In what year was the Sven monastery founded? Svensky Assumption Monastery in Suponevo (Bryansk). The mortal sin of Captain Rykhlov and all who were with him

Year of construction: 1288
Address: Bryansk region, Bryansk district, Suponevo village, Frunze street, 1.

Bryansk Svensky Assumption monastery is one of the most ancient and famous monasteries in Russia.
The emergence of the Svensky Monastery was due to the appearance of the miraculous icon of the Most Holy Theotokos of Svenskaya (Pecherskaya) and the miraculous healing from blindness of the Blessed Prince of Chernigov Roman Mikhailovich from her in 1288.
With the transfer of Bryansk to the Muscovite state, the Svensky Monastery, due to its miraculous image and position as a cultural center in the ancient Bryansk land, quickly became an outstanding monastery. Under Tsar Ivan the Terrible, the construction of stone churches instead of wooden ones began in the monastery. From 1681 to 1786, the monastery was assigned to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and was called the Novo-Pechersk (Svensky) monastery, so that the brethren of the Lavra could have refuge in it during the attacks of the Polish-Lithuanian troops on Little Russia.
Many disciples and followers of the Monk Paisius Velichkovsky were associated with the Svensky Monastery. Among them are hieromonk Athanasius (Stepanov), schemamonks Athanasius (Okhlopkov) and Athanasius (Zakharov), hierodeacon Anastasius and other ascetics of piety. The Monk Moses of Optina was in 1809-1811 a novice at the Svensky Monastery.
After the Bolshevik coup, the monastery was devastated, only the gate churches survived from the monastery churches: in honor of the Presentation of the Lord and in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord. The miraculous Svenska Icon of the Mother of God, kept in the monastery, was transferred to the Tretyakov Gallery, where it remains to this day.

Bryansk Svensky Assumption Monastery
(drawing-reconstruction of architect Gorodkov at the beginning of the 20th century, 1974):
1 - Assumption Cathedral (not preserved),
2 - Church of Anthony and Theodosius (not preserved),
3 - Church of the Presentation,
4 - Church of the Transfiguration,
5 – bell tower (not preserved),
6 - Peter's house (restored),
7 - residential and outbuildings,
8 - gate towers,
9 - water tower.

Monastic life in the Svenska monastery has been revived since 1992. Since 2010, work has been underway to restore the temple in the name of St. Anthony and Theodosius of the Caves. Work has begun on the restoration of the Assumption Cathedral of the monastery, which was blown up in 1930. At present, the house in which Peter I stayed has been restored on the territory of the monastery, a fraternal building and a water tower have been built, and a refectory building is being erected. In 2011, the adjacent lands were returned to the monastery and transferred. The monastery is one of the places of Orthodox pilgrimage. Divine services are performed daily, according to the monastic Rule. In 2011 in the Svensky Monastery Divine Liturgy on the Sunday of All Saints Who Resplendent in the Russian Land, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' performed.

Attractions:

Assumption Svensky Monastery in Bryansk, located on the high bank of the river. Gums at the confluence of the river. Sweeney. This is one of the oldest monasteries in Russia. Located in the south-west of Rus', during its history it has undergone many trials, but has survived to our time.

Construction history

The foundations of the monastery date back to 1288 and it is connected with the following miracle. Bryansk Prince Roman Mikhailovich went blind. Wishing to receive healing, he ordered the icon of the Mother of God to be delivered to Bryansk from the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery. Upon arrival in the city, the wagon with the icon stopped exactly at the place where the Svensky monastery would be founded, and the prince would receive healing.

Holy Assumption Svensky Monastery, Bryansk Region

The icon itself remained in the monastery and later became famous for many miracles, receiving the name Svenskaya. And the further fate of the monastery was as follows:

• Prince Roman Mikhailovich founded the wooden Assumption Church, in which he was buried; during his lifetime, 70 monks and novices already lived in the monastery;
• in the 16th century, stone construction began in the monastery: in 1566 a church was erected in honor of St. Rev. Anthony and Theodosius of the Caves, in 1578 the Assumption Cathedral was erected, as well as a stone bell tower;
• during the 17th century, the monastery was ravaged more than once, either by the Lithuanians, or by the Crimean Tatars, and in 1664 the monastery was burned down by the Crimean Tatars, all wooden buildings burned down, and the temples were badly damaged;
• in 1682, the Svenska monastery was assigned to the Kiev-Pechersk monastery, since it could no longer maintain all the buildings in proper condition on its own;
• the gate Sretenskaya Church was built in 1678;
• the new Assumption Cathedral was erected in 1758;
• in 1764, the Svensky Assumption Monastery in Bryansk was surrounded by a stone fence 5.5 to 8 m high.

With the coming to power of the Bolsheviks, the monastery was closed, the main shrine of the Svenska Icon of the Mother of God was transferred to the Tretyakov Gallery. In 1930, the Assumption Cathedral was blown up, the church of St. Anthony and Theodosius and the bell tower. Having become a branch of the Bryansk Regional Museum of Local Lore, the Svensk monastery began to be restored in 1970 and in 1988 was able to receive the first visitors.

A new page in the history of the Svensky Monastery in Bryansk opened in 1992, when it was handed over to the Church and the revival of the monastery began.

Interesting fact! While in the Svensky monastery in 1708, Peter I learned about the betrayal of Mazepa. For a long time, Peter's house was preserved on the territory of the monastery, where the sovereign stayed when he was in the monastery.

Architecture Description

Of the pre-revolutionary buildings of the monastery, the wall is well preserved, only partially destroyed and restored in 2011. The Sretensky gate temple is painted in pink color and has several chapters. Church of St. Anthony and Theodosius of the Caves was restored, as it was completely destroyed. This is a single-domed church without a pillar.

Church of Anthony and Theodosius of the Caves in the Dormition Svensky Monastery

The Church of the Transfiguration (built in 1742) is a five-tiered tower above the gates, in which the lower tiers are square and the upper ones are round. The main temple of the monastery, the Assumption Cathedral, was also restored. With the money of donors, its restoration has been carried out over the past few years. The cathedral has a 22-meter iconostasis. The icons in it are nominal, i.e., painted on the donations of those who donated for each specific icon.

