MOSCOW, December 19 - RIA Novosti, Olga Lipich. On the day of the feast of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the Moscow State United Museum-Reserve Kolomenskoye-Lublin-Lefortovo donated an icon and a fold with particles of the relics of St. Nicholas from the 19th century to the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery in the town of Dzerzhinsky near Moscow.
The director of the united museum-reserve, Lyudmila Kolesnikova, presented the shrines personally to Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus', who celebrated the Divine Liturgy and prayer service on Tuesday at the Transfiguration Cathedral of the St. Nicholas Ugresh Monastery.
The reliquary icon includes 24 relics with images of St. Andrew the First-Called, Nicholas the Wonderworker, Zosima and Savvatius of Solovetsky and many other saints. The icon also contains particles of the Holy Sepulcher, the Sepulcher of the Mother of God and the robe of St. Nicholas.
The folding reliquary contains particles of the relics of John the Baptist, Andrew the First-Called, John Chrysostom and other saints of the Ancient Church, as well as saints who shone in the Russian land.
The Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery was founded by the holy Prince Dmitry Donskoy on the site of the appearance of the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker to him and in gratitude to God for the subsequent victory of the Russian army on the Kulikovo Field in 1380.
“He saw the image of St. Nicholas and in the morning he said to his entourage: “This has sinned my heart.” That is, this vision warmed his heart,” this is how the patriarch explained the name of the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery at the celebrations on the occasion of the 625th anniversary of the Battle of Kulikovo.
According to him, during all these years, with the exception of the period of Soviet power, when the monastery was desecrated, it was one of the largest spiritual centers in Russia and “prayers were offered up there for our Fatherland and our long-suffering people.”
Saint Nicholas lived in the 3rd-4th centuries and became famous as a great saint of God, which is why people usually call him Nicholas the Pleasant. Christians believe that to this day he performs many miracles to help people who pray to him. In addition, Saint Nicholas is considered the patron saint of all travelers.
He was born in the city of Patara in Asia Minor (now the territory of Turkey) into a family of pious parents and became a priest and then bishop of the city of Myra in Lycia. Church tradition has preserved evidence not only of the miracles performed by Saint Nicholas, but also of his extraordinary mercy. Thus, when one previously rich man decided to “give over his three adult daughters to fornication” in order to save his family from hunger, the saint, grieving over the perishing sinner, secretly threw three bags of gold out his window at night.
While making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Nicholas the Wonderworker, at the request of desperate travelers, calmed the raging sea with prayer. Through his prayer, a sailor who fell from the mast and died was revived. Holding the executioner's sword, Saint Nicholas saved from death three husbands who had been innocently condemned by the self-interested mayor.
Saint Nicholas died in the middle of the 4th century at a very old age. According to church tradition, the relics of the saint remained incorrupt and exuded miraculous myrrh, from which many people were healed. In 1087, due to the threat of a Muslim invasion, the relics of St. Nicholas the Pleasant were transferred to the Italian city of Bar (Bari), where they remain to this day.
“This has sinned my heart...” - these are the words of Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy, spoken after the miraculous appearance of the icon of St. Nicholas in the air. gave the name to the famous monastery.
Intercessor
The words spoken many centuries ago by the Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy, “This whole sin has sinned my heart” (warmed, warmed), when “a wonderful image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker appeared to him, decorated with colors, surrounded by stars and shining with a bright light, standing by itself in the air...” were given. the name of both the place and the monastery. And this happened on August 22, 1380, not far from Moscow, where Dmitry Ivanovich stopped with his army before the battle on the Kulikovo Field. The miraculous appearance of the icon of St. Nicholas the Intercessor clearly meant God's help in the upcoming battle with Mamai. And the army of the holy prince won, changing the course of history.
A wonderful image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker appeared to him, decorated with colors, surrounded by stars and shining with bright light, standing by itself in the air...
The fate of the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery was not easy - more than once it was subjected to devastation and fires, it was a place of exile for dangerous people, a center of riots and riots. But Nicholas the Intercessor invisibly kept his monastery.
The first big disaster came in 1521 with the raid of the Crimean Khan Makhmet-Girey, who burned the Nikolo-Ugreshsky monastery. But she was reborn again.
