Everyone travels to Poschupovo for their own reasons. Some are in search of peace of mind and forgiveness for their sins, others for a wonderful photograph, and others - to touch the holy relics in the hope of healing from an illness. And they stretch to the spring for sacred ablution or to test the strength of the spirit in contact with water at a temperature of five degrees. Both those and others return to the hill, carrying the cherished burden (others in two hands are trying to carry away up to six five-liter eggplants). The purest natural water from Poschupovo in the era of ecological turmoil is an invaluable treasure available to everyone. There are also those who seek to descend into the monastery basement, where numerous skulls and bones of long-dead monks are stacked in rows on several shelves.
The guests of the monastery are a motley mass of real pilgrims, wanderers from distant places, families with children, tourists with reflex cameras and excursion groups arriving on large comfortable buses as part of pilgrim tours around the country or taken for a walk after a major scientific conference in one of the universities of Ryazan ... Both are amazed by what an experienced architect and designer would call the perfect fit of the architectural ensemble into the landscape.
The monastery has taken an advantageous position on a high promontory of the interfluve plateau, the steep slopes of which form the scarp of the Oka valley and the left side of a deep ravine. The one that separates the spring oak forest from the monastery, creating some difficulties in the approach to the font.
There is a rare historical monument nearby - a secret underground prison where the most dangerous state criminals were kept. The entrance to it is located a kilometer from the monastery on the hillside - this is a kind of hole in the ground. Somewhere there is an extensive system of underground passages with three chambers in the center and niches in the walls. At one time, human remains in shackles were found in one of the cells.
Getting to Poshupovo is quite easy. From the M5 "Ural" Moscow - Chelyabinsk highway, turn to Rybnoye and keep the way to the Yesenin places. Then the road will split, the left will go to Konstantinovo, and the right will lead to Poshupovo, the turns are equipped with appropriate signs. The monastery shop will appear, where you can get hold of honey, kvass, sbitn or herbal tea. The bell tower in the immediate vicinity will amaze with its impressive dimensions, as well as the landscaping of the courtyard at the entrance to the arch of the Holy Gates: in the warm season there is always a huge number of flower beds in bushes of various roses.
In ancient times this place, as the storytellers write, looked gloomy, austere and secluded, "which involuntarily forced the lover of desert life to choose this place for contemplation of God." Old-timers said that the area was completely covered with an oak forest. And they assure that they saw several oak stumps, on which one could "lie down as you like."
There is a legend that once monks reached these places and brought with them a miraculous icon of the Apostle John the Theologian, written in the 4th century in Byzantium by an orphan boy. Nothing is known about the founder or the time of the foundation of the monastery. It is only known that this was exactly before Batu's invasion of Ryazan in 1237: chroniclers testify that Ryazan was reduced to ash that winter, and the Theological monastery remained intact. They write that Batu wanted to rob the monastery, but suddenly John the Theologian appeared to him, which made the khan horrified and put his golden seal on his image. Then Baty refused to have bad thoughts, and even left the ring, which was supposedly kept for 416 years, until they decided to gild the cup of water with it.
Chroniclers have repeatedly pointed out that the icon of John the Theologian saved the monastery from adversity. The reason for the resettlement was the repeated attacks of the Crimean Tatars. After another such devastation, they decided to take the monks under the protection of the border guards - to relocate them to the zasechnaya line in the Mikhailovsky district. Only John the Theologian did not approve of the decision. The brethren went to the squad, taking the icon of the saint on a long journey. But the image of John disappeared from the new church, reappearing in the old place in the monastery forest on a huge oak tree. Of course, the brethren, seeing in the return of the icon a sign from above, returned back to the oak, where today there is a cathedral in the name of John the Theologian. The saw cut of that oak was laid on top of the main altar of the monastery.
The buildings of the monastery themselves were made of wood in ancient times. Until the middle of the 17th century, when the fence and the Holy Gates were assembled from stone. The frescoes on them have also survived from the very times when Russia was recovering from the turmoil under Aleksey Mikhailovich "Quiet", but at the same time it was shaken by peasant unrest, which remained in history as salt, copper and other riots.
