Saint Theophan the Recluse: instructions to monastics of the Tambov women's monasteries. God's favorite establishment

Np-2 (No. - 0002)
Work: “Houses, events, people” (Novgorod XVIII - early XX centuries). Veliky Novgorod. "Cyrillic"; St. Petersburg, printing house No. V.O. “Science”, 1999. – 252.; ill.

I. Sofia side

Courtyard of Mercury Gavrilovich - spiritual father Peter I

Many unknown facts, unsolved secrets are stored in archival documents; they lie quietly on the shelves, not yet read and not claimed by researchers. One of the previously unknown pages in the biography of a man who achieved a high position in Russian society during the reign of Peter I was revealed by documents discovered in the archives of Novgorod, St. Petersburg and Moscow.

In the fund of the Vyazhishchi Monastery of the State Archives of the Novgorod Region, materials have been preserved that indicate the purchase by the monastery of the court of the Archpriest of the St. Sophia Cathedral, Mercury Gavrilovich. The courtyard was located in Detinets not far from the Vladimir passage tower next to the courtyard of the Yuryev Monastery. In the courtyard, fenced with tyne, there was a wooden room on a residential basement with a vestibule and a vault “with three dwellings” - a three-story tower-like extension. Nearby there was a cellar with a barn built over it.

It is known that Mercury Gavrilovich was the spiritual father of Peter I and came from Ustyuzhna, which in the 17th century. was under the jurisdiction of the Novgorod Prikaz. But the fact that he served for some time as archpriest of the St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod was unknown to researchers.

In 1684, Mercury Gavrilovich was invited to Moscow to serve as archpriest of the Annunciation Cathedral, “which is in the vestibule of great sovereigns,” and as a spiritual mentor to the young Tsars Peter and John Alekseevich. The date of his departure to Moscow is established according to one of the acts of the Valdai Iversky Monastery, which reports the ceremonial farewell from Novgorod of the wife of Mercury Gavrilovich, accompanied by the “boyar house people” Timofey Zheglov and Yakim Shulgin.

After leaving for Moscow, Mercury Gavrilovich did not break ties with Novgorod. The St. Petersburg archive preserves a letter from the Novgorod Metropolitan Cornelius, addressed to the spiritual father of the tsars. It was written in 1686 in connection with the stoppage of the construction of the Znamensky Cathedral, since the money was spent by decree of the sovereigns on the salaries of “military people”.

The Znamensky Cathedral was founded in 1682, when Mercury Gavrilovich lived in Novgorod. Cornelius turned to him with a request to intercede with the sovereigns so that they would grant money from the state treasury for the completion of the temple. And the money was released. The efforts and personal interest of the spiritual shepherd of the kings can explain why the royal icon painters Karp Zolotarev, Fyodor Yuryev, Ivan Bakhmatov took part in the decoration of the Cathedral of the Sign.

The Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts preserved a court case begun in 1691 based on a petition by Mercury Gavrilovich addressed to Tsars Peter and Ivan Alekseevich. The spiritual father of the tsars accused the Novgorodian, the former townsman Averky Krasilnikov, of being "<...>Having in vain attacked a relative with his malice... on a Posatsky man on Andryushka Davydov Vorotnikov and inflicted great losses on him, Andryushka, delayed him with red tape, Andryushka, caused him a lot of time and losses... 55 rubles<...>"From the context it follows that the merchant family Vorotnikovs, well known in Novgorod, were Mercury Gavrilovich's "relatives", that is, relatives on his wife's side. The confessor of the kings ensured that the snitch, who demanded money from Andrei Vorotnikov, allegedly loaned to his father, was sent to Moscow for reprisals to the Novgorod Prikaz. And he was taken there by order of the governor Nikita Prozorovsky. The result of the court case was summed up in the tsars’ letter: to release the sneaker from the Novgorod Prikaz, but if he “starts to oppress” Andrei Vorotnikov and his mother, then they, sovereigns, will send him to live forever in Siberia.

The family of Mercury Gavrilovich is recorded in several Synodics of Novgorod monasteries.

Its role in the spiritual and moral education of the Russian tsars, as well as in the social and religious life of the Russian state remains undisclosed in historical science. Compiling a biography of one of the notable figures of Peter the Great’s time is a matter for the future.

L.A. Secretary
Metropolitan Job and the Likhud brothers

The names of the Likhud brothers, Greeks by origin, who spent most of their lives in Russia and did a lot to unify the two cultures of the Orthodox world, have long attracted the attention of researchers, both Russian and Greek. John and Spyridon (that was their name in the world) were born in Cephalia, studied in Venice and Padua. Both took monastic vows: the younger, Spiridon, before graduating from the University of Padua in 1670, the eldest, John, later, after he lost his wife. Spiridon was called Sophronius in monasticism, John - Ioannikis. In 1685, at the request of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich and with the blessing of the Patriarch of Constantinople, the Likhud brothers moved from Constantinople to Moscow, where they founded the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy. In Russia they gained fame as educated teachers, translators, and writers. IN initial period During their stay in Moscow, Prince Vasily Golitsyn patronized them. Not for a long time during the reign of Peter I's sister Sophia (1682-1689), he was the first person in the state. Golitsyn headed the Ambassadorial Prikaz, which determined foreign policy Russia, and a number of other orders, including the so-called Novgorod quarter. After the fall of Sofia, her favorite was sent into exile with his family in Kargopol. For his time, Golitsyn was very educated: he spoke several languages, was familiar with Western culture, and was a supporter of reforms in the European spirit.

Many noble people studied with the Likhuds, including the Prozorovsky brothers, one of whom was Boris Ivanovich in the 1690s. was a Novgorod governor. The changing situation in the spheres of power affected the position of the Likhuds, who were prominent figures in Russian society. Fate either favored them, then turned away and threatened them with complete disaster. There was a time when it was easy to rise to the top, but it was also easy to fall into disgrace, or even lose your life. In 1701, the Likhuds found themselves in exile in the Kostroma Ipatiev Monastery, from where they were exiled in 1706. Novgorod Metropolitan Job rescued him. Peter I treated Job favorably and allowed the Likhuds to move to Novgorod, where the Metropolitan set up a Greek-Slavic school following the example of the Moscow one. Job met Ioannikiy and Sophrony in Moscow, where before his appointment to Novgorod he was archimandrite of the Vysokopetrovsky and then the Trinity-Sergius monasteries.

The school, founded by Job, was located on the territory of the lord's court in Detinets - in a building that was built in 1670 on the foundations of the former buildings of the archbishop's palace of the 15th century. They were closely adjacent to the Kremlin wall - they started from Fedorovskaya and ended at the Resurrection Tower, where in the 19th century. A passage arch was built leading to the Kremlin from Sophia Square. For the most part [the buildings] were used for economic purposes. During the construction of the Judicial and Spiritual orders in 1670, the foundations of one of the dismantled ancient buildings were used, in which in the 17th century. The executive chamber of the Novgorod ruler was located. This is how the Novgorod chronograph of the 17th century describes this event: “In Veliky Novegrad, the same Pitirim, the Metropolitan of Novgorod broke the old great order plate about two lives (floors - L.S.), and on the same sole he put the plate again and arranged the plates in that the lord of the court order, and under that sheath you built a great cell.” During these same years, the Nikitsky building was rebuilt at the ruler's court by craftsmen invited from Tikhvin. St. Petersburg restorer E.P. Varakin suggests that the Court Order was also erected by an artel of Tikhvin masons led by Yakov Agapitov. This is an interesting monument of Russian architecture of the 17th century. Rich profiled platbands with a keel-like rise, recessed into the thickness of the wall, are the main element of the façade decoration. They were elegantly painted and stood out as bright spots against the background of the plain walls.

In 1706, the Likhud brothers began their teaching activities in this building. In their memory, the building began to be called Likhudov. Sophrony did not stay in Novgorod for long. In 1707 he left for Moscow on Job’s instructions, but was detained there and never returned to Novgorod. Ioannikiy taught at school for ten years and left a deep mark on the path of spiritual enlightenment in Novgorod. During this period, with the assistance of Job, 14 grammar schools were established in the Novgorod diocese. Two classes were opened at the school at the bishop's house: Greek-Slavic, taught by the Likhuds, and Slavic, taught by the translator Fyodor Gerasimov. Job was very pleased with the organization of school education, which he reported to the Archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery Sylvester: “The most verbal teachers, the most honorable hieromonks Ioannikis and Sophronius Likhudiev, who are found by royal decree in the house of Sophia, are truly highly learned, be kind and return, sober and cheerful, and in teaching with zeal: continually, every day, students are taught in Greek, Slavic and Latin letters, without any concealment, with all their hearts; with them and their elders, certain students work for them to study the translation of Greek-Latin books with joy.”