Important! By the end of the 19th century, the monastery had a fairly large library, which had a good collection of early printed books of the 16th-17th centuries. Unfortunately, most of the books perished during the Soviet hard times.

Patronal feasts and shrines

There are several patronal feasts in the monastery:

• August 19 Transfiguration of the Lord;
• August 28 Assumption of the Mother of God;
• May 15, memory of St. Anthony of the Caves;
• July 26, memory of St. Theodosius of the Caves;
• February 15 Meeting of the Lord.

There are not so many shrines in the revived monastery. Among them, the most revered are the icon of St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called with a particle of his St. relics and a list from the icon of the Mother of God of Svenska.

There are also relics, as well as places of interest. Not so long ago, a resident of Canada handed over to the monastery a 17th-century patron with the image of the Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”. Once it belonged to the monastery, but in the post-revolutionary period it was taken abroad.

Restoration of the Assumption Cathedral, Svensky Monastery (2017)

Not far from the monastery, the so-called Petrovsky oak has been preserved. According to legend, when Peter I stayed at the monastery, he liked to rest under this oak. Also near the walls of the monastery there is a holy spring, to which a long staircase leads down from a high slope.

Interesting! In 2015, a unique artifact was discovered on the territory of the Svenska monastery, a white plate depicting a horseman with a sword and an inscription. The inscription itself is still being deciphered, but the purpose of the plate itself remains unclear. It is located within the walls of the monastery.

Worship Schedule

They serve in the monastery every day, the evening service begins at 17.00, the liturgy on weekdays at 8.00. On Sundays there are two liturgies: early at 8.00 and late at 10.00.

The Svensky Assumption Monastery is located on the high steep bank of the Desna River, at the confluence of the Sven River. It was founded in 1288 by Prince Roman Mikhailovich of Chernigov, at the place where, according to legend, the prince prayed to the icon of Our Lady of the Caves delivered from Kyiv and regained his sight after a serious illness. In the middle of the 16th century, stone construction began in the originally wooden monastery, thanks to the huge contributions of Ivan IV the Terrible. In the XVI-XVII centuries, the monastery, located on the outskirts of Rus', was repeatedly devastated. In 1583, the Lithuanians burned it, in 1607 it was plundered by the detachments of False Dmitry II, and in 1664 the Crimean Tatars devastated it. Despite this, by the 18th century the Svensky Monastery became one of the largest in the south-west of Russia. For more than a hundred years, the monastery was under the jurisdiction of the Kiev Caves Monastery. During this time, construction on the territory of the monastery was completed. After the revolution of 1917, the monastery shared the fate of many of its kind. In 1930, the main cathedral of the monastery was blown up - the Assumption Cathedral, leading its history from 1566, the bell tower, the house of Peter I, part of the walls and towers. In 1992, the monastery was transferred to the Bryansk-Sevsk diocese and now it is a functioning male monastery.

Svensky Assumption Monastery, 3rd class, cenobitic, 3 versts from the city of Bryansk, by the Desna River, opposite the Svena, or Svina River. Founded in 1288 by Prince Roman Mikhailovich of Chernigov in gratitude for the miraculous healing of his blindness in this place through prayer before the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, now known under the name of Svenskaya. According to legend, this holy icon, painted by St. Alypy (see August 17), and requested by Prince Roman from the Kiev-Pechersk monastery, during the journey, being on a boat that sailed along the Desna River in the city of Bryansk, was miraculously transferred at night to branches of a large oak that grew against the river Svena, where the next day she was found by those accompanying her: here, through prayers before her, Prince Roman received healing. The Mother of God on this holy icon is depicted seated on a throne with the Divine Infant sitting on Her knees and with Saints Anthony and Theodosius of the Caves standing on either side of the throne. From that time to the present, the holy icon has been in the Svensky Monastery, having become famous for many miracles. A feast in her honor takes place on May 3rd. At the place where the oak grew, on which the holy icon appeared, there is now a chapel. The monastic cathedral church of the Assumption was built in 1749-1756 according to the plan of the famous architect Count Rastrelli. Every year on August 11, in memory of the deliverance of the city of Bryansk from the invasion of the enemy in 1812, a procession is performed with the miraculous icon from the monastery to the city and around the city, and on August 15 from the city to the monastery. At the cathedral church in a special building there is a cell in which Emperor Peter I lived in 1709; here is his portrait, left by him as a keepsake. There is a school and a hospice at the monastery.

From the book by S.V. Bulgakov "Russian monasteries in 1913"

The legend of the conception of the most pure Caves and the great miracle-workers Ontony and Theodosius of the Pechora of the Svinsky Monastery in the city of Bryansk, five fields from the bottom of the Desna River.

The first sign follows this former miracle. It was written on the miraculous image of the Most Pure in a scroll. In the summer of 6000 and seven hundred 96. The icon was laid on by the faithful Grand Duke Roman Mikhailovich of Chernigov and the blessed Princess Nastasia of September 26 in memory of the holy Apostle John the Theologian. The same noble prince, the great Roman Mikhailovich, was living to him at that time in his community in the city of Bryansk. By God’s will, I’ve darkened my eyes and I hear miracles happen to him ... healing from the miraculous image of the Most Pure Caves and the great miracle workers Ontony and Theodosius of the Caves. Izhe is in Kyiv in the Caves Monastery. And the great prince began to think to send to the Pechersk monastery his ambassador, according to the miraculous image and mercy of the archimandrite with the brethren, and do so. And the one sent to the monastery and sent away from the prince to the archimandrite and the brethren came for mercy and asked the Most Pure miraculous image to Prince Roman Mikhailovich for healing. The archimandrite, having done so with the brethren, did not leave the petition to the prince. And let go of the miraculous ... image and send your priest with the messenger and float in boats along the Desna River to the mountain to the city of Bryansk.