During the Time of Troubles, it was here that the former monk Grigory Otrepiev, who fled from the Chudov Monastery, found his first refuge, and later declared himself “the miraculously surviving Tsarevich Dimitri.” Supported by the Poles, False Dmitry I was crowned the Russian throne along with his wife Marina Mniszech in 1605.
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Soon Russian squads began to unite to fight the Poles. And this first militia was “collected by Nikola” at the walls of his monastery on Ugresh.
In 1771, during the plague epidemic that struck the Moscow lands, an infirmary was established in the Ugresh monastery. And during the Patriotic War of 1812, one of the invaders’ detachments stood here: the French not only caused damage to the temples of Ugreshi, but also violated the shrines.
Rise and decline
The years of greatest prosperity for the monastery came in the second half of the 17th century under Abbot Vincent, when the number of brethren reached one hundred people. The monastery was beautiful and rich, surrounded by a white stone wall. It contained the ancient St. Nicholas Cathedral, the Sovereign and Patriarchal chambers, fraternal cells, outbuildings, orchards and a pond in which the monks raised fish.
The walls of the ancient monastery remember famous kings and impostors, Ecumenical Patriarchs and exiles who languished within these walls, periods of decline and unprecedented prosperity
In the first years of his reign, the monastery was often visited by the very young Peter I, who exiled “rebellious people” here: the monastery became a place of detention for rebellious archers. And Peter’s church reforms marked the beginning of the decline of the Nikolo-Ugreshsky monastery after 300 years of prosperity and world fame.
The monastery buildings fell into extreme disrepair. And only when, after a severe hurricane in 1739, the wind tore off the roofs and broke the crosses, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna allocated funds that made it possible to dismantle the dilapidated stone buildings and erect wooden ones in their place.
Catherine's era led the monastery to new misfortunes. And although the bell church was completed and the Assumption Church was renewed, the number of monastics was reduced in accordance with the new church reforms to 12 people.
Monk's Wealth
By the middle of the 19th century, the “royal” Nikolo-Ugreshskaya monastery was a sad sight: a dilapidated fence, leaky roofs, three monks and two novices. The monastery was on the verge of abolition. Only the monastery that appeared thanks to God’s miracle cannot disappear from the face of the earth: Abbot Ilarius, who arrived with cell attendant Peter Myasnikov, the future Venerable Pimen of Ugresh, was appointed to the position of the new abbot. Father Ilarius took care of the revival of the spiritual life of the monastery, and the entire economy fell on the shoulders of Father Pimen. Through his efforts, ancient buildings were renovated and five churches were erected: St. Nicholas Cathedral, the Church of St. Mary of Egypt, the Assumption, Sorrow and Peter and Paul Skete churches. “For a monk, the first wealth is to have nothing,” Father Pimen used to say. Having hundreds of thousands in his hands, he did not save a single ruble for himself.
The Ugresh monastery during these years became a center of education. In 1866, a theological public school was opened, where children from poor families could receive primary education. The monastery contained an almshouse for the elderly and infirm, and during the Balkan War an infirmary was set up here, where Ugresh monks were brothers of mercy.
Second Lavra
The glory of the monastery increased unusually, the flow of pilgrims kept increasing, and the temples could no longer accommodate those who wished to do so. In 1880, during the solemn celebration of the 500th anniversary of the monastery, the foundation of the Transfiguration Cathedral was laid, the foundation of which became the last earthly joy of the Monk Pimen. A few days later he went to the Lord. And the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery began to be called the “second Lavra,” and it was like a majestic city among the greenery of forests and fields.
The coming to power of the Bolsheviks lowered a dark curtain over the monastery. Ugresha, dear to the believing heart, became the city of Dzerzhinsky, and the beautiful monastery, which was a stronghold of Orthodoxy for more than 500 years, turned into a place of desolation, sorrow and ruin.
But new times and new people came, who revived the ancient monastery. The first Liturgy, held on December 19, 1990, on the day of memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, brought together a large crowd of people who filled the entire Assumption Church and the entire square in front of it. It seemed that the whole city was praying that day, and this congregational prayer, heard by the Lord, became the beginning of revival. Through the joint efforts of the governor and the brethren, benefactors and townspeople, the ruins began to be transformed. And now we can say with confidence that the monastery has been completely restored. In 1998, the Nikolo-Ugresh Seminary was opened.
