Holy Trinity Hermitage in Strelna Gymnasium. Holy Trinity Sergius seaside men's hermitage. Cathedral Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh

Primorskaya Trinity-Sergius monastery dacha, Sergius deserts (deserts - a secluded settlement of hermits), as the monastery was usually called, today it is Holy Trinity Sergius Primorskaya male deserts. In many ways, her fate is unusual.

1730-1740 - the reign of the native niece of Peter I, Anna Ioannovna, who did a lot in the affairs of education and missionary work in the interests of the Russian Church. In 1732, a decree was signed on the transfer of the Primorskaya dacha, that along the Peterhof road, "Troitsky Sergius Monastery and Archimandrite Varlaam, and who, according to him, in this monastery, the Archimandrites will be in eternal possession." Archimandrite Varlaam (Vysotsky), the spiritual father of Anna Ioannovna, was a worthy vicar of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra near Moscow. The Sergius Hermitage founded by him had a positive significance both for the St. Petersburg diocese and for the entire Russian Church.

The modest monastery occupied a small, almost square, area with a side of about 140m. It was surrounded by a wooden fence with corner towers. On the central square stood the wooden Church of the Assumption Holy Mother of God, illuminated in honor of St. Sergius of Radonezh. On both sides of the church there are monastic cells and the stone house of the abbot. Burdened with many church affairs, Archimandrite Varlaam did not visit the monastery so often, but he bequeathed to bury himself here. A wooden chapel of the Tikhvin Mother of God was erected over his grave.

Approaching from the capital to Strelna, the pilgrim already from a distance noticed among the greenery of the surrounding gardens and fields golden crosses and domes, multi-colored walls and roofs of the monastery, which was founded in 1732 by Archimandrite Varlaam (Vysotsky), rector of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra under Moscow. Empress Anna Ioannovna, whose confessor was Varlaam, donated the former manor of her sister, Princess Ekaterina Ioannovna, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, for the monastery.

Varlaam moved a wooden church from St. Petersburg to the monastery, erected wooden walls, cells and a stone building for the governor. According to the project of P. A. Trezi-ni, the cells were built of brick in 1756-1760, and by 1764 towers appeared on the corners of the walls. In the same year, the monastery, where about 20 monks lived, separated from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and began to be managed by its own archimandrite.

The heyday of the desert began in 1834, when archim was appointed its governor. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov), author of the famous Ascetic Experiments. A year later, he united the fraternal buildings with a gallery, in which he set up a refectory, put the economy in order and repaired the temples. The monastic choir under him was led by the famous spiritual composer Fr. P. I. Turchaninov, who in 1836-1841 was a priest in neighboring Strelna.

Chronicle

1732 - foundation of the monastery, subordinated to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.
1735 - the wooden church of St. Sergius of Radonezh.
1756-1758 - the church of St. Sergius.
1760 - the five-domed Trinity Cathedral was erected (under the supervision of B. Rastrelli).
1764 - the monastery became independent.
1805 - the church of St. Martyr was founded. Valerian with a disabled home
1809 - the church of St. Martyr was consecrated. Valerian
1844 - the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos was laid.
1854 - church of St. Sergius was completely rebuilt in the Byzantine style.
1855 - St. Grigorievsky Church was founded.
1859 - the gate church of ssmch was founded. Savva Stratilat
1857 - Grigorievsky church was consecrated.
1877 - the Church of the Resurrection of Christ was founded.
1884 - the Church of the Resurrection of Christ was consecrated.
1919 - the monastery was closed, but services continued for more than 10 years. Temple closed. Valerian
1920s - the Church of the Resurrection of Christ was closed.
1962 - Trinity Cathedral was blown up.
1964 - the cemetery was destroyed, the Intercession Church was blown up.
1968 - the Church of the Resurrection of Christ was demolished.
1973 - the architectural complex of the monastery was placed under state protection.
1993 - a decision was made on the phased transfer of the surviving monastic buildings to the diocese.
1994 - opening of the monastery.

Petersburg historians called the deserts a pearl of Russian history, architecture and spiritual culture. It was founded here, 19 versts from St. Petersburg, on the coast of the Gulf of Finland, on the lands transferred by Empress Anna Ioannovna in 1734 to her confessor, rector of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Archimandrite Varlaam (Vasily Vysotsky in the world). In November of the same year, the Empress allowed the wooden Church of the Assumption to be moved. Mother of God from the country house of Tsaritsa Paraskeva Feodorovna on the Fontanka and ordered to consecrate it in the name of St. Sergius the Wonderworker of Radonezh. The consecration took place on May 12, 1735. Wooden cells were built for the brethren, and a stone outbuilding for the abbot. In June 1735, Anna Ioannovna visited the monastery and granted liturgical books to the newly built church. At first, the hermitage did not have a special staff of monks. To perform divine services, persons from among the brethren of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery were sent here. The young desert was ruled by its founder Archimandrite Varlaam.

Archimandrite Varlaam died in July 1737 and was buried in the monastery he founded. Anna Ioannovna, by a personal decree of January 30, 1738, ordered to describe the deserts. After that, the church was considered attributed to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The new monastery in the first years of its existence was called the Primorskaya Trinity-Sergius Monastery dacha. The external device of the desert was carried out at the expense of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The life and work of the brethren was also under the supervision and guidance of the Lavra. In 1764, monastic states were established in Russia, according to which the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage was separated from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and elevated to the 2nd class. On May 4, 1764, a decree followed from the office of the Holy Synod, which stated: "The recently built desert located near St. Petersburg, along the Peterhof road, for lack of monasteries near St. Petersburg, should be attributed to the St. Petersburg diocese."

Gradually monastery began to be built up according to the planning project developed by P. A. Trezzini. According to this project, two corner towers were finished, the entire courtyard was paved with stone. In 1760, the rector's cells were built according to the project of F. B. Rastrelli. They had an art gallery, which, among others, contained two rare portraits of Anna Ioannovna and Elizaveta Petrovna. The center of the ensemble was built in 1756 - 1760 under the supervision of B.-F. Rastrelli, designed by P. A. Trezzini, a stone five-domed church in the name of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity with chapels in the name of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul and in the name of the Holy Righteous Zacharias and Elizabeth. It was small, seating only 600 people, outside it was richly decorated with baroque columns and pilasters, and inside - with a high gilded iconostasis. Strict grace was marked by its five freely spaced domes, decorated with light columns. The cathedral served as a prototype for many church buildings erected in the next two decades. (In 1919, the cathedral was closed. The magnificent Trinity Cathedral perished - closed and adapted for household needs, it suffered during the Great Patriotic War and was blown up in the summer of 1962, although a project for the restoration of this architectural monument of the 18th century was already ready.)

The architect Luigi Rusca in 1805-1809 built the Invalid House in the western part of the monastery with the church of the holy martyr Valerian. The temple was consecrated in June 1809, and the nursing home began operating five years later. In the temple there was the grave of Valerian Zubov, Knight of St. George and Knight of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, the conqueror of Derbent. The church with an almshouse for crippled soldiers was built by his brothers, Counts Dmitry, Platon and Nikolai Alexandrovich Zubov. In the crypt of the church, Nikolai, Dmitry and Plato (prince of the Roman Empire) Zubovs themselves were subsequently buried, as well as the daughter and grandson of A.V. Suvorov - Natalya Alexandrovna Zubova and Alexander Arkadyevich Suvorov, children and grandchildren of the counts of the Zubovs. During the rebuilding of the church Soviet time All these graves were destroyed.

In 1833, the 27-year-old saint (canonized by the church in 1988) Ignatius (in the world Dmitry Alexandrovich Brianchaninov) became the rector of the desert. Hermitage was transferred to class I, grew into an exemplary monastery and became known not only in Russia, but also far beyond its borders. Under him, memorial churches were built in the monastery - the Intercession of the Virgin and Gregory the Theologian, chapels, cells for monks, the Holy Gates. The main volume of designing new buildings and altering old ones fell during this period on the share of the architect Alexei Maksimovich Gornostaev. Two chapels - Pokrovskaya and Spasskaya - in front of the monastery, built by Gornostaev from red granite in 1845, have survived to this day. Both elegant, with keel-shaped icon cases, images and crosses that complete them, do not interfere with the panorama of the monastic buildings, which open wide towards the Bolshaya Peterhof road.

Behind the chapels and the fence, A. M. Gornostaev in 1859 - 1863 erected the Holy Gates with cells, a high hipped tower and the house church of St. Savva Stratilat, arranged at the expense of the staff captain M. V. Shishmarev in memory of his wife's grandfather Savva Yakovlevich Yakovlev, who died in 1784 and was buried in the Trinity-Sergius Desert. The church, for unknown reasons, was never consecrated. In 1899, a clock was installed on the tower above the Holy Gates, and then the building was built on. The church and the cells are built in brick, beautiful and picturesque in a green environment and fabulous in winter time. Their original silhouette in a constantly changing perspective is in tune with the landscape environment. The work of his mentor was continued in 1857 - 1897 by the new rector of the hermitage, Archimandrite Ignatius (Ivan Vasilievich Malyshev), who, being an artistically gifted person, decorated the hermitage with beautiful buildings and brought her spiritual state to a very high level.

The largest building in the monastery at that time should be called the construction of the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh by A. M. Gornostaev. The first stone church was erected in 1758 on the site of the former wooden one, and the Gornostaevsky church was built in 1854-1859 and consecrated in September 1859. The appearance of the church is nothing unusual. This is a three-storey building, 18 sazhens long, with an altar apse in the east, five domes, two churches: lower and upper. The entrance portal is in the center of the south façade and is marked by granite columns. The arched forms of the pediments of the windows, the triple pilasters, treated with rustication, seem to repeat the decor of the refectory and the rector's building standing nearby. The inner space of the temple did not repeat any of those built in Russia. The building of the church is a basilica with three naves and two rows of dark red granite columns five meters high supporting the choirs. The columns have capitals of various designs. High arches, obediently following the columns, rhythmically echo this smooth movement, directing the worshipers to the altar. The temple, which can accommodate 2,000 people, receives light from high semi-circular stained-glass windows located on the southern and northern walls. The ceiling, as in early Byzantine basilicas, was covered with wooden beams. Between the arches, R. F. Vinogradov (based on sketches by M. N. Vasiliev) painted a Byzantine ornament on a golden background. The altar part of the church was separated by a low Byzantine-type two-tiered iconostasis made of marble with inserts of malachite, lapis lazuli and mosaics. The images in the Royal Doors were performed by Academician N. A. Lavrov, the author of frescoes, and M. N. Vasiliev. In the side naves there were small marble iconostases inlaid with colored stones. The planes of the walls connecting the church with the refectory were painted by the artist Belyakov and Ignatiy Malyshev. Above western part choirs were built in the church. The mosaic floor, designed by Gornostaev, is a multicolored ornamental composition.

