Pecherny monasteries. Ten mysterious pechernye temples. Chervona pechera Kizil-Koba

In the near future, I plan to complete a series of subsequent articles dedicated to the amazing surge of spiritual activity in almost all corners of the earth’s culture in the 11th century of our era. After completion, the bags will be packed and the hypotheses in connection with this will be carefully started. Apparently, what was found and published on the site earlier is an insignificant part of what was discovered and actually happened, but I think it will be entirely sufficient for solid and well-argued evidence.

Well then, let's move on. In addition, in the northern European territory in the 11th century, the existence of underground temples and cave-type monasteries became widespread. I had a chance to visit some of them and consult with the guides, who discovered rumors about those that the Peker churches, most likely, were conquered by the Chens, who practice hesychasm - (from the Greek. ἡσυχία , “Calm, quiet, calm”) Christian mystical light-gazing, a long tradition of spiritual practice, which forms the basis of Orthodox asceticism.

Found monuments of ancient architecture:

• Near and Far Caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra,
• Gniletsky Pechery, Church,
• Bakota,
• Galician Pecherny Monastir,
• Zvirinetsky Pechery, Kiev
• David Gareji, Iveria,
• Kholkivske ancient settlement, Russia,
• Lalibela, Ethiopia,
• Pechera Iographer,
• Pecherny Monastery of Vardzia, Iveria,
• Caves of the Svyatogirsk Monastery,
• etc.

Near and Far Caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra

Kiev-Pechersk Lavra(ukr. Kiev-Pechersk Lavra) - one of the first monasteries of Kievan Rus after the hour of sleep. One of the most important Orthodox shrines, the third Share of the Mother of God. Founded in 1051 (XI century) under Yaroslav by the Wise Chen Anthony, originally from Lyubech.

Anthony's Caves near Lyubech, Chernihiv region

The most ancient cult spore of Lyubech (Chernihiv region, Ukraine) is an underground temple, excavated in the 11th century by the Monk Anthony of Pechersk. The information is extremely poor, I will not repeat what is written on the Internet, I will also add that the St. Anthony Monastery was in existence until 1786. and was closed following the orders of Catherine II. At the first glance, the distant stove was preserved, near the forest on the flooded outskirts of the village. Recently, a nearby stove in the center of the village was opened, ordering from the Kamyanitsa Polubotka (excavations are underway).

Anthony's Caves near Chernigov.

Anthony's ovens- Pecherny complex of the 11th-19th centuries near the Boldin Mountains near Chernigov. A long time ago, there were pagan temples on these mountains. Following the instructions, at the last place, Anthony of Pechersk dug a stove and fell asleep in the monastery. The Monastery of the Mother of God was founded on the side of cemeterial Orthodox monasteries, consisting of a large number of underground premises (cells for disciples, church necropolises, underground churches). On the territory of the kiln complex, one of the land spores of that time was preserved - the Church of Ireland.

Hniletsky Pechery, Church

The monastery was formerly known as Gniletsky and Glynetsky, the Monastery of the Most Holy, built at the fry place between the villages of Lisniki and Pirogova in the Tserkovshchina tract (Vilniy village), near Kiev, and also known as the monastery of the XI-XV century. it is. Nina is the Pecherny Monastery of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Bakota

Bakota, which in ancient Russian translation means bazhany, a wonderful place, is one of the oldest settlements in the Polish region (Ukraine). Here, on a high white mountain, already in the 11th century, there was a human monastery.

Lyadivsky Beseknovsky monastic monastery, Vinnytsia region, Ukraine. The foundations of wines in the 11th century were established by the founder of the Russian monks, Antonii Pechersky. I am reading a critical editorial insert in a few minutes, but all the lists of the Pecherny monasteries for the version of the church were founded by one person, and more precisely by Anthony Pechersky, and I, honestly speaking, it is important to show that when I stood up, even before We know that there were rocks on Mount Athos in the past. , there is a version that having visited Palestine

Neporotivsky St. Nicholas Pecherny Monastir - human pecherny monastery, Bukovina, Ukraine. According to archaeologists, the monastery was founded in the middle of the 12th century by the Chens, who settled in the village, in the caves.