What about today?
The miraculous icon of St. Nicholas, which guarded the monastery at all times, survived and is now in the Tretyakov Gallery, and a copy of it is in the St. Nicholas Cathedral of the Ugresh monastery. For several years now, the monastery has been providing spiritual care to orphans from correctional boarding school No. 62, who are frequent guests here.
In September last year, the abbot of the monastery, Abbot Bartholomew, consecrated two churches at once - the recently restored Church of the Beheading of John the Baptist and the new one - in the name of the Cathedral of Ugresh Saints, located in the basement of St. Nicholas Cathedral.
It is impossible to convey in words the feeling of grace when, having passed through the gates of Ugreshi, you find yourself in a world of silence and beauty. Where, as before, the domes of the monastery are burning - a handsome, heroic monastery, unbroken and surviving for more than 600 years.
May 29th, 2014
Total 44 photos
There have been so many changes in the World lately. And although not everything is smooth around our country, I believe that Russia will rise from the ashes like a phoenix, burning, but being born again, to a new life. The same example can be served by the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery, in the history of which there were enough events to perish, but it was steadily revived and transformed, bringing light and purity, hope and faith. We continue our leisurely walk through this historical and holy place, indulging in reflection and absorbing the Beauty that is scattered everywhere here.
In the title photo you see a complex of temples - St. Nicholas and Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedrals. To create a solemn feeling from these temples, let's head towards them from the Holy Gate towards the bell tower towering over the entire area...
In the foreground is the so-called Prosphora. And to the left, next to the Holy Gates, there was once a refectory; now there is a cafe for visitors to the monastery.
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It is very beautiful and calm here. Spring flowers strive for the spring sun, spreading dizzying smells and aromas.
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So, we are still in front of one gate. In front of us is a huge bell tower with a Temple in the name of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist on its second tier.
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The bell tower was built in 1761. The structure of the bell tower consists of three tiers. This tall bell tower was built during the reign of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. The project was led by architect Ivan Zherebtsov. The height of the bell tower was then 74 meters. Temple in the name of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist was built in 1840 on the second tier of the bell tower at the expense of the merchant I.P. Pyatnitsky and his wife. The temple existed until the monastery was closed in 1925. In 1850, 3 more tiers were added and as a result the bell tower soared 93 meters high. The total weight of the bell ensemble of the bell tower was three thousand poods (48 tons).
In 1858-1859 its reconstruction was carried out with funds from P.M. Alexandrova. The temple ceased to exist with the closure of the monastery.
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During the Great Patriotic War, the upper tiers of the bell tower were demolished so that the bell tower would not serve as a reference point for Luftwaffe raids.
Reconstruction of the bell tower was carried out in 2002-2003. As part of these works, interior paintings were carried out in the temple, an iconostasis was installed, in which icons that previously belonged to the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery and transferred to the monastery from the funds of the Moscow United Museum-Reserve were presented. The minor consecration of the temple took place on September 11, 2012.
To the left of the bell tower is the hospital building with the Sorrowful Church. More about her later.
06.
And to the right of the bell tower gate is a very interesting ancient temple - the Church of St. Matthew the Apostle and Paraskeva Friday. The church is adjacent to the northern wall of the Assumption Church of the monastery and was built through the labors of Pimen Ugreshsky in 1854 at the expense of the well-known P.M. Alexandrov at the old refectory. Very interesting is the cast metal gallery-altar with glass windows attached to the left of this church.
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So we entered from the north side into the very heart of the monastery.
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Before us is the Temple in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” (1857-1860), adjacent to the hospital building.
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The temple was built in 1857-1860. designed by architect A.S. Kaminsky and M.D. Bykovsky as a sick leave, because it was adjacent to the monastery hospital. The temple is located in the north-eastern corner of the monastery, has five domes on a tent-shaped roof.
