The Tikhvin Monastery of the Dormition of the Mother of God (russian: Тихвинский Богородичный Успенский монастырь) 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 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 whi ...

founded in 1560. The monastery is located in the town of

Tikhvin Tikhvin (russian: Ти́хвин; Veps: ) is a town and the administrative center of Tikhvinsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on both banks of the Tikhvinka River in the east of the oblast, east of St. Petersburg. Tikhvin ...

, on the left bank of the Tikhvinka River. It hosts the icon of the

Theotokos of Tikhvin The Theotokos of Tikhvin is one of the most celebrated Orthodox Christian icons. It is said to be one of the icons written by St. Luke the Evangelist. According to tradition, in the 5th century, the icon was transferred from Jerusalem to Constan ...

, one of the most venerated Russian icons.

History

According to the tradition, the icon of the Theotokos of Tikhvin was discovered in 1383 at the current location of the monastery. A wooden church was built to accommodate the icon. The consequent wooden churches burned to the ground three times, until in 1507 the construction of a stone church started by the order of

Vasily III Vasili, Vasily, Vasilii or Vasiliy (Russian: Василий) is a Russian masculine given name of Greek origin and corresponds to ''Basil''. It may refer to: *Vasili I of Moscow Grand Prince from 1389–1425 * Vasili II of Moscow Grand Prince fr ...

, the Grand Prince of Moscow. In 1560, the monastery was founded and built as a fortress, since at the time it was located close to the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

border, and could be used for defense purposes. In 1610, during the

Time of Troubles The Time of Troubles (russian: Смутное время, ), or Smuta (russian: Смута), was a period of political crisis during the Tsardom of Russia which began in 1598 with the death of Fyodor I (Fyodor Ivanovich, the last of the Rurik dy ...

, the monastery was looted by Polish troops, and subsequently it was occupied by Swedish forces until 1613. In the 1920s, after the Russian Revolution, the monastery was closed, but the icon was still held there. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the Tikhvin Town Museum occupied the monastery. In 1995, the monastery was given back to the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1941, during World War II, for a month Tikhvin was occupied by German troops, who looted the monastery and, in particular, took the icon to Pskov, and in 1944 transferred it to Riga. The icon eventually was taken out of Russia for safety by a Russian Orthodox bishop from

Kolka parish Kolka parish ( lv, Kolkas pagasts, liv, Kūolka pagāst) is an administrative unit of Talsi Municipality in the Courland region of Latvia. Villages of Kolka parish * Kolka - parish administrative center * Košrags * Mazirbe * Pitrags * S ...

. In the period between 1949 and 2004 the icon was stored in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. It was returned to the monastery in 2004.

Architecture

The oldest building of the monastery is the katholikon, built by Basil III between 1507 and 1515, before the monastery was founded. It is a five-domed church with six pillars and three

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

s, typical of 16th-century Russian architecture. On three sides, the church is surrounded by covered galleries. The interior is covered with frescoes. The

refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries. The name derives from the Lat ...

of the monastery dates from 1581: it is a massive two-storey building and contains a church. The belfry of the monastery was constructed in 1600 and has an unusual shape with a number of domes. The cells were built at the end of the 17th century. The monastery has an approximately rectangular shape and is surrounded by a wall with towers.

References

{{Authority control Russian Orthodox monasteries in Russia Religious organizations established in the 1560s Christian monasteries established in the 16th century Buildings and structures in Leningrad Oblast Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Leningrad Oblast