GEORGEV GRAD

Mikhailo-Arkhangelsky Monastery is an Orthodox male monastery located in the very center of Yuryev-Polsky in the ring of ancient earthen ramparts of the 12th century.

Michael the Archangel Monastery was founded by Prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich in the 13th century. It is known that in 1238, Batu’s troops, during the capture of Yuryev-Polsky, destroyed the monastery, and for almost two centuries it stood in desolation. The Lithuanians also destroyed the monastery; then the entire archive was lost, and the abbot of the monastery had to submit a petition to Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich so that the Tsar would confirm the privileges granted to the monastery by the previous sovereigns. Such a certificate was indeed issued. The monastery had many gifts from Prince D.M. Pozharsky, who had a patrimony not far from Yuryev - the village of Luchinskoye.

The cathedral church in the name of Archangel Michael was destroyed in 1408 during the next capture of the city, this time by Edigei, and was soon rebuilt. In 1535, there was a wooden church of the Archangel Michael with a chapel of the Prophet Elijah, built at the expense of Grand Duke Vasily Ioannovich. In 1560, the first stone church was built; Prince Ivan Mikhailovich Kubensky donated funds for its construction. In 1636, the temple was surrounded on three sides by porches, and at the end of the 18th century, the dilapidated building was dismantled. The construction of the new cathedral was carried out at the expense of city residents; work began in 1792 and ended in 1806.

The refectory Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” was built in 1625. This is a simple low temple with a spacious refectory. It is connected from the west with the cellar, or sacristy chamber and cellars. This large complex is connected by a passage with the stone archimandrite and fraternal buildings, which were built in 1763.

The true decoration of the monastery - the gate church of St. John the Evangelist - was built in 1670. It very harmoniously echoes the later Cathedral of the Archangel Michael (it is possible that the cathedral was built taking into account the appearance of this beautiful and graceful church). Closely set domes on thin drums give the temple an additional upward thrust. The Holy Gate, on which the church itself stands, was built a little earlier, in 1654.

This was at the beginning of the 13th century. The Sukhona River overflowed, and its banks became so far apart that the residents of Ustyug, accustomed to going to services at the Trinity Gledensky Monastery, could no longer do this. And there was a young monk in the Gleden monastery named Cyprian. His family owned many lands along the Dvina and around Ustyug, but he himself was not interested in earthly affairs, and he devoted his life to saving his soul. And the people of Ustyug asked him to move to Ustyug itself and to found a monastery here so that they would have a place to pray to God. And so, in 1212, the monk Cyprian and the Ustyuzhans began to build a monastery in the name of the Presentation of the Mother of God and the Archangel Michael into the temple. There were several lakes in the vicinity of the monastery, and it itself was located outside the fort and the ancient city rampart. Cyprian himself donated the entire fortune of his family to this cause, and the townspeople carried everything necessary for the construction of the temple. Quite quickly, brethren appeared in the monastery, and with a single impulse they elected a monk already known to us as abbot. The righteous Procopius of Ustyug, the holy fool, often came here to talk with Cyprian. Due to his modesty and humility, Abbot Cyprian never accepted the priesthood, considering himself an unworthy servant of God. The monk even slept on a stone, from which the people of Ustyug then scratched out pieces and, drinking them with water, received healing. Having lived for more than 80 years in the monastery, the Monk Cyprian died on September 29, 1294 according to the old style and was buried at the gates of the monastery. Later his relics were transferred, and now above his grave there is a miniature temple of Mid-Pentecost. Years passed and the monastery expanded. This happened partly due to a particularly large number of miracles and visions revealed to the Ustyug residents and inhabitants of the monastery. There lived in the monastery a certain serf Ivan, a Karym-Buryat by origin, who had fallen behind his merchant. The monks sheltered him in the monastery and he converted to Orthodoxy and stayed to live here, working as a night watchman. And suddenly he sees - in the middle of the night in the chapel, over the grave of Cyprian, a fiery light. Ivan ran as fast as he could to the monastery guide Nifont, but when they returned, the light had already died out. Nifont did not believe it, but scolded the Buryats. Two weeks later the wonderful light came again. This time the watchman decided to check everything himself, and plucked up the courage to look into the chapel. He saw there a candle shining in front of the image of the Savior on the banner. And an old man sits on the tomb. Holding a staff in one hand and burning candles in the other. The elder is dressed in golden