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At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. the church was covered with white iron; inside, under high stone arches, there was a three-tiered dark blue iconostasis with gilded cornices, ending in a semicircle at the top. Above the royal doors was the Deesis (a three-part composition depicting Jesus Christ, John the Baptist and the Mother of God) in gilded silver frames with crowns. Among the temple icons were an ancient image of the Savior Not Made by Hands in a gilded silver frame, an ancient image of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” in a gilded silver frame.
The temple was closed and looted in the 1920s. Restored in 1999 and consecrated on November 16, 1999 by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus'.
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These are fraternal buildings from the 19th century.
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And this is the Temple in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. The church was built in 1869-1870. with money from a benefactor - Moscow merchant D.P. Rogatkin at the almshouse, located in the Southern fraternal building. The temple is small, with an openwork five-domed finish in the spirit of Baroque churches of the 17th-18th centuries.
After the revolution, communal apartments were built in the temple and adjacent buildings. In 2006, finishing work began, and on July 20, 2009, the temple was consecrated. The south-eastern tower of the old monastery fence used to be located on this site.
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In front of us is the St. Nicholas Chapel. The foundation of the chapel of St. Nicholas took place under the rector of the monastery, Archimandrite Nile, and construction was completed under the rector, Archimandrite Valentin, in 1893. The author of the chapel project is the architect A.S. Kaminsky. In pre-revolutionary years, a fragment of a pine trunk was kept in the chapel, on which the image of St. Nicholas appeared to St. Prince Demetrius Donskoy in 1380.
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In the 1920s the chapel was destroyed. It was restored in 1998 and consecrated on May 22, 1998 by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus'.
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If you look from the courtyard to the bell tower to the northeast, then to the left it is adjoined by a large reddish-burgundy building with the Assumption Church, built in 1763 on the site of the abolished Sovereign Chambers. The abbot's chambers (now a museum-sacristy) adjoin it from the west; a bell tower rises from the east. The Church of the Assumption occupies the upper part of the building; on the ground floor there is the Church of Saints Apostle Matthew and Great Martyr Paraskeva Friday.
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In 1852, the chapel of Mary of Egypt was added to the church from the north; At the same time, the Assumption Church itself was updated. In 1991, the Assumption Church became the first restored church of the monastery. The interior has partially preserved stucco moldings and oil paintings from the 19th century.
20.
This is the most ancient temple of the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery. In the 17th century, during the reign of the first sovereigns from the Romanov dynasty, who regularly came on pilgrimage to the House of St. Nicholas, the monastery entered its heyday. Especially for the reception of tsars and All-Russian Patriarchs, a two-story stone building was built to the west of the bell tower - the Sovereign, Patriarchal and Abbot chambers. The ancient Assumption Church with its decoration was also moved here, the original location of which is unknown. The cross of the old temple was used in the new one - it was installed on the stylized lantern dome of the new one.
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The middle part of the temple was built on, as a result of which a quadrangle appeared, significantly rising above the roof of the building. In 1850, the temple was significantly expanded by installing a new chapel to Mary of Egypt in the refectory. Now here are particles of the relics of Nicholas the saint and Panteleimon the healer.
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And this is a gazebo tower attached to the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Gazebo, converted from a 17th-century fortress tower.
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And now - the most interesting...
This is a view from Calvary to two monastery churches - St. Nicholas and Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedrals.
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In front of them we see a stylized belfry. In essence, this is a banal transformer point, but this structure is “played out” in an architectural sense, with obvious taste.
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St. Nicholas Cathedral. This is a small (compared to the nearby Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral) single-domed, three-apse church with a helmet-shaped dome, slit-like windows and a roof covering. The entrances are decorated with perspective portals.
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Built according to the vow of Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy, the St. Nicholas Church was most likely wooden, but by the 15th century it was already made of stone, judging by the architectural details found by archaeologists.
In 1614, when the Time of Troubles ended, St. Nicholas Cathedral was rebuilt. Around it there appeared walkways - bypass galleries - that survived until the mid-19th century. By the 40s of the 19th century, the cathedral was extremely dilapidated. It was reconstructed. The future saint Pimen of Ugreshsky also took part in it; this was his first work on recreating the architectural shrines of the monastery. The appearance of the temple changed a lot then. Subsequently, during Soviet times, it was almost completely destroyed.