Zvirinetsky Pechery, Kiev

Zvirinetsky Caves Monastery or as it is officially called - Archangel Michael's Zvirinetsky Monastery is a Caves Monastery in the historical locality of Kiev Zvirinetsky. There were no direct mysteries about the monastir. It is reported that the settlement of Pechersk by the Chens occurred in the 11th-12th centuries during the Christianization of Kievan Rus.

The David-Gareji monastery complex has been ranked among the most beautiful places in the world. In the 11th century, the terrace door in the Lavra of David was moistened, new cells, a refectory and a church were created. The swimming pool, sewers and tanks were built outside the bar. David Gareji reaches his greatest development in the 11th-13th centuries. New monasteries are opening at this time – Udabno, Bertubani and Chichkhituri.

Bilgorod region, Russia. The underground monastery has a temple, in which the altar adjoins the inner wall of the apse, and above its lower (right) part in the apse hangs a small niche, which resembles an altar. The circular gallery next to the throne, perhaps a large bed of the Christian samitnik, was created in the same way as the circular gallery under the syntron of the St. Nicholas Basilica in the World of Lycia near Asia Minor. The settlement dates back to the 11th-13th centuries.

Poltava region, Ukraine. Once it is known, I will make a remark:

Father led me to the steep bank of the Suli, giving me a candle in my hand and pointing the throat of an ancient stove at the neck of my neck. These cold passages stretched as far back as the 11th century, right up to the Lubny Hill (asphalt often falls through the stove structures on some streets and at the mouths of the town). The stoves stretch all the way to Mirgorod, creating a tunnel under Sulaya. ()

Information from Wikipedia:

Stradetska Pechera (also known as Stradetska Pechera) is a geological monument of nature of local significance. Roztashovany in the village of Stradch (Yavorivskyi district, Lviv region), on the left birch of the Vereshchytsia river. Pechera is located in the depths of the Stradetska (or Stradchanska) mountain (359 m), which is built on the flooded humpback ridge of Roztochya. The mountain is folded from the piskoviks of Tortona. The entrance is at the Roztashovaya Pechera on the steep slope of the mountain. The final passage is over 270 m. It consists of an entrance gallery (about 40 m long), in which a chapel is poured. The Pecherny Church has a stone cross from the 11th century, and a stone stole has been preserved for the testimony. The white of the head wall is a throne hewn from stone, on which in the buried mountains there is eternal fire. There were also a number of black cells there. At the end of the gallery there is a wall where droplets flow down the stone - “tears of the Virgin Mary”.

Pecherny Monastery of Vardzia, Iveria

Vardzia (vantage. ვარძია) is a cave monastery complex of the XII-XIII century in Georgia, in Javakheti. An important monument to the Middle Ages Georgian architecture. Roztashovany in the Aspinsky district of the Samtskhe-Javakheti region, in the valley of the Kura (Mtkvari) river, about 100 km to the day from the town of Borjomi, near the village of the same name. At the center of the Roztashova monastery is the main temple in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Stretching 900 m along the left bank of the Kuri River, near the straight tuff wall of Mount Erusheti (Vedmezha), there are up to 600 premises: churches, chapel, living cells, comor, baths, refectories, treasury, libraries.

As our ancestors clearly noted, the Russian land is large and clear. And from time to time, in these endless expanses, true wonders appear, as if you don’t find any sense of acuity in “extraordinary” places. One of these miracles is the entire church monastery in the Voronezk region, which looks almost unheard of for the famous Central Russian region. As if having seen them in the photograph, I really wanted to get there, and such an opportunity fell on the first grass. And I’ll say right away - in just a few days this may have been the most beautiful and unexpected place.

We didn’t get to Voronezh right away - we started from an abandoned church in the Tula region, where we didn’t manage to find the way at the right time. There was a need to “close” the topic, also without stopping at all for several dozen kilometers. It’s more that on the day before Moscow everything was already blooming and smelling.