By 1727, 282 students were trained at the school. Among its first graduates was Fyodor Maksimov, subdeacon of St. Sophia Cathedral, who, after the departure of the elderly Ioannikis to Moscow in 1716, headed this religious school and improved its educational system. By decree of the Synod of 1722. The Novgorod school was recognized “as a model for all diocesan authorities.” Maksimov introduced Slavic rhetoric, compiled a textbook entitled “Slavic Grammar, briefly collected in the Greco-Slavic school, even in Novgorod at the bishop’s house.”

During 1712 The school was taught by Likhudov's student Karion Istomin, who was called from Moscow. His descendants owe the preservation of the copies of three Novgorod chronicles. He also brought into the system the chronicle known as the Sophia Temporary. Teaching at the school was conducted using textbooks written or translated by the Likhuds. In the Slavic class, grammar was studied from the textbook of Meletius Smotritsky.

In Novgorod, Sophronius and Ioannikis wrote an essay in defense of the Greek Orthodox confession - “Condemning the heresies of Luther and Calvin.” At Job's request, they corrected the service of St. Sophia of the Wisdom of God and again wrote the prologue, stichera and canon in her honor. Ioannikiy edited the handwritten life of Varlaam of Khutyn and composed a word of praise for this revered Novgorod saint. He translated from Greek to Slavic language works: “On Orthodoxy” and “Interpretation of the Lord’s Prayer, which is the Lord’s Prayer.” The Novgorod Metropolitan tried to involve Likhudov in the translation of the Old Testament, but he failed to carry out this undertaking, as well as to organize a printing house at the bishop’s house for printing liturgical works books.

The Likhuds transported their extensive library to Novgorod, as can be judged from Job’s letter to Peter I, dated 1715. Ioannikiy was 80 years old, he was old and frail, and Job was worried about the fate of this unique library. He wrote that Ioannikios “began to be faint-hearted: the books that he had, theological, philosophical and ancient history, different languages, some he sends to Moscow, and he gives them to visiting Greeks, while others he sells for a low price." Part of the Likhudov book collection remained in Novgorod and then ended up in the library of the theological seminary founded in the Anthony Monastery in 1740. In the Russian State Library in Moscow and The Russian National Library in St. Petersburg contains many manuscripts written by the Likhuds or containing their autographs, including from the Novgorod Theological Seminary. These are their own works and translations from Greek, as well as books translated by their students and corrected by the hand of Sophronius or Ioannikis. : “Logic”, “Rhetoric”, “Grammar and Poetics” and other works.

The influence that the Likhuds, especially Ioannikiy, had on the development of spiritual education in Novgorod has not yet been fully appreciated by descendants. It is known that he visited Novgorod monasteries, talked with monks, gave them instructions, and possibly worked in monastic libraries. In 1711 he visited the Vyazhishchi Monastery, where he was greeted as a respected teacher.

Why did Metropolitan Job value and support the Likhuds so much, considering them “the most blessed fathers and the most graceful teachers”? Job was an opponent of the Kyiv schools and the influence coming from Little Russia, and through it from the Catholic West. He advocated the establishment of schools that would represent a Great Russian orientation and which would be based on Greek literature and education. By the way, the Likhuds in Moscow also opposed the Little Russian Feofan Prokopovich, who was gaining increasing influence in high-ranking circles of Russia. As fate would have it, Feofan Prokopovich subsequently headed the Novgorod metropolitanate and inherited the work begun by his opponents. Feofan Prokopovich emerged victorious from this struggle.

Job was an extraordinary and highly educated man. He read a lot and carried on extensive correspondence. Books were sent to him from Rostov and Moscow, and he himself had an extensive library, left to his descendants. Most of his life was spent in Moscow and the Moscow region. In the Trinity-Sergius Lavra he took monastic vows. He arrived in Novgorod in 1698 not of his own free will. In a letter to Landrichter Yakov Rimsky-Korsakov, he wrote: "<...>I was sent into this courtyard into captivity by the will of God, and not by my own desire or my own seeking.”

The Novgorod period of Job's activity was marked by the creation of temples and monasteries. With his assistance, after the fire, the fire-damaged building, built in the 1680s, was restored. Znamensky Cathedral. With the blessing of Job, it was decorated by famous Moscow isographers Karp Zolotarev, Fyodor Yuryev, Ivan Bakhmatov, as well as masters from Kostroma and Yaroslavl. The renowned icon painter of the Moscow Armory Chamber, Ivan Bakhmatov, wrote at the beginning of the 17th century. icons for multi-tiered iconostasis of the churches of St. John the Evangelist and the Ascension of Christ in the Vyazhishchi Monastery. The invitation to Novgorod of leading masters from Moscow and the Volga region is undoubtedly connected with Job, who had extensive connections in the highest circles of Russia and enjoyed the patronage of the Tsar himself. The Metropolitan helped the authorities of the Resurrection Derevyanitsky Monastery to erect a large cathedral on the site of a collapsed one, built by Yaroslavl and Kostroma masters in 1695-1697. At the behest of Job at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries. The Assumption Church of the Kolmov Monastery was rebuilt at the beginning of the 18th century. - Church of Luke the Evangelist on Lubyanitsa, and in 1715 a temple was built in the name of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God on Kholopya Street on the foundation ancient church Kozma and Damian.

Job takes care of the St. Sophia Cathedral and its shrines: the relics of the first Novgorod bishop Joachim Korsunyanin are transferred to the golden porch, the priest of the Markov Church Georgy Tikhvinets restores ancient icons.

The struggle against the schism took a lot of the Metropolitan’s energy. In the Novgorod and Starorussky districts there were many supporters of the pre-Nikonian faith. In Novgorod, as Job wrote to I.A. Musin-Pushkin, handwritten and early printed Old Believer books appeared and a letter about the birth of the Antichrist was distributed. One of the active figures in the schismatic movement in Vyga (Olonets district), Semyon Denisov, was taken into custody and was kept at the bishop's house in Novgorod. Job talked with him a lot, trying to bring him back into the fold of the official Orthodox faith.

Many adversities befell during Job's reign in Novgorod. There were several big fires and pestilence. What kind of person this person was can be judged by his actions in difficult moments of trial. In 1709, when a fire was raging on the Trade Side, the Metropolitan took off his omophorion and cassock and began, together with everyone else, to “break down the huts” to stop the fire.

He acted wisely in 1710, when a terrible pestilence swept across the Novgorod land. In Novgorod, Job issued a decree not to sell anything edible in the market, to fast twice a week, and thereby prevented an epidemic in the city.

The Metropolitan earned the grateful memory of his descendants for his extensive charitable activities. In 1706 in the Kolmovo Monastery he opened the first home in Russia for illegitimate infants and established a hospital for retired disabled people. He built two hospitals in the city (near the St. Sophia Cathedral and on the Trade Side near the bridge), as well as two hospitality hotels. In 1710 With the donations of the wife of A. Menshikov and Landrichter J. Rimsky-Korsakov, at the Znamensky Cathedral, through the efforts of the Metropolitan, an almshouse for orphans and elderly people of clergy is being built. The establishment of a home for “shamefully” born babies in Kolmovo and an almshouse at the Cathedral of the Sign was to the liking of Peter I, who in special decrees ordered the construction of such houses on the model of Novgorod ones in other Russian cities. And in 1712-1713. The tsar ordered half of the monastery estates in the Olonets district to be assigned to the bishop's house for the maintenance of charitable institutions.

Job was worried about the affairs of the bishop's house. He tried to protect the peasants under his control from exorbitant taxes and extortions from the state. In one of his letters to Rimsky-Korsakov, Job expresses resentment against him for constant reproaches that he allegedly defends not the cause, but the interests of his parishioners.

Job's epistles are written in a high, florid style, are replete with Church Slavonic vocabulary, complex syntactic phrases and betray his book learning.

The joint efforts of Job and the Likhud brothers in the field of spiritual enlightenment brought benefits not only within Novgorod land, but also on a scale throughout Russia.

