Holy Trinity Women's Belopsetsky Monastery (Stupino): how to get there, schedule of services and official website

In one of the most picturesque corners of the Moscow region, on the banks of the river called Oka, there is a nunnery, whose history of creation is lost in the 15th century. However, originally the monastery was exclusively a refuge for men, and the first mention of it in the annals falls on 1498.

Blessed by Sergius of Radonezh

Legends link the Belopesoksky monastery with the names of Dmitry Donskoy, as well as Sergius of Radonezh. Moscow principality in the 14th century was raided by steppe hordes of Mongol-Tatars. Donskoy, who with his army had to defend the frontier of the principality, asked Radonezhsky for his blessing to build a monastery off the banks of the Oka River. After all, monasteries in those days were also important defensive structures on the borders of the country.

The Monk Sergei blessed the creation of the monastery. As the legend says, he even passed through White Sands (called the left bank of the Oka) from Serpukhov to Kashira earlier, and he liked this place very much. After his blessing, two holy sources appeared there.

Built by a monk Vladimir

Historical information is connected with the direct construction of the monastery with the monk Vladimir, in the world by Vasily, who was born in Rzhev in a boyar family. At first he wanted to devote his life to military service, since the political situation at that time in the principality was restless. The feudal wars for the possession of lands were flared up every now and again. Rzhev also often changed his owners.
Vasily, who for a long time served as a soldier in the regiment of guardsmen, then an officer, decided to take monastic vows, went to the Novgorod monastery and began to be called Vladimir. However, there he did not stay long, because he wanted to found a new monastery for monks, and set out on a journey. They brought him to Kashira.

Tradition says that the left bank of the Oka opposite Kashira was a secluded place, uninhabited. Vladimir decided there to found a monastery and built a church. Soon other monks began to flow to him. So the Belopesoksky monastery was formed. In addition, peasants settled around the monastic monastery and settled around the surrounding area.

Used mercy from the kings

For the first time this monastery is mentioned in 1498 in such a written source, as the diploma of the Tatar prince Magmet-Amin. According to this charter, the Moscow prince Ivan III bestowed his defeated ally on Kashira's lot, and the Belopesoksky monastery received lands and forests.

Later more than once Vladimir Belopesotsky is mentioned in the grants, on which he is given repairs and villages in the Turov and Rostov volosts. The last such letter to the name of the Monk Vladimir was issued in 1522.
In addition, the peasant farms, which were formed on the monastery land, were freed by the Moscow prince of duties and all kinds of tribute. They flourished, and along with them the monks lived comfortably.

True, there is no need to talk about their special wealth, since in the Belopesotsky monastery during the lifetime of the hegumen Vladimir there were not even stone buildings, but there were only wooden cells and the old church of the Holy Trinity.
When the Reverend Vladimir died, it is not known. Chronicles only say that "he was alive for 72 years", and buried a saint "near the Trinity under the porch."

Monastery as a defensive structure

Privileges and growing wealth soon allowed the monks to begin stone construction. In 1569, the Trinity Cathedral was laid. In the 16th century, the main part of the monastery fortifications was erected - the eastern wall and the gate church of St. Nicholas, which served as a watch tower.

There were also niches in it, through which special gratings-gers were dropped. A little later a stone bell tower and five towers-loopholes appeared in the monastery, and guns and cannons were set up on the wall. So the Holy Trinity Monastery of Belopsotsky turned into a strong outpost of the state.

Tatars from the Crimea many times attacked the borders of the Moscow principality. And it was the Belopesotsky monastery as a reliable fortress that stood in the way of the enemy. The population of the surrounding villages during the raids of the Tatars hid behind its walls. The residents of the monastery and the monks had good military skills. Therefore, the Tatars could not manage to take the fortress, they could not even break through its walls. At the end of the 17th century the Belopesoksky Monastery lost its military-strategic purpose, the borders of the Russian Empire moved to the south.

Continued to be built and restored

Soon the monastery was included in the estate of Kolomna Archbishop, then it was attributed to the Trinity Monastery. On its territory is built Sergievskaya church. However, in its original form, it has not reached our time. In the 19th century, because of the dilapidation, it was destroyed. A new temple was built on this place, then two more side-chapels were added.

The church was restored in 1852, and even was re-consecrated. Undoubtedly, not many times I have undergone restoration work and the main temple - the Trinity Cathedral. It first happened in the 17th century, then in the 18th century. Restoration in the 19th century was carried out with the money of the peasant Mikhail Shcherbakov. He donated them to fresco paintings, renovation of plaster and the erection of the iconostasis.

The temple in honor of the beheading of the head of John the Forerunner was built under the hieromonk of Athanasius (1824-1842) with the money of the noblemen Raevsky Mikhail and Ivan. All buildings of the Belopesok monastery were badly damaged in the flood of 1908. The water of the flooded Oka reached almost the level of a stone fence. In 1914 the building of the monastery was restored.

Monastery today

About what the Belopesozky monastery has become today, the official website will tell it in full. However, it should also be said that under Soviet power the monastery buildings were not used for their purpose. There lived convicts, the pioneer camp huddled, the artists performed ...

In 1989, they decided to create a historical and cultural center on the basis of the monastery. But we did not have time. In 1992, the monastery was returned to the property of the Russian Orthodox Church, and on June 18 the first divine service was held in the Sergius Church.

In parallel, restoration work was carried out. For example, the Trinity Cathedral was restored by the spring of 2002. Currently, every day in the Holy Trinity Belopesok monastery services are performed.

Belopesotsky monastery attracts believers from different parts of the world. How to get there, is described in detail on its official website (www.svtbm.ru). The main relics of the monastery today are the relics of St. Vladimir, the icons "Soothe My Sorrows" and "Skoroposlushnitsa", as well as the source of Sergius of Radonezh.

Schedule of divine services is easy to remember. At 8.30 am the clock of the Divine Liturgy. At 3:00 pm a prayer service is held in front of the icon "Quench My Sorrows." At 16.00, the Vespers are performed. On the days when the all-night vigil passes, the evening worship starts at 3 pm.

So, you already want to see the Belopesok Monastery? How to get here? Public transport is possible from Paveletsky station in Moscow to Akri station, from where the bus goes to the stop "Monastery". Address: Moscow region, Stupinskiy district, pos. Belopesotsky.