More than half a million pilgrims annually visit the city of Pechory in the Pskov region to come into contact with their main shrine - the Pskov-Pechersky Holy Dormition Monastery.
Here, since the founding of the monastery in 1473, even in the years of unrest and unrest, the experience of eldership and spiritual service has never been interrupted.
According to legend, Izborsk hunters, father and son Selishi, who were chasing an animal in a distant forest, ended up on the bank of the small river Kamenets, where they heard quiet prayer singing from underground. Deciding that it was angels singing, they spread the news throughout the area.

Taylovskaya tower of the monastery

The “Singing Lands” went to the peasant Ivan Dementyev. One day he went to cut down trees, and one of them fell and opened the Caves. It is believed that monks settled in the Caves to escape raids in these lands Crimean Tatars.

Today the Caves are a large necropolis. Remaining incorruptible for centuries, over ten thousand people found peace here.

It is believed that the discovery of the God-created caves occurred in 1392, but the official date when the Pskov-Pechersk Holy Assumption Monastery was founded was declared to be 1473. It was at this time that the Assumption Church was consecrated, which was dug in a sandy hill near the Kamenets stream by the Monk Jonah. In the world he bore the name John and was a priest of the St. George Church in Yuryevo-Livonsk.

Fleeing persecution from the Latin Germans, John, his wife Maria and children left Yuryevo-Livonsk and came to Pskov. Here, having heard about a newly discovered cave, he set up his home next to it to serve God.

First miracle
The Pskov-Pechersky Monastery had not yet been completed when John's wife Maria became mortally ill. She became the first monk to take the monastic vows and took the name Vassa. After her death and burial, the coffin with her body unusually found itself on the surface. The miracle was repeated during the second burial. John took this as a sign from above.

Since then, miraculous grace has been operating in the caves of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery. For centuries, coffins are not buried in the ground, but placed on top of each other, and the bodies of the buried remain incorrupt. Among the people buried in the monastery are representatives of the families of Pushkin, Kutuzov, Pleshcheev, Nazimov, and Mussorgsky.

After the death of his wife, John took on the monastic image with the name Jonah. Like the Venerable Vassa, Jonah was numbered among the venerables of Pskov-Pechersk.

Ascetics began to come to Jonah. One of them, Hieromonk Misail, erected a temple and cells on the mountain. But a few years later the monastery was attacked by the Livonians. Wooden buildings were burned and property was looted. When the sacrilege began to commit outrages in the Assumption Church of the monastery, fire coming out of the altar expelled them from the monastery. Meanwhile, a Russian detachment arrived from Izborsk and completed the destruction of the enemies.

After the attack of the Livonians, Pechory was in distress: the raids, although less daring, continued. Foreign conquerors tried more than once to wipe the monastery off the face of the earth, since they saw in it, first of all, a stronghold of Orthodoxy and a Russian military stronghold.

The monastery has never been closed in its entire history. During the interwar period (until January 1945) it was located within Estonia, thanks to which it was preserved.

In 1967-2006, Archimandrite John (Krestyankin) labored in the monastery.
There is no reliable information about the beginning of monastic life on the site of the modern monastery, just as there have been no scientific surveys of the caves. Presumably of natural origin, erosion-suffosion caves in sandstone deposits along the banks of the Kamenets stream became known to local residents in 1392.
According to legend, they were inhabited by monks who fled to the Pskov land from the south, from the raids of the Crimean Tatars. The main cave complex is called the “God-created cave”, and consists of the Assumption Cave Church with a bypass gallery (small caves), nearby caves with the relics of the Venerable Pechersk Mark (the “initial monk”), Jonah, Lazarus and mother Vassa, and then continues with a necropolis of seven underground gallery-streets with the cave Church of the Resurrection of Christ at the end of the 6th gallery and a chapel.

