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Exaltation of the Cross Convent in Jerusalem. Exaltation of the Cross Jerusalem stauropegial convent (with

berdasov.online wrote in February 26th, 2014

Original taken from berdasov.online in the Exaltation of the Cross Jerusalem stauropegial convent.

When you are going to Domodedovo Airport, due to the unpredictable workload of the Moscow Ring Road, you leave early. So today I did the same, but I arrived very quickly and there was little time left. Knowing that before reaching 10 km from Domodedovo airport there is a monastery and decided to go there. It is located in s. Lukino, Domodedovo district.

The foundation of the current Holy Cross Exaltation Jerusalem stauropegial nunnery was laid in 1837 in the village of Stary Yam, Podolsky district, on the Kashirskoye highway. There, at the Church of the Holy Martyrs Florus and Laurus, an almshouse was set up for women. The exact number of those who lived in it is unknown, but it can be assumed that there were from 10 to 15 people. This almshouse, built on church land, did not differ in any way from similar houses of charity for the poor and indigent, and was maintained "by the labors of those living in it and by well-meaning givers."

Seven versts from the village of Stary Yam was the village of Lukino, which belonged to Alexandra Petrovna Golovina, a very pious woman. Having buried her husband and her only daughter, she decided to donate the village and the estate with all the land (212 acres of land) to the Floro-Lavra women's community. Alexandra Petrovna turned to Vladyka Filaret, who in every possible way contributed to the fulfillment of her desire, and a deed of gift was drawn up for the Lukin estate. The sisters of the community were to move to the Golovins' estate.

On the territory of the estate there was a small stone church in the name of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Krestovozdvizhenskaya), built in 1846. So from now on the community became known as the Exaltation of the Cross. But over time, this old Exaltation Church became cramped for the sisters, so in 1871 they began to build a new one in honor of the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God, which was attached to the refectory building. Now it was here, day and night, that the sisters read the Indestructible Psalter. Here they also placed the main shrine of the community - the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God, a gift from Vladyka Philaret.

On October 13, 1873, the new temple was consecrated, and at the end of the month, the construction of the bell tower and stone fence began.

The life of the community became more and more like a monastery, there were already about 100 sisters in it. In February 1887, by the decision of the Holy Synod, the community was transformed into the Exaltation of the Cross Jerusalem cenobitic second class monastery. The official opening and solemn consecration of the monastery took place on June 28 (July 11, New Style), 1887. The grandiose construction of a cathedral church in honor of the Ascension of the Lord was begun.

By the summer of 1893, the temple from the outside was almost ready. The height of the cathedral from the ground to the cross was 38 meters. The next summer, we started the interior decoration. The nun Afanasia, a resident of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Monastery, allocated a large sum for the construction of the iconostasis, who, having entered the monastery, brought her entire fortune. The painting of the walls and the writing of icons were entrusted to the icon painter Yerzunov. Icons for iconostases were painted on a gold chased background and decorated with enamel along the edges. About 150 biblical scenes were depicted on the walls of the cathedral. Benefactors also helped to purchase church utensils. On July 15, 1896, two thrones were consecrated in the cathedral: the main, Ascension, and the northern, Assumption. The southern chapel in the name of Metropolitan Philip of Moscow (according to legend, the village of Lukino was the birthplace of this saint) was consecrated on September 15 of the same year.

Vasilyevsky Corps (for pilgrims).

Abbot Corps.

The monastery wall, the holy spring and the bell tower were restored in the late 90s.

Hotel. The monastery is always happy to receive pilgrims who want to work for the Glory of God. Accommodation in the monastery hotel and meals in the refectory are free for workers.

And a little more Soviet history. In 1937, Kozma Korotkikh, a priest of the Exaltation of the Cross Church, was shot at the Butovo training ground. The last candle of the monastery prayer went out. A warehouse for storing coal and peat was arranged in the church, and the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God was laid on the floor like a flooring. During the Great Patriotic War, a military hospital was urgently located in the buildings and premises of the former monastery. The believing women miraculously manage to save the Jerusalem icon of the Mother of God and transport it to the church in the village of Myachkovo, where the icon will remain for 50 years. After the war, the sanatorium "Leninskiye Gorki" was opened in the monastery. In the monastic cells there were medical offices, staff and children of the lower grades lived. Near the hotel there was a wooden school, which burned down a few years ago. The older children lived in the built building (on the left in the photo), which now houses the polyclinic.

Even before the war, the building of the Ascension Cathedral was divided into 2 floors. On the 1st floor there was a kitchen and a dining room, on the second floor there was a club with a cinema, and several medical offices were also located in the turrets. In one of them I was treated for a tooth :). As you guessed, I was there in a sanatorium in the winter of 1983. We had no idea that it was a monastery. There were no domes, of course. The walls were painted with green oil paint. In the monastery refectory, to which the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is attached, cheap ones were equipped. A hydropathic facility was set up in the Jerusalem temple. In the altar there were baths in which the sick took water procedures.

In 1992, the monastery was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church, and its second life began. If you also have time before departure or if the flight you are meeting is delayed, stop by. It's much nicer than sitting in a car in the parking lot.

The content of the tablet to the right of the entrance to the temple: "On October 25, 2002, the Temple was consecrated by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia. The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross was built in 1846 by the landowner Alexandra Petrovna Golovina on the site of the wooden Church of the All-Merciful Savior, dismantled in 1834 "During the years of persecution of the church, the temple was closed, defiled and desecrated. It was returned to the church in 1992. The temple was restored by the Russian Foundation for the Architectural Heritage named after St. Andrei Rublev and donated by Russian people."

Monastery in honor of the Exaltation of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord Jerusalem stauropegial female (Exaltation of the Cross Jerusalem Monastery). Date of establishment: 1865. Founded as the Exaltation of the Cross Jerusalem Frolo-Lavra Convent. The beginning of the monastery was laid by the women's almshouse (which existed at the Floro-Lavra Church in the village of Staraya Yama since 1837; in 1856 it was renamed into a prayer almshouse), transformed into a women's community (1865) and transferred to the place where the monastery is now located . In 1870 (1887?), the community, which bore the name of Frolo-Lavra, was raised to the level of a monastery with a staff of abbess, treasurer, 28 nuns and a corresponding number of novices.

There were three churches in the monastery: in honor of the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God, which in 1855 was given to the Floro-Lavra community by Metropolitan Philaret (Drozdov) of Moscow; in honor of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and the Ascension Cathedral, consecrated in 1896. Closed in the early 1920s, the monastery was transferred to the Moscow Patriarchate in March 1992 for the revival of monastic service to the cause of mercy and charity. The nun Fomaida was appointed abbess of the monastery.

The Holy Cross Monastery was opened on June 29, 1887 in the village of Lukino, Podolsk region. On September 20 of the same year, the consecration of the expanded church took place in the name of the Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord. After the reconstruction, the temple began to accommodate not 50, but 500 people; an ancient iconostasis was restored in it, a luxurious vestment was arranged on the holy throne and the altar. In the first decades of the 20th century, 2 more churches were built on the territory of the monastery: the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God and the Ascension Cathedral, as well as a large orchard, an apiary and a pharmacy garden with herbs. A shelter for girls, a parochial school, a hospital and a pharmacy were opened at the monastery.

The architecture of the complex of the late XIX-XX centuries. combines motifs of eclecticism and false Russian style. The monastery occupies the place of the former estate of the Golovins, from which the rebuilt house church remains. The monastery territory is divided into three functional parts: the front yard, the courtyard with services, the park with the former manor church. The center of the architectural ensemble is the Ascension Cathedral, its powerful domes are well visible from a long distance. Red-brick, with white stone details, it was built according to the project of S.V. Krygin from 1890-1893. The four-pillared, five-domed cathedral on a high semi-basement, without apses, is monumental and festive. Its exterior decoration is inter-tier arcades and brick patterns covering the drums, the top of the shoulder blades and semi-circular zakomars. Immediately after the revolution, the monastery was persecuted, and in 1921 it was closed, the maple park was destroyed, and the orchard was cut down. At different times, the temples and buildings of the monastery housed a tobacco factory, a sanatorium, etc. In 1937, a priest of the monastery, Kosma Korotkikh, was shot at the Butovo training ground. Soon they closed the Exaltation of the Cross Church, the last church where services continued after the closing of the monastery. Miraculously, they managed to save the miraculous icon of the Mother of God of Jerusalem, secretly taken out of the monastery to the nearest village of Myachkovo.