Life in the monastery goes on as usual: the two-story St. John the Theological Cathedral and the Assumption Church are being built, both of which are made of stone. The second has become dilapidated over the centuries and has not survived to this day. But from the buildings of the 17th century, we can see today the abbot's building and the small tent-roofed bell tower.
In 1764, Empress Catherine II issued the famous Decree on the secularization of church lands. The idea arose much earlier. In particular, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna tried seven years earlier to restrict the property of the church. Then, in 1762, Peter III got down to business, and after his death, Catherine completed the work. By that time, an extremely difficult situation had developed in Russia: the church owned a huge area of \u200b\u200bland, for which it paid nothing at all, and this was in conditions when the state needed money. The result was the total appropriation of church lands in favor of the state.
Slightly less than half of the monasteries were simply abolished. The remaining 536 monasteries were divided into two groups: 226 were put on state support, the remaining 310 were deprived of financial support. The amount of budget funding was small, and therefore even those monasteries that received support from the state budget were barely making ends meet. Ultimately, the number of inhabitants had to be limited. There was not enough money for repairs, and the walls were dilapidated. The abbots, apparently, were afraid to report problems, fearing the disastrous deprivation of state budget support. Assessing the results from a macroeconomic standpoint, Russia certainly won. Lands began to generate income, the treasury was replenished, and the country began to dictate conditions in the European arena. At the same time, the Europeans themselves were perplexed, saying that even the Basurman did not allow themselves to do this with Orthodoxy.
While the authorities were putting state affairs in order, a benefactor volunteered to improve the affairs of the St. John the Theological monastery. State councilor David Ivanovich Khludov, having resigned as head of Yegoryevsk, moved in 1860 to Ryazan. Having received a strict religious education, he generously donated to monasteries and churches. Ryazan province was more fortunate than others. Khludov rebuilt the Poshupovsky Monastery: with his financial support he reconstructed the St. John the Theological Cathedral - it became one-story, the iconostasis was renewed in the cathedral. Later, a new Assumption Cathedral and a three-storey fraternal building, Gostiny Dvor, an almshouse with a pharmacy and its own paramedic, and a parish school were erected. Peasant boys studied science here, textbooks and office supplies were provided by the monastery. After Khludov's death, but at his expense in 1901, a 76-meter bell tower was built, in which a library with valuable books was placed.
Hard times came for the monastery at the beginning of the 20th century - the persecution of the church under Soviet rule did not pass without a trace. The inhabitants of the monastery were accused of counter-revolutionary activities, and the then abbot, Archimandrite Zosim, was arrested and exiled to Kazakhstan. The monastery was closed, and during the downtime the main shrine also disappeared - the miraculous image of the Apostle John the Theologian. The location of the icon has not been known since then.
In the year of the millennium of the baptism of Russia, St. John the Theological Monastery was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. The Holy Synod appointed Archimandrite Abel as governor. For many years he served on the Ryazan land: in the village of Gorodishche, Rybnovsky District, in the Borisoglebsk Cathedral of Ryazan. The priest served both in Yaroslavl and Smolensk lands, and on Holy Mount Athos in Greece. During the 15 years of Abel's ministry under him, the Poschupovsky monastery was transformed beyond recognition. The parishioners loved the priest: in the memory of the Ryazan people, Abel remained a wise and kind old man. The house in which Abel lived his last years on the territory of the monastery has now been turned into a museum named after him.
Today you can see the complete transformation of the Poshchupovsky Monastery. There is a carved iconostasis in the St. John the Theological Cathedral. Moscow icon painter Alexander Chashkin painted the altar. The Assumption Cathedral has been restored. The fraternal building with a refectory has been restored. In the late 1990s, under a small tent-roofed bell tower, a church was consecrated in honor of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. An ancient tyablo iconostasis is installed in the temple. In the ancient Holy Gates, a chapel was built in honor of the Iberian Icon of the Mother of God. In the fraternal building on the third floor, a church was also consecrated - in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "The Hearing Hearts" and the Great Martyr Panteleimon. A refectory for pilgrims and a temple in honor of princes Boris and Gleb have been equipped. The monastery houses the arks with the relics of Saints George the Victorious, the healer Panteleimon, and Nicholas the Wonderworker. Under the altar of the Theological Cathedral there is a temple in honor of the Monk Seraphim of Sarov and Hieromartyr Juvenaly of Ryazan.
