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Monastery of the Holy Trinity (Ukrainian:Монастир Святої Трійці,Lithuanian:Vienuolynas ir Šv. Trejybės cerkvė,Polish:monaster św. Trójcy) is a monastery built inVilnius by theRuthenian Church andGrand Hetman of LithuaniaKonstanty Ostrogski as a thanksgiving to the God for the victory inBattle of Orsha.[1][2] It now belongs to theOrder of Saint Basil the Great and theUkrainian Greek Catholic Church. At the Greek Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity theChristian worships are held only inUkrainian language.[2]
The church is dedicated to theHoly Trinity. Beside this church, the monastery compound contains a fortified entrance gate, a university, a hotel complex for visitors, monastic cells including the Konrad's cell. The church is surrounded by adjoining four towers at each corner.
This monastery is associated with theUnion of Brest personalities likeJosaphat Kuntsevych,Archbishop of Polatsk who took vows here and spent first years of his monastic life, as well as a prominent reformer of the Basilian Order,Veliamyn Rutsky.
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According to a legend, the first wooden church was built in the 14th century by Grand PrincessUliana of Tver, a spouse of the Grand PrinceAlgirdas. The church was built in place where in 1347 the Algirdas noblemen Antony, Johan, and Eustachy died as the first martyrs for Christian faith and the first Christian saints in theGrand Duchy of Lithuania.
The first stone church of Holy Trinity with a belfry was built byKonstanty Ostrogski in 1514 as a token of appreciation for a victory of Polish-Lithuanian forces over Muscovite troops near Orsha (Battle of Orsha). The original church was built in Gothic style. In first half of the 17th century to the church were added three chapels. In 1609 on an edict of theKing of PolandSigismund III Vasa the church and monastery was transferred to the Basialian Order.[3]
The first chapelAnnunciation of the Holy Theotokos was built on the funds ofJanusz Skumin Tyszkiewicz and was located to the right from the main entrance. In the chapel'scrypt were buried father of the founder, Theodor Skumin-Tyszkiewicz (d.1618), the founder himself, and his wife, Barbara Naruszewicz (d.1627). In the chapel is preserved her marble gravestone, a work of Italian masters. Nowadays in the chapel are constantly held liturgies inByzantine rite.
The second chapel that is located to the left of main entrance calledSt.Luke was built in 1622 on the funds of Eustachy Korsak-Hołubicki, a big supporter of the Union (Union of Brest). Beside its founder, in the crypt underneath the chapel rest his sons Ivan and Grigori. To this noble family of Korsaks belongs archimandrite the Basilian monastery of VilniusRafajil Mykola Korsak, later – a proto-archimandrite of the Basilian Order, Metropolitan of Kiev for Eastern-rite Catholics.
The third chapel is calledExaltation of the True and Life-creating Cross of our Lord. The founder of this chapel with a family crypt was a scribe of Grand Duchy of Lithuania Jan Kolenda in 1628.
In the church survived valuable tombstones. Unique landmark of the Renaissance epoch in Lithuania is a tombstone of VilnaBurgomaster Othanasius Braha and his son Antony with a coat of arms, Cyrillic inscription and rich floral ornament dated 1576. Draws attention a tombstone of Jelenski sisters with sentimental inscription which comes from 1758.
In 1670 significant funds to renew the church contributedGreat Hetman of LithuaniaMichał Kazimierz Pac and Great Treasurer Hieronymus Kryszpin-Kirchenstein, particularly towards the altar of SaintJosaphat Kuntsevych.
TheBasilian monks were banished from the monastery in 1821 and the wing of the men's monastery was converted into a prison.[4] Between 1823 and 1824,Romantic poetAdam Mickiewicz and otherVilnius University students, members of theFilaret Association were imprisoned in the monastery for their engagement in secret organizations fighting for thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth independence from theRussian rule.[4]
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The fate of Vilna icon of Theotokos Hodegetria (Theotokos of Vilna) that for two centuries (1715—1915) was located in the church of Holy Trinity is unknown. According to a legend, the icon was written by St.Luke the Evangelist and for long years it was an ancestral relic of Greek emperors inConstantinople. It is believed that a niece of the last Byzantine Emperor,Sophia Palaiologina who married theGreat Prince of MuscovyIvan III of Moscow, brought the icon toMoscow. While unconfirmed, there exists another version that the icon was transferred to the Great Prince of Moscow fromprince of Halych who received it sometime ago as a present from Byzantine Emperors. Regardless of its past history, the fact states that Ivan III blessed his daughterHelena of Moscow with the icon when he gave her out in marriage for theGreat Prince of LithuaniaAlexander Jagiellon. The icon was brought to the capital ofGrand Duchy of Lithuania and received name of Vilna. In 1866 during restoration, it was discovered that the top level is egg basedtempera paint indicating very old origin of the icon. In 1915 at times ofWorld War I during evacuation the icon was taken away from Vilnius and to this day location of Theotokos of Vilnius is unknown.
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54°40′30.82″N25°17′18.58″E / 54.6752278°N 25.2884944°E /54.6752278; 25.2884944
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