Simonov Monastery (russian: Симонов монастырь) in

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 ...

was established in 1370 by monk Feodor, a nephew and disciple of St

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 ref ...

. It became one of the richest and most famous monastery, comprising six major churches (often with multiple side chapels), and many icons.

Job Work or labor (or labour in British English) is intentional activity people perform to support the needs and wants of themselves, others, or a wider community. In the context of economics, work can be viewed as the human activity that contr ...

became the abbot in 1571, and became the first patriarch in Russia in 1589. The

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 ...

land formerly belonged to Simeon Khovrin, 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 ...

of Greek extraction and progenitor of the great clan of Golovins. He took monastic vows in the cloister under the name Simon (hence the name); many of his descendants are also buried there. In 1379, the monastery was moved half a mile to the east. Its original location, where bodies of the warriors killed in the

Battle of Kulikovo The Battle of Kulikovo (russian: Мамаево побоище, Донское побоище, Куликовская битва, битва на Куликовом поле) was fought between the armies of the Golden Horde, under the command ...

had been buried, is still commemorated by the old Simonov church. During the 15th century, the cloister was the richest in Moscow. Among the learned monks who lived and worked there were Vassian Patrikeyev and

Maximus the Greek Maximus the Greek, also known as Maximos the Greek or Maksim Grek (; ; –1556), was a Greek monk, publicist, writer, scholar, and translator active in Russia. He is also called Maximos the Hagiorite (), as well as Maximus the Philosopher.. His ...

. A white stone cathedral was erected in 1405; it was later enlarged by order 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 ...

. As the monastery defended southern approaches to Moscow, it was heavily fortified in the 1640s. The last addition to the complex was a huge multi-storied

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 ...

, modelled after

Ivan the Great Bell Tower The Ivan the Great Bell Tower (russian: Колокольня Иван Великий, ''Kolokol'nya Ivan Velikiy'') is a church tower inside the Moscow Kremlin complex. With a total height of , it is the tallest tower and structure of the Kreml ...

Moscow Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (R ...

. The monastery was abolished by the Communist government in 1923, and soon thereafter most of its buildings were demolished to make way for an automobile plant. Surviving structures all date back to the 17th century and include three

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

s of cannon-like appearance and auxiliary buildings in the

Naryshkin baroque Naryshkin Baroque, also referred to as Moscow Baroque or Muscovite Baroque, is a particular style of Baroque architecture and decoration that was fashionable in Moscow from the late 17th century into the early 18th century. In the late 17th century ...

style. Recently the Moscow government announced plans for a full-scale reconstruction of the famous cloister. According to several sources,''"Церковь Рождества Пресвятой Богородицы в старом Симонове", Pravoslavie.ru, September 2006, in Russian.'' part of the former monastery buildings was transferred in 1990 from the Ministry of Culture of the USSR to

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 ...

and Orthodox community of deaf people, who began the works on restoration and reconstruction of its facilities. The first service after the restoration was held in 1992. File:Simonov Monastery 2020 stamp of Russia.jpg, 2020 Russian stamp dedicated to the 650th anniversary of the monastery File:Simonov church 01.jpg,

Osip Startsev Osip Dmitrievich Startsev (Осип Дмитриевич Старцев) was a Russian architect who mastered both Muscovite Baroque and Ukrainian Baroque idioms during the early part of Peter the Great's reign. His father Dmitry Startsev was the ...

's refectory. File:Simonov 1882.jpg, The earliest photograph of the monastery dates from 1882. File:Simonov towers.jpg, The distinctive appearance of the monastery towers is without a parallel anywhere in Russia.

References

Further reading