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In April 2000, when a pedestrian path was being laid on the northern side of the Transfiguration Cathedral, the foundation of the former St. Nicholas Church, preserved in good condition, was discovered. This is how the location of the ancient church was precisely determined. This discovery prompted the inhabitants of the monastery and its board of trustees to think about recreating the main shrine of the monastery.
Work on the restoration of St. Nicholas Cathedral began in 2004. The sacred archimandrite of the monastery, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy, expressed the desire that the temple be recreated in the architectural features of the time of the Battle of Kulikovo and become a monument to the great feat of the Russian people. This is what was embodied in the new appearance of the temple today.
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The construction of the cathedral walls was completed at the end of the summer of 2005. On August 26, the temple was crowned with a gilded poppy with a cross. During 2006, finishing work was carried out outside and inside the temple. At the same time, the interior of the cathedral was recreated. On March 31, 2007, the temple was opened.
The temple was restored very carefully, you can feel it. And, here again, there is no unnatural feeling that this is a remake. Just great!
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Well, now it’s the turn of the Transfiguration Cathedral.
The Transfiguration Cathedral was founded in 1880 - the year of the 500th anniversary of the monastery. The temple in the Russian-Byzantine style was largely completed by 1889, but interior decoration continued until 1894. The architect of the temple was A.S. Kaminsky. The cathedral was painted by M.N. Safonov based on drawings by A.S. Kaminsky.
The cross-domed, four-pillar, five-domed temple on the basement has impressive dimensions. The height of the central dome of the cathedral is 68 m, capacity - up to 7000 people. In the years following the closure of the cathedral in 1925, it suffered significant damage: domes were demolished, new windows were broken, and interfloor ceilings were built. Work to restore the cathedral took place from 1991 to 2000. The consecration took place in May 2000.
Inside there is a new carved iconostasis with icons painted by Palekh masters.
The temple was built on the site of the ancient old St. Nicholas Cathedral; it reproduced the old St. Nicholas Cathedral on an enlarged scale, only now it had five chapters instead of one.
In 1990, when the revival of the monastery began with the efforts of the Patriarchate, the city of Dzerzhinsky, numerous benefactors, and, first of all, they took up the Transfiguration Cathedral. Its consecration took place in 2000. But work on the cathedral continued for quite a long time and was completed by 2008. As the future Patriarch Kirill, who visited the monastery at that time, said, “I am amazed by everything that I saw in the Ugresh monastery. From the ruins, from the ashes, not just beauty arose - a shrine.”
Let's go together to this revived cathedral - a symbol of freedom, independence and military valor of our Motherland.
At the beginning of 2000, workers from the Vyatka Handicraft Workshops assembled a five-tiered carved iconostasis 24 m high and 25 m long. The walls of the altar, the base of the columns and the floor were lined with marble. Six magnificent chandeliers were delivered from Greece.
Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery is an amazing place. Orthodox shrines from all over the world are collected here. Pilgrims can prayerfully visit the place from where they were brought to the monastery with a complex history. Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) and Saint Pimen (Ugreshsky) served here. The monastery experienced declines and prosperity. We have collected information for pilgrims and those interested in the history of the monastery.
History of the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery
The city of Dzerzhinsky and Moscow are connected not only by land. Along the Moscow River you can get to the famous Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery, a favorite place for Orthodox pilgrims. It was here that representatives of the Romanov dynasty often went on pilgrimage by water and land.
The monastery was founded in 1380 by Prince Dmitry Donskoy in honor of the victory in the Battle of Kulikovo. Once upon a time, Dmitry Donskoy went to Kolomna, where a large gathering of all the troops of other principalities was taking place; on the way to Kolomna, at the site of the founding of the monastery, Dmitry Donskoy stopped at a halt to pray. While praying, the prince saw a miracle: an image of the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker appeared to him over a pine tree. Dmitry Donskoy took the divine sign as a blessing for the battle and said the following words: “This whole thing has sinned my heart.” These words meant that Ugresha warmed his heart. Having won the victory, Dmitry Donskoy founded a temple in honor of St. Nicholas the Pleasant on the site of the appearance of the icon. In the 11th century, the site of a miraculous event was marked by a chapel. For a long time, a log of a tree was kept in it, on which the image of the saint appeared to the prince. During the times of atheism, the shrine was lost. Nowadays pilgrims come here to get holy water.