In 1992 the Exaltation of the Cross Monastery in Jerusalem was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. The monastery is directly under the patriarchal care, therefore it is called stauropegial. In July 2001, nun Ekaterina (Chainikova) was appointed abbess of the monastery. On October 25, 2001, the great consecration of the temple in honor of the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God took place. The main shrine of the monastery - the miraculous icon - took its rightful place. Temples: Cathedral in honor of the Ascension of the Lord, date of construction - 1896 Temple in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God "Jerusalem" (Jerusalem Temple), date of construction - 1873 Temple in honor of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord (Church of the Cross), date of construction - 1846 .

On October 25, 2002, the Exaltation of the Cross Church was consecrated by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus', concelebrated by bishops and clergy. Mother Catherine was elevated to the rank of abbess. And the trustees V.L. Nusenkis and L.D. Olischuk received high church awards from His Holiness for his great contribution to the restoration and decoration of the monastery.

Exaltation of the Cross Jerusalem Monastery, class 2, cenobitic, 17 versts from the city of Podolsk, near the village of Lukin, Founded in 1887 from the Floro-Lavra women's community that existed since 1865. In 1896, a new cathedral church was consecrated in the name of the Ascension of the Lord. The monastery houses the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God, a gift and blessing of the monastery from Metropolitan Filaret. The monastery has a school, an orphanage, an icon-painting workshop, an almshouse and a hospital.

From the book by S.V. Bulgakov "Russian monasteries in 1913"

In one of the most picturesque places in the Domodedovo District is the Holy Cross Exaltation Jerusalem stauropegial convent. The history of the monastery begins back in 1837, when a small almshouse for women began to operate in the village of Stary Yam, Podolsky district, at the church in the name of the holy martyrs Flora and Laurus. How did the almshouse become a monastery? A certain holy fool named Ivan Stepanovich played a decisive role in this. At the age of 34, he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra to the holy relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh, after which he quit his job as a cab driver and took on the feat of foolishness, completely devoting his life to serving God. At any time of the year, half-dressed and barefoot, Ivan Stepanovich walked around the holy places and monasteries of Russia. All considered him blessed. Once he came to the widow of a wealthy Muscovite, Paraskeva Rodionovna Savatyugina, and asked for money to organize the reading of the Indestructible Psalter in the almshouse. She did not refuse, and soon, on the advice of Ivan Stepanovich, she herself became one of the sisters of the almshouse, deciding also to devote her life to serving God. The woman became the first donor of the future monastery. With her money, a two-story stone house was built for the nuns, which was consecrated by the Metropolitan of Moscow Filaret himself, who had a special disposition to the holy fool Ivan Stepanovich. Filaret presented the almshouse with the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God, which became the main shrine of the future monastery. According to legend, after visiting Stary Yam some time later, Vladyka exclaimed: "This is not an almshouse, but a monastery!"

The year was 1860. Less than five years later, the Floro-Lavra women's community was founded, the head of which was Paraskeva Rodionovna Savatyugina, and the spiritual leader of the sisters was Ivan Stepanovich. A few years later, the well-appointed house where the sisters lived was transferred from the village of Stary Yam to the village of Lukino, where not long before that a stone church was built in the name of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Soon the community began to be called Holy Cross. In 1871, another temple was laid here in honor of the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God. It was attached to the refectory building and a miraculous icon was placed here. And three years later, when the temple was completed, the first tonsure was performed here - Paraskeva Rodionovna accepted monasticism with the name of Pavel. Soon there were already about a hundred sisters in the monastery, and in 1887 the Holy Synod decided to transform the community into the Exaltation of the Cross Jerusalem Monastery.

In 1890, under Abbess Eugenia, construction began on a grandiose cathedral church in honor of the Ascension of the Lord, which we can see today. The height of the cathedral reaches 38 meters. At the western gate, a very beautiful bell tower with 10 bells was built even earlier, the largest of which weighed more than three hundred pounds. The bell tower, alas, was destroyed during the years of Soviet power. At the same time, the Bolsheviks nationalized the entire monastery economy, placing homeless children here. The nuns were assigned to work at the local state farm. In the spring of 1924, the temple was converted into a village club. Divine services continued for several years in the Exaltation of the Cross Church, where the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God was moved, but in 1937 this church was also closed, and the priest Kozma Korotkikh was shot at the Butovo firing range. For a long time, a sanatorium was located in the premises of the former monastery.

In 1992, the monastery was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church, services were resumed in the Exaltation of the Cross Church. Ten years later, the nun Ekaterina (Chainikova) became the abbess of the monastery. The temple of the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God was restored, and the miraculous image returned to its historical place from the temple of the village of Verkhnee Myachkovo, where it had been all this time in the local functioning church. The craftsmen completely restored the Exaltation of the Cross Church, painted it inside and decorated it with a majestic iconostasis. In 2006, a Moscow courtyard appeared near the monastery in the temple of the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God behind the Intercession Gate.

Magazine "Orthodox Temples. Journey to Holy Places". Issue #247, 2017

In the neighborhood of the villages of Churilkovo, Shestovo, Kupriyanikha, Kotlyakovo, there is the village of Lukino, located on the left bank of the river. Pakhry.

In the scribe book for 1627-1629. there is a record about the village of Lukino, which was located in the Terekhov camp of the Tukhachev volost: “Behind Ivan Ivanov, the son of Esipov, which was the former for Ivan and Istoma Sanbulov, which was after his brother Boris Esipov, the village of Lukino, on a hill, near the Pakhra River , and in it the yard of the landowners, the yard of the peasants and the yard of Bobylsky ... ". In 1687, the Esipovs sold their estate to F.G. Khrushchev, who belonged to the oldest noble family, many of whose representatives served as governors, stolniks, solicitors, and city nobles. Fyodor Grigoryevich in 1682 was granted the title of nobleman of the Duma. Under Khrushchev's son Fyodor in 1717-1719. in the village of Lukino, with the blessing of His Grace Stefan, Metropolitan of Ryazan and Murom, a wooden Church of the Savior was built. For the construction of the church, the landowner F.F. Khrushchev allocated land with hay from his estate. After the death of Fyodor Fedorovich s. Lukino since 1734 belonged to his son Andrei, who served as an adviser to the Admiralty office. He was a member of the circle of the closest "confidants" of the Cabinet Minister A.P. Volynsky. In 1740, he was accused of attempting to organize a conspiracy against Empress Anna Ioannovna, arrested along with other "confidants" and executed. After his death, the estate passed to his widow Anna Alexandrovna with their children Nikolai, Ivan, Marya and Elizaveta. Later with. Lukino belonged to captain N.I. Golovin - cousin of Gavrila Pavlovich Golovin, known as the founder of the Spaso-Vlakherna monastery.

