The Uleima Monastery of St. Nicholas (Николо-Улейминский монастырь; ''Uleiminsky Monastery'') is a seldom visited walled medieval

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 ...

lost in the woods near

Uglich Uglich ( rus, У́глич, p=ˈuɡlʲɪtɕ) is a historic town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River. Population: History The city was first documented in 1148 as ''Ugliche Pole'' (''Corner Field''). The town's name is though ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. It is the only sizable monastery still controlled by the Old-Rite Church, or

Old Believers Old Believers or Old Ritualists, ''starovery'' or ''staroobryadtsy'' are Eastern Orthodox Christians who maintain the liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian Orthodox Church as they were before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow bet ...

. The monastery takes its name from the Uleima River (a tributary of the Yukhot River). It was established in the early 15th century by a

Rostov Rostov ( rus, Росто́в, p=rɐˈstof) is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population: While t ...

monk who brought with him an icon of

St Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-da ...

from the Italian city of

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

(which holds the

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

of that saint). The monastery enjoyed the patronage of the ruling Princes of Uglich. As a key fortress on the highway between Rostov and Uglich, it was attacked by the invading Poles and Lithuanians on three occasions (1609, 1612, 1619). Several thousand monks and peasants defended the monastery against Jan Sapieha, with many losing their lives after the main church had collapsed in flames. The five-domed

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 ...

was rebuilt in several stages from the 1620s to the 1670s. The refectory church of the

Presentation A presentation conveys information from a speaker to an audience. Presentations are typically demonstrations, introduction, lecture, or speech meant to inform, persuade, inspire, motivate, build goodwill, or present a new idea/product. Presenta ...

was rebuilt in 1695. The walls, towers, and the gate church all date from the 1710s. After

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

brought to Russia a portion of St. Nicholas's relics, his relatives from the

Naryshkin family The House of Naryshkin (russian: Нарышкины) is a noble Moscow boyar family of Crimean Tatar descent, going back to a certain Mordko Kurbat Naryshko, a Crimean Tatar, who moved to Moscow in the 15th century.Sergei O. Prokofieff, ''The Spi ...

had it presented to the Uleima monks. Like the better known Monastery of Sts Boris and Gleb near Rostov, the Uleima Monastery continued to attract pilgrims travelling between Uglich and Rostov. The Soviets had the monastery closed from 1930 until 1992. The dilapidated buildings were given to an underfunded local orphanage and began to crumble. Some restoration work was carried out in the 1960s. The Old-Rite Church, citing a lack of monks joining the community, turned it into a nunnery in 1998.

References

* Власий, иером. Николо-Улейминский монастырь близ города Углича. Ярославль, 1892. * Преподобный Варлаам — основатель Угличского Николо-Улейминского монастыря и принесённый им из Бара града образ святителя Николая. Ярославль, 1894. * Мухин О. К. Угличский Николо-Улейминский монастырь. Углич, 2000. * Мухин О. К. История Николо-Улейминского монастыря: к 540-летию основания. СПб., 2000.

External links

* {{commonscat-inline, Uleima Monastery Russian Orthodox monasteries in Russia 15th-century establishments in Russia Buildings and structures in Yaroslavl Oblast Old Believers Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Yaroslavl Oblast