With the advent of the House of Romanov, the tradition of “Ugresh campaigns” appeared. The Tsar went with his retinue and people to the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery for prayer. Usually the “Ugresh campaigns” took place on the day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
Temples and chapels of the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery
The oldest building of the monastery is the bell tower, which is called the “Ugreshskaya candle”. Its height is 77 meters. Since 1761, only its base has been preserved; during the Great Patriotic War, the upper tiers were demolished for strategic purposes; the bell tower could be visible to the enemy. In the 20th century, the bell tower was restored. On the wall of the bell tower there is a poem carved about the birth of the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery, which can be read by anyone who is familiar with the Old Church Slavonic language.
Shrines of the monastery
Another surviving monument of the 18th century is the Assumption Church, built in 1763. It was erected on the site of the abolished royal chambers. The main shrines of the monastery are located in this temple - especially revered in the monastery. The cathedral akathist is read before the icon. The temple also contains the relics of Saints brought from different parts of the world:
- relics of the Great Martyr Barbara,
- Healer Panteleimon,
- John the Baptist
- Kiev-Pechersk saints and other confessors of the faith of Christ.
In the 19th century, a chapel appeared in the temple in honor of Mary of Egypt. The images on the western wall of the chapel depict scenes from the life of the Venerable Mary of Egypt. Some fragments of the painting have survived to this day in their original form, which can be considered an Orthodox miracle, because in Soviet times there was a police station here, and all the walls were painted over. During the restoration, almost intact images were revealed behind a thick layer of paint.
In the 18th century, the monastery went through difficult times. The era of secularization and further historical events led to the fact that in 1834 the number of brethren of the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery was reduced to 10 people, of which there were only six monastics. The monastery was in an extremely neglected state, there was even talk of closing it. And yet the monastery was destined to become the “second Lavra,” as the Moscow saints later called the monastery.
In 1833, Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) became the rector of the monastery, who, although he did not have time to head the monastery due to his imminent appointment as archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage near St. Petersburg, played an important role in the rapid revival and flourishing of Ugreshi.
The monastery experienced its true flourishing during the time of St. Pimen, a zealot for traditional worship. The territory of the monastery expanded, new churches were built, a hospital and a hospital church were built...
Having survived the difficult atheistic years and a new revival, the monastery is still open to pilgrims.
Photobank Lori
Schedule of services
The monastery holds daily statutory services.
On weekdays, two Divine Liturgies are served daily:
- Early at 6:45 in the Assumption Church,
- Late at 9:00, in the Pimenovsky Church, in the cold season in the Kazan Church.
- After the early liturgy, a memorial service is performed, after the late liturgy, a prayer service is held.
On Sundays and holidays three Divine Liturgies are served:
- at 6:30 in the Assumption Church,
- at 8:00 in Pimenovsky,
- at 9:30 in the Transfiguration Cathedral,
On Sundays, after the late liturgy, a water prayer service is served.
Akathists are read weekly during the Divine Service to the patrons of the monastery:
- on Tuesdays St. Pimen Ugreshsky,
- on Thursdays St. Nicholas the Wonderworker;
- On Sundays, during the evening Divine service, the cathedral of the monastery clergy performs akathist singing before the Tikhvin Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, revered in the monastery.
The Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery is an ancient monastery with more than six centuries of history, in which buildings from the 17th century have been preserved, and currently it is a pearl among Moscow monasteries. No matter where we approach it from, no matter how we look at it, it seems to us to fit surprisingly well into the surrounding landscape. Attractive for everyone who has ever seen this monastery are: the bell tower with the chiming clock, the domes of the Transfiguration Cathedral, the monastery pond and the bizarre “Palestine Wall” (“One of the most original structures of the second half of the 19th century. Image motifs are used in the architectural forms of the wall cities in the works of ancient Russian painting,” reads the inscription preserved on the slab). The walls of the monastery testify to the past, about the events that they had to see, about the personalities associated with the history of the monastery.
