![SavMon ThreeChurches](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/SavMon_ThreeChurches.JPG)
The Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery (Саввино-Сторожевский монастырь, "the Storozhi monastery of St. Savva") is a
Russian Orthodox
Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...
monastery dedicated to the feast of the
Nativity of the Theotokos
The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Nativity of Mary, the Marymas or the Birth of the Virgin Mary, refers to a Christian feast day celebrating the birth of Mary, mother of Jesus.
The modern canon of scripture does not record Mary's bir ...
. It is the preeminent landmark of
Zvenigorod
Zvenigorod (russian: Звени́город) is an old town in Moscow Oblast, Russia. Population:
History
The town's name is based either on a personal name (cf. Zvenislav, Zvenimir) or on a hydronym (cf. the Zvinech, Zvinyaka, Zveniga Rivers) ...
, a town located west 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 millio ...
.
History
Foundation
In 1398, Prince
Yuri of Zvenigorod
Yury Dmitrievich (26 November 1374 in Pereslavl-Zalessky – 5 June 1434 in Galich), also known as George II of Moscow, Yury of Zvenigorod and Jurij Zwenihorodski, was the second son of Dmitri Donskoi. He was the Duke of Zvenigorod and Galich ...
asked
Savva, or Sabbas, one of the first disciples of
Sergius of Radonezh
Sergius of Radonezh (russian: Се́ргий Ра́донежский, ''Sergii Radonezhsky''; 14 May 1314 – 25 September 1392), also known as Sergiy Radonezhsky, Serge of Radonezh and Sergius of Moscow, was a spiritual leader and monastic re ...
, to come to his capital city and set up a monastic abode. At first, only one wooden church, dedicated to the
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was established on the high Storozhi hill above the
Moskva River. Saint Sabbas sought solitude and prayed in a small cave, dug with his own hands. With time more and more monks settled in the new abode. In 1402 Yury Dmitrievich granted it several villages, vast land and forest tenures. St. Savva of Storozhi was interred in the white stone cathedral of the Virgin's Nativity in 1407. This diminutive, roughly hewn church still stands, although its present-day exquisite look is the result of a 1970s restoration campaign. The
frescoes in the altar date back to the 1420s, but the rest of the interior was painted in 1656. A magnificent
iconostasis in five tiers and the
Stroganov School royal doors were installed in 1652.
Tzar Residence
In 15-17th centuries the monastery served as a military
picket, defending the
Grand Duchy of Moscow on the West. In 1650, the pious
Tsar Alexis
Aleksey Mikhaylovich ( rus, Алексе́й Миха́йлович, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ; – ) was the Tsar of Russia from 1645 until his death in 1676. While finding success in foreign affairs, his reign saw several wars ...
selected the Zvenigorod monastery as his suburban residence. An
ashlar residence for the tsar and a smaller palace for his wife date from the early 1650s. Alexis had the churches encircled with stone walls and towers, patterned after those of the
Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra
The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius (russian: Тро́ице-Се́ргиева ла́вра) is the most important Russian monastery and the spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church. The monastery is situated in the town of Sergiyev Pos ...
. Particularly noteworthy is a large belfry, erected in four bays in 1650 and crowned with three tents and a clocktower. A new 'gate church' was built by Ivan Sharutin in 1650 and consecrated to the feast of the
Holy Trinity in 1652. In 1650 the ''Church of the Transfiguration'' was built by
Princess Sophia. She also ordered to establish the refectory and in 1686-1687 rebuilt the Tzar Alexis' palace.
Since the times of Tsar Alexis the monastery was one of the most important religious places in Russia. All the following tzars and tzarines, and later — emperors and empresses, came here to pray and receive a blessing before the ceremony of crowning. The road from the Moscow Kremlin to Zvenigorod and the Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery was called the Tzar Road or The Road Of God Blessed Tzars, nowadays it is known as Rublevskoe shosse.
During the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, on September 12, 1812, the Italian corps of
viceroy Eugene Bograne defeated
Wintzingerode's squadron of light cavalry under the monastery walls. The skirmish is described in the memoirs of Prince
Sergey Volkonsky and Count
Alexander von Benckendorff
Konstantin Alexander Karl Wilhelm Christoph Graf von Benckendorff (russian: Александр Христофорович Бенкендорф, Alexander Khristoforovich Benkendorf, – ) was a Baltic German Cavalry General and statesman, A ...
. According to the local legend, Eugene Bograne stayed at the Sentry Tabernacle of the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery. St. Sabba visited Prince Eugene in a dream, promising him a safe return home if his soldiers would not plunder the monastery. Eugene Bograne spared the monastery and indeed returned home safely.
[
]
20th century
In May 1918, when the Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
s tried to seize the relics of St. Savva, several persons were shot dead. The monastery was ransacked and pillaged, including the tomb of Saint Savva, made of gold plated silver, then the monks were chased out and finally the cathedral was left to ruin. In 1941 the 35-ton main bell was destroyed.
In 1985, the compound was assigned to the Danilov Monastery
Danilov Monastery (also ''Svyato-Danilov Monastery'' or ''Holy Danilov Monastery''; Данилов монастырь, Свято-Данилов монастырь in Russian) is a walled monastery on the right bank of the Moskva River in Moscow. ...
in Moscow. St. Savva's relics were returned to the monastery in 1998.
Both major churches used to be entirely covered with frescoes and until the revolution had the old icon screens of five levels. Only a few fragments of the original frescoes have survived the Soviet period.
Tourism
The monastery is a well known touristic attraction on top of being a site of pilgrimage, and is readily accessible from Moscow by a combination of railroad and bus transport. A hotel run by the monastery offers accommodation to pilgrims and tourists wishing to remain overnight. The local Zvenigorod museum operates exhibitions within the Tsarina's palace located in the monastery complex. These deal with several subjects of local history, the life of the nobility and royal family, and religious icons
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 c ...
from the 17th to the early 20th century. Not unlike Western European monasteries, the Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery has a brewery, selling kvas
Kvass is a fermented cereal-based low alcoholic beverage with a slightly cloudy appearance, light-brown colour and sweet-sour taste. It may be flavoured with berries, fruits, herbs or honey.
Kvass stems from the northeastern part of Europe, ...
and sbiten
Sbiten (russian: сбитень) or vzvar (взвар) is a traditional East Slavic ( Belarusian, Ukrainian, Russian) hot winter beverage. It has a dark purple appearance and, depending on the recipe, can be very spicy and/or very sweet. It used ...
to the public as well as operating a bakery which produces and sells a wide variety of bread and pastries to visitors. Two canteens for visitors are also operated by the monastery, one right outside the walls of the main monastery complex and another on the road to the skete
A skete ( ) is a monastic community in Eastern Christianity that allows relative isolation for monks, but also allows for communal services and the safety of shared resources and protection. It is one of four types of early monastic orders, a ...
, serving both the monastery's own products and commercial foods and drinks.
In Culture
Director Andrei Tarkovsky filmed the first and final scenes of his 1972 film '' Solaris'' at a dacha
A dacha ( rus, дача, p=ˈdatɕə, a=ru-dacha.ogg) is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs of post-Soviet countries, including Russia. A cottage (, ') or shack serving as a family's main or only home, or an outbu ...
near the Monastery of St. Savva of Storozhi.
References
Sources
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External links
*
Official website
{{Authority control
1398 establishments in Europe
Religious organizations established in the 1390s
14th-century establishments in Russia
Christian monasteries established in the 14th century
Russian Orthodox monasteries in Russia
Buildings and structures in Moscow Oblast
Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Moscow Oblast