In 1830, the wooden church of the village of Lukino was destroyed due to dilapidation and all church utensils and icons were transferred to the temple of the neighboring village. Kolychev. N.I. In 1848, Golovin built a stone church in honor of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on his estate to replace the dismantled church. After the death of Nikolai Ivanovich, the estate with forests and all the land in the amount of about 300 acres passed to his widow Alexandra Petrovna. By this time, A.P. Golovina was left alone, because. her husband and their only daughter died and were buried at the altar of the Exaltation Church. Being a pious woman, she transferred to the Catherine's wilderness free of charge, in her own possession, all her Lukinsky estate, leaving herself only the right to use the master's manor house until her death. This gift in favor of the monastery was approved by the emperor. But subsequently, some misunderstandings occurred between the former owner of the estate and the new owners, in particular the abbot of the monastery, and in 1867 she was forced to turn to Metropolitan Filaret with a request “is it possible to unsubscribe the Lukinskoe estate from the desert and transfer it to the Floro-Lavra women’s community", which was located in the village. Staro-Florovskiy Yam. With the great participation of Vladyka, the desire of the owner of the Lukino estate was fulfilled, and by Decree of the Moscow Spiritual Consistory dated August 28, 1869, No. 5016, the estate with all buildings, lands and other lands was expelled from the Catherine's Hermitage and transferred to the Floro-Lavra women's community, of which she was abbess Praskovya Rodionovna Savatyugina. For a device in a new place, it was necessary to have a lot of strength, effort, and the material side also took place. Therefore, at the request of the abbess, the diocesan authorities approved her nephew, the Moscow merchant Yegor Fedorovich Savatyugin, as a trustee of the community. With his help, a two-story building of the sisters was transferred from the village of Stary Yam to the village of Lukino, horse and cattle yards with premises for workers, houses for the clergy and abbess, a small hotel building were built, and an extensive orchard was planted.

The old Exaltation Church, built by the owners of the estate in the village of Lukino, was too small for the sisters, so in 1871 they started building a new one in honor of the Mother of God of Jerusalem, which was attached to the main sister building. The church was open at all times. On September 30, 1873, His Grace Leonid consecrated the temple in honor of the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God, and at the end of October of the same year, the bell tower and stone fence were laid. The life of the community began to improve and more and more resemble a monastery. Gradually, interest in the community from those around increased, the desire to pray in the temple increased every year, so there was a need to build a new spacious church for pilgrims. However, at first, in 1882, at the expense and with the help of a peasant from the neighboring village of Shestov, Sergei Tikhonovich Sorokin and other benefactors, they began the construction of an extensive refectory for the Exaltation Church, but due to the death of S.T. Sorokin's construction was suspended for three years, until a new donor was found - a Moscow merchant Dmitry Mikhailovich Shaposhnikov, who completed the building that had been started.

If in the first half of the nineteenth century. The initiative in the development of charity belonged primarily to the nobility, but after the abolition of serfdom, it became an important sphere of social behavior of the merchants and other persons associated with entrepreneurship. Moreover, since the second quarter of the 19th century, charity has become their family tradition. Moscow occupied a special place in terms of the volume of voluntary donations from citizens for the needs of education, healthcare, public charity, etc. The history of the Exaltation of the Cross Monastery is proof of this. So, with the assistance of the Moscow honorary citizen M.Ya. Meshcherina - neighbors on her estate with the community - a parochial school with a shelter for six orphan girls and a five-bed hospital with a small first-aid kit were arranged. In 1888, with the diligence of the same M.Ya. Meshcherina opened an almshouse for infirm old women from among the sisters; in June, a part of the fence was extended on the eastern and southern sides, two corner towers were built, a stone building for a bathhouse and a laundry was built at the southern entrance gate, and by autumn a two-story wooden house for a shelter was built in draft.

The life of the community was more and more like a monastery, there were already more than 100 sisters in it, and therefore, on October 18, 1886, Mother Superior Eugenia filed a petition to transform the community into a monastery. With the support of the Metropolitan and the decision of the Holy Synod, in 1887 the Floro-Lavra women's community was renamed the Holy Cross Exaltation of Jerusalem cenobitic second-class monastery. The official opening and solemn consecration of the monastery took place on June 28, 1887. In this regard, it was decided to build a large cathedral church on the site between the Jerusalem Church and the former manor house of the landowner A.P. Golovina.

In 1889, the diocesan architect S.V. Krygin prepared a project, and in the spring of 1890 the laying of the temple took place. And, as always, philanthropists came to the rescue - first of all, Vasily Fedorovich Zholobov, a Moscow tradesman, who offered 10 thousand rubles. at the beginning of construction, but it was not limited to this. He annually allocated a certain amount from his income, and from 1895 he took over the entire organization of work on the construction of the temple, while he himself purchased materials, hired workers and made settlements with them. Mainly thanks to his efforts, by the summer of 1893 the temple was almost ready from the outside, and the next summer they began to decorate the interior. Among other donors for the construction of the temple were: the nun of the Exaltation of the Cross Monastery Afanasia (in the world - the girl Glikeria Filippovna Valina), who, having joined it in 1888, brought her entire fortune, as well as Kronov, Meshcherina, Shaposhnikov, Zimina. In 1891, Ober, the prosecutor of the Holy Synod, sent 1000 rubles from the sums of Mrs. Medyntseva, and in 1893 Yu.I. Bazanov. The aforementioned nun Athanasia, who gave 10 thousand rubles, was of great help to the further internal improvement of the temple. for the iconostasis.

The device of the iconostasis was entrusted to Akhapkin, and the painting of icons and painting of the walls - to the icon painter Yerzunov. Benefactors also helped to purchase church utensils. For example, the merchant's wife Stulova brought as a gift gilded clothes, sacred vessels, a tabernacle; Penkin and Zernov church utensils, gonfalons, etc.; Hieromonk of the Chudov Monastery Father Varsonafy donated a full range of liturgical books to the new church. There were many other people who donated Gospels, crosses, vessels, candlesticks, etc. Finally, everything was ready, and on July 15, 1896, two thrones were consecrated in it: the main one - Voznesensky by Metropolitan Sergius and the northern Assumption - by the governor of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Archimandrite Pavel; the southern limit - in the name of St. Philip of Moscow (according to legend, the village of Lukino was the birthplace of this saint) on September 15 of the same year, Archimandrite Feofan of Dmitrov consecrated.

Located among the monastery buildings, opposite the holy gates that were under the bell tower, the temple, first of all, drew attention to itself with its majesty. The plan of the temple is cruciform. Its top was crowned with five domes with gilded crosses. Three entrances led to the temple, over which covered porches were arranged. Inside, the vaults of the temple were supported by four pillars, two of which were hidden by the iconostasis, open to the eyes of the worshipers from everywhere. All three altars were located in one row, and the iconostases were on a raised platform in two steps. At the right pillar, hidden by the iconostasis, was placed the temple icon of the Ascension of the Lord, at the left - the same icon of the Assumption of the Mother of God. There were more than a hundred of all the icons in the iconostasis, taking into account the images on the royal doors, and they were made in the Fryazh (Italian) style, on a golden chased background, and decorated with enamel along the edges. The murals of the vaults and walls of the church included about 150 biblical scenes and were executed in the same style as the icons of the iconostasis. They differed, according to eyewitnesses, "by grace, lightness, beauty, and numerous gilding."

In addition to the listed and described churches of the monastery, at that time there were many other buildings on its territory, the review of which should be started from the western gate, which was located near the bell tower.

The bell tower itself is low - 37 arshins (arshin is an old Russian measure of length, equal to 0.711 meters), built in 1874. It had a beautiful view and the holy gates in it were painted with sacred images “in grateful memory of the persons who served the improvement of the monastery”147. The bell tower housed 10 bells. They emitted a harmonious, clear ringing, which was well heard far away. The largest of them weighed 308 poods (a pood is a Russian measure of weight equal to 16.4 kg).

There were separate buildings to accommodate the sisters and various monastic services.

The white or "refectory" building, as already mentioned, was moved to Lukino from the village of Stary Yam during the transition of the community. Subsequently, the wooden top of the house was converted to stone, with the device in the eastern half of it and the adjacent temple of wind heating. In the basement of the house there was a chamber for heating, a cellar (a special pantry in monasteries for storing food and other supplies) and cells for nuns. On the first floor, the smaller half was occupied by the sisters' refectory adjacent to the Jerusalem temple and small sacristy rooms (a special room at the church where vestments - the priest's vestments - and church utensils are stored) and pantry. On the second floor - the entire length of the building - on both sides of a narrow corridor were the cells of the sisters. An almshouse was also located here.