monument to St. Cornelius

CHRONICLE
Foundation of the monastery
Located 340 km southwest of St. Petersburg and 50 km west of Pskov, the Holy Dormition Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery dates back more than 500 years. Here, on the northwestern borders of Russia, on the ancient land of Pskov, the seeds of the Orthodox faith were grown, sown in Rus' back in the 10th century by the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga, who, according to legend, was born in the village of Vybutskaya near Pskov.
The chronicle tells how at the end of the 14th century Izborsk hunters, father and son Selisha, heard “the voices of those singing ineffably and beautifully” in a deep forest near the Kamenets stream and felt a fragrance “like a lot of incense.”
Generally recognized historical date The foundation of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery is considered to be 1473, when the Assumption Church, dug out of a sandy hill near the Kamenets stream, was consecrated by the Monk Jonah. Venerable Jonah is the immediate founder of the monastery. Previously, he, bearing the name John in the world, was a priest in the St. George Church of Yuryev-Livonsky (now Tartu). He was nicknamed Shestnik, i.e. an alien, because he originally came from Moscow. He came to Livonia as a missionary.
At that time, the Orthodox people there were subjected to severe persecution by the Latin Germans. Fearing for the life of his family, Fr. John, along with his wife Maria and children, leaves Yuryev and settles in Pskov.
Here he first heard about the “God-created cave.” A heartfelt desire to serve the Lord with even greater zeal led John and his family to settle near the holy place. The construction of the cave temple was not yet completed when Maria, his wife, became seriously ill. Feeling the approach of death, she took monastic vows with the name Vassa, thus becoming the first tonsure of the monastery.
After the death of his wife, John himself took on the monastic image with the name Jonah. Like the Venerable Vassa, he is also numbered among the Pskov-Pechersk venerables. He and St. Mark are commemorated on March 29/April 11, and St. Vassa on March 19/April 1.
The successor of the Monk Jonah, Hieromonk Misail, erected cells and a temple on the mountain, but soon the monastery was attacked by the Livonians. Wooden buildings were burned and property was looted. When the sacrilege began to commit outrages in the Assumption Church of the monastery, fire coming out of the altar expelled them from the monastery. Meanwhile, a Russian detachment arrived from Izborsk and completed the destruction of the Livonians.
The monastery suffered for a long time after this shock: the raids, although less daring, continued. Foreign conquerors have more than once tried to wipe the monastery off the face of the earth, since they saw in it, first of all, a stronghold of Orthodoxy and Russian influence on those living nearby. local population Baltic tribes (Estonians and Setos), as well as the organizer of economic activity in the region and, finally, a Russian military stronghold.

St. Nicholas Church and the walls of the monastery

The heyday of the monastery in the 16th century

Only half a century later, under Abbot Dorotheos, the monastery rose and flourished again: in the 20s of the 16th century, the Assumption Church was renewed and expanded, a chapel was built in the name of Venerable Anthony and Theodosius of Kiev-Pechersk. Other temples and monastic buildings were also erected. The construction was supervised by the sovereign clerk, who had the power of the plenipotentiary representative of the Grand Duke of Moscow in Pskov, Misyur Munekhin, who carried out the work on a large scale. For his services in establishing the monastery, he was the first of the laity to be buried in the monastery cave.
In 1521, the monastery acquired the miraculous icon of the Dormition of the Mother of God “in the hagiography” (with hagiographic stamps). This image was painted by the icon painter Alexei Maly at the request of the Pskov “trading people” Vasily and Theodore (Theodore later took monastic vows with the name Theophilus and died in the monastery).
During this period, the monastery moved from the mountain down to the Kamenets valley, and the cells were placed opposite the Assumption Church.
By the end of the 20s of the 16th century, under Abbot Gerasim, the inner life monastery: the abbot drew up a communal charter based on the model of the Kiev-Pechersk, established the rank church service according to the tradition of ancient monasteries, decreeing that divine services should be performed daily in the Assumption Cathedral. And today the monastery sacredly preserves ancient traditions, observing strict communal regulations.
The real flourishing of the monastery is associated with the name of its abbot, the Venerable Martyr Cornelius.
The fame of the monastery increased year by year. Word of mouth miraculous healings, received through the special intercession of the Queen of Heaven not only by the Orthodox, but also by the Latins, attracted many pilgrims; The once “poor place” was replenished with precious deposits, vast lands and estates. But these offerings went not only to the needs of the monastery. Monastic expense books preserved information about the material assistance that the monks constantly provided to refugees during numerous wars. At the expense of the monastery treasury, houses destroyed by the invaders in the surrounding villages were restored; during truces, the monastery ransomed prisoners of war from the enemy. All other monasteries of the Pskov diocese, even the more ancient ones: Mirozhsky (1156), Snetogorsky (XIII century), Veliko-Pustynsky (1404), Spaso-Eleazarovsky (1447) - yielded primacy to the Pskov-Pechersk monastery, and the abbots of other monasteries were now promoted to its abbots as a sign of promotion. Pechersk abbots were appointed bishops.

