Ivanovo Monastery in Moscow: address, how to get there and photos

Ivanovo Monastery in Moscow is one of the oldest women's monasteries not only in the capital, but also in Russia. He was a favorite place of pilgrimage of Russian tsars, a dungeon for noble women and is still full of secrets and mysteries.

The Riddle of History

Ivanovo Monastery in Moscow - one of the oldest temples not only of the capital, but also of Orthodox Russia. Not a single document has survived, even hinting at the time of its construction. The monastic inventory of 1763 says: "And when this monastery is built, under which the sovereign, and according to which state charter, and in which year, there is no exact news about this monastery". Modern architects and historians believe that the farmstead originated in the 15th century, as evidenced by the preserved ancient foundation.

The legend about the construction of the monastery tells that the Ioan monastery was built at the behest of Elena Glinskaya, Grand Duchess, who decided to erect a church in honor of the birth of her eldest son, Ionne. The history has a continuation - supposedly the birth of the future king was accompanied by an unprecedented thunderstorm with a storm, because he had the appropriate character - spontaneous, and the monarch's nickname - the Dark One.

The Ioanno-Predtechensky monastery was mentioned in the testament of Basil I in 1423. At the end of the 15th century, the estate fell into decay, and not far from the Vladimir Church was built a convent.

According to another assumption, the Ivanovo Monastery in Moscow appeared at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries and performed defensive functions. Being built on a hill (Ivanovskaya Hill), he took a better position, providing security for the Great Landing and the Ion-Zlatoustinsky Monastery (destroyed in 1930).
It is possible to give some more reasoned hypotheses about the time of the monastery appearance, but only the miracle or further searches of archaeologists will help to find out the exact date reliably.

Development

The first repair of the cathedral took place in the second half of the 15th century, it is believed that the renovation was promoted by Tsar Ivan the Terrible. Ivanovo Monastery in Moscow did not have its own patrimony and lived only by donations of parishioners and benefactors, of whom there were many. The basic means for the maintenance of the monastery came from the royal family, this obliged the monastery to make certain concessions towards the donors, which earned the history and mystery full of mysteries and mysteries.

By the beginning of the 18th century, around the monastery was built a tall stone fence and a gate church, consecrated in honor of the Origin of the Honest Faith of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord. The center of the monastery ensemble was the cathedral. Stone buildings on the territory appeared on the decree of Peter I, who ordered to replace all the wooden structures. Construction was conducted on state money.

The Napoleonic company brought destruction to the Ivanovo Monastery in Moscow. The fire of 1812 completely destroyed the monastery, and above it the threat of abolition loomed. In 1860-1879, part of the cells and the cathedral were restored in place of the ancient podklet. The author of the project was the architect M. Bykovsky.

The revival of the monastery was promoted by Lieutenant Colonel Elizaveta Mazurina who posthumously donated 600 thousand rubles for a good cause. The daughter-in-law and the doer of the deceased's will became her daughter-in-law - Maria Aleksandrovna Mazurina. Through her efforts and diligence, the monastery acquired those forms that surprise with grace and beauty in our days.

The Soviet period

Ivanovo Women's Monastery in Moscow after the revolution was closed one of the first, in 1918. Since 1919, a concentration camp has been established on the territory of the monastery, which in a short time was given special status. In 1923 the detainees held here were used for forced labor, and since 1927 a specialized department operated here, where the criminal behavior and criminality as phenomena were studied for scientific purposes. Since 1930 the Ivanovo camp has become part of one of Moscow's labor colonies.

By 1917 Ivanovo monastery in Moscow was inhabited by 43 nuns, 33 novices and more than a hundred women on probation. Before the closure of the monastery, all were evicted to a monastery outside Moscow to work in the commune. In 1929, all private farms were nationalized, and not willing to accept such a proposal was taxed with huge taxes. Sisters had to sell all the property, and themselves for two years, interrupted by casual earnings. In 1931, by decision of the authorities, the sisters were imprisoned in Butyrskaya prison, after an early trial all were sent to exile in Kazakhstan.

By 1980, most of the former monastery was run by the Interior Ministry. Under the altar in the basement was a shooting gallery, a sports hall, a swimming pool and a sauna were set up on the territory. In the building of the cathedral was equipped with an archive storage. In the house of the clerk worked as a sewing workshop, several other rooms were occupied by the services of Mosenergo. All the buildings of the Ivanovo Monastery in Moscow have not been repaired since 1917, which led to almost a loss of cultural and historical heritage.

Revival

In 2002, the Ivanovo Monastery in Moscow was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church . The history has made the next turn, and the revival of the monastery in the rank of stauropegic began. Some buildings are still in the possession of the Ministry of the Interior. In the village of Ostrov, on the territory of the former nobleman's estate, the sisters are equipped with the monastery's courtyard, where the poorhouse is already working.