In the so-called “red” building, one wall of which was the northern side of the monastery fence, and also two-story, there was at one time a prosphora (or prosvirnaya, where prosvirs are baked - in Orthodox worship a small round white loaf baked from wheat leavened dough), bread, a shoe store, a five-bed hospital, a small pharmacy room, and up to ten cells.

The white two-story building to the south of the cathedral church was intended for the sisters, and there were thirty-two cells in it. It was built in 1893 at the expense of the benefactor Vasily Fedorovich Zholobov and was named "Vasilyevsky" in his honor.

At the entrance to the monastery, on the right side, next to the bell tower, there was a wooden two-story house for receiving commanding persons when they visited the monastery, which was built in 1909.

The house of the abbess of the monastery was originally wooden, one-story. In May 1910, under Abbess Margarita, the laying of a new stone, two-storey rector's house was carried out. On the first floor, two large rooms housed a needlework and a seamstress (a workshop where linen was sewn), and the rest were intended for the sisters' housing. The upper floor was occupied by the abbot's cells.

In the western part of the monastery, not far from the new house of the abbess, there was a wooden two-story monastic parish school, where up to forty girls studied. On the second floor there was an orphanage for six orphans who lived on full monastic support. The school building was built in 1889 under Abbess Evgenia.

In addition to the listed buildings, within the monastery fence there were seven more separate houses built at the expense of the sisters who lived in them.

At the southern wall of the monastery fence, on the slope of the mountain, there was a monastery apiary. In the southwestern corner of the monastery in the early twentieth century. an extensive stone cellar was built for storing household supplies, and above it - at the entrance gate - there was a stone bathhouse and laundry building.

Behind the monastery fence were the houses of the clergy (the clergy of any church) and outbuildings. Opposite the Exaltation Church and the eastern gate of the monastery is a room for a priest and a deacon (junior minister). The second monastery priest, who was appointed in 1904, lived in a house next to the bell tower, located between two orchards. Opposite was a pine grove planted by abbess Eugenia, in which V.F. Zholobov built a hotel on two floors with 15 rooms for visitors. And in 1911, in the backyard, closer to the forest, a steam mill was built and equipped.

A pond was dug in the center of the monastery territory. Previously, this place was a large manor house with a mezzanine, which belonged to the Golovins. On the night of February 18, 1893, for some unknown reason, this house burned down, and the specified pond was dug in its place, to which, on the most important holidays, processions were made to bless the water.

In the southwestern side of the monastery, among the monastery gardens and arable land, there was a small chapel with a well. Here, according to legend, there was once a church with a revered icon of the holy martyr Anisia, and therefore the well later became known under the same name. The water of this well was amazingly clean and tasty. In 1901, a small bath was built below the chapel, which received excess water from the well. Despite the low temperature (+8 or + 10 °C), many visiting pilgrims bathed in it.

Among the visiting pilgrims there were many philanthropists and especially representatives of the merchant class. For Russian entrepreneurs, wealth was not an end in itself, but, above all, a means to serve people. Building a temple or an almshouse is the most traditional way of serving the community. In Russia, almost every merchant family left a memory of itself in the form of spiritual, social and cultural buildings. So, in 1910, from the Moscow merchant Pyotr Timofeevich Stulov, on the basis of his spiritual will, the Moscow office of the State Bank received an application for the introduction of securities, mortgages of the State Land Bank in denominations of 1000 rubles. to account No. 29653 for the storage and management of the Exaltation of the Cross Jerusalem Convent. Not infrequently, clergy also made such contributions: in 1914, a contribution of 3,000 rubles was received to the same account. from the monastery priest Vladimir Nikitovich Fryazinov for the needs of the clergy.

The chronicle of monastic events was regularly covered in the Moscow Church Gazette. They described in detail all the most important facts, significant spiritual and historical events of the monastery. For example, the opening of the monastery in the summer of 1887 was described in great detail: “The community was embellished for this day, and on the 27th in the morning it was already ready to receive guests. On the eve of the opening ceremony, they arrived: Mr. Office Manager Ober-Procurator of the Holy Synod, d.s.s. VC. Sabler, Dean of the Monasteries - Volokolamsk Island Archimandrite Sergius; rector of the Yaroslavl Tolgsky monastery, Fr. Archimandrite Pavel, Abbot of the Chudov Monastery, Fr. Archimandrite Mark and Abbot of the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery Fr. Hieromonk Theophan began to ring, announcing the approach to the new monastery of His Eminence Metropolitan. On the morning of the 28th, at 9 o'clock, the Divine Liturgy began, which Vladyka performed in concelebration with the above-named persons, who arrived in the Ugresh Monastery in the morning, Fr. Archimandrite Nile and a local priest. The small temple of the new monastery and the adjacent meal were full of people gathered from the surrounding villages and many who arrived from Moscow. Among them were the abbesses of the Moscow monasteries: the abbess of the monasteries - Alekseevsky, Nikitsky, Zachatievsky and the abbess of the Passion Monastery Eugene, who took a lot of part in the internal and external arrangement of the new monastery, the director of public schools in Moscow province. Mr. Krasnopevkov, benefactors of the community: Mrs. Meshcherina, Mr. Shaposhnikov and many others...

The monastic life went on in seclusion, in labor and concern for everyday life until October 1917. After the revolution, the well-developed and well-organized economy of the monastery was nationalized.

From the survey reports, which were regularly drawn up by members of the Podolsk district executive committee, it is known that, for example, in 1921 there was an orphanage on the territory of the Lukinsky Monastery - the “Lukinsky Children's Town” named after A. Kollontai. Then the state farm of county significance "Lukino" was located in the monastery. Ostrovsky parish. Among the last tenants was pharmaceutical plant No. 12 named after. Semashko. During the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), a hospital was located in the buildings and premises of the former monastery. After the war - a sanatorium, and then the All-Union Center for the Rehabilitation of Children, for which on the monastery territory in the 1980s. a new modern competition was built. Children from all over Russia come here for treatment and rehabilitation.

In 1992, the Head of the Administration of the Moscow Region adopted Decree No. 108 “On the transfer of an architectural monument of the Exaltation of the Cross Monastery complex in the village. Lukino, Leninsky district for the use of the Moscow Patriarchate. By this time, the territory and most of the buildings of the monastery were in a dilapidated state, the once-existing orchards, a unique maple park and a birch grove were cut down over the decades, the monastery cemetery where the Golovins were buried, who donated their estate to the monastery, many philanthropists, a famous Moscow landscape painter N.V. Meshcherin and others built up cottages.

The monastery was re-consecrated 70 years later by the Prelate Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II. And today the monastery is establishing its spiritual and economic life. As before, regular divine services are held in the temples, which bring together residents of the surrounding villages and Muscovites who come to the monastery.

One of the brightest representatives of temple architecture is the church in the Exaltation of the Cross Jerusalem stauropegial convent.

Today it is easy to get here if you drive along the Kashirskoye Highway south of Moscow. Pilgrims, on the other hand, most often board any bus going to the airport of the same name at the Domodedovskaya metro station and get off at the Sanatorium stop. From here it is about a 15 minute walk to the monastery.

Having passed the first gate, you will go along a very picturesque alley, drowning in greenery, to the gate bell tower, built of red brick, and then you will find yourself on the territory of the monastery.

The history of the monastery begins back in 1837, when a small almshouse for women began to operate in the village of Stary Yam, Podolsk district, at the church in the name of the holy martyrs Florus and Laurus.

How did the almshouse become the Exaltation of the Cross Jerusalem Monastery?

A certain holy fool named Ivan Stepanovich played a decisive role in this. At the age of 34, he made a pilgrimage to the holy relics, after which he quit his job as a cab driver and took on the feat of foolishness, completely devoting his life to serving God. At any time of the year, half-dressed and barefoot, Ivan Stepanovich walked around the holy places and monasteries of Russia. All considered him blessed.