Among the school’s graduates was the encyclopedist scientist, the first Russian adjunct of the Academy of Sciences, Vasily Evdokimovich Adodurov. He came from an ancient Novgorod noble family. After graduating from the Slavic-Greek school, he studied at the gymnasium at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. His knowledge was extensive and versatile. He spoke several foreign languages. He translated a lot from German, including the works of the mathematician Euler. Translated “The Code of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich” into German. In 1733 he received the title of associate professor of higher mathematics, taught by Euler. Taught in 1736 M. Lomonosov with a group of students who were being prepared for further study abroad in Latin, German, history, geography and rhetoric. In 1744 taught the Russian language to Princess Sophia, the future Empress Catherine II, who did not forget her teacher and, after accession to the Russian throne, appointed curator of Moscow University. Adodurov owns the following works: “Brief Russian Grammar”, “Rules of Russian Spelling”, “Discourse on Integral Calculations”.

A graduate of the school was also a native of Novgorod, Martyn Ilyich Shein, the first Russian scientist to receive the title of professor of anatomy at the Academy of Sciences. He began his career after graduating from school as a “drawing master” at the Kronstadt Admiralty Hospital - one of the first higher medical institutions in Russia, organized on the initiative of Peter I. In 1737, Shein was transferred to the St. Petersburg Admiralty Hospital, where he was compiling an anatomical atlas, printing which was completed in 1745. Since 1745 Martyn Ilyich taught anatomy and operative surgery at the St. Petersburg Admiralty Hospital.

The theological school at the bishop's house existed until 1740, when it was transformed into a theological seminary and transferred to newly built buildings at the Anthony Monastery.

In the second half of the 18th century. The Likhud building began to be used for economic purposes, but at the beginning of the 19th century. Through the efforts of Archbishop Ambrose, a Russian theological school was reopened here. It existed within the walls of the old building until it was erected in the Kremlin in the 1870s. a new theological school (currently it is occupied by a music school). The Likhud building is left behind the school for a hospital, archive and library. Metropolitan Arseny in 1911 decided to open a school of psalm-readers in the Likhudov building. Before that, since 1893, psalm-reading courses were held here in the summer.

In the 1920-1930s. the building housed tour desk and a hotel for tourists. After the Great Patriotic War The Novgorod Special Research and Production Restoration Workshop, established in 1945, is located in the renovated building. Its first director, Sergei Nikolaevich Davydov, the author of projects for the restoration of the St. Sophia Cathedral and the Church of the Savior on Nereditsa, lived and worked at the workshop. Under him, unique monuments of Novgorod architecture were restored: St. George's Cathedral of the Yuryev Monastery, the Church of the Transfiguration on Ilyin and others.

The Likhud building was restored in the 1980-1990s. according to the project by G.P. Nikolskaya. It is intended to be used for museum purposes.

L.A. Secretary
Bishop's chambers and Arsenievsky diocesan house

From the gate church, located at the southwestern corner of the St. Sophia Cathedral, a two-story stone building stretches in a long ribbon to the center of the Kremlin. The mezzanine, which accentuated the central part of the building, has been lost. The building has an L-shaped plan and, together with the diocesan house later added to the end facade, forms an enclosed courtyard in the northwestern part of the Kremlin. These are the former bishop's (or metropolitan's) chambers - the residence of the Novgorod metropolitans. As Archimandrite Macarius, the author of the book “Description of the Bishop’s House,” writes, at the beginning of the 18th century. on this site there was a one-story building that housed those established in 1716. by decree of Peter I, an orphanage and almshouse.

On the eastern facade of the house repair work the ornamental belt of the runner, which Novgorodians loved to decorate their churches and residential buildings until the beginning of the 18th century, was revealed. In 1770 According to the design of the famous Russian architect Pyotr Nikitin, with funds granted by Catherine II, the building was reconstructed: a second floor was added, its façade decoration was completely changed. In those years, P. Nikitin headed a team of architects who restored Tver after the devastating fire of 1763. The facades of the house well preserved the decorative design characteristic of early classicism with obvious echoes of the previous baroque style. The windows are decorated with complex-shaped platbands with lugs. Rectangular and U-shaped brick-lined panels create clear lines of horizontal divisions of the facades and emphasize the length of the building. After reconstruction, this magnificent mansion housed the bishop's chambers.
Since the then Novgorod diocese also included St. Petersburg, and the head of the diocese was called the Metropolitan of Novgorod and St. Petersburg, the bishops lived most of the time in the capital Russian state. Metropolitans visited Novgorod on visits. They took an active part in the socio-political life of Russia.

The list of Novgorod metropolitans who stayed and sometimes lived for a long time in the bishop's chambers contains the names of prominent church figures.

The first among them should be called Ambrose II (Podobedov). He occupied the bishop's chair from 1800 to 1818. Prefect and teacher of the Moscow Theological Academy, then its rector, honorary doctor of theology, he enjoyed the special favor of Catherine II. In 1795 Ambrose received a special award from the hands of the Empress: a diamond cross on his hood. And the next year he gave a farewell speech to the deceased. Ambrose received his appointment to the post of Metropolitan of Novgorod and St. Petersburg under Emperor Paul I, who treated him no less favorably than Catherine.

Ambrose II paid special attention to the spiritual enlightenment of the people. Under him, religious schools were opened in a number of cities, including Borovichi and Novgorod. The Novgorod School (it began to be called Russian) resumed its activities in the Likhudov building after a long break.

In the Novgorod diocese in 1806, Ambrose established 110 rural schools for the spiritual department. For his success in establishing schools, the Metropolitan received the Order of St. Vladimir, 1st degree. The results of Ambrose’s activities were correctly and knowledgeably summarized by Evgeniy Bolkhovitinov: “<...>The youth owes (to him - L.S.) the schools multiplied throughout the diocese, the orphans with charity and care for their free education, especially the seminary with the best structure of the sciences."

Thanks to the efforts of Ambrose, major repair work was carried out in the Yuryev and Anthony monasteries.

Ambrose was buried in 1818. in the Predtechensky chapel of the St. Sophia Cathedral.

After his death, Mikhail Desnitsky, archimandrite of the Yuriev Monastery since 1799, and since 1802, vicar of Starorussky and Novgorod, was appointed to the bishop's see. In 1814 he was elected a member Russian Academy. He gained fame as an outstanding preacher, the author of a ten-volume collection of works with religious and moral content.

For more than twenty years (from 1821 to 1843), the bishop's chair was occupied by Seraphim Glagolevsky, the former rector of the Moscow Theological Academy. He was friendly with the “most learned man” Evgeniy Bolkhovitinov, the vicar of Novgorod, who from 1822 to 1837. was Metropolitan of Kyiv. The two most influential metropolitans came to Palace Square in St. Petersburg in 1825, trying to exhort the rebels and prevent bloodshed. Both were opponents of the mysticism that had spread in Russia and made great efforts to eradicate this evil and establish Orthodoxy.

Another prominent church figure, Metropolitan Isidore II, headed the Novgorod diocese from 1860 to 1892. It was to him that the Synod entrusted in 1861 to perform the solemn act of opening the relics of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. And in 1862 he took part in the celebrations marking the opening of the monument to the Millennium of Russia in Novgorod.

He had to implement spiritual-educational and church-judicial reforms in 1867-1869. Isidore took part in the translation of the Holy Scriptures into Russian, completed in 1875. Under him, a capacious theological seminary building was erected in the Anthony Monastery on the site of the old buildings, and a new theological school was erected in the Kremlin. A cheerful, observant, witty, well-read and very hard-working man - this is how he was remembered by those who had the honor of knowing him.

Isidore was a member of the Russian Academy and many scientific societies: Imperial Russian Geographical, Russian Archaeological, Copenhagen Northern Antiquities and others. Isidore lived a long life. He died in 1892 at the age of 93. His ashes rest in the Isidore Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, which was built at his expense.

The last of the archbishops who had the opportunity to live in the bishop's chambers was Arseny Stadnitsky, who, before his installation as Archbishop of Novgorod and Starorussia in 1910, had already worked here, albeit for a short time (1896-1897) as the rector of the Theological Seminary. In the first years of his reign, Arseny carried out a good and necessary deed - the construction of a diocesan house in the Kremlin - the center of the spiritual life of Novgorod at the beginning of the 20th century. The idea of ​​adding a second floor over a stone one-story building, built in connection with the bishop's chambers, arose earlier. One-story, featureless architectural solution the outbuilding was dissonant with the two-story building of the bishop's chambers topped with a mezzanine. IN late XIX V. architect R. Krzhizhanovsky presented a project for the reconstruction of a one-story building for consideration. It provided for the addition of a second floor and a new plastic solution for the facades. Another version of the project with the addition of a second floor was developed by diocesan architect A. Dyakov.