A chapel was recreated at the holy spring, a spacious baptismal font and a monastery church shop were opened.
Today I want to tell you about the already "promoted" place in the Ryazan region - the St. John the Theologian monastery. I call this monastery “my home”, because we go there often, once a month for sure. Especially when you have to make important decisions: walk through, think and somehow it immediately becomes clear which of them is correct.
Once upon a time little Seryozha Yesenin went here on pilgrimage with his grandmother. These are his words: "A monastery on a high mountain."
Getting to the monastery is quite easy. In Rybny, behind the former traffic police post (from Moscow), we turn according to the sign to Konstantinovo (you will not pass by, this is a large stand with Yesenin's portrait), then we follow the signs to Konstantinovo until turning right to Novoselki. There is a sign to the monastery itself, and then follow the signs to the monastery.
The monastery is one of the most ancient in the Ryazan region: the date of foundation is considered to be the end of the 12th - beginning of the 13th century. Scientists believe it was founded by Greek monks. They brought with them the icon of the holy Apostle John the Theologian, which for many years was the shrine of the monastery. Unfortunately, it is now lost.
In 1237 Batu fell on Ryazan. The city was ravaged, and the monastery remained unharmed. They say that John the Theologian himself appeared to the khan, and the Batu monastery, frightened by this, pardoned. However, in the future, the Tatars ruined it more than once.
Initially, the monastery was wooden, and only in the second half of the 17th century stone construction began, and by the end of the 17th century the monastery was named the third among the monasteries of the Ryazan diocese. But then years of desolation began in its history, by the middle of the 19th century the monastery plunged into hopeless poverty, many on the Ryazan land did not even know about its existence.
Most likely, the monastery would have remained seedy, but in 1859 David Ivanovich Khludov bought a dacha near the monastery, and so he put a lot of effort into reviving the monastery. At his request, Archimandrite Vitaly (Vinogradov) became the rector. And it was they who made the monastery one of the most beautiful in Ryazan by the end of the 19th century. At the same time, a school for peasant children was opened at the monastery, and it was these "children" who saved the monastery from closing after the revolution.
The monastery "held out" until May 31, 1931, when the monks were arrested and sent into exile, only 82-year-old Archimandrite Zosima (Musatov) managed to avoid it. Following the Soviet tradition, various institutions "stayed" in the monastery. By the end of the eighties of the last century, complete devastation reigned here.
The revival of the monastery is associated with the name of Archimandrite Abel (Macedonov). He was born in the village of Nikulichi, Ryazan region. For a long time he headed the St. Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos, and since 1989 he headed the Poshupovsky Monastery. He died in December 2006, but in the monastery he is honored and remembered: under the altar of St. John the Theological Cathedral, in the Seraphim Church, there is his grave, as well as a small museum was made in the archimandrite's house (unfortunately, I never got there).
The monastery is surrounded by a stone fence in the form of an irregular heptagon. The territory of the monastery is small, but very well-groomed.
Mostly pilgrims come to the New Holy Gates, and from there they begin to inspect the monastery. If you are not dressed appropriately, the guards will give you a skirt and scarf. It is forbidden to take photographs on the territory of the monastery, but I did it more than once (but not insolently), no one personally kicked me out.
Right behind the bell tower we are greeted by the ancient Holy Gates, and now the Chapel of the Iverskaya Icon of the Mother of God, very often they are open, you can go to the icon, pray, light a candle.
The old one appeared in the middle of the 17th century, on Easter, everyone can ring the bells. Once, we did it too, only it turns out to be a cacophony, nevertheless, ringing bells beautifully is an art.
The new bell tower was built in 1901 by Tsekhansky in the pseudo-Russian style. It is about 76 meters high, which is only 5 meters less than the famous Ivan the Great.
There are two main churches in the monastery: the Cathedral of St. John the Theologian and the Assumption Cathedral.
St. John the Theological Cathedral was built in the second half of the 17th century, most likely in 1689. By the middle of the 19th century, the temple fell into complete desolation, so after reconstruction it had to be re-lit in 1868. The second revival of the temple took place after 1988.
