Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery
Encyclopedia
Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery , loosely translated in English as the St. Cyril-Belozersk Monastery, used to be the largest monastery of Northern Russia. The monastery was dedicated to the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos
, for which cause it was sometimes referred to as the Dormition Monastery of St. Cyril. By the 20th century, the town of Kirillov had grown nearby.
. Its founder, St. Kirill of Beloozero
, following the advice of his teacher, St. Sergius of Radonezh
, first dug a cave here, then built a wooden Assumption chapel and a loghouse for other monks. Shortly before the creation of the monastery, the area fell under control of the Grand Duchy of Moscow
.
Being a member of the influential Velyaminov clan of boyar
s, Kirill relinquished the office of father superior of the greatest cloister in medieval Moscow
—the Simonov monastery
. His ties with the ruling elite were still close, however, as his letters to sons of Dmitri Donskoi
clearly demonstrate. It seems that the Muscovite rulers regarded Kirill's monastery as an important strategic point, both for Northern trade and in their struggle with the Novgorod Republic
. By 1427, when Kirill died, the prince of Belozersk-Mozhaisk (subject to the Grand Prince of Moscow) was the monastery's patron and the monastery was administratively subordinate to the Archbishop of Rostov. Under Hegumen Trifon (1434/5–1447/8), social and administrative reforms were undertaken, including the adoption of an Athonite cenobitic rule. A Byzantine-style secondary school was established at which translations of textbooks on grammar, semantics, geography, and history were used. A lasting legacy of the school were bibliographical studies, exemplified by the elder Yefrosin, and text critical studies, exemplified by Nil Sorsky
(1433–1508). Nil also founded a skete
on the Sora River near the monastery.
In the 16th century, the monastery was the second richest landowner in Russia, after its model, the Trinity Monastery
near Moscow. Ivan the Terrible not only had his own cell in the cloister, but also planned to take monastic vows here. The cloister was also important as a political prison. Among the Muscovite politicians exiled to Kirillov were Vassian Patrikeyev
, Tsar Simeon Bekbulatovich
, Patriarch Nikon
, and the prime minister Boris Morozov
.
masters in 1497, was the largest monastery church built in Russia up to that date. Its 17th-century iconostasis
features many ancient icon
s, arranged in five tiers above a silver heaven gate endowed by Tsar Alexis in 1645. A lot of valuable objects kept in the sacristy are personal gifts of the tsars who visited the monastery.
The smaller Ivanovsky priory is dedicated to St. John the Precursor, the patron saint of Ivan the Terrible. The oldest church of the priory was commissioned by Ivan's father, for the benefit of the "mendicant brethren", soon after his visit to the monastery in 1528. Subsequently, the monks incurred the tsar's displeasure by constructing St. Vladimir's Chapel over the grave of the exiled Prince Vorotynsky
. Although the tsar chastised them for having broken canonical requirements, the chapel — which became the first family mausoleum
in Russia — survived Ivan's reign and was expanded to its present form in 1623.
The monastery walls, 732 meters long and 7 meters thick, were constructed in 1654-80. They incorporate parts of the earlier citadel, which helped to withstand the Polish siege in 1612. At first construction works were supervised by Jean de Gron, a French military engineer known in Russian sources as Anton Granovsky. After the monastic authorities denigrated his Western-style design as alien to Russian traditions, Granovsky was replaced by a team of native masters. The fortress was the largest erected in Muscovy after the Time of Troubles
; its walls feature numerous tower
s, each built to a particular design. The most remarkable are the Chasuble
, the Tent-like, the Vologda, and the Smithy towers.
(1924), a wooden shrine from 1485 and several traditional timber structures were put on exhibit on the grounds. During Soviet restoration works, superb 16th-century frescoes were discovered in the gate church of St. Sergius (1560–94).
On the other hand, the monastic library
and some other treasures were transferred to Moscow
or St Petersburg. These included the oldest extant copies of the 12th-century Daniel's Pilgrimage and the Zadonshchina
.
The larger part of the monastery is still administrated as the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum of History, Art, and Architecture. The monks were readmitted into the higher, or Ivanovsky, priory in 1998. As of 2011, the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery was one of the four acting monasteries in Vologda Oblast.
The ensemble of the monastery has been designated as a cultural heritage monument of federal significance.
Dormition of the Theotokos
The Dormition of the Theotokos is a Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches which commemorates the "falling asleep" or death of the Theotokos , and her bodily resurrection before being taken up into heaven. It is celebrated on August 15 The Dormition...