In January 1911, a specially created Construction Commission handed over Dyakov’s drawings to the city architect N. Ragulin so that he could draw up two versions of the project: one with the addition of a second floor, the second with the complete dismantling of the building. But Ragulin’s project was not destined to become final. The construction commission sent Ragulin with drawings to the famous St. Petersburg architect, academician M. Preobrazhensky. The venerable architect expressed a desire to develop the final project, leaving Ragulin to draw up estimates and monitor the progress construction work. According to the new project, the previous building, it is unknown when it was built, but which turned out to be very durable, was completely dismantled. It housed the archives of the spiritual consistory, the book warehouse of the Brotherhood of St. Sophia, and stables. Its dismantling and excavation work, on the orders of Arseny, was supervised by members of the Society of Lovers of Antiquity. The Archbishop himself was a member of the Society, and in January 1911 he was elected an honorary member. During dismantling, ancient stone crosses were discovered in the foundations of the old building, the fate of which is unknown, and it is also unknown how they got into the rubble of this building.

Built over two construction seasons in 1911-1912. the new diocesan house was opened on December 2, 3912. Preobrazhensky decided to design the facades in the spirit of the bishop's chambers, stylizing decorative forms in the style of early classicism. The interiors are much more bold and interesting. Contemporaries were amazed by the large columned hall on the first floor. Manufactured eight riveted columns from box and angle iron Joint stock company Northern Mechanical and Boiler Plant in St. Petersburg. The two-story hall on the second floor with a vaulted ceiling was beautifully decorated. It was intended for religious and moral readings, clergy congresses, and spiritual concerts. The building housed a spiritual consistory with an archive, a diocesan school and missionary council, and an ecclesiastical archaeological museum. Several rooms were adapted for visiting clergy. The idea of ​​​​creating a museum in the diocesan house - the Ancient Storage - also belonged to Arseny. In January 1911, at the 19th meeting of the NOLD, the bishop praised the historical museum at the Statistical Committee and announced his intention to found an ecclesiastical archaeological museum. In the guest book of the historical museum, he wrote: “Arseny, Archbishop of Novgorod and Staraya Rus, admired the collection of valuable, mainly church antiquities. Eternal memory to the founders and founders of this cultural institution. Blessings to the living figures and wishes for the prosperity of the museum."

Arseny has always supported the historical museum and NOLD in their endeavors. So, in 1911 he sent the Chairman of the Society M.V. Muravyov 100 rubles for printing the “Swedish Acts”, which A. Poltoratsky was preparing for publication.

And from 1913, Arseny took an active part in the work of the Church Archaeological Society, founded on his initiative, which existed until April 1917. Its meetings took place in the diocesan house, which was named after Arsenyevsky soon after construction. The society was engaged in recording cultural values ​​in the churches and monasteries of the Novgorod diocese - icons, books, utensils, collecting exhibits for the church-archaeological museum (Ancient Depository), systematizing the archival affairs of the consistory and the bishop's house, and protecting ancient monuments. The Archpriest of St. Sophia Cathedral, Father Anatoly Concordin, was elected Chairman of the Society.

Vladyka Arseny knew how to select worthy people to solve problems that worried him as a thinking and enlightened person - the preservation of cultural values, the spiritual revival of the religious self-awareness of the nation, the preservation of Orthodox traditions.

Arseny appointed deacon of the St. Sophia Cathedral A.V. as the caretaker of the Ancient Storage and Library. Nikiforovsky is a man who is reverent and devoted to his work. The basis of the museum created in the diocesan house was an exhibition of church antiquities, organized in 1911 for the XV Archaeological Congress in Novgorod. In its organization, the main merit belonged to the members of NOLD - A.I. Anisimov, I.V. Anichkov, M.V. Muravyov. The Bishop expressed special gratitude to Anisimov for inspecting the churches.

Nikiforovsky headed the Ancient Depository until 1925, when this museum was transferred to the former governor's house and, together with the art gallery, formed a museum of ancient and modern art. Nikiforovsky compiled the first catalog of the Ancient Depository, published in 1916.

People of different ranks and classes visited the Ancient Storage. But among them there were also regular visitors, for whom the museum was near and dear. The head of the Novgorod museums N. G. Porfiridov in 1922, delivering a speech dedicated to the memory of a member of the NOLD, artist, teacher of the St. Petersburg gymnasium S. K. Matveevsky, who in recent years was an employee of the Administration of the Novgorod Gubernia Museums, painted a vivid picture of such visits: " I remember Sergei Konstantinovich, walking with Grabar - a comrade at the Academy - on each of his visits, through the halls of the Ancient Repository and animatedly talking about objects that have long been alive and close to one and are just “coming to life” for the other.” I. E. Grabar, a famous artist, art historian, organizer of restoration work in Russia, visited Novgorod many times and knew its architecture, monumental painting, and icon painting traditions well.

But if we note only the cultural and educational activities of Arseny and do not talk about his main work as an archpastor, caring for the welfare of churches and monasteries, about theological schools, seminaries, parochial schools, we will be wrong. The Bishop attached great importance to the correct and aesthetic performance of church rituals. He did a lot to revive singing culture. In the Likhudov building, Arseny first opened courses, then a school of psalm-readers.

The archpastor made a lot of efforts to combat such evil as drunkenness. He headed the diocesan sobriety brotherhood and became a member of the Provincial Trust for National Sobriety, believing that without solving this pressing problem, the spiritual revival of Russia is impossible.

The chronicle of the Savvo-Vishera monastery, preserved in the museum’s archives, allows us to trace through its example how Arseny tried to solve specific problems of church life in the diocese. The Bishop treated the Savvo-Vishera Monastery with special attention. He often visited this small and poor, ordinary monastery. There were few monks in it, and economic affairs were poorly organized. Under Arseny, nuns from the Riga Holy Trinity-Sergius Monastery with an orphanage were transferred to the monastery. In 1916 monastery was converted into a women's dormitory. A small Malo-Kirillov monastery, converted into a monastery, was assigned to it. And this contributed to the prosperity of the monastery.

The chronicle records the dates of Arseny's arrival at the monastery and notes facts related to his church activities.

In January 1917 The ruler of Novgorod is elected a member of the pre-conciliar council. The Local Council of the Russian Federation is being prepared Orthodox Church. It opened on August 15, 1917. One of the three candidates for the patriarchal throne was Arseny. The lot fell on another candidate. And in November 1917 followed by a decree elevating Arseny and the second candidate to the patriarchal throne to the rank of metropolitan.

February 11, 1918 A religious procession is taken from the monastery to Novgorod, led by Bishop Alexy of Tikhvin - a like-minded person of Arseny - in protest against the closure of churches and monasteries. On April 26, 1918, the Metropolitan arrives at the monastery of St. Savva Vishersky in connection with the unauthorized seizure of land by local authorities. April 30, 1918 In the bishop's house, Arseny holds a meeting of the abbots and abbess of the monasteries to find funds for the maintenance of church institutions. On May 3, the Bishop leaves for Moscow for a meeting of the All-Russian Church Council and the Holy Synod. On May 31, Arseny visits the monastery and organizes a religious procession from the Malo-Kirillov Skete. In the Church of the Ascension, he gave a denunciatory speech against the new regime. At this point the chronicle ends.

Sermons, religious processions - these are the main weapons of the archpastor. In the hands of the Bolsheviks there were other weapons, against which the church was powerless. By decree of the Novgorod provincial executive committee on June 3, 1918. The Arsenievsky diocesan house with the museum was transferred to the jurisdiction of the provincial department of public education. Arseny was forced to move to stone house near the Spiritual Monastery. In 1920, the revolutionary tribunal sentenced him and four other convicts: five years of suspended imprisonment. The former Metropolitan of Novgorod spent the last years of his life in Central Asia, where he was buried in 1936.

The Soviet government disposed of the Arsenievsky diocesan house in its own way. On June 8, 1921, the grand opening of the theater took place here October Revolution- TOR. A.E. became the director and chief director of the theater. Larionov-Yurenev, who in 1922 received the title of Honored Artist of Russian Theaters. Along with plays from the classical repertoire, such as Sophocles' Oedipus the King, Gogol's The Inspector General, and Verhaeren's Rebellion, the theater staged plays written after 1917: Mandate, Poison, Air Pie.