vestments, and the floor of the chapel is not more a floor, but beautiful green grass. And the elder said, “It’s very damp for me to lie down.” The next day, the brethren gathered and served a memorial service for St. Kiripian and poured sand under and around the chapel. Many times we saw the Monk Cyprian in the monastery, either healing someone who was addicted to drunkenness, or cutting stone during the construction of the Church of the Presentation, or praying in the temple, and once asking that his relics be moved from the gate to a new place. This is how the monastery lived, in which there were two abbots - one ordinary, earthly and the second - miraculous. From the moment of its creation, the Archangel Michael Monastery was part of the defense system of Ustyug and served as an outpost on its northern outskirts. In the 15th century A gate was erected on the eastern side of the monastery fence, and a tower with loopholes was erected above it. The pond, later called Arkhangelsk, lakes and streams protected the monastery from uninvited guests, and for a long time the monastery remained a reliable fortress. In 1653, large construction began here - local merchant Nikifor Revyakin donated a lot of money for the construction of the stone Church of the Entry of the Blessed Virgin Mary into the Temple and the five-domed cold church in honor of the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael with a bell tower. Over the next hundred years, two more churches, a rector's and fraternal buildings, and a new stone fence 800 meters long will be built. In 1750, a large clock with a German mechanism and striking was installed on the bell tower of the Archangel Cathedral. From the beginning of the 17th century, the Veliky Ustyug Theological School operated on the territory of the monastery, and from 1737, the Veliky Ustyug Theological Seminary, but after a fire in its building at the end of the 18th century, it was never restored. In 1788, the Veliky Ustyug and Totem diocese was abolished, the territories of which became part of the Vologda and Veliky Ustyug diocese. The last Bishop of Veliky Ustyug, His Eminence John, was retired and spent the rest of his days here, in the St. Michael the Archangel Monastery. In 1918, the monastery was closed and was used as a department of the Veliky Ustyug Correctional House. In the fraternal building there were 7 common cells for 30 people each, in which priests, students, merchants, professors and several peasants were kept in custody. In one sat Pitirim Sorokin, a famous Russian and American sociologist, philosopher, cultural scientist and personal secretary of the chairman of the provisional government, Alexander Kerensky, who surrendered to the security officers in Ustyug in October 1918. He wrote: “There were no bunks, the prisoners were lying in their rags on the floor, there were a huge number of insects in the cell. Many of the prisoners do not know why they were arrested, and the workers and peasants simply do not understand why their government arrested them. There was mutual assistance among the prisoners: food was shared equally, the same was true for smoking, etc. The food was disgusting, so the prisoners felt a constant feeling of hunger. Lunch: 1.4 pounds of bread and a bowl of hot water with potatoes, also for dinner and breakfast, that is, food - 1 time per day. In the cell, along with healthy prisoners, there were also 4 people suffering from typhus. Lights out at 20.00, and at 22.00 prisoners were taken away in batches to be shot. The head of the execution team of 11 people was Karl Andreevich Peterson, who had been in Veliky Ustyug since 1918, the position of commissar of the Latvian riflemen division, and was engaged in punitive operations in the front line. Sometimes they shot people right in their cells, and this happened every night, from 1 to 9 people.” Already in our time, the monastery reveals its treasures and mysteries. The porch of the Archangel Cathedral contains four paintings from different times. A unique mural of the 17th-18th centuries, “Parables of the Elderly” edifies monks in their spiritual work. There are also rare ornamental paintings, and a portrait of Archbishop Joseph, buried in the cathedral, and the epitaph of the monastery Archimandrite Barsanuphius. The western portal was previously decorated with doors with gilded and silvered copper plates engraved with biblical events. The western porch of the cathedral leads to a gallery where there are three portals framed by columns. The cathedral was originally painted, but now the frescoes have been plastered and whitewashed. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the monastery has remained virtually unchanged. There was a school, a museum, and now it still belongs to the museum, although there are no displays or exhibitions there. On July 16, 2014, Metropolitan Ignatius of Vologda and Kirillov issued a decree on the formation of the Orthodox religious organization Bishop's Compound "Mikhailo-Arkhangelsky Monastery". No matter how much time passes, “A holy place is never empty,” they say among the Russian people. The time will come, and the Monk Cyprian, as in ancient visions, will bless the first monk who will again settle in the monastery of the Archangel Michael on Ustyuz.

