Kiy Island (Russian: Кий-остров) is an island in the
Onega Bay
The Onega Bay (russian: Онежская губа, Онежский залив) is located in the Republic of Karelia and Arkhangelsk Oblast in Northwestern Russia, west of the city of Arkhangelsk. It is the southernmost of four large bays and g ...
of the
White Sea
The White Sea (russian: Белое море, ''Béloye móre''; Karelian and fi, Vienanmeri, lit. Dvina Sea; yrk, Сэрако ямʼ, ''Serako yam'') is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is su ...
, 8 km off-shore and 15 km from the
town of Onega. The island stretches for 2 kilometres from north-west to south-east, but its width does not exceed 800 metres. The island includes wide and sandy beaches, piny woods rich with berries, and large rocks. It has a remarkably interesting architectural ensemble, and hosts the history of the Kiysky Krestny monastery. Thousands of tourists go and visit the island.
History
In 1632 the future
Patriarch Nikon
Nikon ( ru , Ни́кон, Old Russian: ''Нїконъ''), born Nikita Minin (''Никита Минин''; 7 May 1605 – 17 August 1681) was the seventh Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' of the Russian Orthodox Church, serving officially from ...
attempted to escape from the
Solovki to the
Kozheozero Monastery in the south. As Nikon later recalled, a tempest broke out and his life was at peril. The monk began to pray to the holy cross and soon his boat was cast ashore on Kiy Island, where he erected a wooden cross to thank heaven.
Twenty years later, he went from
Novgorod
Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...
to the Solovki in order to bring the relics of
Metropolitan Philip
Saint Philip II of Moscow (11 February 1507 – 23 December 1569) was the Metropolitan of Moscow and all Rus' from 1567 to 1568. He was the thirteenth Metropolitan in Moscow to be appointed without the approval of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Con ...
to Moscow. On his way he visited Kiy Island and was pleased to see his wooden cross still standing. Upon becoming the Patriarch a year later, Nikon ordered a monastery to be established on the spot. The monastery was dedicated to the True Cross in 1656, whereupon 4537 peasants were declared its property.
Under Nikon's supervision, the Krestny Monastery (Russian: Кий-островский Крестный монастырь) became one of the richest in the region. The patriarch sent to the monks a huge cypress cross, commissioned by him in
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
as "an exact replica of the
True Cross
The True Cross is the cross upon which Jesus was said to have been crucified, particularly as an object of religious veneration. There are no early accounts that the apostles or early Christians preserved the physical cross themselves, althoug ...
" and lavishly decorated with jewels. In 1660 he visited the monastery for the last time and dwelled there for a year. It is believed that the wayward patriarch personally selected the location of and designed most buildings to suit his taste. It was for his own use that a singular choir loft was built within the cathedral. A large portion of monastery buildings, including the cathedral, were constructed from local granite, to be in harmony with the rocky setting.
After Nikon's fall from grace, the monastery declined and its possessions were expropriated. The British
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
sacked the island during the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
on 9 July 1854. The following year it was damaged by fire but the
Holy Synod
In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod. For instance, the Holy Synod is a ruling body of the Georgian Orthodox C ...
decided in favour of restoring the complex. The Communists disbanded the abbey in 1922.
Buildings
The granite heights of the island are crowned by the four-pillared Cathedral of the
Exaltation of the Cross
In the Christian liturgical calendar, there are several different Feasts of the Cross, all of which commemorate the cross used in the crucifixion of Jesus. Unlike Good Friday, which is dedicated to the passion of Christ and the crucifixion, these ...
, dedicated in the presence of Nikon on 4 September 1661. Its monumental proportions are deliberately archaic but the overall effect is unusually spacious and light for traditional
Russian architecture
The architecture of Russia refers to the architecture of modern Russia as well as the architecture of both the original Kievan Rus’ state, the Russian principalities, and Imperial Russia. Due to the geographical size of modern and imperial ...
. There were formerly three domes but only the central one still subsists. Other buildings from Nikon's period include the chapel over the well (1661), the two-storey refectory church of the Virgin's Nativity (1689), the sadly disfigured All Saints Church (1661), and various outbuildings.
References
External links
PhotographsPhotographs_2007*
{{coord, 64, 00, N, 37, 52, E, region:RU_type:isle, display=title
Islands of the Arctic Ocean
Islands of Arkhangelsk Oblast
Landforms of the White Sea
Russian Orthodox monasteries in Russia
Buildings and structures in Arkhangelsk Oblast