Simonov Monastery is one of the largest, richest and most famous monasteries located in the past years in the nearby Moscow region. Now it is located in the capital, in the Southern Administrative District of Moscow. In the Middle Ages in Russia, he entered the fortified belt, consisting of monasteries that defended the approaches to the capital from the south. A large number of buildings on its territory were destroyed during the reign of Soviet power, especially in the 30s. The territory was partially built up.
The history of the monastery
The date of foundation of the Simonov Monastery is 1379. He appeared in the lower reaches of the Moscow River. The land was donated to him by a boyar named Stepan Khovrin, and the first rector was Archimandrite Fedor, a follower and student of the famous Sergius of Radonezh.
Boyar Khovrin, when he retired, accepted monasticism and began to be called Simon, hence the name of the monastery itself. And in the future, a close relationship remained between the monastery and the clan of the merchant. For example, the tomb of the descendants of Simon was arranged here.
Historians still argue about when the monastery was founded. For a long time it was believed that it was 1370, but modern researchers nevertheless tend to the version that this happened between 1375 and 1377.
The monastery was moved to its current location in 1379, so some people count the age of the monastery from this date. Where the monastery was previously, only the church dedicated to the birth of the Virgin was preserved. In the XVIII century, it was in her that the graves of the legendary heroes of the Battle of Kulikovo - Andrei Oslyaby and Alexander Peresvet - were discovered . These graves have survived today.
The influence of Sergius of Radonezh
Since Simonov Monastery was founded by a student of St. Sergius of Radonezh, he considered him a kind of branch of his Trinity Monastery. He often stayed in these walls during his visits to Moscow.
Largely due to this, many well-known church figures came out of here. This is Cyril Belozersky, Patriarch Joseph, Metropolitan Jonah, Archbishop of Rostov John, Metropolitan Gerontius. All of them were somehow connected with this monastery. In the XVI century, the theologian Maxim Grek and the monk Vassian lived and worked there for a long time.
The history of the Simonov Monastery was not always cloudless. He was repeatedly raided, was almost completely destroyed in the Time of Troubles.
Before the revolution, Simonov Monastery in Moscow was considered one of the most revered in the whole Moscow region. Therefore, prominent and respected personalities constantly came here for advice or absolution. The rich made substantial donations, so the monastery, as a rule, did not need anything. He was especially loved by the elder brother of Peter I named Fedor Alekseevich. He even had his own cell, in which he often retired.
The black bar in the life of the monastery
The problems at the Simonov Monastery in Moscow began shortly after Catherine II came to power. In 1771, she simply abolished it because of the plague epidemic, which was rapidly spreading throughout the country. As a result, the monastery suddenly turned into an isolation ward for plague patients.
It was possible to restore the usual activity in it only by 1795. Count Alexei Musin-Pushkin requested this. Archimandrite Ignatius, who specially came for this from the Novgorod diocese, where he served in the Bolshoi Tikhvin Monastery, was appointed rector.
During the years of Soviet rule
During the reign of Soviet power, the monastery was abolished again. In 1923, a museum was founded on its basis, which lasted until 1930. Vasily Troitsky, who managed to establish relations with the Orthodox church community, was appointed director. He even allowed services in one of the temples of the monastery, and in exchange the monks agreed to perform the functions of janitors and watchmen. In the 1920s, the architect Rodionov restored the buildings of the monastery.
In 1930, a special commission was assembled from the Soviet government, which officially recognized that some ancient structures located on the territory of the monastery must be preserved as historical monuments, but the walls of the monastery and the cathedral itself should be demolished. As a result, five of the six churches were razed to the ground, including the bell tower, the Assumption Cathedral, and gate churches. The Taynitskaya and Watchtowers, as well as the outbuildings adjacent to them, were destroyed. Several subbotniks were organized, during which the walls of the monastery were dismantled, and the ZIL culture palace appeared on this site.
Only in the early 90s, the remains of the monastery buildings were returned to the Russian Orthodox Church.
How to get to the monastery?
Getting to the Simonov Monastery, whose opening hours are from 8.30 to 19.30, is not difficult. If you use public transport, take the subway to the Avtozavodskaya station. Then you should go along Masterkova street in the direction of the street called Leninsky Sloboda. As soon as you find yourself at the crossroads, you will see the Salt Tower, which belongs to the Simonov Monastery. Address: Moscow city, Vostochnaya street, house 4.
Travel time from the metro to the monastery itself will be about eight minutes on foot.
Bell tower
Today we can see that some of the buildings of the monastery were restored, and some were finally lost. Separately, it is worth mentioning the bell tower of the Simonov Monastery.
By the 19th century, it had become very dilapidated, then a new five-tier bell tower was built over the northern gates, the architect of which was Konstantin Ton. After 4 years, a 94-meter-high structure was built, which became higher than the bell tower of Ivan the Great in the Moscow Kremlin. At the time, she became the highest in the capital.