Michael the Archangel Monastery

Michael the Archangel Monastery

18.05.2016

The Arkhangelsk Monastery in the name of the Archangel Michael in Arkhangelsk was of great importance for the Russian North, being the center of spiritual enlightenment of the pagan peoples of the Dvina land. The source of information about the founding of the A. m. is an undated blessed charter of the Novgorod archbishop. John: “Bless Archbishop John of Novgorod, Vladyka, at St. Michael’s daily service and bless Hegumen Luke to St. Michael, and may the mercy of God and St. Sophia and St. Michael be upon the mayors of Dvina, and on the Dvina boyars, and on the boyars of Novgorod and Zavolochsk, on the Vladychna the governor, the merchant elder and all the merchants of Novgorotsk and Zavolochsk, and the abbots and priests, and the entire church clergy, and the Sotsk and all the peasants, from Yemtsa to the sea, who demanded mercy More important to St. Michael, the daily service And you, my children, honor the alms to St. Michael and to the abbot, and to the whole flock. And you, abbot, with the cathedral and the flock of St. Michael, pray to God for all the peasants, and awaken the mercy of God, St. Sophia and St. Michael on all peasants and the lord John's blessing"
Based on the letter of Archbishop John, two assumptions arose about the founding date of the monastery: the 12th century, or the 2nd half of the 14th century.
In the list of bishops who occupied the Novgorod see from the 10th to the 17th centuries, the name John is mentioned three times. The first - John Popin (at the see 1110-1129) was not an archbishop, the second - St. John (1165-1186) being a bishop, before being tonsured into the schema he bore the name Elijah, the third - Archbishop John, occupied the see in 1389-1415 g.g. It is most likely that the letter dates back to the time of the third John and speaks of the founding of the Archangel Monastery in the 14th century. The date is indirectly confirmed by the description of the estates and civil structure of Zavolochye, characteristic of the 14th century. However, in the charter of Archbishop John there are no words about the construction of monastery churches, and the church of St. Mikhail is mentioned as already existing. Archbishop John blesses the abbot “with the cathedral and the flock of St. Michael” to conduct daily services, which presupposes the existence of a significant staff of clergy.
According to the second version, the Arkhangelsk Monastery was founded in the 12th century. This opinion was shared by historians V.V. Krestinin and N.M. Karamzin. The oldest source pointing to the 12th century. as the date of the foundation of the monastery is the surviving handwritten copy of the petition of the abbot of the Arkhangelsk monastery Jeremiah (1690-1700) from 1695 to Tsars Peter I and John. When petitioning for benefits for the monastery, he cites the argument: “and that, sirs, the prayer of God (i.e. A.M.) is more than 500 years old.” It is possible that the governors of the Novgorod Grand Duke in Zavolochye took part in the founding of the Arkhangelsk Monastery.
Most historians (Metropolitan Macarius, A.A. Shakhmatov, V.V. Zverinsky and V.F. Andreev) claim that the Arkhangelsk Monastery was founded in the 14th century.
The earliest reliable historical evidence about the Arkhangelsk Monastery is contained in the “Dvina Chronicle” and dates back to 1419: “The Murmans (i.e., the Norwegians - Author) came with a war of 500 people from the sea in beads and in shnyaks, and conquered the Karelian churchyard in Varzuga , and in the land of Zavolochskaya churchyard in Nenoksa, and the Karelian monastery of St. Nicholas, and the Onega churchyard, Yakovlya Kurya, Andreyanovsky shore, Kech island, Prince island, the Archangel Michael monastery, Tsiglomeno, Khichemino, three churches were burned, and Christians and Chernets were all flogged" .
Soon after the destruction, the monastery was restored in its original place, but the chronicle does not say when and how the restoration took place. No monastic documents from that time have survived.
The first precise indications of the number of monastic brethren are found in a letter from Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible dated 1543 addressed to Abbot Theodosius (1534-1547) and are associated with the famine that befell the Arkhangelsk Monastery. According to the charter, the Dvina authorities were ordered to support the abbot and 35 elders of the Arkhangelsk Monastery, who were experiencing hunger from frequent crop failures, by transferring to the monastery 70 quarters of rye and 70 quarters of oats from the royal granaries. By the charter of Ivan IV the Terrible in 1544, the Arkhangelsk Monastery was exempted from permanent service. However, these measures were little noticeable. The Dvina authorities could not give the monastery the bread prescribed by the royal decree. According to the testimony of the Dvina Chronicle, in the end. 40s XVI century As a result of the crop failure, “bread was expensive on the Dvina: a quarter was bought at Kholmogory for eight hryvnias, and many people died of hunger,” 200-300 bodies of the dead were buried in one grave. By 1551, the number of brethren was reduced to 12 people, by 1587, after the end of the famine, it increased to 42 people.