The lower, funeral, church was built like ancient crypts or Christian catacombs and had numerous burials. In the chapel, consecrated on July 4, 1857 in the name of Christ the Savior, there was a tomb of the Apraksins with 20 graves. The chapel in the name of the martyr Zinaida, consecrated on April 28, 1861, where there was an iconostasis made of pink cypress, had 33 burials of the Yusupovs. In addition, the princes Chernyshevs, Shishmarevs, Kartsevs, Stroganovs, Volkonskys, Shcherbatovs, Count Kleinmichel, Baron Frederiks found their last shelter in the lower church. Now the church is the only functioning temple on the territory of the monastery. Closed in 1919, partially destroyed and rebuilt, the temple is being restored and decorated. The stucco work on the facades of the church has been restored, and the interior murals are being restored.

Consecrated in May 1857, the Church of St. Gregory the Theologian ("Kushelevskaya") is located in the northeastern part of the monastery. It was erected in 1855 - 1857 according to the design of the court architect A.M. Stackenschneider in the Russian-Byzantine style over the grave of Paul I's favorite, Lieutenant General Count Grigory Grigoryevich Kushelev, with the money of his widow Ekaterina Dmitrievna. The church had a two-tiered iconostasis, the images of which are painted on a golden background. In the center of the temple there is a descent into the tomb lined with white marble. This church was closed in 1919-1920. One of the best creations of the architect A. I. Stackenschneider has been preserved, although in a redesigned form.

The memorial church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos ("Kochubeevskaya"), famous for its Florentine dome, was located to the right of the Holy Gates. It was founded in July 1844 over the grave of Princess Maria Ivanovna Kochubey, nee Princess Baryatinsky. It was a single-domed, octagonal building, faced with Scottish stone, in which light fell through round windows. The church was built in 1859 - 1863 according to the project of architects R. A. Kuzmin and G. E. Bosse with the money of Prince Mikhail Viktorovich Kochubey. The church was consecrated in 1863 by Archimandrite Ignatius (Malyshev). The temple operated until November 1931. It was blown up in the mid-1960s.

The chapel in the name of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God was erected near the altar of the Trinity Cathedral over the grave of the first abbot of the Desert, Archimandrite Varlaam, with the money of the monastery, according to the project of A. M. Gornostaev in 1864, after the death of the architect, who died in 1862. An associate of Ignatius Brianchaninov, Schemamonk Mikhail (Chikhachev), was also buried in it. In November 1931, after the closure of the "Kochubey" church, the chapel became a parish church. They closed it in 1935. The building of the chapel has not been preserved.

The chapel in the name of the Rudny Icon of the Mother of God was built on one of the islands of the pond in the eastern part of the monastery. The project of the chapel, consecrated in 1876, was carried out by the architect D.I. Grimm. The building of the chapel has not been preserved.

According to the project of Archimandrite Ignatius (Malyshev) and architect A. A. Parland in 1872 - 1884, the Church of the Resurrection of Christ was erected in the desert. The building of the church was erected on the site of the church of St. James the Apostle, built in 1791, which stood here earlier. The new temple was five-domed, with domes and facades designed in the spirit of the forms and motifs of late Byzantine architecture. On the lower floor was the Church of the Holy Archangel Michael, created in memory of Vice-Admiral Prince MP Golitsyn, buried here, whose widow donated funds for the construction. The throne of the church was consecrated in 1884 simultaneously with the altar of the main premises of the Resurrection Cathedral on the top floor of the building. The building was noted for its excellent craftsmanship, a combination of high ledges and arched crowning of domes. On the multi-colored brick facade there were large bas-reliefs depicting the Savior walking on the waters, and Russian saints of all ages. Gilded royal doors were supported by silver-plated angels. All images in the Royal Doors are written on mother-of-pearl, and in the iconostasis - on a gold background. Archimandrite Ignatius (Malyshev) painted about 70 icons for the cathedral. The church played an important role in the formation of the ensemble of buildings of the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage. In the tomb of the cathedral he built, IV Malyshev was buried.

The temple was closed in 1919, its building - the first creation of Archimandrite Ignatius and architect A. A. Parland (according to their joint project, the magnificent "Savior-on-Blood" will be erected in St. Petersburg later on the site of the mortal wound of Alexander II) - demolished in 1968. In the summer of 1998, the relics of Archimandrite Ignatius were found underground at the site of the former Resurrection Cathedral and transferred to the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh.

The Trinity-Sergius Hermitage was closed in 1931, the inhabitants of the monastery were arrested and sent into exile. Barbarously and systematically destroyed the cemetery of the monastery, which in the XIX century was considered one of the most beautiful in Europe. Since Catherine's time, like the cemeteries of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Donskoy and Simonov monasteries in Moscow, they buried the dead from noble noble families: Apraksins, Myatlevs, Stroganovs, Durasovs. The architects A. M. Gornostaev and A. I. Stackenschneider were buried here. The architectural ensemble of the Holy Trinity Sergius Hermitage was seriously damaged, first during the barbaric reconstructions of the 1930s, and then as a result of destruction during the Great Patriotic War. In the 1960s, the temples of the monastery, dilapidated by the war, were demolished. Unfortunately, the Rastrelli-Trezinian Trinity Cathedral, the Church of the Intercession, built in the desert by architects R. I. Kuzmin and G. E. Bosse, and the Church of the Resurrection have not been preserved. Since 1964, a special secondary school for militia has been located on the territory of the monastery. In 1973, as a mockery, just a few years after the above temples were demolished, the architectural complex of the monastery was placed under state protection.

In March 1993, monastic life resumed in the monastery. For six years, the inhabitants of the monastery had to share the territory of the desert with the police school, which finally liberated the buildings of the monastery in 1999. Now divine services are held in the restored church of St. Sergius of Radonezh.

The Church of St. Gregory the Theologian has also been preserved, however, putting it in order will require significant funds.

The data are taken for the most part from the book "Metropolitan of St. Petersburg Vladimir. Life and Works". (St. Petersburg, 2000) and from the description of the monastery, distributed in it

Trinity-Sergius Hermitage, 1st class, 19 versts from St. Petersburg, on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, near the railway station Sergievo. Founded in 1734 by the confessor of Empress Anna Ioannovna, rector of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Archimandrite Varlaam. Until 1764, it was assigned to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. The five-domed Trinity Cathedral was built in 1756 at the expense of the Lavra. Here is a particularly revered icon of St. Sergius of Radonezh, and with it a cross with a particle of his holy relics. In the cathedral church in the name of St. Sergius, built in 1859, there is an ark with particles of the holy relics of the Egyptian hermits. The third, cathedral church of the Resurrection of Christ, is of Byzantine architecture, five-domed; consecrated in 1884. It is divided into 2 temples: the lower one, which has the tombs of builders and benefactors, and the upper one, intended for constant worship. In front of the entrance to the temple, at the doors to the right and left, there are two statues of the Savior and the first planters in our country of Christianity, Princess Olga of the Equal Throne and the martyrs Theodore and his son John.

At the entrance to the cathedral, one can see in the windows of the eastern altar wall several transparent, highly artistic icons made of colored glass. The iconostasis is distinguished by the peculiarity that it has only two small local icons: the Savior and the Mother of God, in icon cases richly made of marble and other valuable minerals. Between the icons are two silver-plated bronze statues of archangels, sitting like guardians of the shrine, at the entrance to the altar. The gilded bronze doors are unusually low, so that almost the entire altar wall is visible through them. On the solea in front of the iconostasis, there are 2 precious mnogosvetniks, which are incomparable in terms of highly artistic performance. Expensive lapis lazuli and gilded bronze make up the material from which they are executed. The wall writing inside the cathedral, for the most part, belongs to the late rector and builder of the cathedral, Archimandrite Ignatius. According to him, on both walls of the cathedral, on the so-called belt, all the saints glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church are depicted, starting from the 10th century, from the Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Dukes Olga and Grand Duke Vladimir and ending with the 19th century, to the newly glorified saints: Innocent, Mitrofan and Tikhon. On the island of the Jordanian pond there is a chapel with a particularly revered ancient icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, called Rudenskaya. Every year on July 5 and September 25, a religious procession takes place around the monastery. Since 1892, in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the death of St. Sergius, annually on September 25, the sobriety society has made a procession to the desert from the Pokrovskaya fraternal church in St. Petersburg. Near the desert there is a two-class school, a disabled and hospitable home, and a hospital.

From the book by S.V. Bulgakov "Russian monasteries in 1913"

Approaching from the capital to Strelna, the pilgrim from a distance from the left side of the road noticed among the greenery of the surrounding gardens and fields golden crosses and domes, multi-colored walls and roofs of the monastery, which was founded in 1732 by Archimandrite Varlaam (Vysotsky, 1665-1737 ), rector of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra near Moscow. Empress Anna Ioannovna, whose confessor was Varlaam, donated the former manor of her sister, Princess Ekaterina Ioannovna, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, for the monastery.

Varlaam in 1735 transferred a wooden church from St. Petersburg to the monastery, erected wooden walls, cells and a stone building of the governor, in which Catherine II learned about the abdication of her husband. According to the project of P. A. Trezzini, the cells were built of brick in 1756-1760, and by 1764 four towers appeared at the corners of the walls. In the same year, the monastery, where about 11 monks lived, separated from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and began to be managed by its own archimandrite, but monastic life proceeded according to the traditions of the Lavra. In 1819 the monastery was assigned to the Reval vicariate.