Recently, I have not been able to get into it - we rarely get to the service, but under its Altar there is my "favorite" church of St. Seraphim of Sarov. It is very small, there is the grave of Abel and the remains of the monastic brethren (it is these that he reminds me of the Inkerman monastery), as well as the icon of Seraphim of Sarov.
The second temple, the Assumption, is almost always open, so nothing prevents you from entering, praying,
and enjoy the view of the magnificent porcelain iconostasis.
Also in the monastery there are a lot of particles of the relics of saints: St. George the Victorious, St. Theophan the Recluse, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, St. John Chrysostom, St. Gregory the Theologian, St. Isaac of Dalmatia, St. Ambrose of Mediolan, St. Herman of Valaatikalat, The Great Martyr The Great Martyr.
After visiting the monastery, you can go to the source (if you have not done this earlier): by car or on foot along the path along the walls of the monastery or along the path, leaving the gate. But keep in mind that you will have to walk along steep paths to the source (whichever way you choose, including by car), so on ice or after heavy rains, evaluate your shoes for the possibility of descending, otherwise you can fall more than once.
Through these gates you can go to the road to the source.
Through this gate - to the paths.
This is a view of the monastery from the side of the path.
Holy spring
You can walk to the source from the monastery or drive up to the parking lot by car. I will explain how to get there from Rybny, because we usually first enter the source and then go to the monastery: for this we turn at the next turn after the Medvedevo sign and go to the parking lot, where we leave the car, and enjoy the views ourselves, going down along trees to the source.
The gray car is just opposite the right turn.
The holy spring is famous for its healing power: the inhabitants of the surrounding villages began to come here a long time ago, take a dip, take water. Many were healed. In my experience, the source really gives some kind of strength: you plunge into cold water (4 degrees), and you leave as if you were reborn. Of course, according to the rules, you need to go around the source inside the bath three times, reading a prayer, then we dip three times, then we go around again, and so on three times, but the most persistent can withstand 9 baths. People from all over the Ryazan region come to the source for Epiphany, and the queues are simply huge. Well, now some photos.
Source Code of Conduct.
Rest bench.
The source itself.
Chapel.
Here you can buy monastery products, maybe a little expensive (offhand a pound of cottage cheese - 100 rubles, one and a half liters of kvass - 70), but everything is really very tasty. Herbal tea is consecrated. When buying black bread, keep in mind that it is truly rye (75%). We also always buy herbal tea and pancakes, after bathing it warms up very cool. Previously, they ate on tables near the kiosk, but now there is a gazebo.
The exact date when the St. John the Theological Monastery (Poshupovo) was built is unknown. During its centuries-old history, it managed to acquire many legends and traditions.
Legend one: the emergence of the monastery
One of the legends says that the monastery appeared at the end of the XII or at the beginning of the XIII century. It is believed that Christian missionary monks came to these lands with the aim of enlightening the local pagans. With them was a miraculous icon of the saint in whose honor the monastery founded by the monks was named. This image was one of the many shrines that the Church of Constantinople donated to the Russian state. According to legend, it was written by an orphan boy who lived in Byzantium as early as the 6th century, whose hand was allegedly ruled by the apostle himself.
At first the monastery was located south of the present one, on a hillside, above the Oka River, in a cave. Naturally, the area around in those days looked somewhat different than it is now: centuries-old oak forests grew on the high hills, and the rest of the space was occupied by small lakes and oxbows.
John the Theological Monastery, Poshupovo. Historical reference
A whole complex of inhabited caves has survived to this day, the estimated time of their settlement is the end of the XII century. And this fact allows us to make the assumption that the monks acted in the same way as their brethren during the foundation of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery, which later became wooden.
Legend two: the golden seal
Having moved with his army to the Russian lands, he met fierce resistance from the inhabitants of Old Ryazan, which defended for five days. Nevertheless, the city was taken and, of course, burned to the ground (it is known that the modern city was erected in a new place). Then the khan and the horde approached the monastery and camped for the night. In the morning they were going to rob and burn him. As the legend says, Batu had a dream where he saw the face of the Apostle John. He and his warriors were so terrified by the vision that they abandoned their original design. They say that the khan was very afraid of Christian saints.