According to the scribal books of I.P. Zabolotsky and D.I. Temirov, by 1550 a tented cold temple was built in the Arkhangelsk Monastery of the “Dvina district of the lower half” in the name of the arch. Michael and the warm church in the name of the prophet Elijah. According to the scribe books of V.A. Zvenigorodsky by 1587 existed “in the Dvina district, in the lower half, in the new Kolmogory city, the Arkhangelsk monastery, and on the monastery the Church of the Archangel Michael is wooden up, and on the floor there is the limit of the martyr of Christ Mina, and the church is a warm cover of the Most Pure Mother of God, and in the churches samples and candles and books and bells on the bell towers and the entire church building of the monastery; in the monastery in the cell of Abbot Euthymius, and thirteen cells, and in them the brethren forty-two elders." Thus, in the Arkhangelsk Monastery in the second half of the 16th century. there were 2 churches - in honor of the Archangel Michael, a wooden tented church, apparently cold, the other warm in honor of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos (according to the scribe books of Zabolotsky - in honor of the Prophet Elijah).
The founding site of the Arkhangelsk Monastery - Cape Pur-Navolok, 30 versts from the confluence of the Northern Dvina into the White Sea, where there was a convenient harbor for sea vessels - met the urban planning requirements of the 16th century. In 1584, by decree of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, governors Pyotr Afanasyevich Nashchokin and “Zaleshanin Nikifor son of Volokhov” arrived at the monastery with military men and “the circle of the Archangel Monastery... they established the wooden city in one year.” The new city, named Novokholmogory, in 1613 received the name of the Arkhangelsk city. Letter of Tsar Theodore Ioannovich dated February 12. In 1587, at Novokholmogory, a port was opened for foreign ships instead of the pier that existed at the Korelsky St. Nicholas the Wonderworker monastery, and lively trading activity began in the city.
The Arkhangelsk Monastery, located in the center of the city under construction, suffered great inconvenience. The abbots of the monastery complained to the tsar about the arbitrariness that was happening: cases of robbery, violence, encroachments on monastery property by workers and archers; the clerks kicked the monks out of their cells and settled in them with their wives; drinking establishments were set up in the monastery.
The petition of Abbot Efimy (1585-1589) to move the monastery outside the city remained unanswered. The scant information about the life of the Arkhangelsk Monastery does not allow us to describe the activities of its abbots. The royal letters of grant have preserved to us only the names of the abbots and builders who petitioned the Moscow sovereigns to provide various benefits for the monastery. Under Abbot Theodosius (1534-1547), the monastery was granted a non-judgmental charter and an annual allowance of bread from the royal granaries. Hegumen Lavrenty (1589-1596) cared a lot about the welfare of the monastery.
Among the abbots, a special place should be given to Euphemia (1585-1589), under whose administration the city of Arkhangelsk arose near the Arkhangelsk Monastery. The name of this abbot stands among the venerable fathers who shone forth in the land of Arkhangelsk - St. Euthymius, along with Archangel Michael, is considered the heavenly patron of the city of Arkhangelsk. The canon to the saint says: “You created your life in prayers and fasting, you passed it on lawfully, Father, clothed in dispassion, subduing the wisdom of the flesh with the strength of the Divine Spirit.”
It is known that he was born in the village. Ascension, and in 1585-1589 was abbot of the Arkhangelsk Monastery.
Finding the relics of St. Euphemia occurred on July 7, 1647. Kholmogory blacksmith Evstafiy Trofimov during land work in the courtyard of the Arkhangelsk governor Yu.P. Buinosov-Rostovsky discovered the coffin of an unknown person. The grin over the found remains cost the blacksmith a lesson: in an instant he “fell completely weak, he began to shake, his hands were paralyzed.” Only after a funeral service was performed over the found relics was Eustathius healed. The handwritten “Tale of the Appearance of the Relics of St. Euthymius” describes 25 miracles performed through prayers to the newly-minted saint. But the name of the saint of God remained unknown for about two years, until the monk revealed himself to the novice of the Arkhangelsk Monastery Kosma Ignatov. In a vision, he told the sick Kosma to pray for help from the one lying in the tomb and called himself Euthymius of the Ascension. Having been healed, the novice Kosma reported the miracle to the abbot of the Archangel Monastery Anthony (1649-1653) and accurately named the name of the monk who appeared, which no one could do before. About what St. looked like. Euthymius, it is also known from the stories of the people he healed; icon painters worked according to these descriptions.