Four large bells were cast for her specially by decree of the kings, who often visited this monastery, prayed, communicated with the elders.
In February, on the cover of the magazine "Spark" was published a photograph depicting a huge fragment of the newly blown up bell tower of Simonov Monastery. The bell tower officially ceased to exist in 1930.
Refectory
The refectory of the Simonov Monastery is a monument of Russian civil architecture of the 17th century. In the monastery, she appeared in the XV century, but eventually ceased to satisfy the needs of a large fraternity.
The new building began to be built in 1677 under the guidance of architect Potapov. But its appearance did not appeal to customers, church leaders. As a result, the construction was frozen for a while. It resumed in 1683, and was completed by 1685. This time the work was led by the famous metropolitan architect Osip Startsev.
Modern researchers attribute the refectory to the Moscow Baroque. On the right is the Church of the Holy Spirit, and on the left is the turret, on the upper tier of which there is an observation deck.
The refectory, by the way, has a unique feature. This is a stepped tent on the western side. Its design is in the spirit of Western European mannerism, and the walls are decorated with "chess" painting.
Inside the refectory there is one large arch that covers the entire width of the building. According to this model, refectory chambers were later built in many Russian churches.
Church and towers
The monastery is located in a surprisingly beautiful picturesque place. It has more than once inspired many writers and therefore the creation of amazing works. For example, a description of the Simonov Monastery can be found in Karamzin’s novel “Poor Liza”. In the pond, it was near its walls that the main character drowned in the finale. This made the monastery very popular among admirers and followers of sentimentalism for a long time.
The first stone cathedral church at the monastery appeared in 1405. She was named after the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Its construction began just in 1379. Since then, Simonov Assumption Monastery is considered one of the main shrines of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The dome of the cathedral was severely damaged in 1476 when lightning struck it. Therefore, he soon had to be seriously rebuilt. The Italian architect, whose name has not survived to the present day, has taken up the matter. By 1549, the temple was rebuilt. On the old foundation was built a five-domed cathedral, which became larger in size.
At the end of the XVII century, it was painted by the capital's craftsmen, at the same time a carved iconostasis in gold appeared in the monastery. It contained the main shrine of the Simonov Monastery - the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God. It was she who was presented by Sergius of Radonezh to Dmitry Donskoy, blessing him to victory in the Battle of Kulikovo.
Among the rare values you can immediately see the golden cross, studded with emeralds and diamonds, Tsarevna Maria Alekseevna gave it to the monastery.
Among researchers there is an opinion that the old walls and towers of the monastery were built by one of the most famous Russian architects Fedor Kon. The one that built the Smolensk fortress wall. He seriously worked to strengthen the border lines of Russia during the reign of Tsar Boris Godunov, who laid the first stone in the Smolensk Kremlin.
Horse also bothered in this monastery. The work of the architect was not in vain. In 1591, the monks were attacked by the Crimean Khan of Gaza II Girei, but thanks to the strong walls they managed to withstand the enemy.
The walls of some towers of the Simonov Monastery and the monastery itself have survived to the present day, although they were built in 1630. When the new fortress was being built, it included some fragments that Fedor Kon had been working on.
The total length of the monastery walls around the circumference is 825 meters. The height is impressive - about seven meters. The Dulo tower, which is crowned with a tent with an original sentinel tower, is hardly better than the others to this day. Two more surviving towers are called Salt and Kuznechnaya, they appeared in the 40s of the XVII century. Then, a large-scale reconstruction of the walls and structures that were badly damaged during the Time of Troubles was just underway.
The list of buildings and structures of the Simonov Monastery includes three gates. The northern, western and eastern ones have survived to this day.
After a significant victory over the khan Kazy Giray, which took place in 1591, the gate church of the All-Merciful Savior was built at the monastery. In 1834, another church, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, appeared above the eastern gate.
An important decision for the development of the monastery was made in 1832. The Orthodox complex needed a new bell tower, the money for which was donated by the merchant Ignatiev. The project was originally approved by the architect Tyurin. The bell tower was to be built in the style of classicism, but later this idea was abandoned. Largely due to the fact that traditions of returning to the original traditional Russian architecture were gaining more and more strength in Russia. So in 1839 a five-tier bell tower appeared, which was already designed by Konstantin Ton.
Another ten meters was the belfry. The largest bell in the Simon Monastery weighed a thousand pounds, which is about 16 and a half tons. How he managed to be raised to such a height at that time remains a mystery to many. It was this bell tower that turned into one of the dominants for Moscow of its time. She was able to visually complete the picture of the picturesque capital in the southern part of the city.
In 1929, the bell tower was blown up and ordered to disassemble the Soviet authorities into bricks.
