If there is a city in the world that itselfis a museum, this is Suzdal. Its eventful history is not only preserved in the annals, but is also represented today in three hundred monuments that are part of the Vladimir-Suzdal complex of architectural antiquities.
Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery is one of the oldest monuments of architecture, which has its own history of "life", as well as the city itself.
The rich Suzdal princedom was part of the great Kiev Rus, but the year of the founding of the city is unknown. For the first time it is mentioned in the beginning of the 11th century in the chronicle, which tells of peasant unrest.
Based on the site of earlier shoppingsettlements, Suzdal began to grow rapidly. Its construction began, like most of the cities of that time, with the Kremlin, around which residential buildings were formed. So far, Suzdal has retained the same building plan as it was in antiquity, although several times it was burned to the ground.
This was first due to the feuds of the princeChernigov Oleg with the heirs of Vladimir Monomakh. Reconstructed, Suzdal was subsequently burned by the Mongol-Tatars in 1238. Its new heyday began in the 14th century, when it became not only a rich city, but also the center of the Christian religion. For example, the Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery built in 1352, numerous churches in the village and Pokrovsky Monastery attracted pilgrims and believers from all over Russia.
After Moscow became the seat of governmentMoscow princes, Suzdal lost its former glory, became a provincial city, thanks to which today it is a real architectural museum. The industrialization of the country has not touched this beautiful place, therefore it is a pearl of the famous tourist route "Golden Ring of Russia".
Spaso-Evfimiev monastery, whose historybegan in the far 14th century, was founded by the order of Prince Boris, who at that time ruled the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal principality. Originally the monastery was called Savior-Transfiguration, but in memory of the hegumen Evfimiya, who headed it for more than 50 years, was renamed. Being originally wooden, the Spaso-Evfimi monastery was rebuilt anew in the 16th century with the use of bricks and in this form has survived to this day.
The location of the monastery on the bank of the Kamenka River andfrom the north side of the city was of great strategic importance. Fenced at 1200 meters with a fortress wall with watchtowers, the Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery (Suzdal) was a real fighting fortress and a defense for the city dwellers.
These walls around the monastery were erected at the end17 century, and 12 watchtowers with loopholes at one time were the most powerful in the Vladimir province. The largest is a travel tower, which is 22 meters high. It is the entrance to the temple complex, although prior to its construction this function was performed by the Gate Church of the Annunciation, which entered the Savior Euthymius Monastery and ended up inside the fortress walls. At that time of troubles, the construction of a similar fortification at the monastery was a vital necessity, since it was in the churches that the Orthodox were saved from the attacks of the conquerors.
Today the Savior Euthymius Monastery (the city of Suzdal) has 14 architectural monuments that are well preserved.
The first stone structure was the Savior Church,erected in 1507-1511 over the burial of the first hegumen of the monastery - Euthymius. When the Transfiguration Cathedral was built in 1564, it became part of it, becoming a side-chapel.
Today it is not only actingCathedral, but also a unique architectural structure, which preserved murals, created in the 16th century. The most significant is the painting of the walls, made by great masters from Kostroma Sila Savina and Gury Nikitin (17th century). The frescoes are based on the life story of St. Euthymius, as well as a portrait of the Grand Duke Vsevolod Vladimirsky. The images of the kings Mikhail Fedorovich and Alexei Mikhailovich are also included in the plot of the color wall painting.
Beautiful white-stone cathedral enteringThe Savior-Euthymius Monastery in Suzdal (whose address is Lenin Street, 148a) is the storage place for the holy relics of the Monk Euthymius. They are buried in the silver cancer made in 1823.
Also the Transfiguration Cathedral is a placeburial of Dmitry Pozharsky and his family members. Here are kept his belongings, donated to the cathedral - the shroud, which for the prince was embroidered with his own hand by his wife, and the Gospel with a dedication.
Unlike the rest of the towers, the entrance hassquare shape. It is laid out of red brick and symbolically divided into two parts. The lower part, more strict, is throughput and consists of two arched driveways with icon cases above them.
The upper part of the tower is more elegant.Since it was visible from afar (the height of the structure is 22 meters), the upper tier was decorated with platbands and “belts” of brick, which gave it some “airiness” and elegance.
The entrance tower has a four-sided roof. In the 17th century, it was damaged by lightning and was not restored for many years. The restoration, carried out in 1860, is still perfectly preserved.
Today, on the site of travel arches are a ticket office and a bookshop.
Each church has its own uniquethe bell-ringing, and the Suzdal Savior-Euthymius monastery is no exception. The bell tower of this Orthodox structure is in itself a whole story, since it was built at different times and with the use of various architectural styles.
The earliest part of the belfry is the so-calledbell pillar church of John the Baptist. The structure has 9 faces, which is not at all typical of ordinary bell towers, which always have an even number of corners. According to legend, its name is associated with the birth of John 4.
Small in size, the bell church was intended for the confessions of the great princes and kings.
In it leads the gallery, through which the prince could passunnoticed, while avoiding many pilgrims and believers. It connects the chapel with the house of the Archimandrite and the clock tower. The bells of the 16th century, unfortunately, have not survived since they were sent to be melted down in 1932. Previously, they were a signal for the brethren to go to a meal or prayer. Today the bell ringing calls believers to serve in the Savior Transfiguration Cathedral located nearby.