With great joy and swam against the river Sweeney. And a stack of boats in a single place among the Desna River. Rowers are unable to row either up or down. The sent one said: we will charge this burden in the Pig River, but the boat went from the place and stuck to the shore in the right country. And having arrived at that load in the morning, rise up and go to the boat in your desire, pray to the Most Pure miraculous to go on your way. And not having acquired the image of the Most Pure on the boat. Those who were sent with the retinue began to mourn and shed tears: search the mountains and the wilds and the desert. And having crossed the Desna river, the Svini river and went around the mountains. And having acquired a miraculous image, standing on an oak high between branches. They do not hesitate to touch the withdrawal. And sending a messenger to the Grand Duke Roman Mikhailovich to confess the miracle of the Most Pure Mother of God, miraculous. The messenger, however, came to erect everything to the Grand Duke. The great prince, having heard such a miracle from the messenger, soon jumped up from his bed with great joy. And shed tears and commanded that they soon call all of God's churches, throughout the city, and gather the entire cathedral, the bishopric, the archimandrite and the abbot and the priest and the deacon, and all the people of that city, from small to large, and around it to all people living. And on foot, the great prince Roman Mikhailovich and the bishop and archimandrites and abbots and priests and deacons and all the people of that city, young and old, with candles and censers. And where is the Most Pure miraculous image standing on the tree, and coming to him, near the place of that, the Great Prince Roman Mikhailovich sighed from the depths of his heart with tears and speech. O most wonderful Lady, Mother of God, Mother of Christ our God, give my Lady the insight of the eye and see the light and your miraculous image. I will see a glare in the distance from this place to all four countries. I will give a fraction to your house and build, Madam, a temple and a monastery where you love places and at the same hour you see a little path before you. And he commanded to put a cross in that place, and to this day a cross in that place. And from that place, having come to the tree, a miraculous icon stands on it. The great prince, however, cried out with a voice. O Most Pure Lady and Lady Virgin Mother of God, hear the voice of my prayer with tears. Glagolushe: give my Lady the insight of my eyes. And the congregation and all people are the same praying with one mouth. And at that hour, the great prince Roman Mikhailovich saw the light, but even more clearly than the first eyes, he commanded the bishop and the archimandrite hegumen and the whole parable of the church, to remove the image of the Immaculate Miracle Workers from the tree and begin to sing prayers. According to the funeral service, the great prince Roman Mikhailovich himself began to chop logs with his hands on the temple of God the Most Pure, and commanded all people to do the same. And overcoming the temple soon. In the name of the Most Pure Lady of our Theotokos, her honorable and noble Dormition. And illuminating the command to serve the divine liturgy as a cathedral and sending all the holy singing and protecting the monastery. And he appointed hegumon and ordered the brethren to gather and give enough gold and silver to create a monastery. Then they went to the city with great joy.

And they began to build a monastery and decorate a miraculous icon with a single gold and silver. And from then on and until now, great mercy and healing comes from the miraculous image of the Most Pure to all who come in faith. And the same captive people deliver and free many captives from the unfaithful, coming praying and working in the monastery according to their promise. That's how it is to this day. And on what tree did the most pure image stand in the predicted place. And that tree with a branch was crushed with saws ovi on icons on a letter ovi on the cross. A lot of time has passed since the salary of the miraculous image of gold and silver has fallen off. And of the same monastery of Svinsky, the abbot of the name and the brethren informed the Sovereign, Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich of All Rus', the autocrat with a great prayer, so that the Sovereign ordered the salary of the Most Pure miraculous to be redone. And the sovereign then is still young. And soak a good thought in the heart of the Most Honorable Sovereign. Soon the Sovereign commanded the most pure miraculous image to bring to himself in the reigning city of Moscow. And he commanded the gold and silver and pearls and precious stones to be added to the hundredth salary and deeds of the masters for three years. And decorating the Sovereign with the miraculous image of the Most Pure Theotokos. And having sung prayers, release the most pure image to the monastery of Svinesk. The Sovereign gave alms and an annual ruga. And tarkhan letters for the establishment of the monastery. And the Sovereign commanded to arrange a common life for the elder Iev Kamynin according to his petition. And with the most pure mercy and the great miracle-workers Ontony and Theodosius of the Caves. The monastery is being built and the brethren gathered up to 70 in number. And the church councils and the daily services were fulfilled, as in other holy great monasteries. And they pray to the all-merciful God and His Most Pure Mother and the miracle-working saints and all saints. On the health of the Sovereign of our pious Tsar and Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich of All Rus', Autocrat. And about his pious empress Princess Marya. And about his Sovereign God-given children and princes Prince Ivan and Prince Fyodor Ivanovich. And for Prince Vladimir Ondreyevich and for the princess and their children. And for the archbishop (cut short).

(L. 7) On the summer of 7074 May at 19, in memory of the Holy Hieromartyr Patrekey of Prussia, start a quick ditch to dig on the Church of the Most Pure Caves and the great miracle-workers Anthony and Theodosius of the Caves of the Pig Monastery. The same month at 21, in memory of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Tsar Kostentin and his mother Elena honor their beats on the soles. On the same month, at 27, in memory of the holy hieromartyr Theraponte, a buttiti was placed on the sole under the church. June 9th day for all saints and for the memory of those in the saints of our father Cyril, Archbishop of Alexandria. And on the same day, in memory of the reverend father of our Cyril of Belozersk, the new miracle worker, the Most Pure Pechersk Church was laid over, and under the corners of many relics of the Pechersk Monastery, the Most Pure from Kyiv. And it was overlaid with the faithful and pious Tsar, Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich of All Russia, with the faithful Empress Grand Duchess Marya and with the faithful Tsarevich Ivan and Tsarevich Fedor. And sacred to Bishop Semion of Smolensk and Bryansk. And under Abbot Sergius, brothers and sisters in Christ. And the master Tavrilo Dmitriev, the son of Makov and Tveritin, did it.

(L. 8, here is a different handwriting) On July 28, 7075, on the 28th day, in memory of the saints, the apostle Prochorus and Nikonor and Timon and Parmen made the church stone of the Most Pure Pig Monastery under Abbot Sergius. And by sin on that day, in the second hour of the day, a bridge with stone and brick broke off, six sazhens of Fryazian people from above to the ground, and on that bridge, Tikhon the elder, the former abbot of that monastery, broke off, and with him sixty people of church kamenytsiks and delavites, who were wearing up the stone and brick, and the little guys who carried water and lime to church work, and the old hegumen of the former Tikhon was cast out, showering him with stone and brick to the waist standing in those (...) ten people of church masters and doers and little guys uo all the heads of the trial, and some have the cheekbones of the trial and the most ignorant, and others have their arms and legs broken. AND God's mercy and with the prayers of our Most Pure Lady of the Caves to the Theotokos Ever-Virgin Mary and our venerable and God-bearing fathers Ontony and Theodosius of the Caves of the Pig Monastery of the former hegumen of the elder Tikhon and all those people who were killed in the church, not a single one of them was mortally wounded. Oviah, who herself was killed, came out of the church, and carried others out of the church, and stone and brick were beaten to smithereens. And also in the month of July, on the 30th day, Abbot Sergei ordered that stone and brick. He who was beaten to clean it all out of the church and ordered him to pour it all under the ravine, but in church affairs with that brick and stone he did not bless any church work, and then ... singing prayers above the altar and shining water and sprinkling the church walls and overshadowing the cross, and blessed church masters, and delavtsev dolati. like... (further the manuscript breaks off).

