Holy Assumption Knyaginin convent - onefrom the historical pearls of Russia. It is located in Vladimir and has more than 800 years of its history. Many events swept over the country. And the temple and the memory of the generations of nuns, the townspeople, the miracles that took place in the monastery, have been preserved, and interest in them has only multiplied over the years.
In 1200, Russia had two equilibriumPrincipality: Kiev and Vladimir. Both are equally powerful. Prince Vladimir the Great Prince Vsevolod, and his wife was Princess Mary. Both were deeply and sincerely religious people. Their thoughts, aspirations and deeds laid the Assumption Monastery near the Lybed river. The initiator of the construction of the women's monastery was the princess. History and chronicles report that the couple lived in harmony among themselves. They loved the people very much. In the family of the prince 12 children were born: 8 boys and 4 girls. With the birth of the last son of John, Mary became seriously ill and for seven years bravely and resignedly endured.
In the period of illness the princess conceived to laymonastery. And she made this request to her husband. He supported the initiative. To build a monastery, the princess bought land for the future abode with her own money. Prince Vladimirsky Vsevolod himself laid the foundation stone of the monastery walls in 1200. The disease did not let the woman go. In her thoughts was to become a nun of a newly built monastery, in which she vowed to the Lord. With zeal, she performed the duties of a wife, mother, and ruler, but the soul wanted a strict monastic life. Only in 1206, Maria was able to fulfill her vow.
The Laurentian Chronicle testifies that withsadness and tears, the prince spent his wife in the monastery walls on the tonsure. In the Trinity Chronicle, these events are described in the following way: “In 1206, on March 2, Grand Duchess Maria was tonsured as a monk in the Monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos, she herself created the name Mary, and was baptized into this name. And the grand duke Vsevolod conducted it with many tears to the monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos and his son George and his dushi. ”
The woman did not live long in Schema.She died the same year, April 1st. The townspeople mourned and mourned the princess. She was very kind, helped the poor, protected widows and orphans, "gave a lot of mercy to the people." She was buried under the walls of the monastery. Since that time, the holy refuge received the name - Assumption Kniahinin Convent in Vladimir.
The monastery has two temples:Assumption Cathedral and Kazan Church. The first became the patrimonial tomb of the prince. The original construction of the temple was not preserved. Literally forty years after the completion of construction, the Assumption Kniahinin Monastery was devastated, like the city of Vladimir, by the fleeting Tatar hordes of Batu Khan. For a long time the cloister was so desolate that even the chronicles about it were silent until the sixteenth century.
Отстроенный Успенский собор, который сегодня can be seen on the territory of the monastery, belongs to the sixteenth century. It was then that a new flowering of the monastery life began. It was erected on the foundation of an old building. For painting the walls of the temple were invited to the best masters under the leadership of the sovereign icon painter Mark Matveyev. Knyaginin Assumption Monastery reached its peak by the end of the nineteenth century. During this period, a chapel, consecrated in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, was added to the temple. In 1900, in connection with the 700th anniversary, the monastery was returned to the title "Knyaginin". In the same XIX century, after numerous reorganizations, the Assumption Cathedral was re-consecrated. He is patronized by the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. At the same time, the chapels of the temple are dedicated to St. John Chrysostom and the Holy Great Martyr Abraham of Bulgaria, whose relics were kept in the monastery.
The 1917 revolution and the God-fighting campaign is notbypassed the Kniahinin Uspensky Monastery. January 1918 brought the monastery news of nationalization. The premises were transferred to the state. Searches, requisitions, expulsion of nuns were carried out. For some time, it was possible to keep the usual life and conduct services, but it was already very difficult. In 1919, a new government in place of the monastery cemetery equipped a playground. The hospital, the cell of the abbess of the monastery and the refectory of the sisters passed to the state. They opened a children's shelter and garden.