The Nikolo-Ugreshskaya monastery appeared in the 14th century on the place that, according to legend, “warmed the heart” of the Grand Duke of Moscow, the holy blessed Dimitri Ivanovich Donskoy. When, having received the blessing of St. Sergius of Radonezh for the battle, Dmitry Donskoy stopped for the night and prayed, then to console him, the image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker appeared on a tree, and an encouraging and inspiring voice was heard. It was there, in 1380, in Gratitude to the Lord and Nicholas the Wonderworker for the victory in the Battle of Kulikovo, that the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery was founded. At the site of Dmitry Donskoy’s prayer, a source of the purest spring water appeared, which delights everyone who comes to it to this day.
The history of the Russian state, complex and diverse, rapidly developing, rich in people and events, left its mark on the monastery of St. Nicholas on Ugresh. From those ancient times until the 21st century, the monastery has experienced quite a lot of different events. Like many other monasteries in the Moscow region, the Ugreshsky Monastery was destroyed and rebuilt more than once throughout its existence. In 1521 it was completely burned by the Crimean Khan, but again restored within a few decades. In the eighteenth century, with the transfer of the capital to St. Petersburg, the monastery lost its significance, and the question of its abolition was raised. In the mid-19th century, the monastery experienced an unprecedented dawn, at the same time the majestic Transfiguration Cathedral and the Palestine (Jerusalem) Wall were built. During the Soviet years, the monastery was destroyed again. On the territory of Ugreshskaya Sloboda there was a labor commune, by the time of its closure in 1938 there were about 14 thousand people. Many monastery buildings were demolished, the monastery cemetery was desecrated and liquidated. But by the grace of God, at the end of 1990 the first monks appeared in the monastery and the restoration of the monastery began again.
Shrines of the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery.
Currently, the main shrines of the monastery are: a particle of the relics of St. Nicholas, transferred to the monastery in 2000 from the monastery of St. John the Baptist, on the island of the Peloponnese, as well as the relics of St. Pimen of Ugresh, which are located in the Transfiguration Cathedral. In addition, the cathedral contains: a revered copy of the image of the Mother of God “Leaping” and a copy of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God “Theodorovskaya”. During services in the cathedral, for prayerful worship, an ark containing a particle of the robe of the Mother of God and a reliquary containing particles of the Savior’s crown of thorns and the relics of the holy apostles are carried from the altar. On the right temple column of the cathedral there is a large revered icon of “All Ugresh Saints”. Since the summer of 2014, an abundant flow of myrrh began from this icon, which continues to this day.
In the Assumption Church there is a revered copy of the “Tikhvin” Icon of the Mother of God, transferred to the reviving monastery in 1992 as a sign of the patriarchal blessing. The temple contains particles of the relics of the holy saints of God: St. John the Baptist, Great Martyr George the Victorious, Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon, Hieromartyr Antipas of Pergamon, St. Ignatius of the Caucasus, St. Innocent of Penza, St. Joseph of Astrakhan, St. Herman of Alaska, Righteous Simeon of Verkhoturye, St. Zosima and Savvaty Solovetsky, St. Sergius of Radonezh, Reverend Fathers of the Kiev-Pechersk, Blessed Matrona of Moscow, St. Lyudmila of Czech, and many other saints.
In the St. Nicholas Cathedral there is a copy of the miraculous “Ugresh” image of St. Nicholas, the revered “Blachernae” icon of the Mother of God with particles of the relics of the holy saints of God, as well as a particle of the tree of the Cross of the Lord.
In addition, the monastery is famous for two museums: the Museum - Sacristy and the Museum of the Emperor - Passion-Bearer Nicholas II and the Royal Family. The first museum-sacristy was opened in the monastery, which houses various church antiquities and art objects. A real event for the entire Moscow region was the transfer in the spring of 2008 to A.V. Renzhin collected a collection dedicated to the Passion-Bearing Emperor Nicholas II and his family. In this museum you can view and get acquainted with a unique collection of documents and various objects telling about the life of the royal family and Russia during the 19th-20th centuries.
A visit to the Nikolo-Ugreshskaya monastery leaves a bright, warm and indelible impression in the memory of pilgrims, as well as a desire to visit this historical holy place again and again.