Arriving at the temple, he saw on the icon the very face of the apostle that he had dreamed of. After that, Batu put his personal golden seal on the shrine, which was supposed to protect the monastery and all its brethren from numerous raids and devastations. The monks kept it carefully for 416 years. It was subsequently melted down into a cup used for communion.
Legend three: the missing icon
Over time, the power in the Horde changed, and the golden seal of Khan Batu ceased to be a protection for the monastery. Raids have become more frequent, bringing with them the murder of brothers and ruin. But each time the monks restored their monastery with enviable persistence.
But in the end the monks got tired of this, and they decided to find another place to build the monastery. Collected all their surviving property and hit the road. But after a while they discovered that the miraculous icon with the face of St. John the Theologian had disappeared. And then they doubted the correctness of their deed.
The brothers decided to return and find the lost shrine by all means. On the way back, passing through a grove, they saw a missing icon on a tall oak tree. Taking this as a sign from above, they decided to build a new monastery in the place where they found the face of John the Theologian. Now the monastery is located slightly north of its original location.
From the oak on which the icon was found, they made a board and placed it on the main throne in the St. John the Theological Monastery (Poshupovo). Later it was transferred to the newly built Assumption Cathedral.
Building
The construction of the monastery on the current site began in the 16th century. At the beginning it was made of wood, but by the end of the 17th century they began to build already stone buildings. Now the St. John the Theological Monastery (Poshupovo) is completely stone.
By the middle of the XIX century, the monastery was badly dilapidated and was in desolation until, in 1859, David Ivanovich Khludov settled in these places. He made every effort to revive it. At the end of the 19th century, he became almost the most beautiful in the Ryazan diocese. A four-tiered bell tower with a height of 76 meters was also built.
At the same time, a school was organized at the monastery, where peasant children were taught. It was this that saved the monastery from closing after the October Revolution.
In the spring of 1931, the St. John the Theologian Monastery (Poshupovo) was nevertheless closed, and the monks were arrested. And the day before, the ancient miraculous icon of John the Theologian disappeared from it, which, by the way, has not yet been found. In Soviet times, various institutions were located in the buildings of the monastery. Only in the fall of 1988 was he returned back to the Russian Orthodox Church.
John the Theological Monastery of the village of Poshupovo
The monastery in honor of the holy apostle and evangelist is located on the right bank of the Oka River, near the village of Poshupovo, Rybnovsky District, Ryazan Region, 25 kilometers from the city of Ryazan, and is one of the oldest in the Ryazan diocese.
Monastic tradition dates the origin of the monastery to the end of the 12th or the beginning of the 13th century. It is believed that its founders were missionary monks who came to these lands to educate the local pagans. They brought with them the miraculous icon of the Apostle John the Theologian - one of the many shrines donated by the Church of Constantinople to the Russian land. This image became the main shrine of the new monastery. The icon itself, according to legend, placed in the Slavic Prologue on September 26, was painted in the 6th century in Byzantium by an orphan boy, whose hand was led by the apostle himself, who appeared to him.
Initially, the monastery arose somewhat south of the present, on the slope of a large hill overlooking the floodplain of the Oka River, and was most likely a cave. The complex of monastic caves dating back to the end of the 12th century has survived to this day. This suggests that the foundation of the monastery is associated with the missionary activities of the monks of the famous Kiev-Pechersk monastery. A little later, the monastery was moved from the caves to the surface of the earth and rebuilt in a tree.
There is a legend that in 1237 the Apostle John the Theologian defended his monastery from the Tatar-Mongol conquerors. Khan Batu, moving with his army after the ruin of the capital of the Ryazan principality - Ryazan (old) - along the Oka to Kolomna, proceeded to the St. John the Theologian monastery with the intention of robbing and burning it. However, the formidable khan and his soldiers were terrified by the vision of the apostle John. Abandoning the idea of \u200b\u200bravaging the monastery, Batu came to the monastery and left his gold security seal near the icon of the Apostle, which subsequently remained with her for 416 years. In 1653, during the reign of the martyr Misail, Archbishop of Ryazan and Murom, when the miraculous image was temporarily in the old Assumption Cathedral of the Ryazan Kremlin, the seal was removed and, among several dozen gold coins from the archpastor's "koshta" time and is now in RIAMZ.
