stored in the church of Guria, Samon and Aviv, located on Karacharovskaya. In 1998, another temple was erected in honor of the Russian hero in Murom. It is located at the Verbovskoye cemetery.
Other churches of Murom: Trotsky, Assumption, Sretenskaya, the temple of Seraphim of Sarov. The most famous sights of the city include the temple on Mechnikov Street. Sretenskaya church was founded at the beginning of the 19th century; more details about it are described below. And finally, the oldest Orthodox church in Murom is located on Plekhanov Street. The date of its foundation is unknown, but it is mentioned for the first time in documents of the mid-16th century. It is about Nikolo-Naberezhnaya church.
Annunciation monastery
On Krasnoarmeyskaya Street there is a magnificent Orthodox building made of white stone with blue domes. This is a man’s monastery founded in the middle of the 16th century on the site of a demolished wooden church. The monastery was erected by order of Ivan the Terrible, who visited the city in 1552 during his campaign in Kazan.
At the beginning of the XVII century the monastery was destroyed and plundered by the Poles. Several decades passed, and the monastery was reborn. In 1919, the Annunciation Monastery was closed. The relics of the saints that were stored here were transferred to the museum, where they remained until 1989. Monastic life was resumed in September 1991.
Resurrection Monastery
The female monastery, founded in the 16th century, is located in the northeast of Murom. The monastery was abolished in 1764, which was not uncommon during the time of Catherine the Great, who carried out a reform on the secularization of lands. The church, located on the territory of the monastery, became a parish. The novices were transferred to the Holy Trinity Monastery.
In the Soviet years, church buildings were used as warehouses. And in 1950, at the cemetery, where priests were buried, a football field was set up. Monastic life was reborn in 1998.
Nicholas Embankment Church
The temple is located on the banks of the Oka. At the foot of the mountain there is a spring. Here, according to legend, Nikolai the Wonderworker appeared more than once.
The church was first mentioned in the sources of the XVI century. A stone temple on a wooden site was built at the beginning of the 17th century. In 1714 the iconostasis was installed. The refectory appeared around the beginning of the 19th century.
Nikolo-Naberezhnaya church was closed much later than other Murom churches. It was abolished in 1940. For ten years, from 1950 to 1960, a poultry farm was located here. For decades, the church building itself was empty. The surviving property of the temple was transferred to the city museum. Restoration work began in 1991.
Smolensk church
In 1804, there was a fire that destroyed the wooden temple. A stone church was erected in its place. A quarter of a century later, a bell tower was built next to it, and even later - a refectory with a chapel.
In the early twenties, the temple was sacked. Moreover, this was done under the guise of providing assistance to the victims of hunger in the Volga region. All silver utensils were seized from the church. In the late twenties, the temple was closed.
In the seventies, restoration work began - the opening of the museum of local lore was supposed. Soon exhibitions of applied and visual art were organized. Within the walls of this old church building even concerts were held. The diocese of Vladimir Church was returned in 1995. However, in August 2000, another disaster occurred - lightning destroyed the spire of the bell tower. Restoration work to this day is not completed due to lack of funds.