But already in 1924 the question arose that the theater was unprofitable for the local budget. It was even necessary to liquidate guest boxes for workers of the provincial committee of the RCP and the provincial executive committee. And then a targeted attack on the theater began. A critical article appeared in the Zvezda newspaper in 1925, in which an “educated” author asked the question: “Why are some “Buridan’s donkeys” and other rubbish needed?” In 1934, the theater in Novgorod was closed and transferred to Leningrad in connection with its reorganization and the opening of the Leningrad Regional Small Drama Theater.

During the Great Patriotic War, the Nazis turned the former diocesan house into stables.

And in 1944, after the liberation of Novgorod, the theater returned from Leningrad and was renamed the regional drama theater.

L.A. Secretary
Order chamber, provincial chancellery,
Offices

In the XVI-XVII centuries. In Russia there was a command system of management. Prikazy - central government bodies in Moscow - were in charge of individual areas in the state or a certain type of state affairs. For example, under Ivan the Terrible the following orders were in effect: Petition, Pushkarsky, Inozemny, Posolsky, Robbery, Aptekarsky and others. Locally there were clerks' or clerk's huts, courtyards, chambers
institutions that exercised control in various areas of life of the then Russian society.

It is known that the sexton's hut in Novgorod in the 16th century. was located near the Church of the Entrance to Jerusalem, built in the 14th century. southeast of St. Sophia Cathedral. The current cathedral of the same name, occupied by a museum lecture hall, was built in 1759. The institution was called an izba because the building was wooden.

The stone executive chamber was built in Novgorod only in 1670-1671. under the Novgorod governor Dmitry Alekseevich Dolgorukov by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. It was adjacent to the cannon yard, which was a complex of buildings in the shape of a square and was located in the southern part of Detinets between the Prechistenskaya tower (facing the Volkhov Bridge) and the Borisoglebskaya tower next to it, which was later lost. The executive chamber and the cannon yard are depicted on the icon of the late 17th - early 18th centuries, kept in the Church of the Archangel Michael on Prusskaya Street. Extended from east to west, the two-story building of the executive chamber faced the cannon yard. A large perpendicular porch, covered with a tent, led into the chamber.

After the abolition by Peter I in the 1720s. In the traditional management system, the chamber of command began to be called the “gubernatorial”, and then the provincial chancellery.

In 1745, the Moscow architect A. Roslavlev compiled a detailed inventory of the “dilapidations” of the provincial chancellery that needed to be corrected. During the same years, St. Petersburg architect A. Vist completed a project for the reconstruction of a 17th-century building. It is not known whether it was rebuilt, but in 1766 a design for a new building for the provincial chancellery was drawn up. The author of the project, St. Petersburg architect Pavel Shpekle, intended to crown the main facade with statues of the Roman goddesses Themis and Juno.

The first master plan for the development of Novgorod, developed in 1778, provided for the dismantling of the cannon yard, the provincial office and the construction in the southern part of the Kremlin of a complex of new buildings: an extended T-shaped building to accommodate the provincial government offices and three small two-story houses for the clergy of St. Sophia Cathedral.

During the time of Catherine II, government offices, where all the main administrative bodies were located, were built in all provincial centers and district towns. During these same years, they were erected in Krestsy, Valdai, Borovichi, and Staraya Russa.

In post-war guidebooks to Novgorod, the opinion was established that the building of the Government Offices, which has survived to this day, occupied by the regional library and museum, retains the remains of a 17th-century building. This opinion was usually confirmed by the existence of a single-pillar chamber with vaulted ceilings in the semi-basement part of the Offices. In fact, the Public Offices were built in 1783-1786. south of the 17th-century executive chamber, which had not yet been dismantled during the construction of the new building. And in the semi-basement there was not one, but several single-pillar chambers, which is clearly visible on the surviving floor plans of the early 19th century.

The design of the Public Offices building was developed by the provincial architect Vasily Semenovich Polivanov. He was a student of the famous Russian architect Pyotr Romanovich Nikitin, who in 1763 “examined” his student - a freed serf of the Golovkin counts - and admitted that he was “both in arithmetic and geometry, and in drawing by hand and copying architectural drawings knowledge has and henceforth to bring them to perfection... can." Under the leadership of Nikitin, who then headed a team of Moscow architects, Polivanov worked for some time in Tver, copying drawings, and in 1770 he was sent to Tikhvin to independent work. In 1777-1778 he is appointed to Novgorod as the provincial architect for the practical implementation of the master plan for the development of the city. Before Polivanov, Novgorod did not have its own architects, and the design was carried out by architects sent from Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The enormous reconstruction work of Novgorod planned by the 1778 plan required a knowledgeable, professionally trained architect. For more than 25 years, Polivanov worked for Novgorod and the province. Under his leadership, a complex of stone shopping arcades was erected on the Trade Side of Novgorod instead of wooden ones. He owned a project for the development of St. Sophia Square near the Kremlin, which was not fully implemented, as envisaged by the plan of 1778. In the Kremlin, in addition to the building for the Public Places, Polivanov completed the design of three houses for the priests of the St. Sophia Cathedral, forming a single ensemble with the Public Places. The Zlatoust prison tower was also rebuilt according to his drawings, and two outbuildings were built near it. A museum was subsequently opened in one of them. We managed to find in various archives design drawings signed by the architect: a stone house for the commandant in the Kremlin, two wooden houses for the servants of the bishop's house on the Metropolitan Island near the Kremlin, the abbot's building of the Anthony Monastery, the wooden houses of the courtyard of the Vyazhishchi Monastery and other buildings. Of the listed buildings that were built, only the rector’s building has survived, and the original one turned out to be intact facade decor in the style of early classicism. The facades of the Public Offices building were decorated similarly. Framing frames “with ears” made of brick, panels protruding from the plane of the wall, decorated with droplets and eyes - a characteristic set of decorative means that Polivanov used and which became widespread during the period of early classicism. The original decorative design of the main facade is depicted in the measurement drawings made in 1800 by the provincial architect I. Zhigalov in connection with the renovation of the building. At the beginning of the 19th century. this building housed the county treasury, criminal and civil courts, the treasury chamber, the order of the Public Charity, the provincial drawing room and other organizations. The basements were occupied by wine "shops" - warehouses.

But in 1809 there was a severe fire that caused irreparable damage to the building. The entire archive of provincial drawings and other institutions burned down in the fire. Since 1815 work began on restoring the building. A competition was announced for best project its reconstruction with changes in façade decoration. Architect G. Tkachev proposed to arrange three columned porticos to accentuate the middle and corner parts of the building. The provincial architect Ivan Dmitrov considered it possible to preserve and, in places of loss, to recreate the original decor. The project of Ivan Roginsky, a member of the Construction Committee, was accepted for execution. All the previous brick decor was knocked down, and the facades acquired a boring, official look in the spirit of the architecture of the times of Nicholas I. It remains in this form today. Work on the reconstruction of the building was completed in 1822. There were some changes in the composition of institutions and their location. On the second floor, instead of the military orphanage department, there was a meeting of the nobility (in the left wing of the building). Other premises on the second floor were intended for the provincial government, the office of the provincial prosecutor, the treasury chamber, the wine and salt departments, the civil and criminal court, the medical council, and the court of conscience. The premises of the first floor housed guardhouses, the prisoner's room of the zemstvo court, the district treasury, the zemstvo court, archives of institutions, the provincial printing house, and the provincial drawing room.

At the same time, in front of the Public Places, according to the design of architecture professor A. Melnikov, a square was built, on which in 1862 a monument to the Millennium of Russia was erected. (Ill. 9). Until 1862, there was a monument in this place in honor of the Novgorod militia, which distinguished itself during the capture of Polotsk and Dorpat in the Patriotic War of 1812. After the war, the militia's banners were kept in the St. Sophia Cathedral. Soon a collection of donations for the construction of the monument was announced. In 1840, a monument cast from cast iron according to the drawings of the famous St. Petersburg architect A.P. Bryullov was inaugurated in the Kremlin. It was a pyramidal obelisk, decorated with bas-reliefs and crowned with a double-headed eagle. In 1862, the monument was moved to Sophia Square.

The building of the Public Offices was repeatedly repaired, the institutions located in it were changed.

