Саввино-Сторожевский монастырь | |
.jpg) Panoramic view, 2011 | |
 Interactive map of The Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery | |
| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1398 |
| Dedicated to | Orthodoxy |
| Diocese | stauropegial |
| Site | |
| Coordinates | 55°43′41″N36°48′58″E / 55.728°N 36.816°E /55.728; 36.816 |
| Website | savvastor.ru |
TheSavvino-Storozhevsky Monastery (Russian:Саввино-Сторожевский монастырь,lit. 'the Storozhi monastery of St. Savva') is aRussian Orthodoxmonastery dedicated to the feast of theNativity of the Theotokos.[1] It is the preeminent landmark ofZvenigorod, a town located 48 km (30 mi) west ofMoscow.
In 1398, PrinceYuri of Zvenigorod askedSavva, or Sabbas, one of the first disciples ofSergius of Radonezh, to come to his capital city and set up a monastic abode. At first, only one wooden church, dedicated to theNativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was established on the high Storozhi hill above theMoskva River. Saint Sabbas sought solitude and prayed in a small cave, dug with his own hands. With time more and more monks settled in the new abode. In 1402 Yury Dmitrievich granted it several villages, vast land and forest tenures. St. Savva of Storozhi was interred in the white stone cathedral of the Virgin's Nativity in 1407.[2] This diminutive, roughly hewn church still stands, although its present-day exquisite look is the result of a 1970s restoration campaign. Thefrescoes in the altar date back to the 1420s, but the rest of the interior was painted in 1656. A magnificenticonostasis in five tiers and theStroganov schoolroyal doors were installed in 1652.
In 15-17th centuries the monastery served as a militarypicket, defending theGrand Duchy of Moscow on the West. In 1650, the piousTsar Alexis selected the Zvenigorod monastery as his suburban residence. Anashlar residence for the tsar and a smaller palace for his wife date from the early 1650s. Alexis had the churches encircled with stone walls and towers, patterned after those of theTroitse-Sergiyeva Lavra. Particularly noteworthy is a large belfry, erected in four bays in 1650 and crowned with three tents and a clocktower. A new 'gate church' was built by Ivan Sharutin in 1650 and consecrated to the feast of theHoly Trinity in 1652.[3] In 1650 theChurch of the Transfiguration was built byPrincess Sophia. She also ordered to establish the refectory and in 1686-1687 rebuilt the Tsar Alexis' palace.[4]
Since the times of Tsar Alexis the monastery was one of the most important religious places in Russia. All the following tsars and tsarinas, and later — emperors and empresses, came here to pray and receive a blessing before the ceremony of crowning. The road from the Moscow Kremlin to Zvenigorod and the Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery was called the Tsar Road or The Road Of God Blessed Tsars, nowadays it is known as Rublevskoe shosse.[5]
During theNapoleonic Wars, on September 12, 1812, the Italian corps ofviceroy Eugene Bograne defeatedWintzingerode's squadron of light cavalry under the monastery walls. The skirmish is described in the memoirs of PrinceSergey Volkonsky and CountAlexander von Benckendorff. According to the local legend, Eugene Bograne stayed at the Sentry Tabernacle of the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery. St. Sabba visited Prince Eugene in a dream, promising him a safe return home if his soldiers would not plunder the monastery. Eugene Bograne spared the monastery and indeed returned home safely.[4]
In May 1918, when theBolsheviks tried to seize the relics of St. Savva, several persons were shot dead. The monastery was ransacked and pillaged, including the tomb of Saint Savva, made of gold plated silver, then the monks were chased out and finally the cathedral was left to ruin. In 1941 the 35-ton main bell was destroyed.[6]
In 1985, the compound was assigned to theDanilov Monastery in Moscow. St. Savva's relics were returned to the monastery in 1998.
Both major churches used to be entirely covered with frescoes and until the revolution had the old icon screens of five levels. Only a few fragments of the original frescoes have survived the Soviet period.[7]
The monastery is a well known touristic attraction on top of being a site of pilgrimage, and is readily accessible from Moscow by a combination of railroad and bus transport. A hotel run by the monastery offers accommodation to pilgrims and tourists wishing to remain overnight.[8] The local Zvenigorod museum operates exhibitions within the Tsarina's palace located in the monastery complex. These deal with several subjects of local history, the life of the nobility and royal family, and religiousicons from the 17th to the early 20th century.[9] Not unlike Western European monasteries, the Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery has a brewery, sellingkvas andsbiten to the public as well as operating a bakery which produces and sells a wide variety of bread and pastries to visitors. Two canteens for visitors are also operated by the monastery, one right outside the walls of the main monastery complex and another on the road to theskete, serving both the monastery's own products and commercial foods and drinks.
DirectorAndrei Tarkovsky filmed the first and final scenes of his 1972 filmSolaris at adacha near the Monastery of St. Savva of Storozhi.[10]
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