The publication was prepared by V. Nosov. Material from the booklet "Svensky Monastery" of the Creative and Production Association "Autograph", Bryansk, compiled by V. Skidan

Founded by Prince Roman Mikhailovich in 1288. This is one of the most famous monasteries in Russia in antiquity. The monastery is located at the confluence of two waterways - Desna and Sven. The most majestic building of the ensemble of the Svensky Monastery was the Assumption Cathedral, consecrated in 1758. It was first erected in 1567 by order of Ivan the Terrible by Tver architect Gavriil Makov. Barbarously blown up in 1931. The oldest of the surviving buildings of the Svensky Monastery is the Sretenskaya Church "on the Holy Gates". Its construction was completed in the 70s of the XVII century. The monastery was returned to the Russian Church in 1992. The monastery is currently undergoing renovations. restoration work.

The year was 1288. Prince Roman Mikhailovich Bryansky, as the legend informs, began to go blind. All the sadder were his thoughts about the future, more and more sadly he recalled the days of the past ... Bryansk prince Roman, the son of the Chernigov prince Mikhail killed in the Horde, was known as a brave warrior, an intelligent diplomat, a wise commander. Having settled in Bryansk, he got along with the Tatars, began to vigorously strengthen his principality. Chernigov, Novgorod-Seversky, Kursk, Vladimir were devastated, plundered, burned, and Bryansk flourished and was built. The Bryansk principality from the third quarter of the 13th century became one of the strongest in the southwestern part of Rus'. Roman Bryansky erected the oak walls of the fortress on Pokrovskaya Gora. But not a fortress, not dense forests and impenetrable swamps saved the city from ruin. The prince led a wise, far-sighted policy. He did not spoil relations with the Golden Horde, he traded with Lithuania. Bryansk soon became a major cultural and religious center of southwestern Rus'.

The city above the Desna River attracted merchants, boyars, blacksmiths, potters, and peasants. But when the enemy approached the borders of the principality, a squad rose to his defense along with the courageous Roman Mikhailovich. When an illness came, in the princely mansions they remembered the "miracle-working" icon of the Mother of God from the Kiev-Pechersky Monastery, which allegedly healed diseases more than once. Traditions said that it was painted by Alympius, an icon painter of the Caves, who studied the skill of the painters of Constantinople. The "holy" icon became famous for its "miracles". For the miraculous icon, Archimandrite Bryansk himself left for Kyiv down the Desna with a group of priests. As an ancient legend tells, the Kiev monks respected the request of the prince, "let go of the miraculous image and send your priest with the messengers and float in boats along the Desna River to the mountain to the city of Bryansk. With great joy, swim against the Sven River." But here an amazing event took place: "... the boat became in a single place among the Desna River." The rowers were not able to move the boat from their place, they decided to spend the night on the left bank at the confluence of the Svenya River with the Desna. In the morning, the Kyiv monks did not find the icon in the boat, which they hurried to inform Prince Roman about. Soon, with his close associates, he found her on the opposite bank. She hung on an oak tree. The prince said a prayer and immediately began to see better. Struck by the accomplished "miracle", Roman Mikhailovich took an ax and began to cut powerful trees to lay a new temple. This is how the later famous Svensky Monastery arose. The church legend about the founding of the monastery is not original. In Rus', as a rule, the emergence of large monasteries was associated with such "miracles" of icons. Chronicles confirm the fact of a trip to Kyiv for the icon of the Bryansk priests, but many of the events associated with it have acquired fantastic details. On the way to Bryansk, the icon was accompanied by Kyiv monks. It is possible that they were the creators of the "miracle" with the icon, since they hardly wanted to return to Kyiv, devastated by the Tatars. After more than once, the influence of the icon was associated with many events. It was believed that she helped defend against numerous enemies. But when a city or monastery was destroyed, the "miraculous" icon was hidden in the forest, silent about its divine power. However, the church brethren intensely glorified the "wonder-working" icon. The monastery manuscript says that the bishop then divided the oak on which the icon was found into parts and distributed it to everyone who wished to receive healing from ailments.

Until 1854, an ancient stone pillar stood at the site of the appearance of the icon. In the middle of the 19th century, a cast-iron chapel was built instead of it, and "the 566-year-old oak stump remaining in the pillar ... was finally dismantled ...". In the 13th-14th centuries, the buildings of the monastery above the Desna River were wooden. An earthen fortress, surrounded by a rampart and a palisade of logs pointed upwards, covered the approaches to the city from the south. In the center of the fortress there was a wooden church, around which the buildings of the monastery were located. After the Lithuanians destroyed the buildings of the Svensky Monastery, Ivan the Terrible ordered the construction of a stone church. A few years later, her vault collapsed. It happened when the participants of the prayer service left the church. The monks took advantage of what happened to once again try to prove the special power of the icon. They claimed that the Mother of God did not allow the vault of the church to collapse during the service. Years, decades, centuries passed... The monastery decayed and was rebuilt. Its territory was decorated with stone Assumption Cathedral, the Church of Anthony and Theodosius, Sretenskaya, Transfiguration churches, the bell tower. The buildings of the monastery were surrounded stone wall which has been under construction for almost thirty years. It has the shape of an irregular octagon and repeats the terrain for defense reasons. There were six towers in the corners, three of which have survived to this day. Their height is from 8 to 12 meters. Height stone walls- 5.5-7 meters, and their length is almost 800 meters. The wall of the monastery does not separate its buildings from the surrounding landscape, but rather emphasizes its unity with nature and the surrounding landscape.