Divchinkina tract, if there is a great village with the Znamyanskaya Church. Today it’s just a hump on the birch of the Chern River in the sharp fields and ravines.

The church is near Russia, and in the middle is a warehouse with an unbearable smell.

We got up and went away. They passed Yelets, which at first glance looked very worthy. We didn’t go for a walk, but visually the place had already received some hostility – it looks like the center there has been well preserved. True, there is only one photograph, taken over the shoulder at the exit.

You enter the Voronezk region, and the landscape changes dramatically. The steppes, the deep ravines and the Kreidian winds begin to appear.

We are already approaching Kostomarov, where the first “miracle” is located - the Holy Savior Monastery.

From a distance you already understand that this is a very special place. The ceremonial stages of vitrification are called “divi”, and in the 12th century the Athonite Chens stood at them as entrances to underground monasteries.

Kreida is a very soft and pliable material, so it’s easy to handle in new passages and cells.

The zagalom of the kilka complex is marked with “temples”. It was the end of the day and it was no longer possible to drink during the day. The light of the evening made everything simmer in the warmth of the sunset farbi.

This is the Spassky Cathedral. The ring looks like a small stove, and in the middle you marvel at its size (it’s impossible to take it from the middle).

A handful of ancient icons are preserved in the middle. The head of the shrine is the Kostomarivo Icon of the Mother of God, daubed on the arch of the bay. Nina has a number of cul-de-sacs - they appeared after her alarm bells were fired at communism. What strikes the most is the sound of silence that pangs in the middle. I probably haven’t felt anything like this anywhere.

The monastery was closed in the 1930s, and then opened again during the Great Patriotic War. And then again closures and abandonments, now at Khrushchev’s fate.

Judging from photographs on the Internet, do it there on the weekend. We were lucky - we were there in the evening at four, and walked there practically alone, so that we could enjoy the silence and beauty to our heart's content.

We spent the night at a wonderful place, a small hotel near the simple village of Uriv-Pokrovka on the birch of the Don. All that is required is friendliness, silence, deliciousness. In the photo there is the one near the center with the blue eyes. (upd. due to this fate, this site does not work).

Right next to Uriv there are a bunch of deep beams, on the skhila of which there are nori baibaki.

The french trousers climb out of them in order to bask in the spring sun.

They have huge sides, and even sharp eyesight and hearing, so they can get more than one wrong move, as a fashion model immediately disappears into a hole.

You capture one, and a couple more are lost before the shot.

Even sorcerous creatures.

The next step is the Divnogoriya Nature Reserve, in which there are the divas themselves.

The same kind of bakery monasteries...

Plus panoramic views of Tikha Sosna and Don.

There are too many vipers on the skhila.

And also other living things

The mountain occupies a large territory - there is an “extreme” monastery, ancient settlements, and 9-10 century old fortifications. On the divas there are inscriptions of different hours and peoples.

And below there is a climb, with the vibrations of some monuments of nature gradually crumbling.

Below, a couple of people with rakes met, who turned out to be volunteers from France, who work at the reserve on huge ambushes. Her self-devotion seems to contrast even sharply with the inhabitants of the majestic village, a people from whom they do not owe anything in order to exploit the riches with which their nature has endowed them.

After the Voronezh steppes - near the Kursk region, where my grandfather was born and where I spent my childhood in the old house with walls smeared with clay. Read about those times when a wonderful place changes with good times in the upcoming series.

11 picked up

Today we are falling at an unprecedented price, more expensive not only than the beautiful places of Russia, but also its history, the secret places of the mysterious Russian soul. Pechernye monasteries of Russia - marvelous creations of nature and human hands On the territory of our region, pechernye monasteries arose from the 10th to the 19th centuries: in Kiev, Volinsky, Chernigovsky, Kharkov Sky, Voronezk, Kursk, Tambov, Nizhny Novgorod, Penza, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Pskov provinces And they rejoiced with special respect and love among the people for the antiquity and holiness of the place, for the savory way of life of the black people. From the beginning of the foundation of the first Kiev-Pechersk Caves Monastery there was a stench of the most beloved place of pilgrimage, people from all over Russia were drawn here...