Once he came to the widow of a wealthy Muscovite, Paraskeva Rodionovna Savatyugina, and asked for money to organize the reading of the Indestructible Psalter in the almshouse. She did not refuse, and soon, on the advice of Ivan Stepanovich, she herself joined the number of sisters of the almshouse, deciding also to devote her life to serving God.

The woman became the first donor of the future monastery. With her money, a two-story stone house for the nuns was built, which was consecrated by the Metropolitan of Moscow Filaret himself, who had a special disposition to the holy fool Ivan Stepanovich.

Filaret presented the almshouse, which became the main shrine of the future monastery.

According to legend, after visiting Stary Yam some time later, Vladyka exclaimed: “This is not an almshouse, but a monastery!” The year was 1860. In less than five years, the Floro-Lavra women's community was founded, the head of which was Paraskeva Rodionovna Savatyugina, and the spiritual leader of the sisters was Ivan Stepanovich.

A few years later, the well-appointed house where the sisters lived was transferred from the village of Stary Yam to the village of Lukino, where not long before that a stone church was built in the name of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Soon, the community became known as the Exaltation of the Cross.

In 1871, another temple was laid here in honor of the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God. It was attached to the refectory building and a miraculous icon was placed here. And three years later, when the temple was completed, the first tonsure was performed here - Paraskeva Rodionovna accepted monasticism with the name of Pavel.

Soon there were already about a hundred sisters in the monastery, and in 1887 the Holy Synod decided to transform the community into Exaltation of the Cross Jerusalem Monastery.

In 1890, under Abbess Eugenia, construction began on a grandiose cathedral church in honor of the Ascension of the Lord, which we can see today.

The height of the cathedral reaches 38 meters. At the western gate, a very beautiful bell tower with 10 bells was built even earlier, the largest of which weighed more than three hundred pounds. The bell tower, alas, was destroyed during the years of Soviet power. At the same time, the Bolsheviks nationalized the entire monastery economy, placing homeless children here. The nuns were assigned to work at the local state farm.

In the spring of 1924, the temple was converted into a village club. Divine services continued for several years in the Exaltation of the Cross Church, where the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God was transferred, but in 1937 this temple was also closed, and the priest Kozma Korotkikh was shot on.

In 1992, the monastery was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church, services were resumed in the Exaltation of the Cross Church.

Ten years later, the nun Ekaterina (Chainikova) became the abbess of the monastery. The temple of the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God was restored, and the miraculous image returned to its historical place.

The craftsmen completely restored the Exaltation of the Cross Church, inside it was painted with new frescoes and decorated with a majestic iconostasis.

In 2006, a Moscow courtyard appeared near the monastery in the temple of the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God behind the Pokrovskaya outpost.

An inexplicable feeling covers when you hear the stories of monasteries. As well as human destinies, they are also unique, and their ways are inscrutable. Today, the cloisters are being restored and growing, and several decades ago they were defiled, burned, and closed. Holy Cross Jerusalem is no exception. Its history, like that of other monasteries, is filled with various events.

Stavropegic monastery - what does it mean?

Before turning to the history of the Exaltation of the Cross monasteries, one should find out the meaning of the word "stauropegia", which is present in the names of some of them. It can literally be translated from Greek as erection, the establishment of the cross. Actually, it is this rite that is performed before the start of the construction of the temple, and in the canons of the church is called "stauropegia". At the same time, a cross is installed in the place where the throne will be. This rite can be performed by the bishop himself or, with his blessing, by a priest or a future rector. If the hoisting is carried out by the Holy One, the future temple is assigned a special, higher status. In this case, the temple is directly subordinate to the Patriarch himself. That is, the life of the monastery is not managed by the local diocese, but by His Holiness. At the same time, he has the right to appoint a viceroy. The Exaltation of the Cross stauropegial is headed by the abbess. The cloisters that have received such a status are granted privileges that relate mainly to worship.

Exaltation of the Cross Jerusalem convent stauropegial

You can find this monastery in the Domodedovo district of the Moscow region. The current location of the monastery is known for the fact that earlier there was the estate of N.A. Golovina. The landowner, following the advice of St. Philaret (Drozdov), in 1869 donated her entire Lukinsky estate to the Floro-Lavra community. Then in the village there was a temple of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord, from which the community took a new name and became known as the Exaltation of the Cross.

The fact that the monastery is also called Jerusalem also has its own history. It is associated with the icon of the Mother of God, which was donated by St. Philaret. The list from the ancient Jerusalem icon became the reason for the consecration of the church of the same name, which is also located on its territory. Later it was named Holy Cross Monastery in Jerusalem.

The history of the monastery: pre-revolutionary period

It was approved in 1865 on the basis of the Frolo-Lavra almshouse, which had previously existed at the church of the same name in the village of Stary Yam. After some time, the created women's community was transferred to the village of Lukino and transformed into a monastery.

From the seventies of the 19th century, the period of prosperity of the monastery began. The small stone Exaltation of the Cross Church was significantly expanded. With the money of patrons were built: a two-story private building, a guest house, a refectory, a bell tower, utility yards. Later, a church was added to the cell building, which in 1873 was consecrated in honor of the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God.

In the nineties, the territory, which is now occupied by the Exaltation of the Cross Jerusalem Convent (stauropegial), was replenished with another beautiful temple. According to the project of the architect S.V. Krygin, here was erected the most beautiful creation in its architecture - the Ascension Cathedral. It is he who is now the so-called calling card of the monastery.

Post-revolutionary period

After the revolution died down, the life of the monastery changed. It began to be called, like others, a source of corruption of the morality of society and in 1919 was subject to closure.

For some time, an agricultural artel was located on its territory, which ceased to exist in the thirties and gave way to a trade union holiday home. All this time, worship services did not stop on the territory of the Exaltation of the Cross Church, but in 1935 it was still closed. The priest who served in it, the holy martyr Kosma Short, was arrested and, after two years of investigation and torture, was shot. Later, dormitories, hotels, and a tobacco factory were located in the churches and buildings of the monastery at different times. During the war years, there was a hospital here, then a sanatorium, which in the 1970s became a rehabilitation center for children. Everything that had been created for so long and bit by bit by the inhabitants of the monastery and its benefactors was either destroyed or defiled.

Modern life of the monastery

In 1991 the monastery was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. Having restored its former status, it became known as the Stavropegial Convent of the Exaltation of the Cross in Jerusalem. From that moment on, a different life began here. His cloisters again replenished with nuns, lamps were lit in front of the images of the saints, unceasing monastic prayer began to sound, divine services were resumed. Later, it was also restored. In 2001, the temple was consecrated by His Holiness Alexy II.

Today, the Exaltation of the Cross Jerusalem Convent (stauropegial) is being actively restored. The nuns do social work. The monastery has a Sunday school where children study the Holy Scriptures, the ethical foundations of Orthodoxy, the structure of the church, and much more. The church community organizes pilgrimage trips to shrines, holds festive concerts, and helps orphanages and boarding schools.

Holy Cross Monastery (Nizhny Novgorod): history of foundation

The radiance of the crosses and the ringing of the bells of this monastery sanctifies one of the most beautiful ancient cities of the Russian land - Nizhny Novgorod. It is not so easy to find a monastery behind huge faceless buildings. As if someone wants to hide this treasure from human eyes, which, in addition to its architectural and historical value, also has a special spiritual significance. However, it is quite possible to find a monastery among the buildings: crosses will help in this, which will lead the guest from the city square directly to the gates of the monastery.

The ancient Holy Cross Monastery (Nizhny Novgorod), as well as other architectural and spiritual values located here, has its own history. It began in the middle of the fourteenth century and is associated with the name of the Monk Theodora of Nizhny Novgorod (in the world Anastasia Ivanovna). She is the founder of the monastery. A few years after the death of her husband, the Suzdal prince Andrei Konstantinovich, who accepted the schema with the name Dionysius, Anastasia gave away all her property, accepted monasticism, was named Vassa and entered the Zachatievsky monastery. Later, having already accepted the schema, she became Theodora. It should be noted that this monastery was erected during the life of Andrei Konstantinovich and was located at the very foot of the Volga coast.