Confrontation with the Polish-Lithuanian army

The border position of the monastery remained dangerous. In the middle of the 16th century, the pressure on the Pskov land from the German Livonian Order intensified. This led to the fact that the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery gradually became not only a place of salvation for Christian souls, not only a missionary and educational center, but also a powerful fortress of northwestern Rus'.
In the summer of 1581, a hundred thousand strong Polish-Lithuanian army moved to Pskov. The guard troops stationed in the Pechersk fortress-monastery intercepted enemy detachments and convoys with weapons heading towards the besieged city.
On October 29, the angry Polish king Stefan Batory sent a large army to the monastery, the defenders of which were only two or three hundred archers, resettled from Moscow and marking the beginning of the Pechersky Posad.
On November 5, enemy troops fired at the monastery with cannons and smashed the wall near the Church of the Annunciation. An enemy detachment immediately rushed here. Now military force alone could not save the monastery, and then the monks brought the main monastery shrine to the breach - ancient icon Dormition of the Mother of God. All the besieged fervently prayed to the Intercessor of the Christian race, and the Mother of God heard their prayers. The battle continued until late at night, but all attacks were repelled.
The chronicle also tells about other miraculous events in which God’s special mercy was revealed to the monastery. The secretary of the Batory campaign office, Father Jan Piotrovsky, wrote in his diary: “The Germans were unlucky in Pechory, there were two assaults and both were unhappy. They'll make a hole in the wall, go for an attack, and then they won't move. This surprises everyone, some say that the place is enchanted, others say that the place is holy, but in any case, the exploits of the monks are worthy of surprise.”
The miraculous icons of the Mother of God “Assumption” and “Tenderness” were sent to the defenders of Pskov, inspiring them to feats of arms: during the 5 months of the siege, the enemy stormed the Pskov Kremlin more than 30 times, but never took the city.
In memory of this miraculous deliverance, the grateful people of Pechersk every year on the 7th week of Easter went in procession with the miraculous icon “Tenderness” to Pskov. In 1998, the tradition of the religious procession was resumed (only the icon is now transferred inside the monastery - from the Assumption to St. Michael's Church and back).
At the beginning of the 17th century, the monastery survived many attacks by Swedish, Lithuanian and Polish conquerors, who took advantage of the internal difficulties of the Russian state and committed outrages on its western borders.
In 1701, Peter I ordered to surround the monastery with an earthen rampart and a deep, water-filled ditch (the remains of earthen fortifications from the Petrine era have survived to this day). 5 bastions were built at the most important points, and a battery was placed at the gates. The Pechersk fortress acquired national significance: as a sign of this, the state emblem was installed on the main fortress Nikolskaya Tower.
In 1703, thanks to new fortifications, a small detachment under the command of governor Ivan Nazimov managed to repel an attack by a 2,000-strong Swedish army. This was the last battle near the walls of the monastery. The Peace of Nystadt (1721) moved the country's border to the west and put an end to the defense mission of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery.
In 1812, the Russian land was again threatened by a conqueror. The rapidly advancing Napoleonic troops occupied Polotsk. The threat of occupation also loomed over Pskov. Then, at the request of the Pskov residents, the icons of the Mother of God “Assumption” and “Tenderness”, a banner with the image of the Savior Not Made by Hands, were brought to the city from the monastery. October 7 was committed procession With miraculous shrines. On the same day, Russian troops recaptured Polotsk, and Pskov was out of danger. In memory of this event, on the initiative of the war hero Field Marshal P.H. Wittgenstein, a temple was erected in the Pechersk monastery in honor of the Holy Archangel Michael (1815-1827).

Holy spring in the monastery

Monastery during the Great Years Patriotic War

On June 22, 1941, the Great Patriotic War began. Fascist troops quickly advanced across the Baltic states. All Soviet organizations in the city of Pechora were hastily evacuated to the rear. The Germans entered the city.
The monastery continued to remain under dual subordination: Metropolitan Alexander (Paulus) of Tallinn and Metropolitan Sergius (Voskresensky) Exarch of the Baltic States.
Changes took place in the monastery during 1941: Archimandrite Parthenius retired due to old age, although he still continued to serve as steward. He was an excellent business executive and a man of great soul. Father Parthenius’ favorite expression was: “Thank God for everything!” Before the departure of Father Parthenius, Abbot Pavel only helped him, but then all the troubles associated with the occupation fell as a heavy burden on the shoulders of one Father Pavel, who was also already in old age.
Abbot Hegumen Pavel (in the world Peter Mikhailovich Gorshkov) was born in St. Petersburg in 1867 in the family of a merchant of the Second Guild. Graduated from 4th grade primary school. In 1884 he entered the Sergiev Monastery near St. Petersburg as a novice. In 1888, he was tonsured into the mantle, after which he fought the good fight for thirty years in the same desert. In 1919, he served as a regimental priest in the northwestern army, commanded by General Rodzianko, and spiritually cared for the wounded in the Narva hospital. Further, by God's providence, he was sent to obedience in Estonia - as a priest in Yuryev, then as a confessor in Pyukhtitsky convent, then again to parishes - in Tapa and Mustvey, and from 1937 he held the position of dean and assistant rector at the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery.
By nature, Father Pavel was very active and compassionate towards people. In the first year of the Great Patriotic War, he became rector.