, for which cause it was sometimes referred to as the Dormition Monastery of St. Cyril. By the 20th century, the town of Kirillov had grown nearby.
History
The monastery was founded in 1397 on the bank of Lake Siverskoye, to the south from the town of Beloozero, in the present-day Vologda OblastVologda Oblast
Vologda Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is Vologda. The largest city is Cherepovets.Vologda Oblast is rich in historic monuments, such as the magnificent Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, Ferapontov Convent , medieval towns of Velikiy Ustyug and Belozersk, baroque...
. Its founder, St. Kirill of Beloozero
Kirill of Beloozero
Cyril of White Lake was a monk and saint of the Russian Orthodox Church who lived in the 15th century. Saint Cyril was a disciple of Saint Sergius of Radonezh...
, following the advice of his teacher, St. Sergius of Radonezh
Sergius of Radonezh
Venerable Sergius of Radonezh , also transliterated as Sergey Radonezhsky or Serge of Radonezh, was a spiritual leader and monastic reformer of medieval Russia. Together with Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, he is one of the Russian Orthodox Church's most highly venerated saints.-Early life:The date of...
, first dug a cave here, then built a wooden Assumption chapel and a loghouse for other monks. Shortly before the creation of the monastery, the area fell under control of the Grand Duchy of Moscow
Grand Duchy of Moscow
The Grand Duchy of Moscow or Grand Principality of Moscow, also known in English simply as Muscovy , was a late medieval Rus' principality centered on Moscow, and the predecessor state of the early modern Tsardom of Russia....
.
Being a member of the influential Velyaminov clan of boyar
Boyar
A boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....
s, Kirill relinquished the office of father superior of the greatest cloister in medieval Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
—the Simonov monastery
Simonov Monastery
Simonov monastery in Moscow was established in 1370 by monk Feodor, a nephew and disciple of St Sergius of Radonezh.The monastery land formerly belonged to Simeon Khovrin, a boyar of Greek extraction and progenitor of the great clan of Golovins. He took monastic vows in the cloister under the name...
. His ties with the ruling elite were still close, however, as his letters to sons of Dmitri Donskoi
Dmitri Donskoi
Saint Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy , or Dmitry of the Don, sometimes referred to as Dmitry I , son of Ivan II the Meek of Moscow , reigned as the Prince of Moscow from 1359 and Grand Prince of Vladimir from 1363 to his death. He was the first prince of Moscow to openly challenge Mongol authority in...
clearly demonstrate. It seems that the Muscovite rulers regarded Kirill's monastery as an important strategic point, both for Northern trade and in their struggle with the Novgorod Republic
Novgorod Republic
The Novgorod Republic was a large medieval Russian state which stretched from the Baltic Sea to the Ural Mountains between the 12th and 15th centuries, centred on the city of Novgorod...
. By 1427, when Kirill died, the prince of Belozersk-Mozhaisk (subject to the Grand Prince of Moscow) was the monastery's patron and the monastery was administratively subordinate to the Archbishop of Rostov. Under Hegumen Trifon (1434/5–1447/8), social and administrative reforms were undertaken, including the adoption of an Athonite cenobitic rule. A Byzantine-style secondary school was established at which translations of textbooks on grammar, semantics, geography, and history were used. A lasting legacy of the school were bibliographical studies, exemplified by the elder Yefrosin, and text critical studies, exemplified by Nil Sorsky
Nil Sorsky
Nil Sorsky was a leader of the Russian medieval movement opposing ecclesiastic landownership . Nil Sorsky is venerated as a saint in the Russian Orthodox Church. His feast day is on the anniversary of his repose on May 7.-Early life:Before becoming a monk, Nil Sorsky worked as a scribe and was...
(1433–1508). Nil also founded a skete
Skete
A Skete is a monastic style community that allows relative isolation for monks, but alsoallows for communal services and the safety of shared resources and protection...
on the Sora River near the monastery.
In the 16th century, the monastery was the second richest landowner in Russia, after its model, the Trinity Monastery
Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra
The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius is the most important Russian monastery and the spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church. The monastery is situated in the town of Sergiyev Posad, about 70 km to the north-east from Moscow by the road leading to Yaroslavl, and currently is home to...
near Moscow. Ivan the Terrible not only had his own cell in the cloister, but also planned to take monastic vows here. The cloister was also important as a political prison. Among the Muscovite politicians exiled to Kirillov were Vassian Patrikeyev
Vassian Patrikeyev
Vassian Patrikeyev, also known as Vassian Kosoy was a Russian ecclesiastic and political figure and writer...