The heyday of the desert began in 1834, when Archimandrite Ignatius (Bryanchaninov), the author of the famous Ascetic Experiments, was appointed its governor. A year later, he connected the fraternal buildings with a gallery, in which he set up a refectory, put the household in order and repaired the temples. The monastic choir under him was led by the famous spiritual composer Fr. P. I. Turchaninov, who in 1836-1841 was a priest in neighboring Strelna.

The work of his mentor was continued in 1857-1897 by Archimandrite Ignatius (Malyshev), who, having received an art education, decorated the hermitage with beautiful buildings and brought her spiritual state to a very high level. He was buried in the Mikhailovsky aisle of the Resurrection Church. The spiritual father of the brethren, hierom, was also very famous at that time in the capital. Gerasim, a graduate of the capital's university, who died in 1897.

Before the revolution, in the monastery, which had a capital of 350 thousand rubles, there were seven churches and about 100 brethren lived, from which, according to a long tradition, ship priests were chosen for the Russian navy. Before the revolution, temples operated in the desert: Holy Trinity, prp. Sergius of Radonezh, Resurrection of Christ, schmch. Valerian (Zubovskaya), St. Gregory the Theologian (Kushelevskaya), Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos (Kochubeevskaya), schmch. Savva Stratilata (Shishmarevskaya).

There were chapels at the monastery:
- Pokrovskaya and Spasskaya - at the monastery gates, rebuilt in 1844-1845 by A. M. Gornostaev, who also erected a granite fence in 1868-1871;
- The Mother of God of Tikhvin (with a revered image), which the same architect built in 1863 at the altar of the Trinity Cathedral over the grave of the founder of the desert. The spiritual composer Schemamonk Mikhail (Chikhachev), an associate of Archimandrite Ignatius (Bryanchaninov), was also buried in it. The honest remains of Varlaam, Mikhail, Ignatius Jr. are now in the St. Sergius Church;
- Rudnenskaya - on the banks of the Jordanka pond in the eastern part of the monastery, which was erected for the ancient and revered icon of the Rudny Mother of God in 1876 by D. I. Grimm in imitation of the Nikon Skete in New Jerusalem. On August 1, a religious procession was going to her for the blessing of water.
The Tikhvin and Rudny chapels perished in the last war.

The church of St. Andrew of Crete, built according to the project of arch. M. M. Dolgopolova and consecrated in 1903 at the station. Sergiev at the shelter of the Brotherhood of Zealots of Faith and Mercy, and the five-domed Sorrowful Chapel, built in the village. Aleksandrovo in 1904-1905 in the Russian style.

Many valuables were kept in the rector's chambers historical portraits and paintings. The last rector of the desert before the revolution was Archimandrite Sergius (Druzhinin), the future Bishop of Narva, who was shot in 1937 in Yoshkar-Ola.

From the time of Catherine II, the deceased from noble and well-born families were buried at the monastery cemetery: the princes of Oldenburg, Apraksins, Myatlevs, Naryshkins, Chicherins, Stroganovs, Durasovs and others. The descendants of Suvorov and Kutuzov, Chancellor A. M. Gorchakov, poet I. P. Myatlev, architects A. I. Stackenschneider and A. M. Gornostaev. Some of the chapels and crypts were genuine works of art. Not far from the monastery there was a cemetery for the poor.

Pustyn closed in 1919, but services continued there for more than ten years. Although the brethren were mostly dispersed, in 1930, when the cemetery was destroyed, "about a dozen old monks" still remained in the desert. They lived among the pupils of the children's labor colony, which in the 1930s was replaced by the school for retraining of command personnel named after. Kuibyshev. In 1931 the monastery ended its existence. In 1964 it housed the Police School, which destroyed the remains of the cemetery and a number of buildings. In 1973, the ancient complex was placed under state protection, and on March 29, 1993, a decision was made to gradually transfer it to the diocese (this process was completed in May 2001).

http://www.encspb.ru/object/2855713632?lc=ru

The monastery was founded in 1734 by the rector of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Archimandrite Varlaam (Vasily Vysotsky in the world). The monastery was built 19 miles from St. Petersburg, on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, on the lands transferred to the monastery by Empress Anna Ioannovna. The monastery occupied an almost square area with a side of about 140 m and was surrounded by a wooden fence with corner towers. In November of the same year, the empress allowed the wooden church of the Assumption of the Mother of God to be moved from the country house of Tsaritsa Paraskeva Feodorovna on the Fontanka and ordered her throne to be consecrated in the name of St. Sergius the Wonderworker of Radonezh. The church was located on the central square of the monastery. On both sides of the church there were wooden monastic cells and a stone outbuilding for the abbot.

According to Anna's decree, "in order to maintain the monastery economically," 219 acres of land were transferred to the monastery and three villages with serfs were assigned. The consecration of the monastery took place on May 12, 1735. In June 1735, the empress visited the monastery and granted liturgical books to the church.

At first, the hermitage did not have a special staff of monks. To perform divine services, persons from among the brethren of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra were sent here. The life and work of the brethren was also under the supervision and guidance of the Lavra. The new monastery in the first years of its existence was called the Primorskaya Trinity-Sergius Monastery dacha and existed at the expense of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Empress Anna Ioannovna, by a personal decree of January 30, 1738, ordered to describe the deserts. After that, the church began to be officially considered attributed to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Archimandrite Varlaam died in July 1737 and, according to his will, was buried in the monastery he founded. A wooden chapel of the Tikhvin Mother of God was erected over his grave.

In 1756-1758, in the monastery, the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh was rebuilt: the wooden church was replaced by a new one. In 1760, the five-domed Cathedral of the Holy Trinity was erected according to the project of B. Rastrelli, approved on March 12, 1756. Construction ended in 1760. The monastery continued to be built up according to the planning project developed by P.A. Trezzini. Two corner towers were erected, and the entire courtyard was paved with stone. In 1760, according to the project of F.B. Rastrelli built abbot's cells. An art gallery was created in them, in which, among others, there were two rare portraits of Anna Ioannovna and Elizaveta Petrovna. About 20 monks were ascetic in the monastery at that moment.

In 1764, monastic states were established in Russia, according to which the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage was separated from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and elevated to the 2nd class. On May 4, 1764, according to the decree of the Holy Synod, "The recently built desert located near St. Petersburg, along the Peterhof road, in the absence of monasteries near St. Petersburg, is attributed to the St. Petersburg diocese." The monastery began to be managed by its own archimandrite.

From January 16, 1774 to July 13, 1774, the monastery was headed by Archim. Veniamin (Krasnopevkov-Rumovsky). From May 29 (25), 1796 to October 1798, Archim. Theophylact (Rusanov). Evgeny (Bolkhovitinov) was the abbot of the monastery from January 27, 1802 to 1804.

The architect Luigi Rusca in the years 1805-1809 built the Invalid House in the western part of the monastery with the church of the Holy Martyr Valerian. The temple was consecrated in June 1809, and the nursing home began operating five years later.

From 1812 to 1813 the Sergius Hermitage was ruled by Methodius II (Pishnyachevsky) in the rank of archimandrite. From 1819 until 1833 the hermitage was administered by the St. Petersburg vicars of the Bishops of Revel. The longest term of office in the desert - from 1833 to 1857 - fell to the lot of the famous Saint Ignatius (in the world - Dmitry Alexandrovich Brianchaninov). Under his rectorship, the desert was transferred to the 1st class, grew into an exemplary monastery. Under him, memorial churches were built in the monastery - the Intercession of the Virgin and Gregory the Theologian, chapels, cells for monks, the Holy Gates. The main volume of designing new buildings and altering old ones fell during this period on the share of the architect Alexei Maksimovich Gornostaev. The monastery choir under the prelate was led by the famous spiritual composer Fr. P.I. Turchaninov, who in 1836-1841 was a priest in neighboring Strelna. From 1857 to 1897, Archimandrite Ignatius (Ivan Vasilievich Malyshev) was the abbot of the monastery. Being an artistically gifted person, he decorated the deserts with beautiful buildings.

There were seven churches on the territory of the monastery: the Holy Trinity, St. Sergius of Radonezh, the Resurrection of Christ, Hieromartyr Valerian (Zubovskaya), St. Gregory the Theologian (Kushelevskaya), Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos (Kochubeevskaya), Hieromartyr Savva Stratilat (Shishmarevskaya), and chapels: Pokrovskaya and Spasskaya - at the monastery gates, the Mother of God of Tikhvin (with a revered image), Rudnenskaya - on the banks of the Jordanka pond in the eastern part of the monastery.

During the war with Turkey, in 1877-1878, at the suggestion of the rector, a hospital with a church was built in Sergius Desert, consecrated on January 29, 1878. Archimandrite Ignatius died on May 16, 1897 (and on the evening of the 15th he was visited by John of Kronstadt) and was buried in the Hermitage, in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, in the Mikhailovsky chapel. At present, his remains rest in the church of St. Sergius, where they were transferred in the year of the centenary from the day of his repose.

By the end of 1901, the library of the monastery contained more than 6,000 books, magazines were subscribed: "Faith and Church", "Missionary Review", "Emotional Reading", "Historical Bulletin", "Faith and Reason", "Friend of Sobriety", "Christian's Rest" , "Russian pilgrim". The number of inhabitants gradually increased. In 1916 there were up to 100 monastics and 7 churches here. Before the revolution, in the monastery, which had a capital of 350 thousand rubles, there were seven churches and about 100 brethren lived, from which, according to a long tradition, ship priests were chosen for the Russian navy. Pustyn contained a disabled and hospitable home (a daily shelter for 15-20 wanderers), an orphanage, a women's almshouse, a two-class school and a hospital. Every year on July 5 and September 25 (O.S.), a religious procession around the monastery took place on the days of the saint's memory.