These years (1941-1945) were as difficult for the monastery as the period civil war. Entering this period, the brethren placed special hope in the Heavenly Abbess - the Most Holy Theotokos. Life consisted of daily prayer and work to preserve the monastery. A striking illustration of this is the document, the text of which we present below in full:
“To His Eminence the Most Reverend Bishop Alexander Metropolitan of Tallinn.
No. 177 20.IX.41/departure
With this, respectfully, after a long silence, I greet you with all the brethren in Christ with the mercy of God - after disturbing experiences, we mentally ask you to sanctify. Blessings and St. prayers.
Holy Master! For your St. prayers The Lady saved us healthy and unharmed except for Fr. I. Alexia Smirnova on Mustishchevo.
All the churches of God and everything in them are also safe and sound, as well as the sacristy and everything in it that is behind three seals: Soviet, monastic, German. Worship services always took place. We are amazed at the care of our Heavenly Mother Superior for us, that even the keys to the Sacristy were taken by the Soviet authorities on October 21. last 1940 Pecher was returned to us. city. Management on August 13th, which was found by the son of the chairman of the Uyezd Pech. Councils in the Alatskivi castle near Peypus.
We still haven’t gone to the sacristy, we consider it for the best... besides, we don’t have an inventory, which is only available to Mr. Vaga, who checked it, O. Ig had it. Agathon, but her comrades were also taken, only a little household equipment was damaged, i.e. we were forced to sell a horse, 4 cows, hay, straw, harness and agricultural tools very cheaply. All furnishings have been removed from the abbot's house. Temples did not have taxes, but they paid very dearly for the fraternal premises and in total more than 4,000 rubles were paid.
By the grace of God, the necessary repairs were made... Wooden feet were made on the south side of St. Michael's Cathedral and 200 2-inch boards were prepared for the floor of the Assumption Cathedral.
O. Pavel was sent to Pskov with our food for the hungry on August 9. and for Divine services - at the request of believers.”* (*Letter, ref. No. 177 dated 09.20.1941. Copy. Archive of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery.)
During the war period, Abbot Pavel not only performed divine services and preached, worked on the monastery's household, but most importantly, helped prisoners of war and the elderly. Let us turn to the documents and memories of eyewitnesses.

“Input No. 112. 19.VIII. 41
Father Pavel! I beg you, visit the almshouse, show mercy to the unfortunate no one to the right people. After all, think about it: one jumped out of a window from hunger, died yesterday, and others are asking to poison them.
I really hope that you will not refuse my request.
Sofia Dmitrievna Petrova from Pskov. Almshouse in Zavelichye."
In response to this cry for help, Abbot Paul, after the Divine service, from the church pulpit makes an appeal to the people for help to the sick, elderly and prisoners of war. The parishioners of the monastery responded to the call of Abbot Paul. The products have been collected. And we read further:
“No. 139 23.VIII.41
Certification that from the Pechersk Monastery in the city of Pskov one hundred eleven (111) poods are sent to the hungry on 4 carts, namely: 12 bags of bread - 25 poods, 7 bags of rye flour - 25 poods, 1 bag of white flour 1 pood., 3 bags of cereals - 3 poods, 5 bags of crackers. - 6 pounds, 4 bags and a basket of vegetables - 8 pounds, 12 bags. Potatoes - 43 pounds, 197 eggs, 5 kilos of meat.
Assistant Rector Hieromonk Pavel Gorshkov.
P.S. There are 3 bags of potatoes left in the monastery, p.c. did not fit on 4 carts.
In total, 153 pounds were sent from the Holy Pechersk Monastery to Pskov for the hungry, namely: 8.VIII - 42 pounds, accompanied by Fr. Pavel, and 23.VIII - 111 poods were accompanied by Anastasia Ilyinichna Shirokova and Natalya Afanasyevna Bystrika.
Free guides: Nikolay Vasilievich Kurnosov.”

The above documents are only a small part of the social work that the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery carried out during the years of occupation.
To complete the picture of the ministry of Abbot Paul, we present the testimonies of eyewitnesses who knew him.
Georgy Aleksandrovich Pechnikov, a resident of the city of Pechora, says: “I know of a case in 1943 when one of the monks hid the partisan Rinusov in the monastery. Later he died, but his relative Rinusova Elena Alekseevna (in reality Viktorovna) is still alive, and she can confirm this.”* (*St. Petersburg Diocesan Gazette. Issue 26-27, 2002, p. 184. )
Elena Viktorovna Rinusova, a resident of the city of Pechory, adds: “I was born and raised in the city of Pechory. I remember Pyotr Mikhailovich Gorshkov (Father Paul) quite well... The monastery was engaged in charitable work, and P.M. Gorshkov himself had a lot of credit for this. So, through the parishioners, the monastery collected food (and the villages around the city were not devastated, and people lived well enough and could isolate something from the products) and transferred it to hospitals and camps. In particular, near the city where the Maysky microdistrict is now located, there was a prisoner of war camp, and some of the food was taken there. I do not know that there was a partisan movement in the city and region; there are still no facts of the monastery workers providing assistance to the partisans or, conversely, handing over partisans who sympathized with Soviet power to the Germans or Omakaitse. True, there was a conversation that someone was hiding a relative on my husband’s side in the monastery, but I don’t know any details about this... I can definitely say that he (Hegumen Pavel) had no dealings with the invaders or Omakaitse and was not a policeman.”* (*St. Petersburg Diocesan Gazette. Issue 26-27, 2002, p. 185.)

