In the Tver province, in the city of Torzhok, on the banks of the Tvertsa River there is a holy monastery. The elevated terrain, already picturesque, is shaded by the beauty and grandeur of the temples.
Novotorzhsky Borisoglebsky monastery is one of the oldest and most beautiful Orthodox monasteries in Russia. Rev. Ephraim became its founder in 1038. This happened during the reign of the Kiev prince Yaroslav the Wise (almost at the same time as the foundation of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra), and the monastery itself is the third since the beginning of the appearance of monasteries in Russia.
Novotorzhsky Borisoglebsky monastery. Torzhok
The name of the monastery came from the names of two princes - Boris and Gleb. The first temple was built in honor of them. Beloved sons of Prince Vladimir, who baptized all of Russia, were pious Orthodox rulers.
Rev. Ephraim served as a horse for the princes and was a native of Ugric land. He had two siblings (George and Moses) who lived at the same time, under Boris and Gleb. Ephraim from his youth was brought up in the Christian faith, and strengthened it even more by faithful service to the pious princes.
Like Ephraim, his two brothers were also ready at any moment to lay down their heads for their masters.
After the martyrdom of the brothers, Ephraim left the worldly life, deciding to devote himself completely to the service of God.
Imperishable relics
From Kiev, he went to the land of Drevlyanskaya, which was next to modern Torzhok, and organized a strange house there on the banks of the Dorogoshche River. With great Christian love and deep humility, he looked after the sick, served the afflicted and burdened with the passions of the perishable world, calmed and gave shelter to the poor and wretched.
What happened then, God's conduct told him to build the Novotorzh Borisoglebsky monastery, which he founded closer to Torzhok on the mountain of the bank of the Tvertsa River.
Having lived after the assassination of princes Boris and Gleb for 38 years, he peacefully departed to the Lord (February 10, 1053). And only after 500 years in the time of Ivan the Terrible, imperishable and fragrant relics were found. This day (June 24) is now celebrated by the discovery of the miraculous relics of the Monk Ephraim.
And a hundred years later, the relics of St. Arkady Novotorsky, the archimandrite of this monastery and disciple of St. Ephraim, were found. He took an active part in the construction of the Borisoglebsk monastery. Popular veneration and rumors of his holiness were confirmed by the acquisition of his holy relics 600 years after his death. They commemorate the saint on August 27 and December 26.
Times of hard times
Novotorzhsky Borisoglebsky monastery suffered many serious disasters. He, along with his fatherland, was repeatedly devastated and ruined. Three times the monastery burned to the ground in the internecine princely wars of 1167, 1181 and 1372.
In 1237, he was attacked by the Mongol-Tatars.
Lithuanians and Poles were often uninvited guests. They first came to this land under Alexander Nevsky in 1258: the Lithuanians captured the city of Torzhok, ravaged the monastery and dispersed the monastic brotherhood.
During the time of Vasily Shuisky, in 1609, the Poles ravaged the city along with the monastery. The Temple of the Introduction of the Blessed Virgin Mary, built of wood, was burnt to the ground. In the fire, the archimandrite of the monastery, Konstantin, died along with several ministers and parishioners.
The surprising fact is that with all the destructive actions, the stone church created by the Monk Ephraim still stands intact.
Decline
But again, back to those distant times. After bitter trials that brought devastation and devastation, the Novotorzh Borisoglebsky Monastery experienced a period of severe decline. By the end of the XIV - beginning of the XV century there was not a single monk in him who knew the letter, so the monastery chronicles were practically not kept.
A little later, a new round of development of monastic life begins, or rather, its beautification, prosperity and exaltation, which she achieved thanks to her abbot and inhabitants who worked with particular zeal.
They sent many petitions to the sovereigns and nobles in order to receive finances for the improvement of the Novotorzh Borisoglebsky monastery. And they had success in this matter.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the Gate Spasskaya bell tower was laid.
The beginning of the revival of the monastery
In 1785, Catherine the Great ordered the construction of the new Boris and Gleb Cathedral in the same place, and N. A. Lvov was appointed chief architect. Construction in the style of classicism was completed in 1796.
However, the important and only common thing among all the priors was the desire for the exaltation of the monastery, which consisted of a strict monastic life, observance of church charters and canons, as well as a long prayer service, as was the case in the ancient Orthodox tradition.
The monastery flourished until the October Revolution of 1917, but then he shared the cruel fate of many monastery cloisters. In 1919, people from the People’s Commissariat of Justice decided to open the tomb of the saint and found a head next to him, which was an act. It was the head of Ephraim's beloved brother, George, whom he found at the site of his murder, he kept for many years and bequeathed to be buried with him.
In 1925, the brotherhood was dispersed, and the monastery was turned into a strict regime prison. Later it housed a medical and labor dispensary where alcoholics were treated. Years later, it housed a historical and ethnographic museum.
The management of this institution made a lot of efforts to restore the disfigured ensemble of the monastery after the prison regime.
Restoration
Only the Candle Tower and a section of the surrounding fortress wall were able to recover.
In 1993, it was decided to organize a museum in the monastery.
Hegumen Vassian (Kuraev) was appointed rector of the monastery. In 1995, the first five inhabitants appeared in the monastery. They were housed in the cells of a one-story building, which was once intended to contain prisoners. In the same year, during the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Nilo-Stolobensky desert, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia came with blessing.
Address of Novotorzhsky Borisoglebsky monastery. Schedule of Divine Services
A little later, two years later, in December 1997, the building of the Vvedensky winter church of the Borisoglebsky monastery was transferred to the monks, who immediately began active restoration work. A year later, on June 24, 1998, on the day of commemoration of St. Rev. Ephraim of Novotorzhsky, the ancient walls of the monastery church finally again heard the Divine Liturgy.
In the photo Novotorzhsky Borisoglebsky monastery is simply amazing - it is one of the most beautiful monasteries on earth. The gradual resurrection of the bright monastery led to her flows of parishioners and pilgrims.
The address of the monastery: Russia, Tver region, the city of Torzhok, st. Staritskaya, house 7.
Novotorzhsky Borisoglebsky Monastery is open from 8.30 to 19.00. Divine services are held from 8.30 and from 16.00.