The next repair was carried out in 1846. Part of the external walls in the eastern half of the building was dismantled and re-erected, the old stone porches in front of the main facade were dismantled and new ones were built in their place.

After renovations carried out in 1866, which mainly concerned internal redevelopment, the building housed the county court. At that time, the cash treasury was kept in the basements. The provincial printing house also continued to operate. The "Gubernskie Gazette" was published here - the official newspaper, which published materials about career moves, the sale of estates, and bidding for contracts for the repair of institutions. In the unofficial part, especially in the 1840-50s. Many articles on the history of Novgorod were published.

The building of the former Public Offices, destroyed during the Great Patriotic War, was already included in the list of buildings scheduled for priority restoration in 1945. Before the transfer in the 1950s. The building was used for housing by the Novgorod Museum.

A project for its adaptation for the regional library and museum in the 1950s. was developed in the workshop of academician A.V. Shusev in Moscow by architect A.G. Bogorova. In January 1957, the museum opened a department of the Soviet period, and in 1958, an exhibition of the art department.

The Public Offices building has memorial significance. Alexander Ivanovich Herzen worked within its walls for a short time.

In 1841-1842 he served exile in Novgorod, having been appointed to the post of adviser to the provincial government, which was located in the building of the Government Offices. The very position of a political exile, government service, in which Herzen had no particular interest, isolation from friends and like-minded people - all this left an imprint on his perception of Novgorod, which he saw in dark, unpleasant colors. And yet, his stay in a small provincial town, such as Veliky Novgorod was in the 19th century, turned out to be quite useful for the writer. Observations on the life of Novgorod society and its morals were reflected in journalistic articles in the magazine "Bell", which Herzen subsequently published abroad, and in the book "The Past and Thoughts", where three chapters are devoted to memories of Novgorod. Novgorod impressions were indirectly embodied in the literary images of the novel “Who is to Blame?” During the period of Novgorod exile, Herzen wrote feuilletons “Moscow and St. Petersburg” and “Novgorod the Great and Vladimir on the Klyazma.” In the last feuilleton, with evil irony, he describes the sights of the Kremlin, which symbolize for him the hated autocracy: the St. Sophia Cathedral stands in the same place, and opposite it is the provincial government with some kind of sacristan-haggard façade. In the cathedral there is, as I said, a gravel (of Ivan III, who conquered Veliky Novgorod - L.S.), and in the provincial government in a golden ark there is a note from Arakcheev to the governor about the murder of his mistress.”

In the provincial government, the military governor Zurov put in charge of Herzen, first, the IV department, where taxation and monetary matters were decided, and then the II department, where officials dealt with cases of abuses of landowners, schismatics, counterfeiters, and people under police supervision. The paradox of Russian life is that Herzen, as a political exile, came under his own surveillance. Recalling this service, the author of the book “The Past and Thoughts” wrote: “For six months I pulled out a strap in the provincial government, it was hard and extremely boring. Every day at eleven o’clock I put on my uniform, attached a civilian skewer and showed up.” An hour later, the military governor arrived to bow to the officials present, who stood before him in bent positions. Herzen allowed himself to sit contrary to the established order while the daily repeating ceremony took place.

After one painful scene for him in the provincial government, Herzen resigned. The serf peasant woman of the landowner Musin-Pushkin threw herself at his feet, asking him to leave her son and take him with her to the settlement, where she and her husband went on the orders of the owner. Musin-Pushkin kept the boy with him. The governor, who saw this scene, rudely pushed the woman away, saying with displeasure that this was the law and nothing could be done to help.

The selection of facts in the book “The Past and Thoughts” corresponded to Herzen’s spiritual mood and political views. It is no coincidence that a story is included about the massacre carried out on the orders of Arakcheev in the governor’s house after the murder of his mistress Nastasya Minkina in the Gruzine estate. Suspected and innocent people were beaten with rods. The story was recorded from the words of an eyewitness to these events. Most likely, Herzen was told about them by his acquaintance, a military engineer, the famous bridge builder Kazimir Reichel, whom the writer mentions in his book precisely in connection with his memories of Arakcheev. Kazimir Reichel was personally acquainted with Arakcheev. Herzen was also friends with Kazimir Reichel’s brother Karl Christian Yakovlevich, a talented miniaturist who in 1841-1842. lived in Novgorod with his brother. He painted a series of portraits: Herzen, his wife, Ogarev and other people he knew. In Novgorod, the Herzen couple became friends with the Filippovich couple. Colonel Vladimir Ivanovich Filippovich in the 1860s. served as Novgorod governor.

The merchant Gibin left Herzen with a fond memory. The exiled writer stayed in his hotel for a week upon his arrival in Novgorod. The Gibina Hotel was located on Sophia Square, where the telegraph building now stands. When Herzen was getting ready to leave for Moscow and needed a decent amount of money, Gibin brought the money himself and did not take any receipt, saying that he trusted him more than the stamped paper. And as a farewell gift he gave me a cake the size of a wheel.

It is known that Herzen and his family settled on the Trade Side in the house of the merchant Shebyakin. Peter Shebyakin conducted an extensive trade in iron products. In the expense books of Novgorod monasteries, his name and the names of his sons appear more than once, who supplied sheet iron and nails of various types for construction. At the end of the 18th century. Pyotr Shebyakin built a stone house on Bolshaya Moskovskaya Street. In 1833, his heirs - son Nikolai and daughters Elizaveta Erofeeva and Maria Solovyova - owned three adjacent stone houses, one of which occupied a corner position on Buyanovskaya (as Buyana was then called) and Bolshaya Moskovskaya streets. At that time, two houses were given as quitrent to the German Ernst Schmitt, who set up a hotel in one of them. Most likely in corner house Nikolai Shebyakin and the Herzens lived. Buyana Street faces the Volkhov, and on the opposite bank opposite rises the “Veselaya” Gorka - the bastion of a small earthen city, which Herzen remembered. He mistook it for the Perun tract.

Rep. A.N. Odinokov

Content
V. L. Yanin. About the book “Houses, events, people. (Novgorod. 19th century - beginning of 20th centuries)"..................
From I. Sofia side
Courtyard of Mercury Gavrilovich - spiritual father of Peter I. .................................. 14
Metropolitan Job and brothers Bishop's chambers and Arsenievsky diocesan house....................................24
Order Chamber, Provincial Chancellery, Offices...............33
Houses for "residence" of the clergy of the St. Sophia Cathedral............................................42
From a fortress to a museum,
or the vicissitudes of fate of the Zlatoust Tower....................................................50
"Sofia's first part of the House of Noble Vazhnya on Sennaya 76
Novgorod in the fate of S.V. Novgorod roots of Mstislav Mikhail Alekseevich Zemsky doctor Evgeniy Ivanovich Nil Ivanovich Theater The Stalnov family and their history Architect Reinold From the history of the zemstvo 119
Kolmovo charitable Kolmovo school of fire-resistant construction.................................................... .. 136
About Grigorov Teachers' Seminary
and the outstanding scientist and teacher A.I. Anisimov....................................141
II. Trade side
Sovereign's travel documents Governor's Women's gymnasium on Bolshaya Gorodskaya Mayor Grigory Inspector of public schools Ivan Pavlovich Mozhaisky
and history of the city 185
"Nikolskaya street, house of the Merchants' Estate Real Kursakovs People's School, where the artist V. A. Tropinin studied......................... 217
DomV. S. Entrepreneur, inventor,
writer-publicist Ivan 230
Children's shelters and shelters.................................................... .............233
The mystery of the house at the Solovyov Hotel and its honorary inhabitants.................. ........................... ..244
"Keeper of Vyshnevolotsk locks and canals
Mikhail Men's Classical Gymnasium named after Alexander 1........................258
Honorary Citizen of Novgorod Konstantin Maslovsky.................. .....267
Kazimir Reichel and his Novgorod Theological Seminary. Teachers and students........................283
Sources and literature......................................................... 295
Index Dictionary List

Today, in many Russian monasteries, as before the revolution, works of Christian charity are clearly manifested. Almshouses and orphanages are created in them. Sisters of convents and brethren of men's monasteries take care of lonely, helpless old people, raise and spiritually educate children left without parents. Each such shelter, each almshouse has its own story.