In 1650, by order of Metropolitan Nikon of Novgorod (the future Patriarch), Abbot Feodosius of the Anthony-Siysky Monastery examined the revealed remains, recognizing them as the relics of Abbot Euthymius of the Arkhangelsk Monastery. At the same time, a service to the monk was compiled. Probably at the same time the relics were transferred to the City Church of St. Michael the Archangel. It is obvious that the canonization of St. Euthymius as a locally revered saint was feasible for Metropolitan. Nikon. However, in 1683, Archbishop Afanasy (Lyubimov) of Kholmogory and Vazhsky (1682-1702) stopped the church veneration of St. Euphemia. The true reasons for the ban are unknown. Perhaps they are connected with the active struggle against the Old Believer schism, carried out by Archbishop Athanasius. When describing the relics, attention was paid to the right hand of the monk, folded into the two-fingered sign of the cross. Relics of St. Euphemia were buried. In 1684, in the Kholmogory Bishops' House there was "an iron grate that was in the Arkhangelsk city in the Church of the Archangel Michael at the tomb of Evfimiev." Based on this, it can be assumed that the relics of the saint were once transferred from the burial place at the Church of the Origin of the Cross to the adjacent Church of the Archangel Michael. The abolition of church honoring of this ascetic led to the fact that in the “Arkhangelsk Patericon” Archimandrite Nikon (Kononov) mistakenly identified St. Euthymius of Arkhangelsk with St. Euthymius Karelsky.
On July 15, 1636, according to the Dvina Chronicle, “there was a fire near the city of Arkhangelsk: the Arkhangelsk monastery, the church and cells and the voivode’s courtyard and half the city from the Dvina River burned down.” In the petition of the black priest Matthew to Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, the severity of the event is described and it is noted that “the brothers (49 people) are wandering around the world due to the scarcity of grain.” The royal charter of February 6, 1637 ordered the monastery to be rebuilt in a new location (on Mount Kuznechikha). In a petition dated March 15, 1637, the monastery asked Metropolitan Affony of Novgorod (1635-1649) for a blessing to build in the designated area the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos with a meal and the second - the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael with the chapel of St. much Mines. But the Arkhangelsk Monastery was not built on Kuznechikha. Although the abbot and his brethren at the designated place “sang prayers three times and cast lots...and cleared the forest,” construction did not begin due to the opposition of the volost peasants, “who from time immemorial have always put firewood in those places for sale to the Germans and all sorts of people...”
Therefore, the construction site of the monastery was moved to the outskirts of the city along the banks of the Northern Dvina - to Nyachery (the area of ​​​​the former Arkhiereyskaya Street, now Uritsky Street). In 1641, under Abbot Paul (1635-1642), despite meager funds, construction of the Arkhangelsk Monastery began. By 1642, construction of the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary was completed, but the funds of the monastery remained limited. The Arkhangelsk Monastery was the only one in the north that paid trade duties on salt mines, because... income from salt sales was the main one for the monastery. With a charter from Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich “for the sake of the monastery structure,” the Arkhangelsk Monastery was exempted from duties on the transportation of 7,000 pounds of salt for sale. Thanks to this, in 1644 the cathedral church of the Archangel Michael was rebuilt. According to other sources, the A. m. was restored already in 1638 in Nyachery and lined with a wooden chopped fence with St. gate. The version of the construction in 1642 is more convincing, since in 1642 various supplies, beer and honey worth 240 rubles were sent to the monastery for a meal. and 200 quarters of bread. In addition, in 1642 the monastery received hay fields and fish ponds in the Berezovsky mouth and on the summer side of the Pomeranian coast.
On the site of the burnt monastery, the Church of the Origin of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross was rebuilt with an arch chapel. Mikhail.
By 1683, the brethren of the Arkhangelsk monastery numbered 83 people. The territory of the monastery was “a length of one hundred and seventeen fathoms and across 56 fathoms, and from that monastery to the stable yard there were 20 fathoms, and under the stable yard of land with a plowed shelf measuring 43 fathoms in length and across 40 fathoms, and from the stable yard behind the monastery to the cow yard of arable land measuring 60 fathoms in length, and across 53 fathoms, and from the monastery by the shore... and the cow yard of an empty wet place measuring 230 fathoms, and under the cow yard of land and with a tilled shelf measuring 152 fathoms in length, and across 80 fathoms, and from the cow the yard from the arable land along the bank to the fill is an empty space.”
K con. XVII century A. m. became a large landowner. He was in charge of monastery yards “for cattle and arable land” in Solombala and numerous yards in the left bank villages where hired workers lived. The income for the monastery also came from courtyards and shops near the fortress in Arkhangelsk. The monastery had metochions in Kholmogory, Veliky Ustyug, Vologda, and Moscow.
In the first half of the 18th century. Due to the decrease in the number of A.M. brethren, widowed clergy and even white clergy were appointed monks. In the winter, abbots of other monasteries often lived in the monastery, disrupting the implementation of the monastery’s rules. Throughout the entire XVIII. V. The Arkhangelsk Monastery was the place of penance for the clergy of the diocese.