Brief chronicle of the monastery

The wooden walls of the monastery burned to the ground more than once. Another problem was high humidity (the buildings were located on the banks of the Volga), which also contributed to the destruction of buildings. That is why in 1812 the abbess of the monastery Dorotheus turned to the local authorities with a request to transfer the monastery to the southern outskirts of the city. Over time, the Resurrection and Origin cloisters were transferred there.

Already by 1820, a huge wasteland near the cemetery adorned the most beautiful monastery cathedral. Its architectural feature is an interesting shape - the building was built in the form of an equal-ended cross.

In addition to the cathedral, eight buildings, a hospital, and a guest yard were erected here. Later, in 1838, a school was opened for orphans, who were taught reading, spelling, needlework. The monastery was visited by famous and imperial persons, travelers. After the revolution, the monastery was closed, and its buildings were used for a variety of needs, sometimes the worst. There is even a version that for several years a Soviet concentration camp for political prisoners was located here. Later, the monastery premises were warehouses, factory shops, waste storage facilities, etc.

Finally, in 1995, justice was restored, the restoration of the Exaltation of the Cross Church began, which was almost completely destroyed. Already in 1999, services began in it, and in 2005 it received its current name - the Exaltation of the Cross Convent.

Today the temple of the monastery is open to visitors. There is a first-aid post where lay people can turn for help. The novices and nuns of the monastery help orphanages, large and poor families of the city and the region.

Holy Cross Monastery in Poltava: history of creation

It was founded in 1650 as the initiator of its creation is called Martin Pushkar, who was supported by the Cossacks and residents of Poltava. The first buildings were built of wood and were easily destroyed. At the end of the seventeenth century, it was decided to build a stone cathedral with money provided by Vasily Kochubey, who was then a Cossack judge. In 1708 he was executed, and his son V.V. Kochubey.

The date of completion of the construction of the cathedral is unknown. Those times were very turbulent. The monastery was repeatedly devastated and almost completely destroyed. In 1695, it was ravaged by the Crimean Tatars, in 1709, after restoration, it was again destroyed, this time by the Swedish troops.

The illumination of the Exaltation of the Cross Monastery took place only in 1756. From this date, its heyday begins: the construction of new buildings, auxiliary premises. This period was marked by the appearance of new temples and bell towers. At the end of the eighteenth century, the monastery became a kind of center of culture. The opening of the Slavic Seminary brought to these blessed walls, in addition to talented students, many famous people of that time.

After the revolution, difficult times began for the monastery. In the end, in 1923 it was closed. In the premises of the monastery for some time there was a children's colony for homeless children, later a student hostel and canteens were placed in the buildings. The monastery returned to its true purpose only in 1942, when the community of nuns petitioned for its restoration as a nunnery. Temples and buildings were badly damaged by German bombing, but the buildings were gradually restored by the forces of novices in the post-war period. In the sixties the monastery was again closed. In 1991, the monastery opens its doors to the women's community.

National treasure of Ukraine

This beautiful monastery is one of the valuable architectural monuments. The Poltava Holy Cross Monastery includes several churches and a bell tower. Built on a hill, it is well visible from all sides and does not have a main facade - all sides of this architectural ensemble are equivalent.

The value of the Exaltation of the Cross Monastery is also the fact that it is a rare example of Ukrainian baroque. From afar you can see its three components.

The highest bell tower, the style of which resembles similar structures on the territory of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. It was erected in 1786.
The seven-domed Holy Cross Cathedral is located in the central part of the territory of the monastery. In general, in its architectural tradition, it is close to other cathedrals of Ukraine, but there are a number of details that distinguish this temple from others like it.
Trinity Church, which is a single-dome stone building, which for some time served as a refectory, but was rebuilt and consecrated in the second half of the 19th century.

Despite the fact that all the buildings were created at different times, together they form a complete architectural ensemble, being a true decoration of the Poltava region.

Date of publication or update 12/15/2017

Address of the Exaltation of the Cross Monastery: 142031, Moscow region, Domodedovsky district, pos. Luchino
How to get to Holy Cross Monastery by public transport: from Paveletsky railway station by electric train to Domodedovo station, fixed-route taxi No. 871 to the monastery; from the metro station "Domodedovskaya" by bus to the airport to the stop "Sanatorium", then 15 minutes on foot.
A detailed story about a trip to Vidnoye, including Lukino to the Exaltation of the Cross Jerusalem Convent.
Exaltation of the Cross Jerusalem Monastery website: http://krest-mon.ru
View on Yandex map:
Exaltation of the Cross Jerusalem convent in Lukino.

History of the Exaltation of the Cross Monastery.

The foundation of the current Holy Cross Exaltation Jerusalem stauropegial nunnery was laid in 1837 in the village of Stary Yam, Podolsky district, on the Kashirskoye highway. There, at the Church of the Holy Martyrs Flora and Laurus in the village of Yam, an almshouse was set up for women. The exact number of those who lived in it is unknown, but it can be assumed that there were from 10 to 15 people. This almshouse, built on church land, did not differ in any way from similar houses of charity for the poor and indigent, and was maintained "by the labors of those living in it and by well-meaning givers."

In this form, it lasted about 20 years. Since 1855, the peasant Ivan Stepanovich, a native of the village of Syanovo, began to actively help the almshouse. This was an unusual person. At the age of 34, Ivan Stepanovich left his job (and he was a Moscow cab driver) and took upon himself the feat of foolishness. It happened like this. Ivan fell ill and went to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra to venerate the holy relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh and ask for healing. During his pilgrimage, he met the holy fool of Christ for the sake of Philip, who, with the blessing of Metropolitan Philaret (Drozdov), lived in the famous Gethsemane skete of the Lavra, and then, for greater solitude, settled in a dilapidated uninhabited gatehouse, located behind the skete in a dense forest thicket.

The feat of the foolishness of Christ for the sake of and the whole way of life of Philip inspired Ivan to move away from worldly fuss and fully devote himself to serving God. In one shirt, barefoot, he walked around Moscow in winter and summer, wore chains, endured all sorts of hardships. He traveled a lot to the holy places and monasteries of Russia. Imitating the holy ascetics, he led an ascetic life.

Ivan Stepanovich was known to the Moscow Metropolitan Filaret, who had a special disposition for him and talked for a long time with the holy fool.

Moscow merchants also knew Ivan Stepanovich, but he was especially loved by the pious Savatyugin family of merchants. After the death of the head of the family, Nikolai Kirillovich Savatyugin, the blessed one came to his widow, Paraskeva Rodionovna, and asked her for money to read the Psalter for the deceased. With similar requests, he turned to other persons, and few refused him. Ivan Stepanovich decided to arrange a reading of the Indestructible Psalter in the almshouse, which became the foundation on which the monastery subsequently arose.

Soon, on the advice of Ivan Stepanovich, Paraskeva Rodionovna Savatyugina (the first donor) joined the ranks of the sisters of the almshouse, deciding to devote her life to serving God and neighbor.

With the money donated by her, a two-story stone house was built for the almshouse. On the day of the consecration of this house, Vladyka Philaret sent the Jerusalem icon of the Mother of God in Greek writing as a blessing to the almshouse, which became the main shrine of the monastery.

Vladyka Filaret did not cease to patronize the almshouse in subsequent years, helping her in every possible way. Having visited the village of Stary Yam in 1860, having examined the almshouse, he said this: "This is not an almshouse, but a monastery!" These words turned out to be prophetic.

The Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God, sent as a blessing to the almshouse by Metropolitan Philaret (Drozdov) of Moscow.

After 5 years, in 1865, thanks to his petition, the almshouse was renamed the Floro-Lavra women's community. Paraskeva Rodionovna Savatyugina becomes her first boss, and Ivan Stepanovich is the spiritual leader of the sisters.

Ivan Stepanovich died on January 7, 1865, at the age of 50. This holy man was the first and main founder of the current monastery.