The Mother of God is the Patroness of the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery and the Pskov region. This was especially evident during the Great Patriotic War. The Holy Dormition Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery is one of the few Russian Orthodox monasteries that did not interrupt their prayerful presence before God in the 20th century.
And although neither revolution nor war spared the monastery (in May 1945 it was literally in ruins), the work and prayer of the monastery brethren overcame yet another devastation and again brought the monastery to improvement and splendor.
The wounds of war were slowly healing. There were thirty-three brethren: two archimandrites, hegumen Anatoly, nine hieromonks, elder Simeon, four hierodeacons, six monks and ten novices.
The prayers of the brethren during the Great Patriotic War for the victory of the Russian army and people were heard by God through intercession Holy Mother of God. Even seemingly unbelieving officers felt and appreciated in their hearts the prayers of the brethren of the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery.

The monastery in the twentieth century and today

In the twentieth century, the monastery, together with the Fatherland, had to go through two wars. But the ancient traditions, carefully preserved in the monastery, were not violated even in the most terrible times for Russian monasticism. Through the prayers of the Most Pure Mother of God, the Pskov-Pechersk monastery, by the providence of God, was assigned to bourgeois Estonia under the treaty of 1922 and remained there until 1940, thereby saving it from general ruin and desecration.
The disasters that befell our Fatherland during the Great Patriotic War did not spare the monastery. The Refectory and the Brotherhood Building, and the wall of St. Michael's Cathedral were destroyed. Other churches were also damaged by artillery shelling.
Concerns about putting the monastery's economy in order in the post-war years largely fell to the lot of Archimandrite Pimen, the abbot of the monastery from 1949 to 1954, and who later became the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. His works were continued by Archimandrite Alypius, a warrior and artist (1959-1975). Under him, in 1960, restoration of the fortress walls and towers began (they had stood uncovered since 1688 after a devastating fire, gradually collapsing).
During the difficult times of the war, the monastery was headed by Abbot Pavel (Gorshkov). After the release of Pechory, he was arrested, sentenced to 15 years and died in a prison hospital at the age of 80. For many years, tourists visiting the monastery were told about its alleged collaboration with the Nazis. Only 52 years later, Abbot Pavel was rehabilitated. Then, in the first year of the war, it was not by chance that the brethren chose him as their governor. Thanks to his chosen subtle and intelligent line of behavior with the occupation regime, the monastery with all its values ​​and shrines was preserved, and the brethren were preserved. Moreover, trusting in the mercy of God, he strengthened others with his faith, organized food assistance to captured Red Army soldiers in camp point No. 134 of Pskov, the sick and elderly of the Pskov nursing home and the almshouse on Zavelichye. There is also evidence that Soviet intelligence officers took refuge in the monastery caves during the war. One of them, when visiting the monastery in 1984, personally confirmed this fact.
So the holy monastery-fortress and in the last war remained an unquenchable lamp Orthodox faith, a reliable support for our compatriots to survive in this difficult time for the entire country.
The monastery also became famous in peaceful years for the spiritual deeds of its inhabitants, through whose prayers God’s mercy does not diminish to those who seek Heavenly consolation at the Pechersk shrines. Throughout the existence of the monastery, the fire of elder service did not go out in it. Everyone who came for spiritual consolation and advice found it in conversations with great prayer books.
When the family of Sovereign Nicholas II visited the Pechersk monastery, the latter had a spiritual conversation with Elder Theodosius, who was then ascetic in the monastery.

entrance to the caves

Through the diligence of the next rector (1988-1992), Archimandrite Pavel (Ponomarev), now Metropolitan of Ryazan and Mikhailovsky, the monastery library, stored in Tartu, was returned to the monastery, new buildings for a hospital, an icon-painting and restoration and sewing workshop were built, and a House of Mercy for lonely elderly people was built in the city people, 100 hectares of arable land were returned to the monastery.
The viceroy, Archimandrite Roman (Zherebtsov), continued the reconstruction of the monastery buildings and churches; through his efforts, a wooden fraternal building was built and the copper coating of the fortress walls and towers began.
Currently, Archimandrite Tikhon (Secretaryov), the abbot of the monastery since 1995, continues the pious tradition of his predecessors in preserving the monastery charter and improving and decorating the monastery. The construction of the fraternal stone building near the Lower Lattice tower with a bathhouse and laundry has been completed, work on covering the fortress walls with copper has been completed, the construction of an economic complex is underway, the domes of the temples have been restored, the paintings on the façade of the Assumption Church have been restored, and restoration has been carried out in the St. Michael's Church.
Its centuries-old traditions are carefully preserved in the monastery. With the blessing of His Holiness, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus' included the locally revered Fathers Mark, Jonah, and Mother Vassa into the All-Russian calendar. Since 1994, the monastery has celebrated the memory of the venerable fathers of Pskov-Pechersk on the 4th week after Pentecost, and in 1998 the celebration in honor of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness”, celebrated on the 7th week after Easter, was restored. For the first time in many years (since the beginning of the twentieth century), in July 2000, the miraculous icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness” of Pskov-Pechersk visited Pskov for the consecration of a chapel in honor of St. equal to book Olga.
The monastery continues catechetical and publishing activities.
On the shore of Lake Pskov, the monastery opened the Priozerny monastery. Construction of the monastery skete began on the shores of Lake Malskoye.
In the monastery, by the grace of God, the lamps of true piety do not go out. The now deceased archimandrites - John (Krestyankin), Feofan (Molyavko), Nathanael (Pospelov), Schema-Archimandrite Alexander (Vasiliev) - wonderful elders, whom almost everyone knows now Orthodox world. Archimandrite Adrian (Kirsanov), who is still alive today, is a living tradition of the Church, holy Orthodoxy and humble monastic life.
All spiritual and educational activities of the monastery are led by His Eminence Eusebius, Metropolitan of Pskov and Velikoluksky, Holy Archimandrite of the Holy Dormition Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery with the Spiritual Council of Elders, blessing and sanctifying the works of the monks.
And God grant that through the prayerful intercession of the Most Pure Mother of God the tradition of Pechersk asceticism will not be stopped, so that the monastery will continue to remain a bright embodiment of the ideal of Orthodox Holy Rus'.