In the 16th - first half of the 17th centuries, the monastery was repeatedly ravaged by the Crimean Tatars and Mordovians who came from the south and southeast, but it was invariably revived. Tradition tells that after one of these devastations the monks made an attempt to move the monastery to a safer place - the village of Vysokoe Mikhailovsky district. But it turned out that the miraculous icon disappeared from the new monastery church and was found again in Poshupovo, but not in the old place, but in the monastery forest on a huge oak tree, where now there is a cathedral in the name of the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian. The abbot and the brethren returned to their original place, but this oak was cut down, and the board made of it was placed on top of the main altar. Subsequently, this board was transferred to the new Assumption Cathedral of the monastery.
Although the monastery owned vast estates, repeated ruins for a long time did not give an opportunity to improve the monastery. Until the middle of the 17th century, all buildings in the monastery were made of wood. In the 50s of the 17th century, a stone fence and the Holy Gates were built according to the project of the Moscow architect Yuri Korniliev Ershov. Frescoes of such antiquity have survived in the Ryazan Region only in 2 places: in the Singing Building of the Ryazan Kremlin and in the Holy Gates of the St. John the Theological Monastery.
In 1689, a stone two-story John the Theological Cathedral ... In the same year, a second stone church was built - in honor of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos.
John the Theological Cathedral. 1689 g.
Mosaic icon on the facade of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine
Mosaic icon of St. John the Theologian on the apse of St. John the Theologian Cathedral
The main (cold) cathedral of the monastery. Under its altar part there is a tomb church consecrated in the name of Seraphim of Sarov, Iuvenaly of Ryazan and all the new martyrs and confessors of Russia. The last abbots of the monastery, who ruled it until the 1930s, are buried in the tomb.
The cathedral kept the ancient miraculous icon of John the Theologian, brought to the Oka from Byzantium.
Temple-tomb, consecrated in the name of Seraphim of Sarov, Iuvenaly Ryazan and all the new martyrs and confessors of Russia, attached to the cathedral of John the Theologian. Bones from the necropolis destroyed by the Bolsheviks.
The tomb temple, consecrated in the name of Seraphim of Sarov, Iuvenaly Ryazan and all the new martyrs and confessors of Russia, attached to the cathedral of John the Theologian. White tombstone - Archimandrite Abel (Makedonov), who took over the monastery after the Soviet devastation, through whose efforts it was restored.
Temple-tomb, consecrated in the name of Seraphim of Sarov, Iuvenaly Ryazan and all the new martyrs and confessors of Russia, attached to the cathedral of John the Theologian. Gravestones of the last abbots of the monastery.
From the stone buildings of the 17th century, the tent-roofed bell tower and the abbot's building have survived to this day.
In 1652, with his letter, Patriarch Adrian blessed Archimandrite Anthony and subsequent rectors to perform any priesthood in a silver-forged miter. In this letter, the St. John the Theologian monastery is named the third according to its place among the monasteries of the Ryazan-Murom diocese.
After the secularization of the ecclesiastical lands by Empress Catherine II in 1764, the Ioanno-Theological Monastery, like many monasteries, fell into decay. A new flourishing of the monastery in economic and spiritual relations occurs only in the second half of the 19th century.
In 1860, not far from the monastery, a hereditary honorary citizen, Moscow merchant of the 1st guild, David Ivanovich Khludov, acquired a country estate. He became the main donor of the monastery. At his expense, the St. John the Theological Cathedral was completely reconstructed. A new iconostasis is being arranged in it, the icons for which were painted by the famous Ryazan artist N.V. Shumov. The temple was re-consecrated on October 5, 1862.
Thanks to the initiative of D.I. Khludov, abbot of the St. John the Theologian monastery on March 22, 1865. The Holy Synod appointed a hieromonk, and then hegumen and archimandrite Vitaly (Alekseev). Over the next years, the appearance of the monastery has completely changed. The cenobitic charter in it was introduced on the model of the Konevsky Monastery - with ascetically strict rules.
In 1868-1870, D.I. Khludov a new one is being built Assumption Cathedral with three thrones, and in 1868-1878 - a new three-story fraternal building.
Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Fragment of a faience icon case in the Assumption Cathedral
Faience icon case in the Assumption Cathedral
The interior of the Assumption Cathedral
Outside the monastery fence in 1867, a two-story stone seating yard for pilgrims and a school for peasant children of the village of Poshupovo. Inoki trained more than 70 boys there every year. All the necessary teaching materials were also provided at the expense of the monastery.
After the death of D.I. Khludov, but at his expense, in 1901, designed by the Ryazan architect I.S. Tsekhansky is under construction 80-meter bell toweri, the largest bell on which weighed 545 pounds. The bell tower housed a large library, which kept old books of the 17th-18th centuries.
Bell tower
Archimandrite Vitaly (Vinogradov) ruled the monastery for half a century and died in 1915 at the age of almost 100. The number of brethren under him increased enormously and amounted to more than 100 people.
During the years of persecution against the Church in the first half of the 20th century, the monastery shared the fate of many other Russian monasteries and churches. In 1930, the inhabitants of the monastery, led by the aged rector Archimandrite Zosima (Musatov), \u200b\u200bwere arrested, taken to Ryazan and convicted on charges of counter-revolutionary activities for various periods of exile in Kazakhstan, the monastery itself was closed and abolished. St. John the Theological Monastery was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church in the fall of 1988. Then the restoration began.
Over the past years, with God's help, a lot has already been done. A new carved iconostasis, made by Ryazan masters, is arranged in the St. John the Theological Cathedral. The altar was painted by the Moscow icon painter Alexander Chashkin. The Assumption Church has been restored. The fraternal building has been completely restored, on the lower floor of which there is a refectory for the brothers. From the very first time of the monastery's existence, it was consecrated under a small tent-roofed bell tower temple in honor of the Tikhvin icon of the Mother of God and in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
Church of the Icon of the Mother of God Tikhvin. XVII century
The Church of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God, Nicholas the Wonderworker and the Passion-Bearer Tsar Nicholas is located in the lower tier of a small tent-roofed bell tower.
An ancient bell in front of the entrance to the Tikhvin Church
Fence gate
Holy gate
Glauces above the Holy Gates
In the ancient Holy Gates is arranged chapel in honor of the Iberian Icon of the Mother of God .
Iverskaya chapel. XVII century
Part of the interior of the Iverskaya chapel
On the third floor of the fraternal building, a church was built in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Quick to Hear" and in the name of the Great Martyr Panteleimon. By the grace of God and diligence, he ruled the monastery in 1989-2004. the governor of Archimandrite Abel (Makedonov), many relics have been collected. The brethren reverently revere the miraculous icons of the Most Holy Theotokos "The Sign-Korchemnaya" and "Tikhvin".
The monastery contains arks with the relics of saints George the Victorious, the healer Panteleimon, Nicholas the Wonderworker and many other saints of God, both ecumenical and domestic, as well as relics associated with the names of the holy martyr Misail of Ryazan.
Under the altar Of the Theological Cathedral in 1993, a church was built and consecrated in honor of the Monk Seraphim of Sarov, Hieromartyr Iuvenaly of Ryazan and all the new martyrs and confessors of Russia. The remains of the last three abbots of the monastery, found in 1992, are buried in this church, and a brotherly ossuary is built, and Archimandrite Abel (Makedonov), who died in 2006, is buried here.
Governor's wooden house with brownie Church of the Sign
For pilgrims, excursions are organized with visits to temples and prayer at the monastery shrines. There is also a hotel for them where you can stay overnight. According to monastery custom, all pilgrims are offered a free meal.
An entry is made for a long remembrance of health and repose, including through postal order.
One of the attractions of the monastery is the extensive library collected in recent years. In addition to modern editions on theology, philosophy, history, art, it also contains old printed books (the earliest - the middle of the 17th century), rare pre-revolutionary editions and valuable manuscripts related to the recent history of the Russian Church.
The monastery has an extensive subsidiary farm: for many years it has its own apiary, bakery, and a dairy shop. With God's help, a pottery workshop was opened in 2008. The monastery garden is being built.
Patronal feasts
Fraternal corps with the Borisoglebsk house church