During the life of Ivan Stepanovich, the almshouse almost did not need anything, since Moscow merchants, who knew him personally, willingly donated money to it, and with the death of the blessed one, the community began to feel the need ... But the ways of God's Providence are inscrutable. In 1869, a very important event took place in the life of the community.

It took a lot of effort to set up in a new place. Therefore, Paraskeva Rodionovna Savatyugina asked the diocesan authorities to appoint her nephew, the Moscow merchant Yegor Fedorovich Savatyugin, as a trustee of the community. With his help, the former comfortable house was transferred from the village of Stary Yam to the village of Lukino for housing for the sisters, and other works were carried out to equip the new place.

It was entrusted to transfer the community to Lukino to the Dean of cenobitic monasteries, Archimandrite of the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery Pimen (Myasnikov) (in 2004 he was canonized as locally venerated Saint Pimen of Ugreshsky).

Arriving at a new place, the sisters began to settle down.

But over time, this old Exaltation Church became cramped for the sisters, so in 1871 they began to build a new one in honor of the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God, which was attached to the refectory building. Now it was here, day and night, that the sisters read the Indestructible Psalter. Here they also placed the main shrine of the community - the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God, a gift from Vladyka Philaret. On October 13, 1873, the new temple was consecrated, and at the end of the month, the construction of the bell tower and stone fence began.

In 1873, the first tonsure was performed in the Jerusalem temple - the abbess of the community, Paraskeva Rodionovna Savatyugina, became a monk with the name Pavla, and most of the sisters were blessed to wear monastic clothes.

During the time of the abbot of the nun Pavla in the period from 1871 to 1886. a two-story cell building, a house for the clergy, a rector's building, a small hotel, a bell tower, horse and cattle yards were built, the construction of a stone fence began, an orchard and a vegetable garden were planted.

Gradually, interest in the community from those around increased, the number of people wishing to pray in the temple increased every year, so there was a need to build a new spacious church for pilgrims. With his own money earned by hard and righteous labors, a simple peasant Sergei Tikhonovich Sorokin is building a vast refectory for the Exaltation of the Cross Church. The masonry of the extension was brought almost to the windows when Sergei Tikhonovich died. The construction was suspended for three years, until a new donor was found - the Moscow merchant Dmitry Mikhailovich Shaposhnikov, who completed the refectory.

Nun Pavel at that time was already about 90 years old, and she filed a petition for her retirement.

In 1886, Evgeniya (Vinogradova), a nun from the Moscow Passionate Monastery, was appointed to manage the community. She had 30 years of experience as a monastic under her belt and zealously set about transforming the community into a monastery.

With the assistance of Princess Maria Yakovlevna Meshcherina, a parochial school with an orphanage for six orphan girls and a five-bed hospital were set up. The community had its own pharmacy garden, its own pharmacy. The sisters themselves made medicines not only for themselves, but also for the surrounding residents. They went around the villages and villages, washed the sick, delivered medicines and food to the sick. An almshouse was opened for the infirm old women from among the sisters.

Under Abbess Eugenia, the grandiose construction of a cathedral church in honor of the Ascension of the Lord began.

Shortly after this conversation, the Moscow tradesman Vasily Fedorovich Zholobov visited the monastery. He was struck by the fact that during the holidays the Holy Cross Church cannot accommodate all the worshipers. Vasily Fedorovich offered Abbess Evgenia 10,000 rubles to start building the cathedral church. In 1889, the project was prepared by the diocesan architect S. V. Krygin, and in the spring of 1890, the laying of the cathedral took place. V. F. Zholobov annually allocated a certain amount from his income, and subsequently took over the entire organization of work on the construction of the temple, while he himself purchased materials, hired workers and made settlements with them.

Mainly thanks to his efforts, by the summer of 1893 the temple from the outside was almost ready. The height of the cathedral from the ground to the cross was 38 meters. The next summer, we started the interior decoration. The nun Afanasia, a resident of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Monastery, allocated a large sum for the construction of the iconostasis, who, having entered the monastery, brought her entire fortune. The painting of the walls and the writing of icons were entrusted to the icon painter Yerzunov. Icons for iconostases were painted on a gold chased background and decorated with enamel along the edges. About 150 biblical scenes were depicted on the walls of the cathedral. Benefactors also helped to purchase church utensils.

The construction of the cathedral was completed under another abbess - Mother Superior Nina (Evstafieva). (After 7 years of vigilant labor, nun Evgenia was transferred as abbess to the Moscow Ascension Convent in the Kremlin.)

On July 15, 1896, two thrones were consecrated in the cathedral: the main, Ascension, and the northern, Assumption. The southern chapel in the name of Metropolitan Philip of Moscow (according to legend, the village of Lukino was the birthplace of this saint) was consecrated on September 15 of the same year.

Under Abbess Nina, Vasily Zholobov built another nursing building, which has survived to our time and is called "Vasilyevsky".

After Abbess Nina, who died in 1900, the nun Alexandra (Egorova) became the abbess of the monastery. Having renovated the Exaltation of the Cross Church, she retired, and in 1906 the staff of the abbess passed to nun Margarita (Petrushenkova). Nun Margarita was transferred from the Ascension Convent in the Kremlin, where she carried the obedience of a cell-attendant to Abbess Evgenia (Vinogradova).

Under Abbess Margarita, the construction of the fence was completed. Now the whole complex of monastic buildings was a single ensemble.

In addition to the temples and buildings of the monastery listed and described above, there were many other buildings on its territory.

Near the western gate of the monastery there was a bell tower built in 1874 (destroyed in Soviet times). She was not tall - 37 arshins, but surprisingly beautiful. The holy gates in it were skillfully painted "in grateful memory of the persons who contributed to the improvement of the monastery." The bell tower housed 10 bells. They made a good sonorous, clear ringing, which was well audible far away.

The largest of them weighed 308 pounds.

There were separate buildings to accommodate the sisters and various monastic needs.

The refectory building, as already mentioned, was transferred to Lukino from the village of Stary Yam during the transition of the community.

In the building, located behind the Jerusalem temple and also two-story, there was at one time a prosphora, bread, shoe, hospital for five beds, a small pharmacy room and about 10 cells.

At the entrance to the monastery, on the right side, next to the bell tower, in 1909 a wooden two-story house was built to receive commanding officials when they visited the monastery.

The house of the abbess of the monastery was originally wooden, one-story. In May 1910, under Abbess Margarita, a new stone two-story house was laid. On the first floor, two large rooms housed a needlework and seamstress workshop, while the rest were intended for the sisters' housing. The upper floor was occupied by the abbot's cells.

In the western part of the monastery, not far from the new home of the abbess, there was a wooden two-story monastic parish school, where about forty girls studied. On the second floor there was an orphanage for six orphans who lived on full monastic support. (The school building was built in 1889 under Abbess Evgenia.)

In addition to the listed buildings, within the monastery fence there were seven more separate houses built at the expense of the sisters who lived in them. At the southern wall of the monastery fence, on the slope of the mountain, there was an apiary. In the southwestern corner of the monastery, at the beginning of the 20th century, a vast stone cellar was built to store household supplies, and above it, at the entrance gate, there was a stone bathhouse and laundry.

Behind the monastery fence there were clergy houses and outbuildings. Opposite the Exaltation Church and the eastern gate of the monastery is a room for a priest and a deacon. The second monastery priest, who was appointed in 1904, lived in a house next to the bell tower.

The house was located between two orchards. Opposite is a pine grove planted by Mother Superior Eugenia. V.F. / Kolobov, mentioned above, built a two-story hotel with 15 rooms in a grove. And in 1911, in the backyard, closer to the forest, a steam mill was built and equipped.

There was a pond in the center of the monastery territory. Previously, a large manor house with a mezzanine, owned by the Golovins, stood on this site. On the night of February 18, 1893, this house burned down, and a pond was dug in its place, to which on holidays religious processions were made to bless the water.