The Assumption Svensky Monastery in the past is not only a complex of architectural structures, which we now classify as monuments, but also numerous administrative and utility buildings that performed various functions related to the life support of the monastery. From the inventory of 1861, compiled during the transfer of the monastery to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, it is known that there were twenty-nine cells in which more than ninety monks and servants lived. The "obedient letter" describes the monastery stocks: "... nineteen sluggish sturgeons, ten sluggish rod sturgeons, half a barrel of salted sturgeon, five beluga, one hundred carp, seven hundred layers of dry fish, one hundred bunches of screech, grainy caviar two pounds, six sacks of mushrooms dry; bread in granaries and pits: 1035 quarters of rye, forty-five quarters of wheat, one hundred-quarters of oats, ten pounds of cow's butter, forty pounds of honey, twenty-eight pounds of wax, except for wax candles, 14 horses in stalls, (probably for boss trips) one hundred working horses, except for sixteen foals, a "powerful" carriage, sobbing, two carriages, four red sledges, fifty-seven cows. There was a horse yard on the territory of the monastery (two huts, a dryer, a stable with a dryer, five log sheds"). In 1764 it was located on the "east side inside the monastery" and it had the following buildings: a stone hut for coachmen, a stern barn, a carriage barn barn, sheds and stables. In the horse yard there was a well "18 sazhens deep to the water". Next to it, a kvass factory building (12 arshins long, covered with a plank) was erected in 1892. Monastic sour kvass was a traditional and popular drink. "A half a verst from monastery there was a monastery lake. Near it stood a sentry hut and a fraternal bath. In 1855, a pond was dammed up near the bathhouse, and "near the monastery under the mountain" they set up a "sazhelka" - a nursery for breeding fish. In ancient times, the surrounding forests were rich in game. Beavers were found in the bays and forests, and according to the charter of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich of 1614, the so-called "beaver ruts" were granted in favor of the monastery. The inventory of 1897 spoke of prosphora, fraternal cells (in the two southern towers), kitchen and glaciers in other towers. There is a mention of a forge that was located in the northeast tower. In the past, the monastery territory was enlivened by gardens, which were located not only outside the walls, but also inside the monastery. In the documents for 1791, four gardens are noted - "plum, fraternal, new and abbot". In 1864, at the site of the Svenska Fair outside the western gate, an extensive fruit orchard was also planted. Near the building of the parochial school, which has not survived, outside the monastery, next to the stone exit gates, a fruit nursery and a garden were planted, where apple, pear, cherry, pine, spruce, cedar, chestnut, and rosemary trees were grown. The fair gave the monastery a considerable income, including tolls (before they were transferred to the state), fees for shops and trading places.

Almost throughout the monastery, as well as on the territory of the fair, underground stone galleries stretched. All of them used to be connected by one common passage and had several external entrances. Equipped with overhead light, they consisted of large and small rooms that served as warehouses for fair goods. Merchants who came to trade stayed in cells, which gave the monastery additional funds. "The Gostiny Dvor, and on it a room with a room on residential basements, and a vestibule with closets, and a large log shed" are already mentioned in the inventory for 1681. Documents from 1801 and 1833 mention plans to build a hotel "outside the monastery". The inventory of 1897 reports a significant expansion of the existing gostiny yard and the construction "near the monastery" of a hospice and an outbuilding for visiting pilgrims. In 1749, there were 15,276 souls of peasants behind the monastery. One peasant had from 0.3 to 1.5 acres of land. The peasants cultivated the monastic arable land and crops, harvested hay, cut wood, built and repaired churches, and transported goods on their horses. Several times a week they went to corvée, and besides, they paid dues with honey, oil, cloth, linen, mushrooms, and matting bags. From the neighboring village of Suponevo every summer the monastery required three hundred foot and horse workers, twenty-two carpenters, bricklayers, bricklayers, fourteen sawyers, sixteen charcoal burners.

The Svensky monastery was rich and widely known. It was visited by famous people. Parishioners and pilgrims came here. Rich gifts were brought into the monastic treasury. Commemorative entries were made about them in the deposit book. Numerous gifts from Ivan the Terrible are registered in it. Among the gifts there are many military armor, weapons, transferred in 1750 to the Bryansk Arsenal. The deposit book preserved the names of many representatives of noble families - the princes Trubetskoy, Vorotynsky, Mstislavsky, Serebryany, Mosalsky, Meshchersky, Saltykov, Tyutchev, Voeikov, Brusilov and many others. Some persons of noble families were buried in the monastery. Among them are the Tyutchevs, Prince Meshchersky, Nebolsins, E. M. Saltykov, A. Pokhvisnev, G. E. Veryovkin and others. The monastery had its own monastic library. At one time, she had a fairly valuable book collection, interesting archival documents. So, in the church inventory for 1893, about 1,300 books were registered in the library, as well as a large number of manuscripts, early printed books of the 17th-18th centuries, services to the saints, teachings of the church fathers, menaias, bibles, gospels, service books, monthly books, history books churches of Russia and Byzantium, books on theology, philosophy, medicine, agriculture, charters, including the charter of Peter I, charters of various monasteries and spiritual institutions. To store books in the monastery were created good conditions. The library was located in a dry room in the choirs of the Assumption Cathedral. One of the most important sources of replenishment of the monastery library, especially until the middle of the 17th century, were contributions, the richest of which were made by tsars, boyars, church hierarchs. This is evidenced by entries in the monastic deposit book.

On May 2, 1888, the celebration of the 600th anniversary of the founding of the Svensky Monastery took place. There was a religious procession from the Svensky Monastery to Bryansk, a parade of troops and a prayer service, at the end of which a treat was served for the lower ranks - a glass of vodka and a pie, and for the clergy and gentlemen of the officers - a dinner in the hall of the City Duma for 200 people. Those invited received as a keepsake a book on the history of the monastery by the late Archimandrite Hierofey, with a lithographed view of the churches and the walls of the monastery from the side of the main entrance. The City Duma allocated 500 rubles for the location of the monastery. At 6 pm on May 4, the holy icon was sent off from the city to the Dormition Svensky Monastery. As for the famous Svenska fair, it was in the 17th - first half of the 18th centuries. in terms of its significance, it not only occupied the second place in Russia, but was also an important center of international trade, which characterizes it as a fair trade of all-Russian significance. The Svenska fair, mentioned as early as 1632, existed until the Great October Socialist Revolution. August 31 - September 1, 1985, in the year of the millennium of Bryansk, the tradition of holding the Svenska Fair was revived.