Finally, the Kniahinin Assumption Monastery wasclosed in 1923. Within five years, the Assumption Church became the repository of the State Archive of the Vladimir Region. On the territory of the monastery in 1986, a museum of atheism was opened. Monastic life returned here only in 1998. The periods of decline were followed by a rebirth in the history of both the country and the monastery, inextricably linked by the threads of fate with the land, people, and faith. The walls of the monastery, based on great love and faith, can not be destroyed by malicious intent or human will. This is evidenced by the whole history of the monastery. The Holy Assumption Women's Skete was revived again and carries on its ministry.
The first shrines in the monastery appeared almost immediately.after its construction. Thirty years after laying the first stone of the monastery, the son of the founder of the monastery of Princess Vladimir of Vladimir, George, personally brought the relics of the holy martyr Abraham of Bulgaria to the temple. According to historical chronicles, he came from a wealthy Volga Bulgarians, who converted to Orthodoxy. He preached the Christian faith among his fellow Muslims. The chronicles of those years note that many miracles and healings happened with the construction of the relics in the walls of the monastery.
Святыня покоилась в обители вплоть до 1919 года.When it was requisitioned, it was possible to keep a small portion of the relics. Cancer with the decay of St. Abraham of Bulgaria, the patron saint of the monastery, returned to the cathedral in 1991. Since then, the chronicle of miracles is constantly updated with evidence of healing from diseases and everyday adversity. The icon of the great martyr healer Panteleimon is revered in the walls of the temple. It was written in the iconographic workshop of the monastery of righteous Anna, which is located on the holy Mount Athos. Moved to the Kniahinin Assumption Monastery in 1999. By the icon attached particle relics of the holy healer Panteleimon.
Also within the boundaries of the Assumption Cathedral KniahininThe monastery is the oldest miraculous Bogolyubskaya icon of the Mother of God. It was written according to the vision of Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky in 1157. She established herself in the monastery since 1992, when she was returned to the temple from the museum. The Assumption Kniahinin Monastery became its new home. A description of the appearance of the icon can be found in the annals and heard from the guides when visiting the monastery. She repeatedly saved Vladimir residents from epidemics, droughts, dawned on her in the war years, protected her from hunger and despair. The icon is revered by the people and glorified by many miracles. There are numerous chronicle confirmations of this, as well as testimonies of the parishioners about the healings that have already taken place in our time.
Spiritual traditions, material heritage ispart of the culture and history of the country as a whole. The Assumption Kniahinin Monastery in Vladimir made a considerable contribution to it. The description of the temple in a poetic, enthusiastic form was given by the Most Blessed Anastasius, Archbishop of Albania: “Beautiful temple! It is white and pure, with its light forms it is directed to the sky, and when you go inside - there are frescoes, icons, lamps in the dim light, the altar of God Byshnyago: this should be the soul of man - outside is directed to the sky, and in the depths hide the altar and God Himself ".
If we consider the temple, then today the buildingstriking in its power and beauty. Assumption Church is a decoration of the entire monastery. Looking upwards with white walls, it is topped with three tiers of keeled kokoshniks. Above them rises a magnificent powerful light drum with a traditional onion roof. Numerous archaeological excavations, carried out at different times on the territory of the monastery, each time opened new facets of the history of the monastery. So it was found out that in the first years after the construction of the temple, it was surrounded by a narrow covered gallery, lined with expensive majolica tiles. And this is not all the secrets that the Kniahinin monastery keeps. Work on the study continues.
В возрождённой обители ежедневно проводятся church services and an intense spiritual life. Vintage crafts are being revived. Sisters with their own hands sew robes for clergy and for other needs of the temple. Actively participate in the restoration and construction works. An icon painting workshop is open in the monastery. The art of church embroidery, for which it has been famous since 1606, is being revived.
Through the efforts of the abbess of the monastery openedparochial school for children. Also at the monastery is the Diocesan Women's School. Here they train teachers of Sunday schools, psallers, regents of church choirs. Holy Assumption Knyaginin Convent - the pearl of the spiritual life of Russia. Everyone should visit the monastery in order to independently touch the miracle, to feel the connection of times and generations.