Divnogorsk Assumption Monastery, Voronezka region

Divnogira – there’s no other way to say about this place! On a low plateau above the flood of the Tikha Sosna River there are towering Credian “remains” or “devis” that gave them all this little locality. Mali Divi and Veliki Divi - two monastery complexes, built one way from the other at a distance of 2 km, began their history in some ways in the first half of the 17th century, in others they began to settle here in the 14th-15th centuries i. And in 1851, not far from the Malykh Diva complex, on the outskirts of the village of Selyavna, a villager started digging a stove, two years later, the villager Shatov came to the rescue, and without digging up the stoves, they were taken to the complex of the Divnogorsk monastery, and the “diggers” themselves were insured and to the warehouse. As far as church chronicles and retellings go, the first ovens were built by the Greek Chenes Joseph and Xenophon, who flowed from Sicily during the persecution of the Orthodox Church and brought here the icon of the Mother of God, as stated and this is the place for the Pechernaya Church. The official date of the foundation of the monastery is taken into account according to the first letter riddle, dated 1653.

Having spent here, honestly, all the historical details, you will simply throw into the background, buried by the extraordinary beauty of Divnogorya, its special atmosphere, unique architecture and the spirit of peace that hovers over the place of evil Don and Quiet Sosny. During the Christian hours, the Assumption Monastery was plundered, the library was depleted, and many were shot. At the hour of the Great German War, a military hospital was organized near the walls of the monastery, which was the time of reorganization at the tuberculosis sanatorium.

The Holy Dormition Divnogorsk Human Monastery also has a museum-reserve, and since the adjacent territory can be easily wandered around, you can visit the Pechersk Church of the Sicilian Icon of the Mother of God on a private group excursion. At the entrance to the church there is an icon of the Sicilian Mother of God, which is preserved in a chamber for constant temperature and moisture. Near the church, a long tunnel has been dug for the passage, which, when unraveled, leads to a passage to another level, where the cells of the Chens have been demolished.

On the other side of the ridge plateau there is the active Divnogorsk Assumption Monastery and the Caves Church of the Birth of John the Baptist, which is still undergoing reconstruction.

Kostomarivsky Holy Savior Women's Monastery Voronezk region

Following the testimony of this month, 2 thousand rocks impressed with their unprecedented beauty and the wondrous light of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called, who ordered the top of one of the great mountains to be crowned with a stone cross and fall asleep for this lower monastery.

The Great Pecherny Spassky Church was built in three stages: in the XII, XVI-XVII and XVIII-XIX centuries. The crypt of the temple, which can accommodate up to two thousand people, rests on 12 strong columns, and in its walls there are black cells for the hermits, who flocked with their brethren and pilgrims even through high school. Previously, the temple could become victorious as a result of the fall of oblogies, leading to the same move and crisis. After the revolution, the Savior Monastery was closed, but was reopened during the Great Patriotic War, although after the war there was a situation that could not be vindicated - in 1958 the monastery was closed, the ovens they tore it up and filled it with water, and the building where the blueberries lived was doused with diesel fuel and set on fire ...

Suddenly the Holy Savior's Convent opened its doors in 1997. It is often called “Russian Palestine”. And here is Golgotha ​​with a cross at the top, Mount Tabor, Kidron and Gethsemane. And here is one marvelous place - the oven of repentance. There is a long corridor leading to the oven, the crypt of which becomes lower and lower, small ceramic icons are embedded in the wall, and in their niches candles were burning, illuminating the path of the elder who is repenting to the cell, until And the stench was already approaching in a deep repentant bow. And on the mountains near the monastery in the mountains, a marvelous herb grows - incense, brought here from Athos, when lightly rubbed between your fingers, you can feel the subtle aroma of incense... .