Opposition is located opposite the belfry.refectory church, which is one of the first in Russia architectural tent structures. It was built in 1525 and has, on the one hand, a side-altar in the form of a pillar-shaped church, named after the martyr Diomede, and on the other - a refectory room, which has a crown roof.
The lower part was used by the monks for household needs, while the upper chamber was the most refectory.
This graceful church adjoins the Archimandritethe building, which was originally built for state needs, but since the 18th century, archimandrite began to live in it, and it became a residential building. Built in the shape of the letter “G”, the building has a wooden gallery for “gulbisch”, which is supported by stone pillars.
At one time, the refectory church of the Assumption was painted on the inside with frescoes that have not survived to this day.
The original church of St. Nicholas waswooden and was built in connection with the expansion of the monastery during the first hegumen. Since the Savior Euthymius Monastery (Suzdal) became known far beyond its borders, many new monks came to serve the Lord in this very place under the guidance of a wise mentor.
The Church of St. Nicholas had under hera large cellar, a refectory adjoined it, which could hold many people at once. It is called the hospital church, since it was located in the immediate vicinity of the building with cells for sick monks and worldly guests of the monastery.
Stone Nikolskaya Church, with a hospital building adjacent to it, was erected in 1669. It consists of a single-domed temple with a facade that is decorated with sun visors and platbands with kokoshniks.
The church was restored inside twice, and in the early 2000s the wooden roof was completely replaced and the entire facade was painted.
Savior-Euthymius Monastery, whose address is:Vladimir region, the city of Suzdal, Lenin Street, 148a, became the resting place of the great Russian hero Dmitry Pozharsky and his family members. He was buried in 1642, and over the grave his son John and nephew Peter Khovansky, the grand dukes, built a tomb. However, after 100 years, the tomb was forgotten, it began to fall into disrepair, as a result, it was dismantled, and the stone was used for the needs of the monastery.
In 1851, archaeologist Count Uvarov headedan expedition to the Savior Euthymius monastery, it was he who discovered the remains of a crypt with four stone tombs. Two of them belonged to Dmitry Pozharsky's son and nephew, and two belonged to the hero himself and his wife.
In 1852, all the tombs were opened and carefully examined. Thus, we managed to find out where Dmitry Pozharsky is in. He was identified by a partially preserved garment.
Over the remains of the liturgy held a memorial service, afterall the graves were closed again, and in 1858 a mausoleum was erected over them at the behest of sovereign Alexander 2. The construction was carried out at the expense of public donations. The consecration of the mausoleum was held in 1885.
During the years of Soviet power, the tomb was again destroyed, since in 1933 the Spaso-Evfimiev monastery became a prison for political prisoners.
In the 70s of the 20th century at the burial sitePozharsky was installed a memorial stone, and only in 2007 began the exact restoration of the mausoleum of the preserved plans, sketches and photographs. Today it is part of the architectural complex of the monastery.
From 1766 a prison building appeared in the monastery,founded by decree of Catherine the Great. Initially, it was intended for "insane" rebels, among whom were not only peasants, but also people of noble birth, for example, the Decembrist Prince Peter Shakhovskaya.
Later it was intended for apostates of the clergy and sectarians, and from 1923 to 1939 it became an insulator for political prisoners.
Today in these walls is a museum of memoryprisoners of both the times of tsarist Russia, and the years of the Stalinist repression. The museum displays information about the life, years of imprisonment and death of its most famous "inhabitants", including scientists, revolutionary figures and clergymen.
The so-called Fraternal Complex was a building inwhich housed monastic cells. Built at the beginning of the 17th century, it is a strict structure, the only decoration of which is the trim with kokoshniki on the windows.
This is a two-story building built in the shape of a letter."G", stretches along the eastern wall of the monastery. The small cells were the place of solitude of the monks, and today they can be examined to learn more about their life in the monastery of those times.
Спасо-Евфимиев монастырь (фото это подтверждает) to this day it has kept its towers and walls. All of them, except the entrance, have a round shape with loopholes. Although the walls around the monastery were built powerful, they were never under siege.
The builders in the 17th century in their construction took into accountthe area on which the Orthodox complex is located. So, the wall overlooking the Kamenka river is rather low, which cannot be said about the south side overlooking the plain. Here the structure is much taller and thicker, it is able to withstand a cannon fire.
The length of the walls is 1200 meters, which at that time was considered to be a significant defensive structure with embrasures, loopholes and watchtowers.
Vladimir-Suzdal Historical Museum-Reserve was founded in 1958. It consists of architectural monuments of the ancient Russian architecture of the cities of Vladimir, Bogolyubov and Suzdal.
Savior-Evfimiev monastery became part ofMuseum-Reserve in 1968 in very poor condition, since for more than 45 years it was a prison for political prisoners, then for juvenile delinquents.
Restoration of the monastery allowed to preserve this historical monument of architecture, which today is visited by thousands of tourists from different countries.
Male inoperative todayThe Spaso-Evfimiev monastery, whose opening hours are from 10.00 to 18.00 (all days except Monday), pleases visitors with a concert of bells every hour and numerous expositions.
Since 1991, this monastery was included in the UNESCO heritage list and acquired the status of a museum of international standing.
