The Monastery of the Annunciation in

Supraśl Supraśl (; ; ) is a town and former episcopal see in Białystok County, in Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It is the seat of the Gmina Supraśl. It is situated on the Supraśl (river), Supraśl River, about northeast of Białyst ...

(; ; ), also known as the Supraśl Lavra is a monastery in

in north-eastern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

in the

Podlaskie Voivodeship Podlaskie Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship in northeastern Poland. The name of the voivodeship refers to the historical region of Podlachia (in Polish, ''Podlasie''), and significant part of its territory corresponds to th ...

. Today it belongs to the

autocephalous Autocephaly (; ) 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 Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. The status has been compared with t ...

Polish Orthodox Church The Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church (), commonly known as the Polish Orthodox Church, or Orthodox Church of Poland, is one of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches in full communion. The church was established in 1924, to accommodate O ...

and is one of six

Eastern Orthodox Christian Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

men's monasteries in Poland. In 2023, the monastery was designated an official Polish

Historic Monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

History

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

Aleksander Chodkiewicz Aleksander Chodkiewicz (, , ; ca. 1475 – 28 May 1549) was a Ruthenian noble from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, founder of the Supraśl Orthodox Monastery. He inherited vast possessions from his father Ivan Chodkiewicz, which made him 11th we ...

and the Archbishop (Archepiscope) of Smolensk and Archimandrite of Slutsk Joseph Soltan. Jeremias II Tranos, the

Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople () is the archbishop of Constantinople and (first among equals) among the heads of the several autocephalous churches that comprise the Eastern Orthodox Church. The ecumenical patriarch is regarded as ...

issued a special Tomos 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 Catacombs are man-made underground passages primarily used for religious purposes, particularly for burial. Any chamber used as a burial place is considered a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etym ...

. With the passing of the years, the Supraśl

Lavra A lavra or laura (; 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. Lavra monasteries operate within the Orthodox and other Eastern Chri ...

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 Mount Athos (; ) is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece directly on the Aegean Sea. It is an important center of Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox monasticism. The mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are governed ...

. In 1609, the Monastery was one of the first entities to accept the

Union of Brest The Union of Brest took place in 1595–1596 and represented an agreement by Eastern Orthodox Churches in the Ruthenian portions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to accept the Pope's authority while maintaining Eastern Orthodox liturgical ...

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, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, 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 Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polis ...

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

Treaties of Tilsit The Treaties of Tilsit (), also collectively known as the Peace of Tilsit (; ), were two peace treaties signed by French Emperor Napoleon in the town of Tilsit in July 1807 in the aftermath of his victory at Friedland, at the end of the War o ...

in 1807. In 1824, the Russians gave the monastery complex to the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

. 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

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

es, which had been covered up by the Basilians. In the aftermath of the havoc of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the monks fled from the monastery for the interior of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, 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, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

of Our Lady of Supraśl. In the period between the two world wars, the monastery was used by the Latin Rite Salesian Order. In 1944, the retreating German army destroyed the Church of the Annunciation, along with all of its precious frescoes. The

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

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 Literary work is a generic term for works of literature, i.e. texts such as fiction and non-fiction books, essays, screenplays''.'' In the philosophy of art and the field of aesthetics there is some debate about what that means, precisely. What a ...

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

es are currently exhibited in the Archimandrites' Palace. The church is being rebuilt according to the design of architect M. Kuźmienko. Monastery buildings

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

, built in the 17th and 18th centuries. 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, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

Museum. The Church of St. John the Theologian (1888) The Gate-Belltower built in 1752, modeled on the Branicki Palace in

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Biał ...

. The premises of the Supraśl

are the home of the Supraśl Academy, modeled on 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 Religious buildings and structures in Podlaskie Voivodeship Tourist attractions in Podlaskie Voivodeship Monasteries of the Order of Saint Basil the Great Lavras