Vysotsky Monastery (russian: Высоцкий монастырь) is a walled

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 commanding the high left bank of the Nara River in

Serpukhov Serpukhov ( rus, Серпухов, p=ˈsʲɛrpʊxəf) is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Oka and the Nara Rivers, south from Moscow ( from Moscow Ring Road) on the Moscow—Simferopol highway. The Moscow— T ...

, about 2 km from its confluence with the

Oka Oka or OKA may refer to: Cars * Oka (automobile), a small car designed by AvtoVAZ and produced by ZMA and SeAZ * OKA 4wd, a large 4-wheel-drive vehicle made in Western Australia by OKA Military * 2B1 Oka, Soviet 420 mm self-propelled mor ...

. Its name stems from the Russian word for "heights". The monastery was founded in the 1370s by

Vladimir the Bold Vladimir Andreyevich the Bold (; July 15, 1353 – 1410) was the most famous prince of Serpukhov. His moniker alludes to his many military exploits committed in the wars waged by his cousin, Dmitri Donskoi of Moscow. Biography A grandson of Ivan ...

and long served as a border fortress defending the southern approaches to

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 ...

from the

Tatars The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

. The first

hegumen Hegumen, hegumenos, or igumen ( el, ἡγούμενος, trans. ), is the title for the head of a monastery in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, similar to the title of abbot. The head of a convent of nuns is called a hegumenia ...

, Afanasy the Elder, was a 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 ...

, whose successor, St. Nikon of Radonezh, is believed to have been tonsured a monk in this monastery. After the Russo–Crimean War (1571), which saw the monastery reduced to ashes, it was restored on a grander scale. The five-domed Cathedral of the Conception dates from that building campaign, financed by

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 cathedral was almost certainly preceded by a medieval limestone church of which little is known. In the mid-17th century the monastery was fortified with stone walls and four corner towers. It rivalled the Vladychny Monastery as the most important shrine of Serpukhov and welcomed rich patrons wishing to be buried within the monastery walls. Among those buried there are

Gavrila Golovkin Count Gavrila (Gavriil) Ivanovich Golovkin (russian: Гаври́ла (Гаврии́л) Ива́нович Голо́вкин) (1660 – 20 January 1734) was a Russian statesman who formally presided over foreign affairs of the Russian Empire from ...

, the Chancellor of

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 ...

, and Fyodor Soimonov, the Governor of

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

. The Neoclassical belfry was completed in the 1840s. The monastery celebrated its 500th anniversary with the construction of the All Saints church, designed by

Roman Klein Roman Ivanovich Klein (russian: Роман Иванович Клейн), born Robert Julius Klein, was a Russian architect and educator, best known for his Neoclassical Pushkin Museum in Moscow. Klein, an eclectic, was one of the most prolific ar ...

in a fashionable

Neo-Byzantine style Neo-Byzantine architecture (also referred to as Byzantine Revival) was a revival movement, most frequently seen in religious, institutional and public buildings. It incorporates elements of the Byzantine style associated with Eastern and Ortho ...

. The church was destroyed after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

, when the monastery was given over to the Latvian Riflemen to be used as

barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

. By the end of the Soviet period the monastery had lost most of its walls and was very dilapidated. Restoration work on one of the greatest monasteries of the Moscow region started immediately after its return to 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 ...

in 1991. Repairs were made in the Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos, dating from the 17th century and containing an

icon screen In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis ( gr, εἰκονοστάσιον) is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed a ...

and royal doors from the 16th century. Reconstruction of the missing sections of the wall is in prospect. The modern monastery derives its prosperity from the venerated copy of the icon of the Inexhaustible Chalice, which attracts hundreds of pilgrims from all over Russia and abroad. The icon was brought to the monastery from the Vladychny Convent (also in Serpukhov) and is said to be particularly effective in the treatment of

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

.''Akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos in honour of the icon of the Inexaustible Cup, translated by Sister Dorofea (Mirochnitchenko) and Katherine Szalasznyj, The History of the Icon, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Orthodox Research Institute.''

References

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External links

Official monastery website

Aerial view of monastery
Russian Orthodox monasteries in Russia 1373 establishments in Europe 14th-century establishments in Russia Buildings and structures in Moscow Oblast Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Moscow Oblast