Shortly after the October Revolution, the Svensky Assumption Caves Monastery ceased to exist as a spiritual institution. Monastic lands and property were confiscated, a labor commune was formed from the monks. Then a military unit was located on its territory, and later the punitive department of the GIK. On July 6, 1920, the Bryansk State Executive Committee decided: "Due to the enormous lack of premises in Bryansk, the premises of the Svensky monastery should be transferred to the jurisdiction of the Gubnarobrazovanie with the condition that within a month all children's colonies will be transferred from the city to the Nekrasov colony organized in the monastery." Nevertheless, until the summer of 1924, believers in places close to the monastery could use church property and hold services in the Assumption Cathedral and the Church of Anthony and Theodosius. But already on July 8, 1924, all the churches of the monastery were finally closed. In 1922, the Provincial Commission for the Seizure of Church Valuables in the Bryansk Region reported the following to the Bryansk GIK: “Seizure of church valuables in the amount of more than 222 pounds of silver, 11 pounds, 79 spools, 48 ​​fractions of gold; up to 8 thousand different precious stones; more than 6 pounds of pearls; 433 rubles 35 kopecks of silver coins and unidentified metal weighing up to 5 poods.Total 42 boxes gross - 254 poods.On June 15 of this year, these valuables were handed over to the State Depository in Moscow at the disposal and fund of the Central Committee POMGOL VTsIK according to the act.In July 1924 The monastery was again robbed by a special commission of the Bryansk GIK headed by Mamochkin, a political commissar of the Gubrerezerv.Among them were: a silver kiot of the icon of Our Lady of Svens weighing 12 pounds, a silver setting of the same icon weighing 30 pounds, (the diamond crown and the gold riza of the setting were confiscated in 1922), an altar Gospel in silver settings, silver crosses, church vessels, etc. At the same time, other monastic property was also "distributed": six lanes, a large carpet, and curtains were transferred to the provincial RCT; in the Gubernia Executive Committee - seven tracks, 4 carpets, 13 arshins of red cloth, in the police - cabinets; to the Timonov cell of the RCP (b) - furniture. The new owner of the monastery ensemble, the children's colony headed by the administration, made a huge "contribution" to the transformation of architectural monuments into "latrines".

On December 19, 1924, an inspection and examination of the condition of the property in the former. Svensky Monastery "Commission of the Main Science of the People's Commissariat of Education", which included I. E. Grabar, V. A. Bezobrazov, P. D. Baranovsky. The commission established the following: "On the territory of the former monastery there are such a significant number of buildings of high historical and artistic value that they all represent one of the most remarkable ancient Russian architectural ensembles of the 17th-18th centuries, subject to unconditional and worldwide protection ...". After a children's colony moved into the former monastery, the monastery was subject to destruction. In all the churches, the windows were broken, the children began to climb up gutter roofs on the roofs of churches, breaking through the ceiling from there... defecate inside. They turned the house of Peter I into a real restroom. In the Church of Sretenskaya and Transfiguration, the ancient iconostases were broken, no doubt with the participation of the administration. In Preobrazhenskaya there was not even a trace of the interior decoration, the icons of this church, famous for their wonderful writing, were simply punctured and burned. The entire archive and library located in the choirs were scattered throughout the territory of the monastery, many went to kindle stoves. Eventually the colony was transferred from the monastery. The former Svensky monastery with land and suitable buildings was transferred to the jurisdiction of the district department of the OGPU. On June 23, 1930, the Presidium of the Bryansk District Executive Committee of the Western Region made the final decision on the fate of the remarkable monuments of the monastery ensemble, after hearing information about the state of the buildings b. Svensky Monastery on the basis of what was done by representatives of the Main Science, taking into account the complete mismanagement and destruction of buildings b. monastery, considered it inexpedient from the economic point of view to restore buildings, including the former Assumption Cathedral and its adaptation for any economic or cultural needs, and also given the crisis in building materials(brick), consider it expedient to dismantle the building of the former cathedral and use the brick for construction needs.

Apparently, in July-August 1930, the Assumption Cathedral was blown up, because brickwork The eighteenth century did not lend itself to disassembly. Recently, the Bryansk State Historical and Revolutionary Museum received photographs dedicated to the explosion of the cathedral, provided by Alexei Brabin. The photo shows the moment of the explosion of the cathedral, the view of its ruins after the explosion, as well as the direct perpetrators - judging by the captions under one of the photographs, the blasting was carried out by a team of demolition workers led by Yakov Petrovich Rykhlov. The explosion damaged the church of Anthony and Theodosius, the hipped bell tower and "Peter's house". All of them were dismantled into bricks. So sadly ended the history of the most outstanding architectural monuments of the ensemble of the Svensky Monastery.

From the book: "Monuments of Bryansk" Svensky Monastery. Publisher: Creative and production association "Autograph". Bryansk, 1990

The built wooden temple became the center of the desert dwelling, for the arrangement of which Roman Mikhailovich allocated enough gold and silver. The Svenska icon became the main shrine of the monastery. Subsequently, the founder of the monastery himself was buried in this temple. The monastery was inhabited by 70 monks, surrounded by a rampart and a palisade of pointed logs.

With the transfer of Bryansk to the Moscow State, the Svensky Monastery, thanks to its miraculous icon and the position of a cultural center in the ancient Bryansk district, quickly became an outstanding monastery. The Moscow government appreciated its importance in strengthening the borders of the Russian state. Therefore, the tsars, Ivan the Terrible, Feodor Ioannovich, Boris Godunov, Mikhail Feodorovich, Alexei Mikhailovich, Feodor Alekseevich, Peter I, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, Patriarchs Filaret and Joseph, boyars Yuryevs, Romanovs, Nagy and others in every possible way contributed to the strengthening of the monastery, endowed it with contributions and provided benefits. The Svenska monastery became a major landowner.

Ivan the Terrible was especially generous. Under him, the construction of stone churches began instead of wooden ones, and the Assumption Cathedral, a temple in the name of the Caves wonderworkers Anthony and Theodosius, as well as a stone bell tower were erected.

