The Donskoy Starocherkassk Convent (russian: Старочеркасский монастырь в честь Донской иконы Божией Матери) ― an Orthodox monastery in the

stanitsa A stanitsa ( rus, станица, p=stɐˈnʲitsə; uk, станиця, stanytsya) is a village inside a Cossack host ( uk, військо, viys’ko; russian: казачье войско, kazach’ye voysko, sometimes translated as "Cossack Arm ...

Starocherkasskaya Starocherkasskaya (russian: Старочерка́сская), formerly Cherkassk (), is a rural locality (a ''stanitsa'') in Aksaysky District of Rostov Oblast, Russia, with origins dating from the late 16th century. It is located on the right ...

Aksaysky District Aksaysky District, or Aksay Region (russian: Акса́йский райо́н) is an administrativeLaw #340-ZS and municipalLaw #240-ZS district (raion), one of the forty-three in Rostov Oblast, Russia. It is located in the western central part o ...

Rostov Oblast Rostov Oblast ( rus, Росто́вская о́бласть, r=Rostovskaya oblast, p=rɐˈstofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the Southern Federal District. The oblast has an area of and a populati ...

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 ...

. It was established in 1994 on the territory of the former Efremov Convent, which had been functioning from 1837 to 1927, when it was ravaged by

Soviet regime The political system of the Soviet Union took place in a Federalism, federal One-party state, single-party Soviet republic (system of government), soviet socialist republic framework which was characterized by the superior role of the Communist P ...

History

The monastery is centered on the

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 ...

built between 1756 and 1761 by

ataman Ataman (variants: ''otaman'', ''wataman'', ''vataman''; Russian: атаман, uk, отаман) was a title of Cossack and haidamak leaders of various kinds. In the Russian Empire, the term was the official title of the supreme military comman ...

Stepan Efremov to serve as his

house church A house church or home church is a label used to describe a group of Christians who regularly gather for worship in private homes. The group may be part of a larger Christian body, such as a parish, but some have been independent groups that see ...

. Both the church and the monastery are dedicated to ''

Our Lady of the Don ''Our Lady of the Don'' (russian: Донская икона Божией Матери) is a 14th-century Eleusa icon representing the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus Christ. The icon, currently held in Tretyakov Gallery, in Moscow, displays an E ...

''. The convent was inaugurated on September 12, 1837. Money for construction of the convent were donated by the widow of Colonel Daniil Efremov. At the beginning of the 20th century in the monastery there were 16 salaried nuns, 2 supernumerary nuns, 96 frocked nuns, 135 lay sisters, and 250 people in total. Relics of the monastery, as well as those of Resurrection Cathedral, were taken abroad during the times of

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. Before its reestablishment the monastery was administered by Starocherkassk Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve. The monastery was reestablished on October 5, 1994. Initially the monks settled in

Starocherkassk Starocherkasskaya (russian: Старочерка́сская), formerly Cherkassk (), is a rural locality (a ''stanitsa'') in Aksaysky District of Rostov Oblast, Russia, with origins dating from the late 16th century. It is located on the right ...

in a rented private house and did restoration works of Don Church. They fertilized land around the temple put the graves in order and installed bells in the church. The first prior of the revived monastery was

Archimandrite The title archimandrite ( gr, ἀρχιμανδρίτης, archimandritēs), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot (''hegumenos'', gr, ἡγούμενος, present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") who ...

Modest (Potapov) (1926 ― 2002), who took the veil from his confessor

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

Zinovy (Mazhuga), who was canonized as a local saint. In 2005, Macarius (Zelenkov) was appointed as a prior.

Relics

Feast Day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

― August 19 (Julian calendar), the day of celebration of Our Lady of the Don icon. In 1995, the Cossacks from Gnilovskaya village gave to the monastery a big-sized Our Lady of the Don icon. It was placed in Resurrection Cathedral for a while, until the monastery church had been restored. Subsequently, the icon was solemnly transferred to the Church of Our Lady of the Don. Now it is kept in antechamber of the temple. On the left to the choir in the monastery church there is the icon of St. Dimitry of Rostov, the patron of

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

. It has and integrated reliquary with the relics of the saint.

References

External links

Official site (in Russian)
{{coord, 47.2394, N, 40.0375, E, source:wikidata, display=title Russian Orthodox monasteries in Russia Churches in Rostov Oblast Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Rostov Oblast