From 1915 to 1919 the rector was Archimandrite Sergius (Druzhinin). From the beginning of 1919 until his death in January 1930 - hegumen Joasaph (Merkulov). The last rector before closing time is Archimandrite Ignatius (Egorov).

The deceased from noble and well-born families were buried at the monastery cemetery: princes Apraksins, Myatlevs, Naryshkins, Chicherins, Stroganovs, Durasovs, poet Myatlev, architects A.I. Stackenschneider and A.M. Gornostaev, many of the Yusupov, Kochubeev, Golitsyn families; Adlerbergs, Zubovs, Kushelevs, Perovskys, Chicherins, Yakovlevs and many others. The burial of "His Imperial Highness Duke Nicholas Maximilianovich of Leuchtenberg, Prince Romanovsky" was considered honorary in its status. The chancellor was also buried here. Russian Empire A.M. Gorchakov; Minister of Public Education A.S. Norov; outstanding public and cultural figure Prince P.G. Oldenburg; military governors of St. Petersburg; descendants of A.V. Suvorov and M.I. Kutuzov.

Some of the chapels and crypts were genuine works of art. The territory of the monastery was decorated with elegant architecture rotundas and greenhouses - tombs: the rotunda-tomb of the Tolstoy family, the greenhouse-tomb of the family of the princes of Oldenburg. From the ruthless looting in the 1930s, and especially in the 60s, little was saved. Bronze and marble busts by S. Campioni, N. Pimenov, P. Stavasser were transferred to the funds of the Russian Museum from the family tomb of the Zubovs. Artistic tombstones of A.A. and F.A. Batashev, F.A. Yakovlev. Not far from the monastery there was a cemetery for the poor. The cemetery was completely destroyed during the Soviet era.

In 1919 the monastery was closed, but services in the desert continued for more than ten years.

The Trinity-Sergius Hermitage was finally closed in 1931, the inhabitants of the monastery were arrested and sent into exile. Barbarously and systematically destroyed the cemetery of the monastery, which in the XIX century was considered one of the most beautiful in Europe. The architectural ensemble of the Holy Trinity Sergius Hermitage was seriously damaged, first during the barbaric reconstructions of the 1930s, and then as a result of destruction during the Great Patriotic War.

During the Second World War, from September 1941 until the lifting of the blockade in January 1944, the occupiers and the fascist army headquarters were located on the territory of the former monastery. From here, the shelling of Leningrad was adjusted. Monastic buildings, especially the Trinity Cathedral and the Church of the Resurrection, were badly damaged by artillery shelling. In the post-war years, restoration work began. Architect A.A. Kedrinsky restored the Rector's building and the refectory. I.N. Benois drew up a project for the restoration of the Trinity Cathedral. However, in the 1960s, the affected temples were removed from state protection. In 1962, the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity - one of the most recent and remarkable creations of the great Rastrelli - was demolished, despite all the efforts made to save the building public organizations cities. The Church of the Intercession, built in the desert by architects R.I. Kuzmin and G.E. Bosse, and the Church of the Resurrection.

Since 1964, a special secondary school for militia has been located on the territory of the monastery. In 1973, the architectural complex of the monastery was placed under state protection.

On the site of the temples of the XVIII century, a parade ground was arranged for the drill of pupils high school militia. Tombstones, miraculously survived until the summer of 1964, were demolished by a bulldozer in one day. True, two monuments were left: the family crypt of the Chicherins (perhaps out of respect for the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs in the government of Lenin G.V. Chicherin), and a marble cross on the grave of the famous architect A. M. Gornostaev.

Destroyed temples

Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity

The center of the monastic architectural ensemble was a five-domed stone church in the name of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity with chapels in the name of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul and in the name of the Holy Righteous Zacharias and Elizabeth. It was built in 1756-1760 at the expense of the Lavra under the supervision of B.-F. Rastrelli according to the project of P.A. Trezzini. The cathedral was small, seating only 600 people, outside it was richly decorated with baroque columns and pilasters, and inside - with a high gilded iconostasis. The cathedral served as a prototype for many church buildings erected in the next two decades. It contained a particularly revered icon of St. Sergius of Radonezh, and with it a cross with a particle of his holy relics. The main chapel of the cathedral was consecrated on August 10, 1763 by Archimandrite Lavrenty (Khonyatovsky) in the presence of Catherine II and the heir. Two side aisles were consecrated even earlier - on August 18-19, 1761 by the famous preacher Archimandrite Gideon (Krinovsky), rector of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.

In 1799, the cathedral bell tower received a new completion. In 1823 I.I. Charlemagne replaced the columns in the interior with white stucco pilasters. When started in 1837 by A.I. Melnikov overhauled the previously abolished left aisle in the cathedral, the image in which was written by Ya.F. Yanenko and novice Ignatius (Malyshev), the future governor. On August 1, 1838, Archimandrite Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) again consecrated the main, and on August 18, 1840, the left aisle of the Beheading of John the Baptist.

The walls are dissected by pilasters, stucco decorations gave special elegance. The interior decoration of the temple was distinguished by splendor and richness. Until 1917, an image of the Holy Trinity, painted in 1840 by Acad. K.P. Bryullov. The main shrine of the temple was the miraculous icon of St. Sergius of Radonezh and two crosses with relics of St. Sergius and VMC. Barbarians. In 1962 the temple was blown up.

Church of the Resurrection of Christ

At this place, there was originally a church in the name of the Apostle James - a small building adjacent to the southern one-story wing. On May 15, 1790, the widow of Lieutenant General I.Ya. Khlebnikova submitted a request to the Synod to allow this church to be built over the grave of her father, the merchant Ya.S. Petrov, and in August 1791 the temple was consecrated in the name of the patron saint of the deceased - the Apostle James. After the alteration and addition of the entire wing, the small church was again consecrated on August 23, 1820 by Metropolitan Michael.

Further, the temple continued to expand and rebuild at the expense of A.S. Norova. Metropolitan Isidore, having dedicated it to the Resurrection of Christ, repeated the consecration on June 16, 1866. It was a hipped-roof building in the Russian style, into which light fell from four windows. Easter scenes were painted from beams under the ceiling, the walls were hung with tray icons. However, the building did not last long in this form. In 1870, Princess A. Golitsyna donated 20 thousand rubles. for the construction of a new temple with "nine hospital cells" in memory of Prince Mikhail Pavlovich Golitsyn buried here. In 1872, the architect Alfred Alexandrovich Parland, together with Archimandrite Ignatius (Malyshev), drafted a three-aisled basilica for 2,500 people, made in the motives of late Byzantine architecture. Its laying took place in 1877, the consecration, carried out by Metropolitan Isidore, on July 29, 1884. The construction was supervised by the abbot himself - Archimandrite Ignatius (Malyshev), who painted and consecrated on May 15, 1884 the lower chapel of the Archangel Michael in memory of Vice Admiral Prince M.P. buried in it. Golitsyn.

The building was noted for its excellent craftsmanship, a combination of high ledges and arched crowning of domes. On the multi-colored brick facade there were large bas-reliefs depicting the Savior walking on the waters, and Russian saints of all ages. Gilded royal doors were supported by silver-plated angels. All images in the Royal Doors are written on mother-of-pearl, and in the iconostasis - on a gold background. Archimandrite Ignatius (Malyshev) painted about 70 icons for the cathedral. The multi-colored brick facade was decorated below with bronzed bas-reliefs by R.R. Bach depicting Russian saints from Olga to Tikhon of Zadonsk. According to the model of A.M. Opekushina Bach made two silver-plated angels supporting the original gilded royal doors in a low iconostasis, in front of which stood two magnificent multi-candlesticks made of lapis lazuli and gilded bronze, made at the Chopin factory. Postnikov's firm made a large chandelier with enamel inlays, painted banners led. book. Elena Mikhailovna. Thanks to the stained-glass windows inside the temple, "a very gentle lilac tone that does not hurt the eyes" reigned, creating a feeling of spaciousness, peace and grandeur. In 1898, A. Barinov's firm decorated the main altar with silver reliefs, making it of marble in the lower temple. In the tomb of the cathedral he built, I.V. was buried. Malyshev. The temple was blown up in 1968. In the summer of 1998, the relics of Archimandrite Ignatius were found underground at the site of the former Resurrection Cathedral and transferred to the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh.

Church of the Intercession of the Holy Mother of God ("Kochubeyivska")

The temple was founded on July 25, 1844 over the ashes of Princess Maria Ivanovna Kochubey (born Prince Baryatinsky). By order of her husband, Mikhail Viktorovich Kochubey, it cost him 200 thousand rubles. The initial project was developed by the court architect Roman Ivanovich Kuzmin, who took the Florentine baptistery as a model, but later the project was redone by Julius Andreevich Bosse. The church was located in the southeast corner of the desert, to the right of the Holy Gates. It was a single-domed octahedral building 14 sazhens high, lined with gray Scottish stone, in which light fell through round windows. By 1847 the church was rebuilt under the supervision of L.Ya. Tiblen, but its finishing was delayed, since Prince. M.V. Kochubey wanted to make it to his liking. Three years went on facing the walls. The walls and vaults inside were painted with ornaments, the famous V.M. Peshekhonov. In 1850 the image of St. Vasily and Elena were written by Acad. T.A. Neff. The church with the Kochubeev family tomb was consecrated on August 4, 1863 by Archimandrite Ignatius (Malyshev) in the presence of the princely family. The types of the new church were ordered by the prince Acad. MM. Sazhin. Served in this tomb church very rarely. In 1904-1905. it underwent restoration repairs. The temple operated until November 1, 1931, and in 1964 it was blown up. At the same time, the adjacent cemetery was also destroyed.

Chapel of the Tikhvin Mother of God

The chapel in the name of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God (with a revered image) was erected near the altar of the Trinity Cathedral over the grave of the first rector of the Desert, Archimandrite Varlaam, with the money of the monastery according to the project of A.M. Gornostaev in 1864, after the death of the architect, who died in 1862. An associate of Ignatius Bryanchaninov, spiritual composer Schemamonk Mikhail (Chikhachev) was also buried in it. In November 1931, after the closure of the "Kochubey" church, the chapel became a parish church. Closed in 1935. The building of the chapel has not been preserved. The honest remains of Varlaam, Mikhail, Ignatius Jr. are now in the St. Sergius Church.

