The Monastery of the Annunciation in

Supraśl Supraśl (; be, Су́прасль; ) is a town and former episcopal see in north-eastern Poland. Supraśl is in Podlaskie Voivodeship (province) since 1999, previously in Białystok Voivodeship (1975-1998) (1975–1998), and is in Białystok C ...

( pl, Monaster Zwiastowania Najświętszej Marii Panny w Supraślu; be, Супрасльскі Дабравешчанскі манастыр; russian: Супрасльский Благовещенский монастырь), also known as the Supraśl Lavra is a monastery in North Eastern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Today it belongs to the

autocephalous Autocephaly (; from el, αὐτοκεφαλία, meaning "property of being self-headed") is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern O ...

Polish Orthodox Church The Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church ( pl, Polski Autokefaliczny Kościół Prawosławny), commonly known as the Polish Orthodox Church, or Orthodox Church of Poland, is one of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches in full communion. Th ...

and is one of six Eastern Orthodox Christian men's monasteries in Poland.

History

The Supraśl Orthodox Monastery was founded in 1498 by the voivode of Nowogródek and the Marshall of the

Great Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...

Aleksander Chodkiewicz and the Archbishop (Archepiscope) of Smolensk and Archimandrite of Slutsk Joseph Soltan. Jeremias II Tranos, the Patriarch of Constantinople issued a special

tomos Tomos ( sl, link=yes, Tovarna, Motorjev, Sežana, "Motorcycle Company Sežana") was a moped manufacturer based in Koper, Slovenia. It was founded in 1948. Tomos acquired a production license from Puch to produce moped models under the Tomos name ...

sanctioning its foundation. 1501 saw the building of the first wooden church of St. John the Evangelist. In this period, Anthony of Supraśl lived in the monastery before his martyrdom. In 1516, the Church of the Annunciation was consecrated, later the monastery was further expanded with the addition of another church dedicated to the Resurrection of Our Lord, which housed the monastery catacombs. With the passing of the years, the Supraśl

Lavra A lavra or laura ( el, Λαύρα; Cyrillic: Ла́вра) is a type of monastery consisting of a cluster of cells or caves for hermits, with a church and sometimes a refectory at the center. It is erected within the Orthodox and other Eastern ...

became an important site of Orthodox culture as a result of its large library and lively contacts with other important Orthodox sites such as the Kiev Lavra and Mount Athos. In 1609, the Monastery was one of the first entities to accept the

Union of Brest The Union of Brest (; ; ; ) was the 1595–96 decision of the Ruthenian Orthodox Church eparchies (dioceses) in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to break relations with the Eastern Orthodox Church and to enter into communion with, and place i ...

in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Basilian Order took over its administration. The Basilians oversaw the rebuilding of the Monastery complex and expansion of its publishing activity. At the end of the 17th century, a printing house was established and, over a period of slightly more than one hundred years, published 350 titles in Ruthenian, Polish, and Latin. During that same period, several filial monasteries were also established, the most noteworthy being the filial monastery in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, which has remained in operation to this day. In 1796, Prussian authorities confiscated the holdings of the monastery after the third

Partition of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...

. Nevertheless, it continued to play an important role in the religious life of the region as the seat of a newly created eparchy for those devout Ruthenians under

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

n rule, starting in 1797 and lasting until it fell under Russian rule after the

Treaties of Tilsit The Treaties of Tilsit were two agreements signed by French Emperor Napoleon in the town of Tilsit in July 1807 in the aftermath of his victory at Friedland. The first was signed on 7 July, between Napoleon and Russian Emperor Alexander, when ...

in 1807. In 1824, the Russians gave the monastery complex 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 1875, the St. Panteleimon church was built, in 1889, St. John the Theologian, and finally in 1901, St. George the Victor. In 1910, there was a restoration of the 16th century frescoes, which had been covered up by the Basilians. In the aftermath of the havoc of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the monks fled from the monastery for the interior of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, taking with them the miraculous

icon 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 ...

of Our Lady of Supraśl. In the period between the two world wars, the monastery was used by the Latin Rite

Salesian Order , image = File:Stemma big.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , abbreviation = SDB , formation = , founder = John Bosco , founding_location = Valdocco, Turi ...

. In 1944, the retreating German army destroyed the Church of the Annunciation, along with all of its precious frescoes. The Communist government turned the monastery into an agricultural academy. After the collapse of the Communist government, the monastery was turned over to the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church, which immediately began the still ongoing conservation work and renovation of the monastery. The Codex of Supraśl, the oldest Slavic

literary work Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

and one of the oldest of its kind in the world, is named after this monastery.

Monastery complex

In the courtyard of the monastery complex is the Church of the Annunciation (1503–1511, destroyed 1944, in the process of being rebuilt since 1985. Surviving original fragments of the original frescoes are currently exhibited in the Archimandrites' Palace. The church is being rebuilt according to the design of architect M. Kuźmienko. Monastery buildings Baroque, built between the 17th and 18th century. Archimandrites' Palace ( built between 1635-1655) today the palace houses the

Icon 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 ...

Museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

The Church of St. John the Theologian (1888) The Gate-Belltower built in 1752, modeled after the Branicki Palace in Białystok. The premises of the Supraśl

is the home of the Supraśl Academy, modeled after similar institutions run by the Orthodox Church in Greece today.

References

External links

Official website of the Supraśl Lavra
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suprasl Orthodox Monastery Eastern Orthodoxy in Poland Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Poland Shrines to the Virgin Mary Christian monasteries established in the 16th century Białystok County Buildings and structures in Podlaskie Voivodeship Tourist attractions in Podlaskie Voivodeship Monasteries of the Order of Saint Basil the Great Lavras