TEMPLES AND CONSTRUCTION OF A MONASTERY

Belfry of the Church of St. Nicholas the Gatekeeper
It was built according to the design of St. Cornelius no later than 1565 during the construction of fortress walls around the monastery. The church is connected to one of the battle towers of the fortress wall.

Great belfry
To the east of the Assumption Cathedral, along the same line, on the site there is the main monastery bell tower, or belfry, made of stone from several pillars placed in one line, from west to east.

The Great Belfry is one of the largest architectural structures of this type (like the belfry of the Novgorod St. Sophia Cathedral, belfry of the Church of the Epiphany and Paromenskaya Assumption Church in Pskov).

It has six main spans (bells) and a seventh, which was added later, thanks to which a kind of second tier is formed.

The collection of bells of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery is one of the most significant both in the Pskov region and in Northwestern Russia.

St. Michael's Cathedral

St. Michael's Cathedral
Sretenskaya Church
Built in 1540 as a refectory; rebuilt as a temple in 1867-70. (Moreover, the ground floor, which once housed the kitchen and utility rooms, remained untouched). Major renovation carried out in 1924.

Sacristy
Walls and towers
The fortress with six towers and three gates was built in 1558 - 1565 as a border fortress during the Livonian War near the Livonian fortress of Neuhausen. Later four more towers were built. The fortress withstood a two-month siege by a detachment of troops of Stefan Batory and a Hungarian detachment under the command of Bornemisza in 1581, and subsequently repeatedly participated in border fighting until the end of the Northern War in 1721.

The Tower of the Upper Lattices is next to the Taylovskaya Tower, above the ravine and the Kamenets stream flowing along its bottom. At the bottom of the tower there is a small stone arch through which the waters of the stream flow into the fortress. The stone arch or vault was covered with an iron grating so that the besiegers would not use the stream to penetrate the fortress. The lattice gave its name to the tower itself. Despite the fact that the Upper Lattice Tower stands at the bottom of the ravine, it is the highest in the Pechora Fortress, and its top point reaches a height of 25 meters. Behind the walls are hidden 6 combat tiers with loopholes and wide chambers for installing guns. The tower's tent is topped with a lookout platform - a guardhouse, a guard hut, from which the approaches to the fortress and the surrounding area are clearly visible. From the tower, like wings, sections of walls - spindles - diverge, connecting into one whole the towers placed on the banks of the ravine. This section of military fortifications looks especially picturesque from the tourist site, located almost opposite the Upper Lattice tower.

The Tower of the lower bars, just like the Tower of the upper bars, is placed at the bottom of the ravine, downstream of the stream, and closes the north-eastern arc of the fortress wall. The stream here becomes wider and deeper than where it enters the fortress. The Lower Lattice Tower has four combat tiers. Each of the three lower ones has four loopholes with wide combat chambers. On the topmost tier there are seven loopholes. Their location made it possible to take control of almost all directions of possible attacks. In addition, on the third tier there was access to the fortress wall. This detail is very important, because next to the tower there is a lower gate. To strengthen the protection of the gates, loopholes were installed above them in the fortress wall, between which there is an icon case with the image of the Savior.

entrance to the monastery

HOW TO GET THERE

By train to Pskov, then from the Bus Station (200 m from the railway station) by bus to Pechory.

Bus schedule Pskov-Pechora:
LLC "Niva"
GPPO "Pskovpassazhiravtotrans" (via Old Izborsk) bus No. 207

Attention! On Sundays, a new route has been opened, especially convenient for those who are going to leave Pechory for Pskov on Sunday with a stop in St. Izborsk and an audio tour along the entire route.

Coordinates:
Latitude: 57°48?35.18?N (57.809773)
Longitude: 27°36?45.32?E (27.612589)

PILGRIMAGE SERVICE
Pilgrimage center: 181500 Pskov region, Pechory, st. Yuryevskaya, 82
The pilgrimage center “Pilgrim’s House” of the Holy Dormition Pskov-Pechersky Monastery was opened on June 1, 2012 on the territory of a former military unit. Cells in buildings are designed to accommodate 4 or more people.
Meals - 2 times a day: lunch - from 13.15 to 14.00, dinner - from 21.00 to 22.00.
The duration of stay at the Pilgrimage Center is no more than 3 days.
Accommodation, meals and excursions around the monastery are by donation.
Issues regarding the accommodation of 1-6 people are resolved by the person responsible for the accommodation of pilgrims by calling: +7-911-369-76-48.

