The Nikitsky Monastery (Никитский монастырь) is a walled

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

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 ...

founded in the 12th century by Nicetas (Nikita) Stylites in a field sprawling between the Kholmogory Highway and the

Lake Pleshcheyevo Lake Pleshcheyevo ( rus, Плеще́ево о́зеро, p=plʲɪˈɕːejɪvə ˈozʲɪrə) is a glacial lake in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia. The historic town of Pereslavl-Zalessky is on the southeastern side of the lake. The lake, which is part ...

several miles north of

Pereslavl-Zalessky Pereslavl-Zalessky ( rus, Переславль-Залесский, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈslavlʲ zɐˈlʲɛskʲɪj, lit. ''Pereslavl beyond the woods''), also known as Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located on the main Mosc ...

. It is part of the Pleshcheyevo Lake National Park and one of the oldest monastic establishments in

Zalesye Zalesye ( rus, Зале́сье, p=zɐˈlʲesʲjə, ''area beyond the forest'') or Opolye ( rus, Опо́лье, p=ɐˈpolʲjə, ''area in the fields'') is a historical region of Russia, comprising the north and west parts of Vladimir Oblast, t ...

. The monastic compound is separated from the town by a wooded cemetery with a round chapel from 1702. It is the place where Nikita supposedly met and healed a prince of

Chernigov Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative ...

.Nikitsky Monastery
in the

Great Russian Encyclopedia The ''Great Russian Encyclopedia'' (GRE; russian: Большая российская энциклопедия, БРЭ, transliterated as ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya entsiklopediya'' or academically as ''Bolšaja rossijskaja enciklopedija'') is a u ...

A nearby settlement known as Nikitskaya Sloboda served the needs of the monastery. After Grand Prince George reestablished the old town of

Kleshchin Kleshchin (Клещин) was a Meryan (and later Slavic) town on the eastern shore of Lake Pleshcheyevo in Zalesye. It is thought that the lake owes its name to the derelict town: the opening lines of the Primary Chronicle refer to the lake as K ...

as Pereslavl-Zalessky, the ruins of the older settlement were donated to the monastery. During the troubles of 1611, the Poles under

Jan Piotr Sapieha Jan Piotr Sapieha (English: ''John Peter Sapieha'', 1569–1611) was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman, general, politician, diplomat, governor of Uświat county, member of the Parliament and a skilled commander of the Polish troops stationing in th ...

took the fortress after two weeks of siege and reduced it to ashes. The young Tsar

Peter I Peter I may refer to: Religious hierarchs * Saint Peter (c. 1 AD – c. 64–88 AD), a.k.a. Simon Peter, Simeon, or Simon, apostle of Jesus * Pope Peter I of Alexandria (died 311), revered as a saint * Peter I of Armenia (died 1058), Catholico ...

selected it as his residence when he played with his amusement fleet on the nearby lake. In 1754, the monastery is recorded as owning 2000 serfs and 14 villages. The Soviets used it as a

labor camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (especi ...

(in 1948-1953) and a

military base A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for ...

(in 1953-59). The great dome of 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 ...

collapsed in 1984 following many decades of neglect. The

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

reclaimed the property in 1993 and had it restored. The compound has a chain of fortifications and two main churches, all dating from the reign of

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 ...

. The first Tsar is supposed to have prepared the monastery to become his emergency residence in case of a

boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Russian nobility, Russia, Boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia, Wallachia and ...

revolt. A later addition to the compound is the tall Neoclassical

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

rising above the main gate; it dates from 1818.

References

External links

* {{commonscat-inline, Nikitsky Monastery (Pereslavl-Zalessky), Monastery of St Nicetas Russian Orthodox monasteries in Russia 12th-century establishments in Russia Buildings and structures in Yaroslavl Oblast Pereslavl-Zalessky Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Yaroslavl Oblast