Trinity Skaniv Monastery, Penza region

From the foothills of the Plodska (Town) mountain, the three-tiered pecherny complex with the kissing jerel of the Kiev-Pechersk wonderworkers of Feodosia and Antonia and the Trinity-Scan monastery was built. The founder of the pebble monastery was Arseny II, who came to the underground cell in 1826, and later (1866-1880) a number of desert-hermits came here, who became I leave the church and the chapel at the entrance to the furnace. From the main entrance to the monastery there is a long passage - more than 2.5 km to the lowest level of the stove (there were 7 in total) to the dzherel with clean water.

In the 30s of the last century, the church and chapel were demolished, and the oven was literally destroyed, which resulted in the collapse of the lower tiers. Therefore, today’s labyrinth of underground spores and cells are only three tiers and almost 600 meters long. For the last 10 years, active work has been underway to update the used parts of the furnace, which will eventually extend the length of the famous furnace of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

It is possible to enter the monastery either independently or with the assistance of a novice.

Bilogirsky Resurrection Monastery, Voronezk region

Bilogirsky Resurrection Monastery was opened in 1882 in the Ostrogoz district of Voronezk province. The monastery was founded on the site of the Bilogirsky Caves, which was founded in 1796. The furnaces of the Cossack Maria Sherstyukova and the villagers Ivan Tishchenko and Andriy Vasilchenko were dug for the transfers.

Behind the new data in Russia, there are still a lot of pecherny monasteries, perhaps many of them are closer to you and the most valuable price comes at you literally from the threshold: Gethsemane and Chernigov monasteries (1844, 184 7 rubles) at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra in Moscow region, Sarovskaya Uspenskaya pustel (1700 rub.) near the Tambov region, Molchanskaya Rizdvo-Virgin Sophronia pustel (XIII century) near the Kursk region, Pechersk Ascension Monastery (1330 r.) Nizhny Novgorod region and the foundations of St. Dionisiem, Trinity-Mikilsky Kholkovsky monastery (1620 r.) Kursk in the Kursk region, Shatrishchegorsk Transfiguration monastery (1652 r.).

Pechernye temple spores also appear in the St. John the Theological Monastery in the Ryazan region, in Stariya Ladozi and in the Tula region. The pechers with the Church of Anthony and Theodosius of the Pecherskys were open under the Kremlin hill near Tobolskaya metro station.

One cannot deprive one of the most beautiful monasteries in Russia without respect -

Pskov-Pechersk Monastery near the Pskov region

According to the legend, the founders of the monastery came from the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery. The ovens “created by God” have been known to local residents since 1392, and the first Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God was consecrated here in 1473. Today there are six churches in the monastery, behind the church of the Resurrection Church, where services are held only for the brethren: Uspensky, Stritensky, in the name of the Archangel Michael, in the name of the Great Martyr. Korniliya, Mikilsky and Pokrovsky. It’s amazing that the monastery was never closed, although this threat was constantly hanging over it. There are many ancient legends and modern tales associated with this wondrous place. Today, access to the oven is open for the extraction of meat from the accompanying person behind the front home, to the territory of the monastery. At the caves of the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery, the hour in the sky is ticking, hovering there for about an hour, it seems as if a little more than 10 weeks have flown by.

Kostomarivo Spaskiy Women's Monastery

Hot sun, dry grass, rare low-growing chagarb... A spluttering blend of heavenly blue with the sticky whiteness of Creed's scheming, a miracle in its borderline simplicity. Mandrivniki, who always walk with a beaten stitch to the cross installed at the top of the hump... So it seems that you were transferred an hour ago, from the biblical eyelids.

Neither, we are not in Egypt nor Palestine. This Russian land, the Don steppes, Voronezk Bilogirya, the town of Kostomarovo, the Spassky Monastery of Women. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that temples and cells are built in snow-white credenzas, which are so abundant on the banks of the Don.

The creation of pecherny churches and monasteries began a long time ago. At the dawn of Christianity, believers in Ancient Rome, facing persecution and re-examination of power, performed divine services and prayers in the underground catacombs. At the Gathering of the Pechery, the Vikorists of the Samitniks fought, who gave up the outer world for the sake of the grace of prayerful self-confidence. And the first pecherny monasteries, according to historians, date back to the 4th century in Palestine.