Group accommodation (from 7 people):
We ask you to inform us in advance about the date of arrival of the group, time of stay and the number of pilgrims in the form of a request by e-mail:
[email protected]

Phone/fax for inquiries: 8-811-48-23-227
+7-911-890-21-63
Skype: dompalppm

Conducting excursions for residents of the Pilgrim House:
Phone/fax 8-81148-2-18-39
mob. tel. +79118877111
e-mail: [email protected]

Saint Reverend Cornelius of Pskov-Pechersk

PECHORY TODAY

Pechory continues to be decorated all these years. In the 80s, with the blessing of Metropolitan John (Razumov), the viceroy, Archimandrite Gabriel (Steblyuchenko 1975-1988), now the Bishop of Annunciation and Tynda, carried out restoration work: the painting of the temple walls was updated, the restoration of the monastery walls, which began under Archimandrite Alipia, was completed. A new fraternal building was built. In the St. Nicholas Church a chapel was built in honor of the Venerable Martyr Cornelius. The bakery and library premises have been renovated.

Through the diligence of the next abbot (1988-1992), Archimandrite Pavel (Ponomarev), now Bishop of Vienna and Budapest, the monastery library, stored in Tartu, was returned to the monastery, new buildings of the hospital, icon-painting and restoration and sewing workshops were built. The city has established a House of Mercy for lonely elderly people. 100 hectares of arable land were returned to the monastery.

The viceroy, Archimandrite Roman (Zherebtsov), continued the reconstruction of the monastery buildings and churches; through his efforts, a wooden fraternal building was built and the copper coating of the fortress walls and towers began.

Currently, Archimandrite Tikhon (Secretaryov), the abbot of the monastery since 1995, continues the tradition of his predecessors in preserving the monastery charter and improving and decorating the monastery. The construction of the fraternal stone building near the Lower Lattice tower with a bathhouse and laundry was completed, and work on covering the fortress walls with copper was completed. Construction of an economic complex is underway. The domes of the churches, the paintings on the facade of the Assumption Church were restored, and restoration was carried out in the St. Michael's Church.

With the blessing of His Holiness, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus', the locally revered Fathers Mark, Jonah, and Mother Vassa were included in the All-Russian calendar.

Since 1994, the monastery has celebrated the memory of the venerable fathers of Pskov-Pechersk on the 4th week after Pentecost, and in 1998 the celebration in honor of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness”, celebrated on the 7th week after Easter, was restored. For the first time in many years (since the beginning of the twentieth century), in July 2000, the miraculous icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness” of Pskov-Pechersk visited Pskov for the consecration of a chapel in honor of the saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga.

The monastery continues catechetical and publishing activities. Pechora schoolchildren gather for classes every week Sunday school and icon painting class. Many sing in the children's and youth choir.

On the shore of Lake Pskov, the monastery opened the Priozerny monastery. The improvement of the monastery monastery and on the shore of Lake Malskoe is underway.

Lamps of Faith

The monastery also became famous in peaceful years for the spiritual deeds of its inhabitants, through whose prayers God’s mercy does not diminish to those who seek Heavenly consolation at the Pechersk shrines. Throughout the existence of the monastery, the fire of elder service did not go out in it. All those who came for spiritual consolation and advice found it in conversations with great prayer books.

One of these lamps of the Orthodox faith was the Venerable Hieroschemamonk Lazar, who labored as a recluse in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

When the family of Sovereign Nicholas II visited the monastery, the latter had a spiritual conversation with Elder Theodosius, who was then ascetic in the monastery.

Hieroschemamonk Simeon (Zhelnin) served God and people for more than 60 years, spiritually caring for not only the brethren, but also numerous lay people and pilgrims who came to him for spiritual advice. A separate book has been published about his life, in which the reader will find many testimonies about the miraculous prayer help of the elder.

On April 1, 2003, Hieroschemamonk Simeon was glorified as a saint. Schema-archimandrites Agapius (Agapov) and Pimen (Gavrilenko) continued the feat of elder service in the 60s and 70s.

After the Great Patriotic War, the elders from Valaam arrived at the Pskov-Pechersk monastery, having been transported from the holy island to Finland before the war. Hieroschemamonks Mikhail (Pitkevich), Luke (Zemskov) and other elders were like a spiritual bridge connecting Old Valaam and the holy Pechersk monastery.

Temple architecture and decoration

Year after year, century after century, the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery turned into an outstanding historical and cultural monument.

The fortress monastery walls with 9 towers and a total length of about 810 meters surround a magnificent architectural ensemble formed by a number of temples. The oldest of them, the Assumption Cathedral, is excavated in the mountain; only the northern wall facing the monastery is made of stone. Here, in the central part of the temple, the main shrine of the monastery is located - the ancient miraculous icon of the Dormition of the Mother of God (1521).