For the sisters courses are opened, designed for several years, where the Holy Scripture, the catechism, the history of the Church, Orthodox works and much more are studied. In 2008, at the monastery, a museum was founded, where objects are found during the restoration work, as well as archival materials preserved in the walls of the monastery since the time of the archives. Some documents refer to 1918, when Ivanovo Monastery was closed in Moscow. Photos and video materials of past eras are also represented in the museum.

Special Shrines

The Ivanovo women's monastery is so ancient that even the stones of which the walls are made are sacred. The bright glory of the monastery in the 17th century was brought by the holy Blessed Martha, who lived here. She was honored in the royal family, and it was believed that after her death she continued to protect the house of the Romanovs. Since 1638 its relics have been treasured in the main cathedral, but after the revolution they were confiscated for burial at the Vagankovskoye cemetery. The future fate of the shrine is unknown. To date, preserved an elegant marble tombstone.

Another extraordinary shrine of the monastery is the miraculous icon of St. John the Baptist with a brass hoop attached to her kyot. It is attached by a metal chain and is considered a measure of the head of St. John the Forerunner. On the rim, you can read the half-written inscription made by the Slavic script: "The Great Forerunner and the Baptist of Spas John prayed to God for us." According to some statements, the age of the hoop is counted from the 19th century and was previously stored in the chapel of the monastery, as recorded in the chronicle of the monastery. The hoop and icon are considered sacred, helping believers to get rid of many diseases.

Secular secrets of the monastery

Moscow's Ivanovo Monastery was not only a place of prayer or monastic deed, but also a place of exile for women from noble families. Tradition sent to the shutter unwanted began Ivan the Terrible, having sent to the monastery cellars two wives of his son. For many unwanted wives, the monastery became a place of violent vows, their relatives donated large sums to the sisters for the maintenance of noble prisoners and the monastery itself.

Gloomy glory was added by the detective department, sending women imprisoned in political intrigues or criminal cases. The monastic walls became the last refuge for the schismatics, who, after torture and humiliation in the guise of the insane, were sent to the stone cells of the Ivanovo Monastery under the supervision of nuns.

Famous prisoners

For some time the founders of the Khlyst sect Ivan Suslov and Prokofiy Lupkin were buried in the monastery. Their graves were long visited by the Moscow apologists of the faith, until the trial of the whips in 1739, after which the graves were ripped, and the bodies burned and the ashes scattered in the wind.

One of the famous prisoners of the monastery was the ominous Saltychikha (Darya Nikolaevna Saltykova), who tortured more than 100 people in the Moscow estate. The atrocities lasted for seven years and ceased only on the personal intervention of Catherine II, who only ascended to the throne. Saltykov was tried by a civil court in 1778 and sent to serve an eternal imprisonment.

In the monastery a special cell was built for her - they dug a deep pit over which a wooden building without windows was built, only when they brought food, put a candle, it was all the light that she had seen for many years. During the monastic services she was brought closer to the place where the prayers were heard, correspondence and conversations were prohibited. So she spent 11 years, after making a slight indulgence, moving into a cell with a small window through which people could talk to her.

Another famous prisoner was Princess Tarakanova - the daughter of Queen Elizabeth. After forty years outside of Russia, after returning and talking with Catherine II, she retired to the Ivanovo Monastery. Princess lived in the monastery with comfort, in monastic life was named Dosifei. For her, a cell was allocated in two rooms with a stove, a novice was assigned to the service, a considerable sum was allocated from the treasury each year, funds were received from numerous donors, most of the donations were spent by the princess on charity and donations. After her death, she was buried in the Novospassky Monastery, the tombstone appeared only 100 years later and has survived to this day.

This is not all the secrets of the monastery, to learn more and to visit the service today, anyone can visit by visiting the Ivanovo Women's Monastery in Moscow. Address: Maly Ivanovsky Pereulok, building 2.

How to get there

In the monastery daily services are held in the Ioanno-Predtechensky cathedral or in the church of the Monk Elizabeth the Wonderworkers. The morning liturgy is celebrated from 7:30 in the morning, the evening service begins at 5:00 pm. The chapel of John the Baptist, where everyone can touch the miraculous image and hoop, is open without days off.

Where is the Ivanovo Monastery in Moscow? On Ivanovskaya Hill in Maly Ivanovsky Lane, in the house number 2. Nuns by appointment arrange tours for everyone. The program includes visits to the temples of the monastery, the museum, which is part of the Ivanovo Monastery in Moscow. The address, how to get to the monastery - many people ask about it. We need to go to the metro station "Kitay-gorod", then go along Solyansky thoroughfare and Zabelin street to Maly Ivanovskiy pereulok, house 2. Contact phone - (495) 624-01-50.