The appearance of similar monasteries on Russian soil, which became a continuation of similar traditions, began with the Creation of Russia and lasted until the 19th century. In the 9th century, the most famous wine in Russia was the Kiev Pechersk Monastery. Its founder, the father of the Russian monks, Reverend Anthony, brought the tradition of the pechernya here from Mount Athos. The atmosphere of the underground cells with its incredible silence and isolation from the outside world even suggested the spirit of Christian ascetics, who dedicated their entire lives to the Lord’s service. That is why the Russians have always respected the monasteries themselves, and, importantly, the self-imposed life of their burghers. Among the most famous similar disputes in the Moscow region are the Talitsky Caves near the Pushkinsky District and the Gethsemane Monastery near Sergiev Posad.

The appearance of the church-temple buildings in the Voronezk region resulted in the appearance of heavy craid deposits in the earth's crust.

Historically, the Don region was at the crossroads of trade routes, the most important of which was the Don River. At various times, this place was inhabited by various peoples and tribes: Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans... From the 10th to the 17th centuries (maybe this century) these lands regularly suffered from the raids of nomads: Pechens iv, Polovtsians, Crimean and Mongolian Tatars. A wild field, trampled by the hoofs of horses, abandoned monasteries and temples - the axis on which the nomads transformed the local land.

Perhaps here we can explain the abundance of relevant historical information about the hour of the Invocation of the Kostomarivo Caves Monastery. I want several versions.

So, for example, in the 19th century, archaeologist and local historian D.M. Strukov hypothesized that some kind of pebble monastery was blamed here a long time ago, in the first century of Christianity. Their assumptions were based on the presence of architectural signs that give them a similarity with the cave temples in Georgian Cappadocia (the ancient Turkish region), the appearance of which historians date back to the 1st millennium BC The birth of Christ.

A number of pre-successors believe that the hour of the appearance of the Bilogir Caves-Temple disputes is avoided during the period of the iconoclastic heresy (from the 8th to the 10th centuries), when the iconoclastics, having undergone re-examination, fled from Bi zantii on pіvnіch through the Caucasus, Crimea and the Don region, creating in these places .

I really need to tell you about the fact that 2000 years ago, here with the mission, the Holy Apostle Andrew the First Called, who preached the Gospel to the Scythian peoples, was destroyed. “Among these peoples, the grain of Christianity will sprout in due time,” the holy apostle wrote about the Russians, who fell “most deeply to my heart.” Therefore, with this retelling, the faithful teaching of Christ fell asleep here in the first Christian community, not doubting that the faith in one God will fill the hearts of people who had previously worshiped various gods, and will be lost from them forever. The holy Apostle Andrew himself is richly credited with the founding of the first church churches here.

The first written riddles about the local bakeries appeared already in the middle of the 17th century. According to these facts, at that time there was a Divnogorsk man’s monastery on the territory of the present-day Spassky Women’s Monastery. Considering the tributes, the descendants of P.V. Mikilsky and V.M. At the end of the 19th century, the Tevyashs were allowed to leave the monastery near Kostomarov to make a difference from Little Russia, which flowed here as a result of the unity and cruelty of the Polish gentry. Preserving the memory of the Kiev stoves, the stench began to create temples in the local creeds. True, Mikielsky admits that the people could already know that they were ready to take orders and govern them. The truth behind this hypothesis is the fact that the internal structure of the oven is more reminiscent of the old Byzantine style, rather than the Kievan one.

The existence of the pecherny galleries continued into the 19th century, and, according to old-timers, the Divnogorsk monastery continued to exist here. The town residents and pilgrims were especially fond of the Repentance stove, which the holy elder preached to the believers.