The history of the almshouse at the Resurrection Novodevichy Convent in St. Petersburg dates back to the end of the 19th century. One of its bright pages is associated with the name of St. Seraphim Vyritsky. While still a merchant, a very large fur trader, he was the patron of an almshouse. Vasily Nikolaevich Muravyov, together with his wife Olga Ivanovna, constantly made donations for its maintenance. In addition, compassionate towards the grief of others, they visited charity houses, found words of consolation for their inhabitants, and distributed gifts and spiritual books. By the way, here, in the Novodevichy Convent, Olga Ivanovna, years later, accepted monasticism and was given the name Christina (in the schema of Seraphim).

Attached to the cross of the grave of Schema nun Seraphima is a quatrain written by Venerable Seraphim Vyritsky:

The folk path will not be overgrown with grass
To your grave, dear mother.
You loved everyone with your heart and soul,
Your holy love will not be lost.

The current inhabitants of the almshouse of this holy monastery receive the same love and care. Two of them, novices Zoya and Stepanida, have not gotten out of bed for many years: one has been paralyzed for 19 years, the second for 16. However, the statement “do not get out of bed” is not entirely accurate. We entered the novices’ room just at the moment when a dedicated, experienced nurse was putting a corset with metal structures on Grandma Zoya to secure the lumbosacral region in an upright position. Then the corset was attached to the lift, and before our eyes, the lift, controlled by the nurse, raised the bedridden patient to a certain height and moved her to a chair.

Nun Maria (Likhacheva), the eldest in the almshouse, said:

This lift was donated to us by the Volodarsky Hospital. Of course, it is an old model, as we say, “ancient,” but, thank God, at least there is one. Grandma Zoya, for example, multiple sclerosis: arms and legs are twisted. And since she has been lying in a horizontal position for years, the doctors advised an hour and a half - every day! - sit her on a chair, put lunch on the nightstand in front of her. At least somehow the muscles will be involved!

Mother Maria (in her worldly life, she worked as an ambulance paramedic for twelve years) reported that specialists of various profiles come here from city clinic No. 48. Recently, an ultrasound machine was brought from the clinic to the almshouse, and this made it possible to examine all the grandmothers. If necessary, tests can be taken at the clinic to which they are attached. So, from a medical point of view, there is constant monitoring of those under care.

We couldn’t help but wonder how they care for those in spiritual care. And they heard that the clergy administered the Holy Mysteries to them weekly and on holidays. And the sisters visit their grandmothers during the daily religious procession with the myrrh-streaming Kazan Icon Mother of God. We also learned that the paralyzed servant of God Zoya, who smiled at us after successfully moving from bed to chair, commemorates those who died during the siege of Leningrad. This is her obedience. In general, all grandmothers, according to nun Maria, are constantly obedient: they read the Gospel, the Apostle, and the Holy Fathers every day (the almshouse has a complete edition of the Lives of the Saints), and together they sing akathists together.

In the corridor we met an intelligent elderly woman who, holding a walker for people with limited mobility, walked confidently. Then, leaving the walker and abandoning the cane, without any outside help she took a few steps into her room. And she invited us to her place.

We recently celebrated Natalya Feodosyevna’s ninetieth birthday, - Nun Maria smiled, nodding towards the owner of the room.

Natalya Feodosyevna herself said that in the 70-80s of the last century she worked as the head of the office of the Leningrad Theological Academy - even under the ever-memorable Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov), ​​who was ruling bishop. “What an ascetic he was! - our interlocutor said with feeling. “I remember and remember him all the time.” I brought his portrait here and put it on the table.”

And the rector of the Theological Academy and Seminary in the city on the Neva in those years when Natalya Feodosyevna worked there was the future Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill. And she ended up in the almshouse at the Resurrection Novodevichy Convent after conversations with His Holiness Patriarch Kirill. Once, in a conversation with him, Natalya Feodosyevna complained that it was becoming difficult for her to make purchases, cook food, and clean the apartment. To which the Patriarch replied that there was an almshouse at the monastery next to her - she would be well looked after there. However, like many older people, she was not ready for change, although she could no longer walk on her own. His Holiness called her on the phone several times and spent almost an hour trying to persuade her. Then the abbess and five sisters carried out a “special operation”: they talked with her in the monastery, drank tea, and all this lasted almost five hours. When they began to take “decisive action,” Natalya Feodosyevna categorically rejected the offer to spend the night in the monastery and ordered her to be taken home. Only later did His Holiness Patriarch Kirill find some words that convinced her of the need to move to the monastery. And today she doesn’t regret it.

It’s quiet, calm, such grace! - said the oldest nun of the almshouse. - The priests come to us, the sisters are attentive and caring. The doctors are also attentive. Everything is fine!

And this month, as we learned from the news from the official website of the Resurrection Novodevichy Convent, Natalya Feodosyevna Ustimenko had a real holiday, which was attended by the abbess of the monastery, Abbess Sophia (Silina), the clergy of the monastery and the sisters with whom she lives. Bishop Markell (Vetrov) of Tsarskoye Selo, vicar of the St. Petersburg diocese, paid a visit to the oldest resident of the almshouse and presented an award and a letter from His Holiness Patriarch Kirill. Natalya Feodosyevna was pleased to hear from Vladyka that her works are honored and remembered by professors, teachers, and staff of the Theological Academy. And with great excitement she accepted the award for her service to the Holy Church - the Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga, II degree.

In one of the issues of the St. Petersburg magazine “Bee” there was a publication dedicated to the almshouse at the Resurrection Novodevichy Convent. It contains such succinct, precise words: “Many people misunderstand what an almshouse is. They think that they are simply feeding people here and keeping an eye on them. But the almshouse is first and foremost God. This is the Lord. And herein lies its deepest difference from social institutions for the care of the elderly. It’s already in the name itself.”

...Next to the room where the paralyzed novices lie, there is another cozy room, fully prepared to receive new nuns of the almshouse. Who will take it in the near future? The most important thing is that these will be people whose physical infirmities have not nullified their prayer life. People who cannot think of a day without communion with God.

How the first almshouse in Moscow is settling into a new house on the shore of Cherkizovsky Pond April 14th, 2015

Recently, unusual residents moved into a red-brick three-story building on the shore of Cherkizovsky Pond - elderly people, many of whom no longer get out of bed due to weakness. Here in historical building, next to the Church of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo, the St. Spyridon almshouse celebrated a housewarming,project of the Orthodox service “Mercy”.I had the opportunity to visit this amazing place, which has no analogues in Moscow.

Head of the Eastern Vicariate of Moscowand confessor of the Orthodox help service "Mercy" lord Bishop of Orekhovo-Zuevsky Pantele y and Mon spent seven years negotiating with the capital’s authorities to give the almshouse the building of a former orphanage not far from the Preobrazhenskaya Ploshchad metro station and achieved his goal. Colossal work was carried out here: special elevators were installed, ventilation was repaired, and doorways were expanded. New Year The “inhabitants” greeted us at the new place.

We walk through the almshouse, looking into the premises. It smells like pies: dinner is being prepared in the kitchen.

Previously, the almshouse was located in a large apartment, now there are many rooms. Here, for example, is a separate room dedicated to laundry.

The team at the almshouse is friendly. And quite a big one. If you collect all the guards, cooks, laundresses, and nurses mercy - there will be more than forty people. The work is hard: almost all the “inmates” in the almshouse are bedridden patients who have suffered serious illnesses. This is one of the sisters. In her free time, she helps cut the curtain :))


Inmates in the almshouse live two to a room. All rooms are spacious, with very light wallpaper and wide windows. Each has its own window and its own decorative flower.

Only the most infirm are admitted to the almshouse, and many here not only do not walk, but also do not speak due to serious illnesses. Everyone has their own story. I slowly get to know all the inhabitants of the almshouse.
There are many books at Lyubov Nikolaevna’s bedside. Among them are books about raising children. On the shelf are photographs of grandchildren. Young Karachentsev is smiling on the TV set opposite the bed.
- How long have you been here?
- About seven years, probably. I came here after a stroke - there was no one to care for me. I have relatives, but they themselves are not very healthy.
- How do you spend your time?
- I watch films. I’m re-watching “The Investigation is Conducted by Experts”, “Liquidation”...

A computer is installed in the room where the youngest occupant, 44-year-old programmer and physics and mathematics graduate of Moscow State University Vladimir, lives. Vladimir's fate was tragic. One day he unsuccessfully dived into Klyazma and broke three cervical vertebrae. He was paralyzed, and his family turned their backs on him. Vladimir ended up in the almshouse thanks to the sister of mercy who looked after him in the hospital...