, Tsar Simeon Bekbulatovich
Simeon Bekbulatovich
Simeon Bekbulatovich was a khan of the Khanate of Qasim. After the period of the Oprichnina , Ivan the Terrible named Simeon Grand Prince of All Rus' . He participated in the Livonian war as a commander of the main regiment of the Muscovite army. Subsequently, he was named Grand Prince of Tver'...
, Patriarch Nikon
Patriarch Nikon
Nikon , born Nikita Minin , was the seventh patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church...
, and the prime minister Boris Morozov
Boris Morozov
Boris Ivanovich Morozov was a Muscovite statesman and boyar who led the Russian government during the early reign of Tsar Alexis, whose tutor and brother-in-law he was....
.
Attractions
The vast walled area of the monastery comprises two separate priories with eleven churches, most of them dating to the 16th century. Of these, nine belong to the Uspensky (Assumption) priory by the lake. The Assumption cathedral, erected by RostovRostov
Rostov 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:...
masters in 1497, was the largest monastery church built in Russia up to that date. Its 17th-century iconostasis
Iconostasis
In Eastern Christianity an iconostasis 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 anywhere within a church...
features many ancient icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
s, arranged in five tiers above a silver heaven gate endowed by Tsar Alexis in 1645. A lot of valuable objects kept in the sacristy are personal gifts of the tsars who visited the monastery.
The smaller Ivanovsky priory is dedicated to St. John the Precursor, the patron saint of Ivan the Terrible. The oldest church of the priory was commissioned by Ivan's father, for the benefit of the "mendicant brethren", soon after his visit to the monastery in 1528. Subsequently, the monks incurred the tsar's displeasure by constructing St. Vladimir's Chapel over the grave of the exiled Prince Vorotynsky
Vorotynsky
Vorotynsky was one of the most eminent Rurikid princely houses of Muscovite Russia. Their lands lay principally in the Upper Oka region and comprised the towns of Peremyshl and Vorotynsk as well as parts of Novosil and Odoyev....
. Although the tsar chastised them for having broken canonical requirements, the chapel — which became the first family mausoleum
Mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
in Russia — survived Ivan's reign and was expanded to its present form in 1623.
The monastery walls, 732 meters long and 7 meters thick, were constructed in 1654-80. They incorporate parts of the earlier citadel, which helped to withstand the Polish siege in 1612. At first construction works were supervised by Jean de Gron, a French military engineer known in Russian sources as Anton Granovsky. After the monastic authorities denigrated his Western-style design as alien to Russian traditions, Granovsky was replaced by a team of native masters. The fortress was the largest erected in Muscovy after the Time of Troubles
Time of Troubles
The Time of Troubles was a period of Russian history comprising the years of interregnum between the death of the last Russian Tsar of the Rurik Dynasty, Feodor Ivanovich, in 1598, and the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty in 1613. In 1601-1603, Russia suffered a famine that killed one-third...
; its walls feature numerous tower
Tower
A tower is a tall structure, usually taller than it is wide, often by a significant margin. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires....
s, each built to a particular design. The most remarkable are the Chasuble
Chasuble
The chasuble is the outermost liturgical vestment worn by clergy for the celebration of the Eucharist in Western-tradition Christian Churches that use full vestments, primarily in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran churches, as well as in some parts of the United Methodist Church...
, the Tent-like, the Vologda, and the Smithy towers.
After secularisation
After the Bolsheviks had the monastery secularised and turned into museumMuseum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
(1924), a wooden shrine from 1485 and several traditional timber structures were put on exhibit on the grounds. During Soviet restoration works, superb 16th-century frescoes were discovered in the gate church of St. Sergius (1560–94).
On the other hand, the monastic library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
and some other treasures were transferred to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
or St Petersburg. These included the oldest extant copies of the 12th-century Daniel's Pilgrimage and the Zadonshchina
Zadonshchina
Zadonshchina is a Russian literary monument of the late 14th century, which tells of the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380.- Redactions and the Prototext :Zadonshina exists in 2 redactions:...
.
The larger part of the monastery is still administrated as the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum of History, Art, and Architecture. The monks were readmitted into the higher, or Ivanovsky, priory in 1998. As of 2011, the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery was one of the four acting monasteries in Vologda Oblast.
The ensemble of the monastery has been designated as a cultural heritage monument of federal significance.
Further reading
- Brumfield, William C. Kirillov. Ferapontovo (Moscow: Tri Kvadrata, 2009) ISBN 97859460710792 (in Russian and in English)