The Siya Monastery of St. Antonius (''Antonievo-Siysky Monastery'', Антониево-Сийский монастырь) is a Russian Orthodox

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

that was founded by Saint Antonius of Siya deep in the woods, to the south of Kholmogory, in 1520. Currently the monastery is located in Kholmogorsky District of

Arkhangelsk Oblast Arkhangelsk Oblast (russian: Арха́нгельская о́бласть, ''Arkhangelskaya oblast'') is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It includes the Arctic Ocean, Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, inside the nature protected area, Siya Zakaznik. The monastery takes its name from the Siya River, a tributary of the Northern Dvina. This river route allowed the monks to travel to the Solovetsky Monastery and other centres of spiritual life. There was also a station on the trade route connecting

Archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...

(the main sea port of Muscovy) and the Russian capital of

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. Following the saint's death in 1556, the monastery grew on the salt trade with

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

and developed into one of the foremost centres of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

in the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич; 25 August 1530 – ), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584. Ivan ...

and his son Feodor granted it important privileges and much land. By 1579, the monastery owned 50 versts of ploughlands stretching towards Kargopol. In 1599,

Boris Godunov Borís Fyodorovich Godunóv (; russian: Борис Фёдорович Годунов; 1552 ) ruled the Tsardom of Russia as ''de facto'' regent from c. 1585 to 1598 and then as the first non-Rurikid tsar from 1598 to 1605. After the end of his ...

exiled his political opponent

Feodor Romanov Feodor Nikitich Romanov (russian: Фео́дор Ники́тич Рома́нов, ; 1553 – 1 October 1633) was a Russian boyar who after temporary disgrace rose to become patriarch of Moscow as Filaret (russian: Филаре́т, ), and beca ...

to this remote monastery. While many of his relatives were starved to death in other cloisters, Feodor took

monastic vows Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic life plays an important role ...

and the name Philaret and was eventually raised to the dignity of hegumen (abbot) of the monastery. Later he became the

Patriarch of Moscow The Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' (russian: Патриарх Московский и всея Руси, translit=Patriarkh Moskovskij i vseja Rusi), also known as the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, is the official title of the Bishop of Mo ...

, and his son Mikhail established the Romanov dynasty of Russian

tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

s. In the 17th century, the monastery continued to prosper. The large

katholikon A ''katholikon'' or catholicon ( gr, καθολικόν) or ''sobor'' ( Slavonic: съборъ) refers to one of three things in the Eastern Orthodox Church: * The cathedral of a diocese. * The major church building (temple) of a monastery corre ...

was constructed over the years 1587–1608. The

tent-like church A tented roof (also known as a pavilion roof) is a type of polygonal hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak.W. Dean EastmanHometown Handbook: Architecture./ref> Tented roofs, a hallmark of medieval religious architecture, were ...

and refectory were completed by 1644, and the belfry was added in 1652. The monastic library was one of the richest in

and included such books as the Siysky Gospel from 1339 and the 16th-century album of 500 Western religious etchings adapted to

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

canonical requirements. Its treasury was famed for its collection of medieval jewelry. In 1764, the monastery owned more than 3,300 male peasants. In 1923, the monastery was disbanded. Both library and treasury were taken to

or Arkhangelsk. The medieval buildings were used as a

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

and a kolkhoz. The monks were readmitted to the grounds in 1992 and immediately began emergency repair works.

External links

*
Official Web-site of Antonievo-Siysky MonasteryMonastery webpage

Venerable Anthony the Abbot of Siya, Novgorod
Orthodox

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

and

synaxarion Synaxarion or Synexarion (plurals Synaxaria, Synexaria; el, Συναξάριον, from συνάγειν, ''synagein'', "to bring together"; cf. etymology of ''synaxis'' and ''synagogue''; Latin: ''Synaxarium'', ''Synexarium''; cop, ⲥⲩⲛⲁ ...

{{Russian North Russian Orthodox monasteries in Russia 1520 establishments in Europe 16th-century establishments in Russia Religious organizations established in the 1520s Christian monasteries established in the 16th century Buildings and structures in Arkhangelsk Oblast Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Arkhangelsk Oblast