We're in the living room. There is a frail old woman in a chair by the window. The granddaughter lives in Israel, so a neighbor who took care of her for a long time submitted a request to admit Klavdia Vasilyevna to the almshouse. Next to the grandmother is a stack of books. I wonder how she spends her time. Smiles: “I like to read and solve crosswords. I’m already 96 years old - I need to train my memory.”
Klavdia Vasilievna is one of the new ones. And one of the few that can move independently.

For each ward, the sisters keep a journal in which all their characteristics are recorded. Duty - 12 hours, three shifts a week, salaries - about 25 thousand rubles. However, the sisters do not lose their presence of mind. They stage performances for their students, and organize holidays - they write the scripts themselves...

Now about forty people work in the almshouse: sisters, guards, cooks... The working day begins around eight: at this time, the night sisters take their shift, telling how the night went and what medicines need to be given to the residents in the morning. A separate notebook is kept for each, where all doctor’s prescriptions are recorded. Next - hygiene procedures, breakfast, wet cleaning of rooms, changing diapers... In general, life goes on as usual, and the sisters work for twelve hours - that’s how long the shift lasts. And the average salary of a sister is about 25 thousand rubles.

House temple...


Maria Mukhtasipova is one of the almshouse employees who volunteered to become a guide for me. Maria - graduate of the Faculty of Philosophy, former teacher legal academy. When my mother became seriously ill, she quit her job to care for her, and after her mother’s death she volunteered at the First City Hospital and completed nursing courses at the St. Demetrius School of Sisters of Mercy.
- We created this room with Olga Gennadievna, a sister who has been working in the almshouse since 2004. It is from her that this position initially comes - to create real home for our grandmothers, moreover, the house in which they have everything is the best. When our guests note that they don’t even have such beautiful wallpaper or furniture at home, she always says: “And it shouldn’t exist. But for grandmothers at the end of their lives - it should be. Because they find themselves in a foreign environment, and it’s more difficult for them than for us.”

- How much money does the almshouse exist on? - I asked goodbye.

For donations. Now, during the crisis, many who have supported us for many years have had their opportunities significantly reduced. But let's hope that God will not abandon us.
You can support the St. Spiridonian almshouse by making a donation on the portal Mercy.ru

Abbess Sergia (Shcherbakova)

The Kazan Ambrosievskaya women's hermitage, in Shamordin, was revived in 1990. Ten years later, the almshouse was restored, mainly for the elderly, as well as sick sisters, as a traditional service for the Shamordino monastery.

As you know, our monastery was founded at the end of the 19th century by the Monk Ambrose, one of the Optina elders. Everything in it was done with his blessing, including the reception of sisters, often old and sick. In the memoirs of the Monk Ambrose we read: “Here there was a wide field for his (the elder’s) love, and here, in this modest corner of Orthodox Rus', one frail man, exhausted by years and illnesses, did so much and made everything out of nothing, having nothing, except one faith and hope.

- Father, why do you accept so many people, especially people who are unable to work, people who are sick, because they need to be supported? - they often told the elder.

“The Lord sends me more for the sick,” he answered, “but less for the healthy, and sometimes nothing.”

- Father! It’s like you have a monastery: wherever you go, there’s a blind woman, there’s a lame woman, and here she’s got no legs at all—involuntarily everyone is solitary.

The elder will laugh at this joke, and he himself will be consoled that they are all warmed up and calmed down.

By the way, I should also mention here that the old benefactor in Kozelsk hired a special house for the care of those females who did not have full reason.”

Therefore, at that time, a two-story almshouse building with a church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Quench My Sorrows” was built so that seriously ill, elderly and terminally ill sisters had the opportunity to pray in the church. This is what an eyewitness recalled at the beginning of the 20th century: “...further to the west stretches a third large building, crowned on one side with crosses. This is a monastery almshouse. The almshouse is designed for 60 people and is completely full. In addition to old age and sickness, one can also encounter physical deformities here. There are residents here without legs, with ugly cramped necks, stricken with chronic tetanus. All this helpless, sick and nervous requires the most careful and patient care. The eldest sister in the almshouse, Mother Vera, said that the work was not so much a burden as what one had to endure from irritable nuns. The unfortunate nuns, destitute by fate, live in spacious and bright rooms, receiving good care and satisfaction of all their needs, they can only thank the fact that fate has placed them under the welcoming, warm roof of the monastery. In fact, where, with what means, especially given the current consciousness of the working people, can one find people who can properly fulfill the duties in an almshouse or shelter; how much will it cost correct positioning similar charities? Only monastic obedience and patience for the Lord's sake can give strength to endure the labor of courtship, only monastic discipline, inspired by the life of living faith, can force one to carry out this difficult and grateful feat, only under the roof of the monastery can the orphaned and helpless find a strong and faithful refuge. That is why one cannot help but pay tribute to the foresight of the Moscow philanthropist S.V. Perlov, who set up an almshouse under the shadow of the monastery. This benefactor extended his care for those awaited to the end. He made it possible to enjoy the highest and last consolation that remains for them: in the building itself he built a temple, the services of which can be heard in all rooms of the almshouse. In this temple, a choir from the shelter usually sings, and the shelter residents themselves are present. It is touching to see how helpless old age and homeless childhood are united in one common prayer of gratitude. These are the moments when heaven is especially close to the monastery and its benefactors. One can only regret that services in the almshouse are not often held in the absence of a priest.”

At the beginning of the revival of the monastery, we did not set a goal not to take the sick and old, and did not refuse older women; we practically took everyone. At first we didn’t even have a medical office or even nurse, since the sisters did not need this until some point.

Over time, we had a medical office in the building of the monastery almshouse, where the sisters came for help. Soon the question arose about where to place the seriously ill so that they would have qualified care. A room was set up for this purpose next to the medical office, where the first sick nuns were placed, and one old infirm nun was placed in a separate cell, and the assigned sisters looked after her. This was the beginning of the hospital and almshouse. In 2002, they were separated, since the sisters organized an outpatient clinic and a hospital in the former hospital building. And in the building of the almshouse with the temple, all the rooms were redone for future nuns: cells, refectory, kitchen. The creation of the almshouse was due to the fact that the sisters were getting old, and it was difficult to find a cell attendant in each cell, and if there was one, then she had several more obediences and this caused inconvenience. Then they decided to gather all the old sisters in one place; it was “cheaper” than assigning a sister to each. It was in beginning of XXI century. The church at the almshouse in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Quiet My Sorrows” was restored in 1990 and since that time services have been held there. Now in this church services are performed twice a week, on Fridays and Sundays, thus, bedridden sisters have the opportunity to regularly receive the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

Now our almshouse and church are located only on the first floor of the building, although it is two-story. There are twenty nursing sisters, they occupy about ten cells, permanently living in the almshouse; The senior nun in the almshouse lives in another sister's building, and there are 5-6 more residents. We do not accept outside worldly women into the almshouse; Previously, there were cases when old believers were accepted who lived on the territory of the monastery in monastery buildings, but now they have all died or left the territory of the monastery. The head of the almshouse is an experienced nurse, so she herself goes around all the cells every day; if necessary, a nurse-doctor is involved; Medicines for the almshouse are purchased separately from the hospital. The almshouse has a laundry room and ironing room, where, in particular, the mortal bundles of the awaited are stored; There are also utility rooms. In the cells, the sisters live mostly in groups of two; the schema-nuns and two nuns live one at a time. There is a so-called “first cell” for bedridden patients, in which there is round-the-clock duty, here they are read every day prayer rule, which can be attended by sisters from other cells who find it difficult to read for themselves.

Sisters are carried or driven to services in other churches; sometimes young nuns help do this at will or at the request of the dean.

As for meals, food is brought every day by the almshouse attendants from the large monastery refectory; nothing is prepared in the almshouse, only heated. A special room is equipped for meals, where basically all the inmates of the almshouse eat together. During the meal, which takes place twice a day, the soulful teachings of the holy fathers are read.

Not all of the sisters cared for in the almshouse are infirm - many of them do the work they can: they read a series of psalms and akathists, together they peel vegetables for a common meal. One of the sisters is obedient to the shoemaker, sewing and mending shoes for the sisters of the entire monastery.

If young sisters, especially in busy times, cannot always attend services, then old sisters from the almshouse are almost always present at the service.

Since 2015, once a week one of the novices has been conducting classes on the Law of God in the almshouse.

Pensions are not given to the nuns of the almshouse; at their request, they are transferred as a donation to the monastery treasury.