Necropolis
In the ancient monastery, as usual, many famous people are buried, many of whom know about their contribution to the history of Russia and the fate of the monastery.
For example, Simeon Bekbulatovich, who was baptized on the whim of Ivan IV the Terrible, was unexpectedly buried in the cathedral of the monastery at the whim of Ivan IV the Terrible, who was called the Tsar in Russia in 1575. True, a year later the same Grozny successfully overthrew him.
After the machinations of Prince Boris Godunov close to the Tsar, Simeon Bekbulatovich was blinded in 1595, and in 1606 exiled to Solovki. There he was tonsured a monk. Returning to Moscow, he was placed in the Simonov Monastery, where he died under the name of hermist Stephen.
In the necropolis of the monastery lies the body of Konstantin Dmitrievich (son of Dmitry Donskoy), who also took monastic vows before his death and died under the name of monk Cassian. At different times, representatives of the clan of the boyars Golovins, Buturlins, princes Mstislavsky, Suleshev, Temkin-Rostov were buried in the monastery courtyard.
A lot of representatives of the creative intelligentsia rest right there. The talented poet Venevitinov who died in 1827, the writer Aksakov, who died in 1859, the composer Alyabyev, who wrote the famous Nightingale (his death overtook him in 1851), who achieved recognition in collecting and bibliophilia Bakhrushin, Nikolai Lvovich Pushkin (uncle of the famous poet ), Fedor Golovin (close associate and associate of the first Russian emperor Peter I).
You can also find the graves of representatives of many famous Russian families of nobles, such as Vadbolsky, Oleniny, Zagryazhsky, Tatishchev, Shakhovsky, Muravyev, Durasov, Isleniev, Naryshkin.
When the monastery was destroyed in the 30s of the XX century, most of the necropolis was not preserved. Only a few remains were found. For example, the poet Venevitinov and prose writer Aksakov, they were reburied at the Novodevichy cemetery. Instead of the cemetery, carpentry and galvanic workshops were organized . After the church was returned to the monastery, construction and restoration work began, within the framework of which they found some more remains and buried according to the Orthodox custom.
Priests noted that all found graves were severely destroyed, most desecrated. The remains were found during the removal of construction waste, a huge work was done to separate human bones from animal bones.
Current state
Today you can see only a small part of the buildings of the Simonov Monastery, which have survived to this day. From the monastery itself remained the southern wall with three towers (Dulo, Salt and Kuznechnaya). The 17th-century refectory with the Church of the Holy Spirit, as well as the fraternal corps, the so-called refectory chambers dating back to the 15th century, outbuildings and craftsmen's chambers, have been preserved.
In recent years, the Russian Orthodox Church has been conducting large-scale restoration and restoration work. In particular, they are working on the restoration of the refectory, fraternal corps and outbuildings. The latter are also used as workshops. The remaining surviving towers and walls are mostly in an abandoned state.
You can learn even more by going on an excursion to Simonov Monastery. This is completely uncomplicated. The project “Walking around Moscow” was launched at the time as part of the celebration of City Day. These excursions were so in demand that they were launched on an ongoing basis.
The duration of such an educational and educational walk is about two and a half hours. During this time, I managed to walk along with an experienced and well-read guide to the picturesque and quiet places of Simonovskaya Sloboda, to see the very pond into which the heroine of Karamzin rushed from grief, the station building left by trains for seven decades, to learn about the tragic and majestic fate of the monastery -A warrior who has repeatedly found himself on the defense of the capital, to visit the grave of the heroes of the Battle of Kulikovo. Here is the memory place of the famous composer Alyabyev, the so-called cemetery of bells.
Among the main objects are not only Simonov Monastery and the buildings located on its territory, but also the station of the Lizovo railway station, the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, the place where the Virgin Mary appeared to Kirill Belozersky, the Orthodox factory of industrialist Alexander Bari, the grave of Peresvet and Oslyaby.
The organizers of the tour guarantee that after it ends you will find out why the writer Karamzin renamed the settlement, although you didn’t want it, on which place the obscurantism temple was demolished and the enlightenment house built, how the monastery tower turned into a semaphore, why the ataman Bolotnikov’s troops couldn’t to overcome the monastery walls, as the composer Alyabyev created his most famous work, The Nightingale, where there was a traditional gathering place for cadets of the Spasskaya Tower.
The only thing worth remembering if you are going to visit this tour is that certain rules must be observed on the territory of the monastery. To be dressed in accordance with the rules of Orthodox piety, in particular, can not appear in shorts or short skirts.
The route that the tour will take will begin near the Avtozavodskaya metro station, from there you will follow to Masterkova street, then to Oslyabinsky and Peresvetov alleys, visit Simonov monastery itself, go to Leninskaya Sloboda street and return to the Avtozavodskaya metro station again.