Chapel of the Rudny Icon of the Mother of God

The chapel in the name of the Rudny Icon of the Mother of God was built in 1876 on one of the islands of the Jordanka pond in the eastern part of the monastery. In the chapel there was a particularly revered ancient icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, called Rudenskaya. The project of the chapel, consecrated in 1876, was carried out by the architect D.I. Grimm based on the Nikon Skete in New Jerusalem. On August 1, a religious procession was going to her for the blessing of water. The building of the chapel is lost.

Surviving churches

Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh

The first wooden church of the Desert was transported from the estate of Tsaritsa Paraskeva Feodorovna on the Fontanka, where her throne was consecrated in the name of the feast of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos. In Pustyna, the church was re-consecrated in 1735 by Archim. Varlaam in the name of St. teacher Sergius of Radonezh. Then, in 1756-1758, it was replaced by a new, stone one. And in 1854, thanks to the financial assistance of Princess Z.I. Yusupova, the church was completely rebuilt in the Byzantine style by the architect A.M. Gornostaev. Icons were painted by M. Dovgalev. The illumination took place on June 18, 1822 by Bishop Gregory of Revel. Thirty years later - on April 26, 1852 (according to other sources - July 4, 1857), the lower (basement) chapel was consecrated in the name of the Savior of the Origin of the Honest Trees.

This is a three-storey, 18 fathoms long building with an altar apse in the east, five domes, designed for 2000 people. The entrance portal is in the center of the south façade and is marked by granite columns. The arched forms of the gables of the windows, the triple pilasters, treated with rustication, repeat the motifs of the decor of the adjacent buildings of the refectory and the rector's building. Inside the church building is a basilica with three naves and two rows of dark red granite columns five meters high supporting the choir. The columns have capitals of various designs. Light enters the temple from high semi-circular stained-glass windows located on the southern and northern walls. The ceiling, as in early Byzantine basilicas, is covered with wooden beams. The inner space was divided into naves by eight columns of polished dark red granite that supported the choirs. The space between the beams is painted with Byzantine ornaments on a gold background (artist R.F. Vinogradov, based on sketches by M.N. Vasiliev).

The central two-tier iconostasis of the Byzantine type was made according to a drawing by Gornostaev from marble with porphyry columns and details from Carrara marble, malachite, lapis lazuli and semi-precious stones, lapis lazuli and mosaics. The image in the Royal Doors was performed by Academician N.A. Lavrov, the author of frescoes, and M.N. Vasiliev. In the side aisles there were also small marble iconostases inlaid with colored stones. The planes of the walls connecting the church with the refectory were painted by the artist Belyakov and Ignatiy Malyshev. The mosaic floor was designed by A.M. Gornostaev.

The lower, memorial church was built like ancient crypts or Christian catacombs. It contained the tomb of Counts Apraksins with 20 graves. The chapel in the name of the martyr Zinaida, consecrated on April 28, 1861, where there was an iconostasis made of pink cypress, had 33 burials of the Yusupovs. In addition, the princes Chernyshevs, Shishmarevs, Kartsevs, Stroganovs, Volkonskys, Shcherbatovs, Count Kleinmichel, Baron Frederiks found their last shelter in the lower church. In this lower "cave" aisle was the tomb of the princes Chernyshevs.

A.N. Muravyov, a prominent spiritual writer, donated to the temple in 1861 a silver reliquary with particles of the holy relics of the Egyptian hermits, which he received from the Alexandrian Patriarch Hierotheus, and the following year A.S. Norov donated a marble column 60 cm high with the image of the Nativity of the Virgin, which he brought from the Jerusalem house of Sts. Joachim and Anna.

The main chapel was consecrated on September 20, 1859 by Metropolitan Gregory in the presence of Grand Dukes Konstantin Nikolaevich and Nikolai Konstantinovich. The temple closed in the 1920s and was used as a club. Now the church is the only functioning temple on the territory of the monastery.

Church of Gregory the Theologian (Kuleshovskaya)

In the north-eastern part of the monastery there is a church and a tomb church of St. Gregory the Theologian ("Kushelevskaya"). It was erected in 1855-1857. according to the project of the court architect A.M. Stackenschneider over the grave of Paul I's favorite, Lieutenant General Count Grigory Grigoryevich Kushelev, with the money of his widow Ekaterina Dmitrievna. The construction cost 60 thousand rubles. silver. The temple was consecrated on May 11, 1857 by Metropolitan Gregory in the name of the patron saint of the deceased. Preserved in the form altered in the 1930s.

The one-domed church, made in the Russian-Byzantine style, was illuminated by two large windows. From below, the facade was finished with granite, the portal - with gray marble, the walls were decorated with ceramic semi-columns. The church had a two-tiered carved iconostasis, the images of which were painted on a golden background. The chandelier was made of gilded copper. The gospel, the altar cross and the vessels were stylized as antique. In the center of the temple there is a descent into the tomb lined with white marble. After the death of Kusheleva, her adopted daughter Marquise Incontri, who lived in Italy, took care of the temple. They served in it only in the days of the death of ktitors. This church was closed in 1919-1920.

Church of Sava Stratilat (Shishmarevskaya)

Directly opposite the main entrance, behind the chapels and the fence, designed by A.M. Gornostaev in 1859-1863. the Holy Gates were erected with cells, a high tented tower and the house church of the holy martyr Savva Stratilat, arranged at the expense of the headquarters captain Mikhail Vasilievich Shishmarev in the name of the patron saint of the famous Savva Yakovlevich Yakovlev, the grandfather of his wife, who died in 1784 and was buried in the Trinity Sergius desert. This church, which can only be entered from the cells, was founded on July 5, 1859. The church, like the cells, is built in red brick. This small double-height temple is marked by two cupolas and four turrets; inside, the vault rested on four columns lined with stucco. The original was the iconostasis - the wall on which the icons were painted, with the royal gates in the arch. They were going to consecrate the temple in the spring of 1863, but for some unknown reason this did not happen before the revolution. In 1899, a clock was installed on the tower above the Holy Gates, and then ten years later the building was built on.

Church of St. mch. Valeriana (Zubovskaya)

Count Valerian Alexandrovich Zubov, Knight of St. George and Knight of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, conqueror of Derbent, died in 1804 from wounds received in the Persian campaign (buried on June 24). His brothers - Platon, Dmitry and Nikolai undertook to fulfill the will of the deceased and build a church over his grave with a house for invalids for 30 people "crippled soldiers". On September 16, 1805, in the western part of the monastery, next to the fence, over the grave of Zubov, according to the project of L. Ruska, a church was laid in the name of St. Martyr Valerian with an almshouse. The Empire style building was built by the architect Puncini. Three years later it was ready. The church was located in the central, elevated part of the building. Outside, the church was decorated with a four-column portico, inside it looked like an oval rotunda, which was not revealed in the external appearance of the building. A small one-tier iconostasis also went in a semicircle. It was possible to get into the temple only from the rooms.

The temple was consecrated on June 21, 1809 by Archimandrite Porfiry (Kirillov), rector of the desert, on the anniversary of the count's death. The first inhabitants of the almshouse appeared five years later. In 1865-1866. acad. ON THE. Lavrov painted four new icons for the temple. Like the almshouse, the temple was kept at the expense of the Zubovs all the time. In the crypt of the church, Nikolai, Dmitry and Platon (Prince of the Roman Empire) Zubovs themselves, as well as the daughter and grandson of A.V. Suvorov - Natalya Alexandrovna Zubova and Alexander Arkadyevich Suvorov, children and grandchildren of the Counts Zubovs. The family crypt of the Zubovs consisted of 27 burials.

The temple was closed in 1919, when the workshops of the labor colony were housed in the building; four years later, the premises of the church were liquidated, but the brethren managed to save the iconostasis. Then, in 1923, all burials were destroyed. In 1935, the appearance of the building was distorted: it was built on (in the center by one floor, along the edges by two), some finishing details were changed.

Chapel of the Savior of the Holy Image and the Chapel of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos

There were chapels at the monastery. Two of them, made of red granite, have survived to our time: Pokrovskaya and Spasskaya - at the monastery gates. They were rebuilt in 1844-1845 by A.M. Gornostaev. Both - with keel-shaped icon cases, images and crosses that complete them. In 1868-1871, this architect also erected a granite fence.

Not far from the Konstantinovsky Palace there is a monastery - the Holy Trinity St. Sergius seaside hermitage with a rich and dramatic history.
Historians of St. Petersburg called the desert "the pearl of Russian history, architecture and spiritual culture."

Hermitage was founded 19 miles from St. Petersburg, on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, on lands transferred in 1734 by Empress Anna Ioannovna to her confessor, rector of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Archimandrite Varlaam (in the world Vasily Vysotsky). In November of the same year, the Empress allowed the wooden Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God to be transported from the country house of Tsarina Paraskeva Feodorovna on the Fontanka and ordered it to be consecrated in the name of St. Sergius the Wonderworker of Radonezh. The consecration took place on May 12, 1735. Wooden cells were built for the brethren, and a stone outbuilding for the abbot. In June 1735, Anna Ioannovna visited the monastery and granted liturgical books to the new church.

