Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery
Joseph Volokolamsk Monastery (
Иосифо-'олоколамский монастырь,
'олоцкий Успенский Иосифов монастырь in
Russian) is a male
monastery, located 17
km northeast of
Volokolamsk,
Moscow Oblast. In the 15th and 16th century, it rivalled
the Trinity as the most authoritative and rich monastery in
Russia. It was frequently referred to as
lavra, although there was no official corroboration of that status.
Joseph Volokolamsk Monastery was founded in
1479 by
Joseph Volotsky. It became the center of his disciples, or
Josephinians, and played a key role in the political and ecclesiastic life of the 16th-century
Russia. It was also a stronghold of struggle against the opponents of church landownership and
heretics. Its vaults were used as a prison for dissenters. The famous inmates included
Maksim Grek (who spent 14 years there),
Feodor Kuritsyn,
Metropolitan Daniel, and
Tsar Basil IV. Joseph Volotsky, Metropolitan Daniel and
Malyuta Skuratov are among many notables buried within monastery walls.
|
View of the monastery from an adjacent lake |
In the
1560s, Joseph Volokolamsk Monastery was the second largest landowner in Russia, with more than 30,000
desyatinas of
arable lands in its possession. Several smaller priories, dependent on the monastery, were founded on these lands. Within the principal cloister, three ponds were kept full of fresh water. After the Assumption Cathedral was constructed in brick in
1486, the great icon-painter
Dionisius was summoned to embellish its walls with frescoes. An enormous octagonal
bell-tower was constructed in 9 tiers in the 1490s. At that time, it was the tallest structure in Russia. Its design heralded that of
Ivan the Great Bell Tower in the
Moscow Kremlin.
During the
Time of Troubles, Joseph Volokolamsk Monastery was actively engaged in helping the government of
Basil IV in his struggle against
Ivan Bolotnikov's rebels. The Polish
hetman Prince Rozynski lost his life besieging the monastery in
1611. After the siege, the monks captured a lot of Polish cannons, which were later used for festive fire works.
At the end of the 17th century, the monastery was reconstructed in the fashionable
Naryshkin style. The new walls, completed by
1688, featured nine sharp-coned towers of stone. A golden-domed church was built over the main gates to the monastery in
1679. A church of similar design was added in
1682 to the spacious
refectory, currently the oldest building in the complex, dating from
1504. The new Assumption Cathedral replaced the old one between
1682 and
1689. Its exterior was elaborately decorated with coloured tiles, and a marvellously carved
iconostasis was installed in the interior.
After the
October Revolution of
1917, Joseph Volokolamsk Monastery was turned into a
museum. The Soviet authorities destroyed all the bells and took most of the icons to
Moscow. During
World War II, the
German army seriously ruined the cloister and, most appallingly, blew up its famous bell-tower. Although the churches have been subsequently restored, the bell-tower remains a major loss sustained by Russian art during the war.
External links
*
Article in Russian, a lot of photos