Since the start of the Radian period, the share of Orthodox shrines in Russia has been summed up; unfortunately, the monastery at Bilogira was also built. Religious persecution began, and the church monasteries were closed and destroyed. A lot of people, staying in the most distant cells of the underground labyrinths, continued to secretly carry out their feat of prayer. Knowing this, the residents of many villages encouraged the ascetics, collecting and transferring them from the underground and clothing.

We especially wander around these places at the rocks of the blessed elder Petro, who has the gift of clairvoyance and grace. His relative, local old-timer Pavlo Nikiforovich Eremeenko confirmed that Petro cut down a small stove in the Kostomarivsky Kredyany hills, in which he is alive. Brave Father Petro and the indifferent fate of the Spassky Church. It’s important that we put our faith in the form of wise parables and allegory, the reasonable place of which required deep thought.

At the end of the 30s of the 20th century, Elder Peter Iremeenko became aware of religious persecutions, disappeared and was sent to the Ostrogozka war. According to official data, he died there, although it is still clear that the old man knew from a closed prison cell. The prison authorities, in order to calm the senses, ordered the body of the deceased to be removed from the licence, and presented the crime... the truth is, we will close the accusations. In response to the riddle about Elder Peter, a chapel was raised on the territory of the monastery, with a cross in the middle. They hope that today they will continue to appeal to Elder Peter with cries for help.

Before the arrest, Father Petro announced the appearance of another semi-ascetic in the monastery: “First Parsley, and then there will be Andryushka.” In fact, after the war, the holy fool Andriy appeared here: “In the early days, after the opening of the Pechernaya Church, holy fools worked in it under the name “Andryushka”,” - this is how representatives of the government wrote about him.

Father Andriy, in the world Andriy Vasilyovich Popov, was originally from the local village of Klepivka. At 12 years of age, they lost their fathers and experienced the hardship of orphanhood. And on the roads, after seeing the terrible battle at the hour of the Great Vitchinian War, I became astonished. Fearfully wary of how people are about to perish, Andriy never ceases to pray for peace, huddled in a small virtual world. Axis here and a miracle happened: a German tank, which was flying over his head, did not catch Andriy. Then you will serve the Lord until the end of your days.

Having returned from the war, Andriy Popov became the leader of the booths where believers gathered for sleeping prayers (there was no church in the village), and having deprived his booth for a year, demolished it to the stove and organized an Orthodox community there.

In 1946, due to the number of believers, worship was officially allowed at the Kostomarivo Spassky Caves Church. Father Andrey took part in the work from the expansion of the Spassky Church: taking up the work of Saints Vera, Nadia, Lyubov and their mother Sophia. “And the Lord helped us in our unsatisfactory labors, - and having passed away from the end of the year, I am a saint, and the people are weighed down, and the sorrowful run to the holy mountain, and the faith was extinguished,” - this is how he later wrote about this.

At the community, Andriy, who was already a shamanic old man, until now, the parishioners went wild for joy and prayerful help. As if Elder Petro, Father Andriy will verbally help the believers by giving an allegorical, not all reasonable form.

In 1959, during the Khrushchev anti-religious campaign, the Church of the Savior remained closed, and the activity of the Orthodox community was suspended. Not long ago, representatives of the village government brutally beat Father Andriy, they were tired of him and were going to arrest him. Then the old man decided to deprive people of the world and become a councilman. Vin appeared at one of the oldest underground ovens and in the very same place and prayed for the last 13 years.

The records that have come down to us reveal that Father Andriy completed the most advanced monastic experiences: he prayed to the stanner in such a way that “his clothes fell out with sweat.” Standing there, having tied myself to the wall, so as not to fall into powerlessness: “...and I will stand in prayer, pray with fervent tears for the entire Orthodox world...” Reclusion is a very important mission, and on especially important days Father Andriy died to the Mother of God with prayers for help. Emerged from the shutter after 13 years, after destroying Mandrivka with holy places. People said that the grace of Father Andrey's appearance and in the incredible whiteness of his guise was truly unearthly.