Rector's Wing
For further expansion of the monastery and for running his household, Father Varlaam bought from different persons three more pieces of land. At first, the hermitage did not have a special staff of monks. To perform divine services, persons from among the brethren of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery were sent here. Archimandrite Varlaam died in July 1737 and was buried in the monastery he founded. Anna Ioannovna, by a personal decree of January 30, 1738, ordered to describe the deserts. After that, the church was considered attributed to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The new monastery in the first years of its existence was called the Primorskaya Trinity-Sergius Monastery dacha. The external device of the desert was carried out at the expense of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The life and work of the brethren was also under the supervision and guidance of the Lavra.
In 1764, monastic states were established in Russia, according to which the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage was separated from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. On May 4, 1764, a decree followed from the office of the Holy Synod, which stated: "The recently built desert located near St. Petersburg, along the Peterhof road, for lack of monasteries near St. Petersburg, should be attributed to the St. Petersburg diocese."
Gradually, the monastery began to be built up according to the project developed by P. A. Trezzini. According to this project, two corner towers were finished, the entire courtyard was paved with stone. In 1760, the rector's cells were built according to the project of F. B. Rastrelli. They had an art gallery, which, among others, contained two rare portraits of Anna Ioannovna and Elizaveta Petrovna.
The center of the ensemble was built in 1756 - 1760 under the direction of B.-F. Rastrelli, designed by P. A. Trezzini, a five-domed stone church in the name of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity. It was small, seating only 600 people, decorated on the outside with baroque columns and pilasters, and inside with a high gilded iconostasis. The cathedral served as a prototype for many church buildings erected in the next two decades. The main chapel of the cathedral was consecrated on August 10, 1763 by Archimandrite Lavrenty in the presence of Catherine II, who a year earlier, on the day of her accession to the throne (June 28), stopping in the Sergius Hermitage on her way from St. Petersburg, received news of her husband's abdication, and that there are no more obstacles to its accession. The heir to the throne was also present at the consecration.
The Trinity Cathedral was famous for its icons, many of which were transferred to it from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra near Moscow. In a special icon case, made according to a drawing by Melnikov, there was a beautiful image of the Holy Trinity, painted in 1840 by academician K. P. Bryullov, and the main shrine of the temple was the miraculous icon of St. Sergius of Radonezh in an expensive riza, made in the workshop of F. A. Verkhovtsev. She was brought from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra by the founder of the desert. In the sacristy were kept two gilded silver crosses with particles of the relics of St. Sergius and the Great Martyr Barbara.
Before the revolution, in the monastery, which had a capital of 350 thousand rubles, there were seven churches and about 100 brethren lived (and started with 11 people), from which, according to a long tradition, ship priests for the Russian navy were chosen.
In 1919, the cathedral was closed and adapted for household needs. During the Great Patriotic War, it was damaged and was blown up in the summer of 1962, although a project for its restoration was already ready.
Here's what's left of it now:

In 1859 - 1863, A. M. Gornostaev erected the Holy Gates with cells, a high hipped tower and the house church of St. Savva Stratilat, built at the expense of the staff captain M.V. Shishmarev in memory of his wife's grandfather Savva Yakovlevich Yakovlev, who died in 1784 and was buried in the Trinity-Sergius Desert. The church was not consecrated for unknown reasons.

In 1857 - 1897, the new rector of the hermitage, Archimandrite Ignatius (Ivan Vasilyevich Malyshev), an artistically gifted person, decorated the hermitage with beautiful buildings and brought her spiritual state to a very high level. The largest building in the monastery at that time was the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh, built in 1859. A. M. Gornostaev.

The temple could accommodate 2000 people. Academician N.A. Lavrov, M.N. Vasilyev took part in its interior decoration, the painting of the walls connecting the church with the refectory was done by the artist Belyakov and Ignatiy Malyshev. The mosaic floor was designed by A.M. Gornostaev.
In the chapel, consecrated on July 4, 1857 in the name of Christ the Savior, there was a tomb of the Apraksins with 20 graves. The chapel in the name of the martyr Zinaida, consecrated on April 28, 1861, where there was an iconostasis made of pink cypress, had 33 burials of the Yusupovs. In addition, the princes Chernyshevs, Shishmarevs, Kartsevs, Stroganovs, Volkonskys, Shcherbatovs, Count Kleinmichel, Baron Frederiks found their last shelter in the lower church.
Now the church is the only functioning church on the territory of the monastery. Closed in 1919, partially destroyed and rebuilt, the temple is currently being restored and decorated.
Before the revolution, churches operated in the desert: the Holy Trinity, St. Sergius of Radonezh, Resurrection of Christ, Valerian (Zubovskaya), St. Gregory the Theologian (Kushelevskaya), Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos (Kochubeevskaya), Savva Stratilat (Shishmarevskaya).
There were chapels at the monastery:
- Pokrovskaya and Spasskaya - at the monastery gates, rebuilt in 1844-1845 by A. M. Gornostaev, who also erected a granite fence in 1868-1871;
- The Mother of God of Tikhvin (with a revered image), which A. M. Gornostaev built in 1863 at the altar of the Trinity Cathedral, over the grave of the founder of the desert, Varlaam. Schemamonk Mikhail (Chikhachev), an associate of Archimandrite Ignatius (Bryanchaninov), was buried in it. The remains of Varlaam, Mikhail, Ignatius Jr. are now in the St. Sergius Church;
- Rudnenskaya - on the banks of the Jordanka pond in the eastern part of the monastery, which was erected for the ancient and revered icon of the Rudny Mother of God in 1876 by D. I. Grimm in imitation of the Nikon Skete in New Jerusalem. On August 1, a religious procession was going to her for the blessing of water. The Tikhvin and Rudny chapels perished during World War II.
Pustyn contained a hospice, an orphanage, a women's almshouse, a small school and a hospital built in 1906-1907. On the patronal feast, when many pilgrims came from the capital, a religious procession was organized around the monastery, and on September 24-26, a fair was held near its walls. Ole.
Corner tower:

Invalid home (L. Ruska, 1805 - 1809)

with the Church of the Holy Martyr Valerian. The temple was consecrated in June 1809, and the nursing home began operating five years later. In the temple there was the grave of Valerian Zubov, Knight of St. George and Knight of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, the conqueror of Derbent. The church with an almshouse for crippled soldiers was built by his brothers, Counts Dmitry, Platon and Nikolai Alexandrovich Zubov. In the crypt of the church, Nikolai, Dmitry and Platon (Prince of the Roman Empire) Zubovs themselves were subsequently buried, as well as the daughter and grandson of A.V. Suvorov - Natalya Alexandrovna Zubova and Alexander Arkadyevich Suvorov, children and grandchildren of the counts of the Zubovs. During the restructuring of the church in Soviet times, all these burials were destroyed.
Bell tower in front of the disabled house:

Church of Gregory the Theologian (Kushelevskaya):

It was erected in 1855 - 1857 according to the project of A. I. Shtakenshneider in the Russian-Byzantine style over the grave of Paul I's favorite, Lieutenant General Count Grigory Grigoryevich Kushelev, with the money of his widow Ekaterina Dmitrievna. The church had a two-tiered iconostasis, the images of which are painted on a golden background. In the center of the temple there is a descent into the tomb, lined with white marble. This church was closed in 1919-1920.
From the time of Catherine II, the deceased from noble and well-born families were buried at the monastery cemetery: the princes of Oldenburg, Apraksins, Myatlevs, Naryshkins, Chicherins, Stroganovs, Durasovs and others. The descendants of Suvorov and Kutuzov, Chancellor A. M. Gorchakov, poet I. P. Myatlev, architects A. I. Stackenschneider and A. M. Gornostaev. Some of the chapels and crypts were genuine works of art. Not far from the monastery there was a cemetery for the poor.
Here is what is left of the once one of the most beautiful and richest cemeteries:

Grave of A.M. Gornostaev:

Crypt - tomb of General = Adjutant P. Chicherin:

Not far from Peterhof in Strelna (near the Konstantinovsky Palace) is the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Hermitage and the Cathedral of St. Sergei of Radonezh. Many Petersburgers at least once visited the service there.
On one of the January frosty days, we were lucky to get acquainted with the history of this holy place.
The tour was led by one of the monks of the monastery.

The monastery was founded in 1734 by the rector of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Archimandrite Varlaam (name in the world - Vasily Vysotsky). The monastery was built 19 miles from St. Petersburg, on the shores of the Gulf of Finland on the lands transferred to the monastery by Empress Anna Ioannovna. The monastery occupied an almost square area with a side of about 140 m and was initially surrounded by a wooden fence with corner towers. In November of the same year, the empress allowed the wooden church of the Assumption of the Mother of God to be moved from the country house of Tsaritsa Paraskeva Feodorovna on the Fontanka and ordered her throne to be consecrated in the name of St. Sergius the Wonderworker of Radonezh. The church was located on the central square of the monastery. On both sides of the church there were wooden monastic cells and a stone outbuilding for the abbot.

According to Anna's decree, "in order to maintain the monastery economically," 219 acres of land were transferred to the monastery and three villages with serfs were assigned. The consecration of the monastery took place on May 12, 1735. In June 1735, the empress visited the monastery and granted liturgical books to the church.

At first, the hermitage did not have a special staff of monks. To perform divine services, persons from among the brethren of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra were sent here. The life and work of the brethren was also under the supervision and guidance of the Lavra. The new monastery in the first years of its existence was called the Primorskaya Trinity-Sergius Monastery dacha and existed at the expense of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Empress Anna Ioannovna, by a personal decree of January 30, 1738, ordered to describe the deserts. After that, the church began to be officially considered attributed to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.

Archimandrite Varlaam died in July 1737 and, according to his will, was buried in the monastery he founded. A wooden chapel of the Tikhvin Mother of God was erected over his grave.

The monastery continued to be built up according to the planning project developed by P.A. Trezzini. Two corner towers were erected, and the entire courtyard was paved with stone. In 1760, according to the project of F.B. Rastrelli built abbot's cells. An art gallery was created in them, in which, among others, there were two rare portraits of Anna Ioannovna and Elizaveta Petrovna. About 20 monks were ascetic in the monastery at that moment.

Catherine II also turned her attention to the monastery and wished to find earthly rest here.
Her note of the following content has been preserved in archival sources: “If I die in the city, put me in the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, in the Cathedral Church, built by me. If in Tsarskoye Selo - at the Sofia cemetery, at the Kazan Mother of God. ".