In the southwestern side of the monastery, among the monastery gardens and arable land, there was a small chapel with a well. Here, according to legend, there was once a church with a revered icon of the holy martyr Anisiy, and therefore the well later became known as Anisievsky. The water of this well is amazingly clean and tasty. In 1901, a small bath was built below the chapel.

The monastic life continued in solitude, prayer and work until October 1917. After the revolution, the well-developed and well-established economy of the monastery was nationalized, valuable utensils were confiscated, and the library was burned.

Homeless children were placed within the walls of the monastery. The nuns themselves were identified as workers, first of the Agricultural Commune, and then of the Lukino state farm. After some time, the land of the state farm was transferred to the pharmaceutical plant "Ferein". The exemplary monastic economy gradually fell into decay ...

In the early 1920s, Rest House No. 10 of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions was organized in the monastery. At that time, an orchard, a maple park and an apiary were still preserved. But the domes and crosses of the Ascension Cathedral, which so interfered with the new owners, had already been removed ...

On April 27, 1924, at 10 pm, a meeting was held at which it was decided to close the temple. Inside, floors were made for the second floor and a club was opened.

The only consolation for believers in those years was the Holy Cross Church, where the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God was transferred. Liturgical life continued there.

In 1937, Kozma Korotkikh, a priest of the Exaltation of the Cross Church, was shot at the Butovo training ground. The last candle of the monastery prayer went out. A warehouse for storing coal and peat was arranged in the church, and the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God was laid on the floor like a flooring...

The terrible time of the Great Patriotic War... A military hospital is urgently located in the buildings and premises of the former monastery. The believing women miraculously manage to save the Jerusalem icon of the Mother of God and transport it to the church in the village of Myachkovo, where the icon will remain for 50 years.

After the war, the sanatorium "Leninskiye Gorki" was opened in the monastery. An orchard and a maple alley were cut down for the Olympics.

In 1980, the All-Union Center for the Rehabilitation of Children was located on the territory of the monastery. The Center's administration was located in the Exaltation of the Cross Church. The temple was divided by a ceiling into two floors and divided into many small rooms. A hydropathic facility was set up in the Jerusalem temple. In the altar there were baths in which the sick took water procedures.

Perhaps, through the prayers of the founder of the monastery, Blessed Ivan Stepanovich, and the abbesses and nuns of the monastery who received the Grace of God in eternity, the holy Jerusalem monastery was saved by the Lord from greater defilement, similar to that which many other temples and monasteries were subjected to.

At a time when prisons, garages, warehouses for fertilizers and chemicals, factories producing weapons of mass destruction, and other institutions incompatible with church service were set up in other monasteries and churches, the Holy Cross Monastery has always remained a place where the suffering received relief from their ailments - an almshouse , a shelter for homeless children, a rest home, a hospital, a sanatorium, a children's rehabilitation center. (A new modern building was built for the rehabilitation center on the monastery territory in the 1980s. The foundation of the destroyed steam mill also came in handy: one of the buildings of the Center was also erected on it. Children from all over Russia still come here for treatment.)

But now the times and dates have come true, the period of spiritual devastation has ended, and the time has come to "gather stones."

In 1992, the monastery was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church, and its second life began. New nuns came to the monastery, lampadas were lit in front of the holy images, monastic prayer flowed like a bright stream, divine services were resumed in the Exaltation of the Cross Church of the monastery. The first years of the revival of the monastery were difficult; Only sincere faith in the immutable promises of God and the Heavenly Protection of the Mother of God, whose miraculous image of Jerusalem, miraculously saved from destruction, returned to the walls of the monastery, gave strength to the nuns to endure all the physical and spiritual hardships of the period of formation.

A new period of restoration of monastic life and the restoration of the monastery began in 2001 with the arrival of nun Ekaterina (Chainikova), who had gone through the theological school of the elders of the Pskov-Pechersk monastery, gained monastic experience in the Pyukhtitsa Holy Dormition Convent and in obedience in the Moscow Patriarchate. Under her leadership, with the direct paternal care of the monastery of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, the monastery began to improve, to conduct active social work.

During this period of spiritual "gathering of stones" numerous events took place that qualitatively changed the life of the monastery.

The temple of the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God was restored with the sister building adjacent to it. The Holy Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God was placed in its historical place.

The Exaltation of the Cross Church was completely restored, painted with frescoes, decorated with a majestic iconostasis and many holy icons. Some of the icons that are now in the temple were in it before closing.

At the monastery, under the direct patronage of the abbess, a small, but active and cheerful Sunday school began its life, in which the children of the parishioners found the opportunity to communicate with their believing peers. Pupils of the school sing at divine services, arrange performances and concerts both for the nuns and parishioners of the monastery, and "on tour" - either in a nearby rehabilitation center, or in various Moscow parishes, or with congratulations from His Holiness Patriarch Alexy. But not only the holidays held by the monastery for sick children connect the monastery with the rehabilitation center.

The priests of the monastery provide the necessary pastoral assistance to the children and their parents in this center, both in the monastery itself and on the territory of the center's buildings. A special page in the life of the monastery is occupied by friendship with the Orthodox Orphanage from the village of Uspenskoye, Noginsk district, Moscow region. For several years now, children from this institution have been coming to the monastery for vacations: to relax, to make a feasible contribution to the revival of the monastery, to communicate with the monastery animals.

The almshouse continues its quiet life, from which the history of the Exaltation of the Cross Monastery once began. Several weak souls in need of help found shelter, care and consolation here.

Reviving the traditions of the Russian monastic economy, the monastery acquired a new barnyard, which provides the inhabitants with dairy products. The monastery products, famous for their quality, are bought with pleasure by the surrounding residents, and the proceeds from the sale are used to restore the monastery.

Vegetable gardens have always been an integral part of the life of monastics, eating from the fruits of their labor and consuming mainly food of plant origin. There are also in the Exaltation of the Cross Monastery. There is a deep spiritual meaning in this painstaking agricultural work. Cultivating the fertile land and removing weeds from it, the monk prayerfully cultivates "the land of his heart", removing sinful passions from it, planting and growing Christian virtues in the soul.

And yet the main "work" of a monk is prayer. It is this difficult spiritual feat that is the basis of the life of the monastery, the main tool for the Christian improvement of the soul. Every day, the sisters of the monastery read the entire Psalter in full, commemorate synodists with many names of living and deceased Orthodox Christians.

Every day, monastic prayer rules are performed in the temple, prayers with akathists and funeral litia are served. Frequently performed Divine Liturgies provide powerful, grace-filled support in the difficult monastic life of the nuns. The secret deeds of the sisters are known only by the Lord who knows the heart...

An important role in enriching the souls of monastics is played by pilgrimage trips to the great Russian shrines: to the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, to the Seraphim-Diveevo monastery, the Serpukhov Vladychny monastery and the Vysotsky monastery and to other holy monasteries, where the abbess organizes trips for the sisters, sometimes together with the pupils of the Resurrection schools and parishioners. The experience gained on such trips contributes to the further development of spiritual life in one's own monastery.

In 2006, a courtyard appeared near the monastery in Moscow - the temple of the Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God behind the Intercession Gate (Talalikhina St., 24). This temple was built in 1912 by the architect S.F. Voznesensky in the style of Russian tent churches of the 16th century. It could accommodate up to 2,000 pilgrims and was one of the best in Moscow in decoration. Now there is no trace of its former splendor ...

The courtyard immediately attracted to itself those Moscow parishioners who feel the special spirit and taste of monastic prayer, and strive to join at least in part the life of "earthly angels - heavenly people" - monks. A community of believers has formed around the temple, the temple has become for them the House where their souls have found grace and peace from the many sorrows and worries of modern life.

Both the courtyard and the monastery itself live an intense life of a single spiritual organism, serving God and the Orthodox people. "Stones are being gathered" - those "stones" of faith and monastic deeds, on the foundation of which the great Russian Orthodox Church has stood unshakably for a thousand years, and will stand until the end of the Age.