The ensemble of the Arkhangelsk Monastery was formed over several centuries. Initially, the entire monastery was made of wood. We can judge the number of its buildings from the surviving inventory of 1683 (ibid.) Cathedral Michael-Arkhangelsk Church. had a northern chapel in the name of Saints Boris and Gleb and a southern chapel in the name of the martyr. Mines. To the south of the cathedral, shortly before 1684, the warm Intercession Church with a refectory and a cellar room was built. Between them there was a bell tower, in the fence: 2 abbot's cells, 8 brethren's cells, a grain cell, a cookhouse, a forge with all the equipment, barns for salt, barns for "halibut, cod", a leaven cellar. Behind the fence there were outbuildings: a kvasshouse, a windmill, a service cell, stable and cow yards, as well as arable land on which up to 14 measures of rye and barley were sown. Near the monastery there was a pier for ships and fishing grounds.
In 1685-1689. on the site of the wooden cathedral, the stone St. Michael-Arkhangelsk Cathedral was built by apprentice mason M.A. Lokhotsky (consecrated on September 17, 1699 by Archbishop Athanasius of Kholmogory and Vazh under Abbot Jeremiah). The cathedral was erected with donations that were collected not only in Arkhangelsk, but also in Moscow, and with funds from investors, including Tsars Peter and John Alekseevich. This first stone church in Arkhangelsk combined the features of all-Russian and local schools of stone architecture of the 17th century.
A brief description of the monastery in 1711 reflects the changed planning structure of the ensemble. Obviously, during the period of stone construction, the monastery fence was rebuilt. “On the fence wall at the gate” a new wooden church was built in honor of the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God. In the former place stood the dilapidated Church of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary and the bell tower. All 3 temples had “mica endings under iron.”
In 1712, according to the blessed letter of Archbishop of Kholmogory Varnava (Volatkovsky), the Intercession Church was built on the first floor of the cathedral. with a chapel martyr. Mines. In 1744, instead of a dilapidated wooden one, a stone hipped bell tower was built above the western lower porch. In 1753, a chapel was built on the south side of the cathedral in the name of Arch. Gabriel.
Interior interiors of the monastery churches in the 18th century. were not distinguished by their splendor. The situation began to change with the appointment of Bishop Barsanuphius I (1740-1759) to the Archangel See. The updated, renovated churches were consecrated in September 1761. In 1777, in the main altar of the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael over St. A four-pillar carved canopy was built around the throne.
To the beginning XIX century The cathedral became very dilapidated, and in 1817-1819. under the leadership of the provincial architect F. M. Shilin, its renovation was carried out: the bell tower was dismantled, cracks in the western wall were repaired, etc. Over the next century, the cathedral was repeatedly reconstructed and repaired. In 1863, a single-tier carved iconostasis made in Vyatka was erected in the cathedral church. Gilded with red gold, it was well preserved by the 20th century. About the monastery complex XVIII century evidenced by a series of watercolor drawings and panoramas of Arkhangelsk, made in 1797 for the Atlas of Arkhangelsk Province.
The administrative position of the Arkhangelsk Monastery has changed several times. From the time of its foundation until the establishment of the Kholmogory and Vazh diocese in 1682, the monastery was subordinate to the Novgorod archbishop. In 1571, during the disgrace of Ivan IV the Terrible against Novgorod and Novgorod Archbishop Leonid (1571-1575), the Arkhangelsk Monastery, together with the Dvina region, Vaga, Kholmogory and Kargopol, was part of the Perm and Vologda diocese. After the death of John IV, the monastery was returned to the Novgorod diocese. The rights of the Novgorod Archbishop over the monastery are set out in the charter of Ivan the Terrible dated February 1542. It says: “and the Metropolitan of Novgorod’s tithes and foreman, and for spiritual matters, do not enter their monastery and do not pay taxes on them to the metropolitan and the governor and tithes and some other duties and do not judge them in anything, but in spiritual matters.” The case of the abbot is judged by the Metropolitan of Novgorod, and what duties can be taken from them to the metropolitan and his tithe and all the tax collectors, and those duties are all collected from them on the Dvina by the priestly elder, and those duties are all given to the Metropolitan of Novgorod by the ten-taxior.”
Until the first quarter of the 16th century. The Arkhangelsk Monastery did not have a communal charter and this differed from other northern monasteries. The Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel was a parish church. In 1528, Archbishop Macarius I (1526-1542) carried out a reform of the monastic structure in the Novgorod diocese - all monasteries, including the Archangel Monastery, became communal.
Since 1764, the Arkhangelsk Monastery has been included in the 3rd class of regular monasteries. Having lost its previous means of maintenance, it gradually fell into disrepair.