However, the empress was buried, against her will, but according to tradition, in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

Around 1773, the future Reverend Herman of Alaska entered the hermitage as a novice at the age of 16 and stayed here for five years, after which he left for Valaam.
From January 16, 1774 to July 13, 1774, the monastery was headed by Archim. Veniamin (Krasnopevkov-Rumovsky).
From May 29 (25), 1796 to October 1798, Archim. Feofilakt (Rusanov), besides this, he was also a teacher of the cadet corps.
With his extensive knowledge, gift of words and majestic appearance, he made a strong impression on those around him.
From January 9, 1799 to 1800, the rector of the Trinity-Sergius Desert was Archimandrite Ambrose (Protasov). During the same period, he held the following positions: rector of the Alexander Nevsky Academy, teacher of theology and present in the consistory. He was a well-known talented preacher (1798-1800), who became the governor of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and later - the bishop of Tula, Kazan, Tver.

Evgeny (Bolkhovitinov) was the abbot of the monastery from January 27, 1802 to 1804. He collected and left a rich scientific literary material, significant not only for church Russian history, but in general for the history of Russian literature: "Historical Dictionary about writers of the clergy of the Greek-Russian Church who were in Russia", "Dictionary of secular Russian writers, compatriots and strangers who wrote about Russia", etc.

The architect Luigi Rusca in 1805-1809 built the Invalid House in the western part of the monastery with the church of the holy martyr Valerian. The temple was consecrated in June 1809, and the nursing home began operating five years later.

From 1812 to 1813, the Sergius Hermitage was ruled by Methodius II (Pishnyachevsky) in the rank of archimandrite. In the same period he was the rector of the St. Petersburg Seminary.
From 1819 until 1833 the hermitage was administered by the St. Petersburg vicars of the Bishops of Revel.

The deceased from noble and well-born families were buried at the monastery cemetery: princes Apraksins, Myatlevs, Naryshkins, Chicherins, Stroganovs, Durasovs, poet Myatlev, architects A.I. Stackenschneider and A.M. Gornostaev, many of the Yusupov, Kochubeev, Golitsyn families; Adlerbergs, Zubovs, Kushelevs, Perovskys, Chicherins, Yakovlevs and many others. The burial of "His Imperial Highness Duke Nicholas Maximilianovich of Leuchtenberg, Prince Romanovsky" was considered honorary in its status. The chancellor of the Russian Empire A.M. was also buried here. Gorchakov; Minister of Public Education A.S. Norov; outstanding public and cultural figure Prince P.G. Oldenburg; military governors of St. Petersburg; descendants of A.V. Suvorov and M.I. Kutuzov.

Some of the chapels and crypts were genuine works of art. The territory of the monastery was decorated with elegant architecture rotundas and greenhouses - tombs: the rotunda-tomb of the Tolstoy family, the greenhouse-tomb of the family of the princes of Oldenburg. From the ruthless plunder in the 30s, and especially in the 60s, little was saved. Bronze and marble busts by S. Campioni, N. Pimenov, P. Stavasser were transferred to the funds of the Russian Museum from the family tomb of the Zubovs. Artistic tombstones of A.A. and F.A. Batashev, F.A. Yakovlev. Not far from the monastery there was a cemetery for the poor.

The cemetery was completely destroyed during the Soviet era.

The longest term of office in the desert for twenty-four years - from 1833 to 1857 - fell to the lot of the famous Saint Ignatius (in the world - Dmitry Alexandrovich Brianchaninov). The 27-year-old rector was at first hegumen and only in 1834 was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.

Under his rectorship, the desert was transferred to the 1st class, grew into an exemplary monastery and became known not only in Russia, but also far beyond its chapels. Under him, memorial churches were built in the monastery - the Intercession of the Virgin and Gregory the Theologian, chapels, cells for monks, the Holy Gates. The main volume of designing new buildings and altering old ones fell during this period on the share of the architect Alexei Maksimovich Gornostaev. The monastery choir under the prelate was led by the famous spiritual composer Fr. P.I. Turchaninov, who in 1836-1841 was a priest in neighboring Strelna.

Emperor Nicholas I wrote to Brianchaninov: "I'm giving you Sergiev Hermitage, I want you to live in it and make a monastery out of it, which in the eyes of the capital would be a model of monasteries." Through the enormous labors of the abbot of the Sergius Hermitage, it really stood on a par with the Donskoy, Simonov monasteries, the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. The Sovereign himself repeatedly came and asked the saint for blessings for his undertakings. They sought advice and guidance from Ignatius N.V. Bryanchaninov. Gogol, F.M. Dostoevsky. One of the works of N.S. Leskov was dedicated to Ignatius Brianchaninov.

Saint Ignatius was canonized by the Orthodox Church in 1988.

The economy of the monastic economy also began to develop significantly. At the request of the rector Ignatius Bryanchaninov Pustyn was endowed with a forest plot of 50 acres. The land was swampy, but after many labors, the field monastery economy rose to a very high level. Suffice it to say that in 1882 in Russia at the exhibition of grain growers of the Sergius Desert, a large silver medal was awarded for rye seeds, two copper medals for wheat and barley seeds.

From 1857 to 1897, Archimandrite Ignatius (Ivan Vasilievich Malyshev) was the abbot of the monastery. Being an artistically gifted person, he decorated the deserts with beautiful buildings. If the previous rector, Ignatius (Bryanchaninov), devoted a lot of energy to the education of the monastic brethren, then his successor, having preserved and increased the spiritual wealth of the monastery, decorated appearance Sergius Hermitage architectural ensemble. There were seven churches on the territory of the monastery: the Holy Trinity, St. Sergius of Radonezh, the Resurrection of Christ, Hieromartyr Valerian (Zubovskaya), St. Gregory the Theologian (Kushelevskaya), Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos (Kochubeevskaya), Hieromartyr Savva Stratilat (Shishmarevskaya), and chapels: Pokrovskaya and Spasskaya - at the monastery gates, the Mother of God of Tikhvin (with a revered image), Rudnenskaya - on the banks of the Jordanka pond in the eastern part of the monastery.

In 1886, the St. Petersburg merchant Karl Tsoppi received permission to build a horse-drawn railway from the Sergievo station (in Soviet times - Volodarskaya) to the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage. Numerous donors are known, for example, in 1873 the Pskov landowner Chikhachev gave 50 thousand rubles, and the merchant Makarov bequeathed 40 thousand rubles to the monastery.

The good organization of the life and economy of the monastery under Archimandrite Ignatius made it possible to carry out extensive charitable activities. Since 1866, she has donated 1,000 rubles each year for the maintenance of the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary and the Pustyn Theological School. The charitable activities of the Hermitage already in the seventies became known abroad. For charitable activities, Archimandrite Ignatius was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir. From Bosnia, Prince Nicholas of Montenegro sent the abbot the Order of St. Daniel, 2nd class. In 1867, there were 46 brethren in the desert and 25 people lived on a pilgrimage.

During the war with Turkey, in 1877-1878, at the suggestion of the rector, a hospital with a church was built in Sergius Desert, consecrated on January 29, 1878.
Archimandrite Ignatius died on May 16, 1897 (and on the evening of the 15th he was visited by John of Kronstadt) and was buried in the Hermitage, in the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, in the Mikhailovsky chapel. At present, his remains rest in the church of St. Sergius, where they were transferred in the year of the centenary from the day of his repose.

Cathedral in the name of St. Sergei of Radonezh

The cathedral does not look like an Orthodox church at all. It is the only temple in Russia built in the form of a basilica.
The early Christians in the Roman Empire were not allowed to build prayer houses and they gathered for prayer in different houses, including the palaces of wealthy Christian Romans or in administrative buildings - basilicas.
In memory of the first meetings of Christians, the cathedral was built with granite columns, without a dome.
Catholic churches, by the way, are built in a similar way.

Reference:
basilica (basilica; Greek βασιλική - “house of basileus, royal house”) - a type of building of a rectangular shape, which consists of an odd number (1, 3 or 5) of different heights of naves.

In a multi-nave basilica, the naves are separated by longitudinal rows of columns or pillars, with independent coverings. The central nave, usually wider and taller, is illuminated by the windows of the second tier. In the absence of windows in the second tier of the central nave, the building belongs to the type pseudobasilica, which is a kind of hall temple.

The most significant Roman Catholic churches are also called basilicas, regardless of their architectural design.

Trinity-Sergius Seaside Hermitage , malemonastery

Historian IN. Klyuchevsky wrote that Russian monasticism is a renunciation of the world in the name of ideals beyond his strength; c the desire to leave the world grew stronger not because disasters accumulated in the world, but as moral forces rose in it.

The decision on the revival of the monastery and the gradual transfer of the site to the Russian Orthodox Church was made in 1993. As in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, the remains of famous figures of our culture were also buried here - political figures of the 19th century, architects, clergy, military leaders. However, during the Khrushchev thaw, all the monastery buildings were finally demolished, and the tombs were razed to the ground. After the desolation and devastation caused by revolutions and wars, the activity of the monastery is restored step by step. The first academic year. But let's start in order about who glorified this monastery.

Having married the kingdom in Moscow, like all Russian autocrats, Anna Ioannovna made a pilgrimage to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Struck by the grandeur of the ancient monastery, she longed for the name of the Holy Trinity and St. Sergius to be glorified on the shores of the Baltic just as it is glorified in the vicinity of the Mother See. For this purpose, the confessor of the Empress, Archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra Varlaam (Vysotsky), was given in perpetual possession of the seaside dacha, which previously belonged to the sister of the Empress Ekaterina Ioannovna, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Thus, in the autumn of 1732, a new monastery was founded, 19 versts from St.».

Only three lifetime portraits of Anna Ioannovna, the niece of Peter the Great, have survived. And even those look more like caricatures than a serious attempt to convey the character of the empress. Except perhaps this one, where the artist, without trying to draw accessories, without embellishing or falling into caricature, tried to convey the features of her appearance.

At first, the wooden church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin stood on the central square, transported from the estate of Empress Paraskeva Feodorovna and consecrated in honor of St. Sergius of Radonezh. On both sides of the church there were monastic cells and the stone house of the abbot.

The picture shows three temples and several tombstones erected over two centuries. None of these buildings survived.