Father Andriy died in 1982. He was buried in one of the rural districts, and from that hour his grave became the site of pilgrimages. At the right time, Father Andriy conveyed the revival of the Kostomarivsky monastery, calling it the New Jerusalem: “...and flow here from all sides of the people, listen to the words of the Lord Christ and receive grace.” The prophecy has come true, the restoration of the ancient monastic land has begun! The year 1993 was marked by the cleansing of the ovens, and the year 1997 was marked by the now-wives' Spassky Diocesan Monastery.

At the bottom of the cradian hillocks, only three blueberries have settled in the middle of the abandoned liver spores. One of them, Abbess Seraphim, became the first abbess of the monastery. All the churches of Nina have been completely renovated and a new one has been created - in honor of the Mother of God “The Compassion of the Lost”; There were also sister buildings and royal premises, as well as a hotel for pilgrims.

The incredible similarity of the monastery landscapes with the Holy Land is complemented by similar names: Mount Tabor, the Kidron Stream, the venerable cross on Mount Golgotha... The Kreidian hills are skirted by a winding road where all the main ovens come out.

The oldest of the monastic buildings is the Spassky Cathedral. These man-made parts are almost organically combined with the stonework created by nature. The ring, which vibrate the domes, topped with crosses, the sky spirals onto two rocky rocks, which are called “divi” here. Truly a miraculous creation! The temple oven is a whole complex: cells, tombs, a temple with the main chapel and the church of Vera, Nadia, Lyubov and Sophia. The crypt of the temple lies on great great columns, against the walls there are cut-out cells with wicked ends. Near the sealing ovens there are special burials - the saints, in which they prayed while standing, tying themselves to the wall.

Traditionally, icons for church churches were painted on zinc sheets, which meant that due to the high altitude of the wood, the icons quickly fell down. The miraculous icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary, painted on a zinc frame, is celebrated for the special rituals of pilgrims. Traces of the sack were preserved on it, since the holy images were shot by the Bolsheviks. Another icon of the Pecherna monastery - “Holy Family” - was chosen to pray before the ceremony for the well-being and peace of the family. In one of the ovens of the temple, according to the testimonies of old-timers, the Bolsheviks shot down the members and believers. The walls are covered with traces of the blood of the dead priests.

In 1903, they began to build another monastery church in the monastery, consecrations in honor of St. Seraphim of Sarov, but after the revolution, the activity slowed down and ended only recently. The temple was consecrated on June 15, 2005, after the construction of the Women’s Monastery of the Savior here. Unique icons, carved directly into the solid walls of the temple, impress with their sophistication and at the same time modesty and ornateness! The stench is ascetic, as is the case with all the ovens, and helps the teachers to get their head around: the faith that is alive in their hearts, the understanding of the inner, spiritual state!

There is no stopping the flow of pilgrims at the most distant monastery of the monastery - the Caves of Repentance. Peeking through the oven-like corridors, illuminated by the dark light of lamps and candles, ensnaring themselves in calmness and sleeplessness, they walk “from hour to eternity,” here walking in the depths of their souls. In the world at a distance from the entrance, everything external comes in, and the mantra is forever deprived of those most important speeches that are in his life.

Previously, people came here for the sacrament of confession. The low stele, even narrow passages, will tempt the guides to poke through the labyrinth in a humble pose, absorbing the spirit of antiquity, complex human fates, historical mysteries and the secret place that fills the atmosphere of the monastery. For the rich, this is the moment of truth.

The new 21st century marked the beginning of the era of revival of the church churches, transferred to the Voronezk diocese. On weekdays and Holy Days, services are held here: the service is at the Spassky Cathedral, the service is at the Church of the Devotion of the Dead.

The number of sisters who are expected to perform prayer and labor services at the monastery is gradually growing. With every fate, the number of pilgrims who come to Kostomarov from various cities of Russia, near and far, is increasing. Many of them come back here again and again. Overwhelmed by the unprecedented beauty of these places, the stench is again and again inhaled by the incredible strength of spirit, given to the faith, - we all save for the crypts, galleries and discoveries Distant piles of great liver spores of the Kostomarivo Spaska Monastery!

Victoria Mikhailova