In subsequent years, the Svensky Monastery was devastated several times. During the attack on Bryansk by the Lithuanian detachment of the Vitebsk governor Pac, all the monastery wooden buildings, icons, books and letters of commendation burned down. Hiding in the forest, the abbot with the monks managed to carry away with them only the miraculous icon. Soon the monastery suffered a new misfortune: in the Time of Troubles, during the long siege of the city in a year, the monks with the inhabitants experienced terrible hunger. The Sven hegumen Cornelius and the archpriest of the Pokrovsky Cathedral Alexy were one of the inspirers of the staunch defense of Bryansk, and then, together with the builder of the Sven monastery Varsonofy, they signed an act on the election of Mikhail Feodorovich Romanov as tsar in the year.

The connection with Athos and Moldavia was expressed in the fact that many students and followers of St. Paisius (Velichkovsky) are connected with the Svensky Monastery. Among them are hieromonk Athanasius (Stepanov), schemamonks Athanasius (Okhlopkov) and Athanasius (Zakharov), hierodeacon Anastasius and others who later became famous for their hermitage and senile activity. Among these followers, the Monk Schema-Archimandrite Moses of Optina, who was a novice at the Svensky Monastery, stood out in particular.

Statistics

• From the 16th century - the monastery had six villages in the Podgorodny camp, thirteen - in the Batagovskaya volost, six - in the Pyanovsky.
• OK. - in addition to churches, the monastery had 29 cells with 90 monks and novices; horse yard with 114 horses and 16 foals, cattle yard with 57 cows; two hotels, one of which was intended for the Greeks coming to the Svenska fair; there are 115 books in the library of the monastery.
• - the monastery owned 37 villages and 16 thousand serfs; farmsteads in Bryansk and Karachev.
• - There are 338 books in the library of the monastery.
• - 1300 books in the library of the monastery.
• early 1900s - 100 monks; 80 acres of arable and meadow land, seven acres orchard(main source of income); the main capital of the monastery is 40,980 rubles.

Temples, architecture

Assumption Cathedral

The first wooden church in honor of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos was built in the year, and the history of the monastery began from it.

The stone cathedral church of the monastery was first erected in the year. It was built by the Tver master Gavriil Dmitrievich Makov. The cathedral had a majestic seven-tier carved iconostasis, 33 meters high, covered with silver and gold leaf. The top four tiers of icons were human height. Many icons were framed with silver frames, crowns and precious stones. The carved columns were also impressive, seeming to be completely through. The pediments of the church were also decorated with iconography.

Sretensky Gate Church

On the site where Prince Roman began to see clearly and where a cross stood in memory of this, a three-domed over-gate Sretensky temple was erected, first mentioned in the book of contributions under a year, and finally completed in a year. The church was two-storeyed: passages and driveways to the monastery made up the first floor. The church itself was located on the second floor. Its elegant forms were designed in the characteristic Little Russian Baroque style of the 17th century.

Transfiguration Gate Church

Above the western fairground gates, a temple was built in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord. When it fell into disrepair, on June 10, the governor Varsonofy asked the Synodal State Order for permission to dismantle it and build a new church on the same place. Construction at the expense of the Bryansk merchants lasted eight years and the consecration followed on July 29 of the year. This one-domed temple was a common piece of architecture of the 18th century, when a gradual transition from forms

Sven, rise on the shore of the wall of the monastery, which received its name from it and is known as the male Holy Assumption Svensky Monastery. Founded in 1288, it is one of the most ancient and famous in Russia.

Illness of the pious prince

A legend is connected with its foundation, which, as the inhabitants of the monastery assure, did not arise on empty place. She tells that the pious prince of Chernigov and Debriansky Roman Mikhailovich, who ruled these parts at the end of the 13th century, once suffered a serious illness - he began to go blind, so much so that every day the white light faded in his eyes. At that time there were no doctors at the princely court, but to turn to fortune-tellers and healers - God forbid! - a baptized person. What can he hope for? Only by the grace of God.

So the prince sent the archimandrite of the local monastery to Kyiv to bring him the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, through the prayers before which healing has already been granted to the suffering more than once. The word of the prince is the law, and the man of God set off on his journey, taking with him five monks humble in heart, but very strong in flesh - the times were turbulent, and anything could happen on the road.

Miracle on the river bank

The princely envoys were already sailing back along the Desna River and carrying the treasured icon with them, when suddenly a certain misfortune happened to them - the boat, which had so cheerfully cut through the river streams, suddenly froze in place, stopped by an unknown force. No matter how hard the rowers tried, no matter how hard they leaned on the oars, they could not move either up or downstream. Nothing to do, somehow got to the shore and spent the night.

In the morning they missed - there is no icon, it was gone! They rushed to look, trying not to think about what reward awaits them for such service. But God is merciful - a loss was found. We found her among the branches of a mighty oak that stood at a bend in the river. Although the monks were shy, they did not dare to touch the image, but hurried to inform the prince about the miracle that had happened. He did not hesitate to appear and, falling on his knees, prayed for a long time. Then everything happened according to the laws of the genre - the prince received his sight and ordered to found a monastery on this place, which has survived to this day and is known as the Svensky Monastery.

By the way, a curious detail - in ancient times, the river Sven, which gave the name to the monastery, was called Svin, and the monastery, respectively, was called Svinskaya, which was very dissonant and gave rise to inappropriate witticisms. To remedy the situation, in the 17th century it was decided to change only one letter in its name, but at the same time the entire river had to be renamed. Since then, the Sven River has appeared on the maps, and with it the Svensky Monastery.

Creation of the Monk Alipiy

The icon, which so miraculously healed the prince, became the main shrine of the newly formed monastery. On wooden board size 68x42 cm depicted Holy Mother of God sitting on a throne and holding in her arms the Eternal Child, who raised his right hand in blessing. On both sides of the throne are depicted the saints of the Pechersk wonderworkers Theodosius and Anthony.

The authorship of the icon is attributed to the Monk Alipy, who studied with Byzantine masters who worked in 1088 in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. These details are known due to the fact that after the revolution the icon ended up in the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery and has survived to this day.