During the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, the monastery was transformed. Many remarkable architectural monuments belong to the time of her reign: the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, the Grand Palace in Peterhof, the Grand Palace of Tsarskoye Selo, the cathedral of the Smolny Monastery, etc. All these masterpieces were created by V.V. Rastrelli. In 1760, according to the project P.A. Trezzini, under supervision B. B. Rastrelli(his first work in Russia), - the five-domed stone cathedral was completed - in the name of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity. According to his project, in 1756, on the site of the old church, the five-domed Holy Trinity Cathedral was laid, in 1756-58. - Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh, as well as new monastic cells, stone walls and towers, instead of wooden ones.

Empress Elizabeth Petrovna

In the Trinity Cathedral in a special icon case stood a beautiful image of the Holy Trinity, painted K.P. Bryullov. The main shrine of the temple was the miraculous icon of St. Sergius of Radonezh, brought from the Trinity Lavra by the founder of the desert. In the sacristy were kept two crosses with particles of the relics of St. Sergius and VMC. Barbarians. The cathedral was consecrated in the name of the Holy Trinity in 1763 in the presence of the Empress CatherineII and her son.

Cathedral of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity, built in 1763 by architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. This is the first work of the architect in Russia. In the 1960s, the cathedral was blown up.

For Ekaterina Alekseevna Sergiev herself, the desert had a special meaning, unforgettable experiences were associated with the desert. In the days of the coup d'état of 1762, the guard troops led by Catherine II and E.R. Dashkova reached the monastery on the march to Peterhof and stopped outside its walls. In the chambers of the abbot, Ekaterina Alekseevna waited for an answer to her ultimatum: Emperor Peter III agreed to abdicate the throne. At the same hour, the very first worship service was held in the desert on the occasion of the happy outcome of a dangerous enterprise. Since then, Catherine II generously gave gifts to the monastery and celebrated a thanksgiving prayer service every year on a memorable day in its church.

Peter III and Catherine II

The heyday of the desert began in 1834, when archim. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov), author of the famous Ascetic Experiences. Ignaty Brianchaninov, a disciple of Hieromonk Leonid, (the Optina Elder in 1829-1841), began the restoration of the monastery with the revival of the strict charter of monastic life and the streamlining of worship, the introduction of the "practice of smart doing", daily confession, as in Optina Hermitage.

Comprehension of the art of prayer began with choir singing, and all the novice monks, having come to the hermitage, received obedience in the fraternal choir. The best church composers of the time P.I. Turchaninov, A.F. Lviv(hymn "God Save the Tsar") wrote their musical works for the monastery choir, which in 1840 was elevated to the level of the first monastic choir in Russia. The associate of Ignatius Brianchaninov, the spiritual composer Schemamonk Mikhail (Chikhachev), became especially famous.

Singing as healing, as a way of resolving earthly sorrows, is one of the symbols of the culture of the 19th century. At the same time, the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage, being at the crossroads of culture and religion, was a place of attraction for musicians and composers. In addition to P.I. Turchaninov, A.F. Lvov, M.I. also visited here. Glinka, resorting, like many others, to the spiritual advice of Father Ignatius. Grand dukes and princesses came to St. Ignatius for spiritual advice, in conversations with him they sought inspiration from N.I. Gnedich, I.A. Krylov, K.N. Batyushkov, A.S. Pushkin.

The economy on this tiny plot was so well established that the monastery had enough of its harvest for a whole year. Butter and milk were also not bought in the future. The monastery orchard was brought into excellent condition - it had 300 apple trees and 100 cherries.

A worthy successor to the deeds of the rector Ignatius Brianchaninov was his former cell-attendant Ignatius (Malyshev) for the next 40 years (1857-1897) he studied at Imperial Academy arts K.P. Bryullov, M.I. Scotty. Many icons were made by him for the monastery, and the monastery itself was turned into a model of architectural art. Under him, it was completed by an architect A.M. Gornostaev restructuring of the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh, the Fraternal Corps with the gate church in the name of St. Sava Stratilat was completed. Another famous architect A.I. Stackenschneider supervised (1855-1857) the last construction under Ignatius Brianchaninov of the church of Gregory the Theologian over the grave of Count G.G. Kushelev.

In 1884, Ignatius Malyshev, together with a professor at the Academy of Arts A.A. Parland The Church of the Resurrection of Christ was erected. Made in the Byzantine style, accommodating up to 2,500 people, this temple has become an adornment of the Sergius Hermitage. Also together with A.A. Parland, Ignatius Malyshev created the project of the famous "Savior on Blood", a temple-monument at the site of the mortal wound of Emperor Alexander II.

interior of the Resurrection Church, 1890sTaking care of the external decoration, the abbots of the monastery did not forget about the internal creation, they maintained a high spiritual authority. From the monastic brethren of the desert, according to tradition, ship priests were chosen for the Russian navy.

interior view of the Resurrection Church, 1909

At the request of the rector Ignatius Bryanchaninov Pustyn was endowed with a forest plot of 50 acres. The land was swampy, but after many labors, the field monastery economy rose to a very high level. Suffice it to say that in 1882 in Russia, at the exhibition of grain growers of the Sergius Desert, a large silver medal was awarded for rye seeds, two copper medals for wheat and barley seeds.

In the desert, there was an invalid home, a school, a hospital for the poor, a hospice (a daily shelter for 15-20 wanderers), a hospital during the war. At the monastery there was the first Russian Sergius school of sobriety, founded by hegumen Pavel (Gorshkov). The founder of the Alexander Nevsky Sobriety Society, Father Alexander Rozhdestvensky, introduced the custom of religious processions of teetotalers in the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage on one of the summer Sundays.

In 1843, the construction of a stone church in honor of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos began. The church was built at the expense of Prince M.V. Kochubey, over the grave of his wife Maria Ivanovna, nee Baryatinsky. The project of the temple was drawn up in the Norman style, it was built by architects R. I. Kuzmin and G. G. Bosse. The church was a copy of the famous Florence Cathedral.

Bottom: Church of St. Sergius

interior view of the St. Sergius Church, 1898

Pustyn, with its strict statutory worship and the beautiful singing of the monks, the selfless feat of love, attracted streams of pilgrims. The inhabitants of St. Petersburg loved their Sergius Hermitage. And the nobility of St. Petersburg, since the time of Catherine II, chose the desert as a burial place for their relatives, arranging family crypts under churches or next to them. In 1804 Counts Zubov chose the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage as the burial place of the hero of the Suvorov wars, a general from infantry, a member State Council, Director of the 2nd Cadet Corps V.A. Zubova. In 1809, at the expense of the Zubovs, an Invalid House with the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Valerian was built for 30 people of "crippled warriors". In the underground part of this church there is a family crypt (27 burials).

Among those buried at the monastery cemetery are representatives of such families as: Adlerberg, Apraksin, Zubov, Golitsyn, Kochubei, Kushelev, Myatlev, Naryshkin, Perovsky, Stroganov, Tolstoy, Chicherin, Yusupov, Yakovlev and many others. The burial of “His Imperial Highness duke Nicholas Maximilianovich of Leuchtenberg, Prince Romanovsky". The chancellor of the Russian Empire A. M. Gorchakov was also buried here; Minister of Public Education A. S. Norov; the outstanding public and cultural figure Prince P. G. Oldenburgsky; military governors of St. Petersburg; outstanding architects A.I. Stackenschneider and A.M. Gornostaev; descendants of A. V. Suvorov and M. I. Kutuzov.

Some of the chapels and crypts were genuine works of art. The territory of the monastery was decorated with elegant architecture rotundas and greenhouses - tombs: the rotunda-tomb of the Tolstoy family, the greenhouse-tomb of the family of the princes of Oldenburg. From the ruthless plunder in the 30s, and especially in the 60s, little was saved. Bronze and marble busts by S. Campioni, N. Pimenov, P. Stavasser were transferred to the funds of the Russian Museum from the family tomb of the Zubovs. Artistic tombstones of A.A. and F.A. Batashev, F.A. Yakovlev.

Cross over the grave of architect A.M. Gornostaeva (+1862)

Pustyn closed in 1919, but services continued. The number of brethren gradually decreased, the last monastic vows was in 1926. In 1931, the monastery completely ceased to exist. Before the war, a retraining school for the command staff of the paramilitary guards of industry of the USSR Supreme Council of National Economy was opened here. Kuibyshev. During the Great Patriotic War from September 1941. until the lifting of the blockade in January 1944. on the territory of the former monastery there were occupiers, the fascist army headquarters. From here, the shelling of Leningrad was adjusted. Monastic buildings, especially the Trinity Cathedral and the Church of the Resurrection, were badly damaged by artillery shelling. In the post-war years, restoration work began. A project was drawn up for the restoration of the Trinity Cathedral, but in 1962. the cathedral was removed from state protection and demolished. In its place, they arranged a parade ground for the Secondary Police School opened on the territory of the former monastery. Somewhat earlier, the same fate befell the Church of the Resurrection of Christ and other church buildings. Tombstones, miraculously survived until the summer of 1964, were demolished by a bulldozer in one day. True, two monuments were left: the family crypt of the Chicherins (perhaps out of respect for the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs in the government of Lenin G. V. Chicherin), and a marble cross on the grave of the famous architect A. M. Gornostaev.

The last rector of the monastery before the revolution was Archimandrite Sergius, confessor of the Grand Dukes Konstantin Konstantinovich and Dmitry Konstantinovich Romanov, who live in Strelna and often pray in the desert. In 1937, the archimandrite was shot and canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.

Cathedral in the name of St. Sergius of Radonezh, built in 1859 through the efforts of Archimandrite Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) and his successor Archimandrite Ignatius (Malyshev) according to the project of architect A.M. Gornostaeva

In 1993 the territory of the former monastery was returned to the St. Petersburg diocese. it significant event marked the beginning of the revival of the monastery. Divine services are going on today in the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh. In 2009, Sunday and comprehensive school. The bright ideals of the ascetic Sergius about Christian love for people will always be with us, as well as the reverent memory of the departed. The memory of traditions, kind, own human history and gratitude to those who were in it before you are a necessary step in the moral maturity of each of us.