An archimandry was established in the monastery twice: in 1707-1764, and from 1797 (by personal decree of Paul I). From the end of the 18th century. Until 1869, the Arkhangelsk monastery was managed by the rectors of the Arkhangelsk Theological Seminary.
In 1817, His Eminence Parthenius II (in the department of 1809-1819), the rector of the Nikolaev Korelsky Monastery, Hegumen Veniamin, was appointed archimandrite of the Arkhangelsk Monastery with the right to wear a camelot robe with green velvet tablets during services. Archimandrite Veniamin (Smirnov) is known as a missionary and preacher of the gospel truth among the Mezen Samoyeds. From 1805 he taught at the Arkhangelsk Seminary, in 1813 he was appointed abbot of the Nikolaevsky Korelsky Monastery, in 1820 - archimandrite of the Antoniev Siysky Monastery. In 1825, under the leadership of Archimandrite Veniamin, a spiritual mission was opened in Mezen for the Christian education of pagan Samoyeds. In Mezen, Archimandrite Veniamin compiled a grammar and dictionary of the Samoyed language, translated the books of the New Testament, the catechism and various prayers, and prepared a study “The Mezen Samoyeds”. Over the five years of the mission, more than 3,000 local residents were baptized, and 3 parishes were opened. The missionary work of Archimandrite Veniamin in Mezen ended in 1830, and the rector of the Arkhangelsk Monastery, Archimandrite Platon (1829-1839), became his successor.
In 1869-1893 The Arkhangelsk Monastery was again ruled by archimandrites. From August 23, 1893, the Arkhangelsk monastery was subordinate to the Arkhangelsk diocesan bishop - His Eminence Nikanor (Kamensky, at the department 1893-1896). Under him, the revival of the monastery began: significant funds were raised for the restoration of the cathedral church of the Archangel Michael, and in 1894 the main dome and crosses were gilded. The raising of the renewed cross to the central dome took place in the presence of St. right John of Kronstadt, who was at that time in Arkhangelsk. On the evening of July 23, 1894, a fire broke out in the dome of the cathedral, destroying all the restoration work carried out. His Grace Nikanor grieved a lot about what happened, but did not become despondent - fundraising for the restoration of the cathedral church of the Archangel Monastery was even more active than a year ago. Soon the cathedral was restored, and the main dome was gilded, the corner domes were painted blue with an overlay of gilded stars, and the roof was painted copperplate. Since 1897, at the request of His Grace Ioannikis I (in the cathedral 1896-1901), the monastery was again ruled by archimandrites.
From 1771 to 1812, the Arkhangelsk Theological Seminary was located in the Arkhangelsk Monastery. Its five wooden one-story buildings were located in the northeastern corner of the monastery fence. The living rooms of the seminarians served as classrooms, in which up to 30 people lived at a time. The educational process of the seminary in 1785 included the teaching of poetry, rhetoric, philosophy, theology, German and French, arithmetic, geography, history, and since 1802 - the Hebrew language and traditional medicine. Educational debates were regularly held for the townspeople. In 1811, the seminary had 7 classrooms, in which about 200 people studied.
On September 26, 1812, the seminary moved from the monastery to a new stone building (now the building of the M.V. Lomonosov Pomeranian University). In 1893, a psalm-teaching school was opened on the top floor of the fraternal building of the Arkhangelsk Monastery.
From 1891 to 1923, the museum housed the funds of the famous ancient repository - a collection of ancient manuscripts, books, and church antiquities. It was created with the blessing of Bishop. Nathanael II (Soborov), through the works of members of the diocesan commission for the collection and protection of antiquities of the Arkhangelsk province (since 1890 - the Arkhangelsk Diocesan Church-Archaeological Committee). I.M. put a lot of effort into organizing it. Sibirtsev is a teacher at the Arkhangelsk Theological Seminary (corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences since 1928). The collection of the ancient repository was carried out during 1887-1917, by 1912 it contained more than 500 manuscripts of the 15th-18th centuries, more than 25,000 documents, a huge collection of church household items, utensils, icons, etc. The exhibition was located in several halls of a special building built under the bishop. Joannikia I (1896-1901). In 1922, the collection of manuscripts from the ancient repository was transported from the monastery to the Regional Scientific Library, in 1927 - to the Archaeographic Commission of Leningrad, in 1931-1932. - to the Manuscript Department of the USSR BAS. Other items from the ancient depository were dumped in the warehouses of the Arkhangelsk customs, the rest of the collection was transported to the Arkhangelsk Local History Museum.