The Holy Dormition Svensky Monastery, formed among the dense, became the cradle for many desert hermits. It is known that dozens of his monks, having asked the rector for a blessing, closed themselves off from the world in impenetrable thickets, built poor cells for themselves and spent their lives in fasting and prayers. In the monastery, they appeared only for confession and communion. This form of religious asceticism became widespread at the beginning of the 18th century and then survived for many years.

The patronage of the formidable king

The first stone building of the monastery, and at the same time the surroundings of Bryansk, was the Assumption Cathedral, built by order of Ivan the Terrible. It is known that in the nature of the king demonic cruelty was combined in an amazing way with extreme religiosity. Giving a fierce execution to innocent people, he could then stand all night long in their showers.

Preparing for the Livonian War, the pious sovereign did not skimp on contributions to the holy monasteries. He did not bypass the Assumption Svensky Monastery, which at that time was both a fortified fortification and an important spiritual center. Archival documents have survived to this day, testifying to the donations he repeatedly made. In particular, in 1561 the Svensky Monastery (Bryansk) received from him a significant amount on the occasion of the death of his wife Anastasia. A little later, he contributed money for the construction of a temple in honor of the Pechersk wonderworkers Anthony and Theodosius.

Raids of foreign adversaries

But it is clear that the Lord did not bless the donations of the tsar-murderer - in 1583, the Lithuanians, with whom he waged war, captured the Svensky Monastery, and, having plundered everything that could be endured, they burned it. Miraculously, only the Svenska icon of the Mother of God survived. After that, the monastery was revived with long and hard work, but in 1664 God's wrath fell upon it again - this time it became the prey of the Crimean Tatars.

This time, it was easier to raise the monastery walls from the ashes, since three years earlier the monastery was assigned to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, and from there all possible assistance came to the Bryansk region. Thanks to her, on the territory of the monastery in 1679, the over-gate Sretensky Church was erected, which survived the centuries and has survived to this day.

Visits of crowned persons

The Svensky Monastery, reborn from the ashes, remembers the visits of many royal persons. It is known that in 1708 Peter I visited it and even stayed for the night. The house in which the sovereign spent the night survived until the revolution, and it was shown to all visitors as a historical landmark. Another witness of the royal visit - an oak planted by monks in honor of this event, still stands to this day, also attracting the attention of numerous pilgrims and tourists.

During one of her travels, Empress Catherine II also visited the walls of the Svensky Assumption Monastery. Finding his main temple in a very dilapidated condition requiring immediate repair, she donated six thousand rubles, for which he was soon completely rebuilt. A more convenient, dry and high place in the center of the monastery was chosen for him.

Until the beginning of the 20th century, the Svensky Assumption Monastery (Bryansk) lived in peace and prosperity. As before, his treasury received generous donations from God-loving citizens and persons of the reigning house. Near the walls of the monastery there was a noise of a fair, which was one of the largest in the western part of Russia, and God-loving monks offered up prayers for the tsar and the fatherland. This continued until 1917.

The coming of bad times

From the beginning of the twenties, the Bolsheviks who came to power began to gradually but systematically close the monastery. When a campaign to seize church valuables swept across the country, allegedly aimed at combating hunger, everything that was of interest to the new government was taken out of the monastery.

Church utensils collected there over many centuries were taken out of churches, bells were removed and sent for remelting, and gold and silver salaries were ruthlessly stripped from icons. It seemed that the times of the Lithuanian and Tatar invaders had returned. Systematic looting continued until 1926, after which the Svensky Monastery was closed.

The mortal sin of Captain Rykhlov and all who were with him

The next stage in the destruction of this historical and cultural monument began in 1930, when, by order of the city authorities, most of the monastery buildings were demolished. The Assumption Cathedral, so successfully rebuilt with donations from Catherine II, was also blown up. The blast wave also damaged the temple of the Pechersk Wonderworkers, which was located nearby, leaving only the lower tier of the previous building. Svensky Assumption Monastery (Bryansk) ceased to exist.

This act of vandalism was committed by a group of Soviet demolitionists. History has preserved the name of their commander - Captain Rykhlov. Over the years, he is no longer alive, and one can only hope that at the hour of death the Lord sent him repentance for his deed and did not allow him to depart to another world with a soul weighed down by this terrible sin.

Ruins returned to people

But the wheel of history does not stand still. Having swept across the country with all the hardships that fell to its lot in the 20th century, in the end it plunged Russia into the stormy ocean of perestroika. In 1992, the Svensky Monastery (Bryansk) was returned to the jurisdiction of the Church. By this time, of all the former buildings, only the Sretenskaya and Transfiguration churches, which required major repairs, as well as the remains of the monastery walls and several former outbuildings that were in disrepair, survived.

Other structures were destroyed, and most of them did not even have traces left, and in the surviving ruins it was difficult to recognize the former, known from archival documents Svensky Monastery (Bryansk). The photos published in the article give an idea of ​​the scale of the work carried out.

Worship services in restored churches

Immediately began the restoration of the former architectural complex. First of all, major renovation and restoration were carried out in two surviving churches, which today, in their original form, have again become a place of regular worship, which, after long decades of neglect, was resumed by the Svensky Monastery. The schedule of services held in them differs slightly from the schedule of other Orthodox churches.

On weekdays morning services begin at 8:00 am and evening services at 5:00 pm. Sunday and public holidays there is also a late liturgy. It starts at 10:00. All additional services and religious processions held in the monastery in connection with various holidays can be found on its website. After being restored from the ruins of the Anthony Temple and completed in 2012, it also hosts regular services.

Currently, work is underway to restore the Assumption Cathedral, destroyed in 1930. They began in 2005 with the analysis of the remaining ruins, as well as engineering and archaeological. Upon their completion in 2010, a board of trustees was created from representatives of state and public organizations who led the restoration work. Since that time, the Svensky Monastery (Bryansk) has become a place where extensive construction has unfolded.

Pilgrimage to the monastery

Gradually the monastic life returns to its ancient walls. As in previous years, pilgrims rush here, wishing to bow to the shrine, which, as before, for Orthodox people is the Svensky Monastery (Bryansk). How to get to it, you can find out in this publication.

It is recommended to go from the railway by trolley bus number 1 to the "Telecentre" and then by bus number 7 to the monastery. Another option: from the bus station by bus No. 7 or by fixed-route taxis No. 45, 36 to the Svensky Monastery stop. The photos attached to the article will help you accurately find out the purpose of the trip.