The main shrine of the monastery at the beginning of the 20th century. They considered a golden cross with a particle of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord. This shrine was donated in November 1894 by Patriarch Gerasim of Jerusalem to Bishop Nikanor (1893-1896) as a consolation for the grief of the fire in the cathedral church that occurred on July 23, 1894. An accompanying letter of identification was sent with the cross. The donated shrine was placed in the lower part of an ancient altar cross, which also contained particles of various Palestinian shrines.
Among the shrines of A. m. should be included the ancient Vladimir icon of the Mother of God. The icon belonged to a native of the village. Pokshengi of Pinezhsky district to Archbishop of Voronezh and Zadonsk Ignatius (Semyonov). This icon was spiritually significant for His Grace Ignatius. In 1810, when the future archpastor lived in the Arkhangelsk Monastery and studied at the Theological Seminary, he became very ill. And in a dream, the Lord saw this icon and people praying in front of it. One of the worshipers reproached the young man: “Why don’t you pray when everyone else is praying?” Waking up healed, he immediately began to look for the revealed image of the Mother of God among his icons. The found Vladimir icon, according to the bishop, subsequently kept him all his life. In 1811, through prayers before the image of the Most Pure Virgin, Vladyka was again healed of a serious illness. According to the spiritual will of Archbishop Ignatius, the Vladimir Icon ended up in the Arkhangelsk Monastery.
The ancient copy of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God in simple Greek script in a silver robe, as well as the icon of the Mother of God “Quick to Hear,” which was listed as miraculous in the inventory of the monastery’s property in 1924, were venerated as shrines.
On the territory of the Arkhangelsk Monastery there was a brotherly cemetery, surrounding the Cathedral of St. Michael of Arkhangelsk on 3 sides. Burials here began in the 18th century. Among the mass graves are buried the voivode, Prince. G.D. Cherkassky (1706), Arkhangelsk governor A. Perfilyev (d. 1823), some merchants.
History of A.m. in the 20th century describes the time of gradual impoverishment of the monastery and its ruin. After the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the Diocesan infirmary was opened in the Arkhangelsk Monastery. The infirmary was maintained through donations from diocesan monasteries and churches, as well as private donors.
In 1916, an archimandrite, 2 hieromonks, 2 hierodeacons, and 2 novices lived in the monastery. The last abbot of the Arkhangelsk Monastery was apparently Abbot Desiderius. The fate of the last monks is unknown.
On June 20, 1920, the cathedral of the former Arkhangelsk Monastery was transferred by the Administrative Department of the Arkhangelsk Provincial Executive Committee to the collective of believers of the First Michael the Archangel church parish. Archpriest Vasily Aristov became the rector.
In 1922, priest Dimitry Fedosikhin, the spiritual son of St., became the rector of the parish. right John of Kronstadt, who served from 1904 to 1921 at the church of the Sursky St. John the Theological Monastery.
The campaign to confiscate church valuables did not spare the parish of the former Arkhangelsk Monastery. According to the inventory, more than 2 pounds of silver and other valuables were seized. The provincial authorities of the Soviet government could not come to terms with the fact that a religious community was operating in the former St. Michael the Archangel Monastery, a monument of Moscow architecture of the 17th century. It was absolutely necessary to find a reason to close the parish. And a reason was found. The report of the commission created by the Arkhangelsk Gubernia Executive Committee, dated April 23, 1924, pointed to facts of violation of the terms of the agreement with the community of believers: the chaotic storage of objects from the history of the monastery, objects of church life not included in the inventory, and also indicated possible facts of theft of property by parishioners. To rectify the current situation, it was proposed to terminate the contract with the group of believers, bring them to criminal liability, and “transfer the building of the Archangel Michael Church to another group.” The agreement was terminated on July 20, 1924, and the community was recognized as liquidated.
In 1924-1925 The temple belonged to the renovationists, and then to the regional institute of social re-education. However, the buildings of the former monastery began to be used for economic purposes, robbed and destroyed. Without any approval, the monastery bells were blown up to be melted down.
In February 1930, the head. Glavnauka sowing KraiONO Mr. Voltaire pointed out that “the building of the cathedral of the former Arkhangelsk Monastery is the most ancient building of the city and deserves protection. The question of its repair in the direction of restoration should not be raised, but the use of the building for practical purposes is quite acceptable. Instruction dated March 7, 1930 Mr. Voltaire did not interfere with the dismantling of the monastery buildings.In 1930, the monastery was demolished: the Cathedral, the bell tower and part of the fence with the towers were dismantled, the bricks were transferred to the construction office.
This is how the history of the once glorious St. Michael the Archangel Monastery throughout the Russian North ended tragically.

Based on materials from the site “hingled.ucoz.ru”.