The iconostasis (3rd quarter of the 17th century) is decorated with carvings; The royal doors are made in the form of a trunk entwined with a vine. The upper part of the innostasis is like branches and leaves, between which, instead of flowers or fruits, small oval icons of the Mother of God, apostles and prophets are inserted. Near the blank southern wall of the temple there is a deep niche, in which is placed a shrine with the relics of St. Cornelia.

In the 18th century, above the cathedral Assumption Church, a temple in honor of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary was consecrated in 1759, on the site of the monastery “court chamber”. On the days of the patronal feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God, when small churches cannot accommodate many pilgrims, the solemn service is performed under open air, and then the facade of the Assumption and Intercession churches serves as an iconostasis, the square in front of the cathedral-pulpit, the slopes of the hills and the fortress wall serve as the walls of the temple, and the sky becomes its dome.

Other ancient miraculous images of the Mother of God also enjoy special popular veneration: “Tenderness” (a copy from the icon of the “Vladimir” Mother of God) and “Hodegetria” (brought from Smolensk), since the 17th century the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God has been in the monastery, a carved image of St. Nicholas (“Nicholas of Mozhaisk” 16th century) from St. Nicholas Church and many other icons.

In St. Michael's Church, the right hand is kept in a special ark ( right hand) St. martyr Tatiana, transferred to the monastery in 1977 by the brother of Archimandrite Afanasy (Moskvitin) Hieromonk Vladimir (Moskvitin). This shrine was once given to Archimandrite Athanasius by pious spouses of an eminent family, his spiritual children, who later became monks. During the destruction of the Tsarskoye Selo Palace, they managed to buy the shrine and preserve it for veneration.

Uspensky cave temple with Pokrovsky
The domes of the Assumption Church are designed like the domes of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra (in the “Ukrainian Baroque” style). There are five of them, dark blue with gold stars. The domes are located in one line on the roof slope, as if going down, towards the worshipers. Above the entrance to the Assumption Cathedral is a large Kiev-Pechersk icon of the Mother of God with the saints standing before Her. Anthony and Theodosius of Kiev-Pechersk, the chapel of the cathedral was consecrated in their honor in 1523, and rebuilt in the mid-18th century.

To the east of the Assumption Cathedral there is a two-story church in honor of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, rare for Pskov architecture. It was erected in 1541 under Abbot Cornelius. A large refectory is adjacent to the temple. In 1870, an altar was built in it, and it was consecrated as a temple in honor of the Presentation of the Lord. Opposite the Assumption Cathedral, a small temple was built at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries in the name of the holy righteous Lazarus of the Four Days; in the building adjacent to it there is a monastery hospital.

At the top of the slope of the ravine, north of the Assumption Church, stands the majestic St. Michael's Cathedral.

In 1986, a wooden church in honor of the Pskov-Pechersk saints was consecrated on the Holy Mountain.

Almost in the very center of the monastery ensemble, above the artesian well, a chapel was built in 1911, decorated with images of Russian saints. Every day from early spring until late autumn funeral services are held here. Not far from the chapel is another monastery well, long revered by pilgrims and named by them in honor of the Venerable Martyr Cornelius “Kornilevsky”. Water is taken from it for water blessing prayers.

The monastery belfry, which adorns Assumption Square, was built in the 16th century. on the site of an old wooden one (1523). It has six different sizes - in accordance with the size of the bell-openings. All bells were made by Pskov craftsmen and decorated with ornaments, animal figures, and relief inscriptions. The polyeleos bell, donated by Ivan the Terrible (1562), weighs 3 tons, the Budnichny (hour) bell, donated by Boris Godunov (1591) - 2 tons. Large bell - a gift from Peter the Great (1690) - 4 tons. Large bells are swung from the ground using rocker arms.

Adjacent to the bell tower is a clock tower built in the early 18th century. The clock mechanism is connected to bells; Every quarter of an hour small bells ring, and the “Godunovsky” bell strikes the hours.

Holy Caves
The monastery's Holy Caves are especially revered. The entrance to the caves is next to the Assumption Cathedral. An ancient inscription has been restored above the entrance: “Caves created by God.” In the niche at the entrance to the caves is the coffin of the Venerable Vassa. On the left, in a chapel-like room, are the tombs of St. Mark, Jonah, and Lazarus.

From the entrance there are seven underground galleries, the so-called “streets,” which have lengthened and expanded at different times. The walls near the entrance are lined with bricks for strength. The air temperature here invariably stays around +5C. The exact number of burials has not been established, because with numerous sieges this was difficult to do. There is reason to believe that more than 10 thousand people are buried there.

The walls of the caves contain ceramic and limestone slabs with inscriptions, the so-called ceramides - a valuable historical monument of the Pskov region. The names of representatives of the glorious Slavic families of the Suvorovs, Rtishchevs, Nashchokins, Buturlins, Mstislavskys are found in tombstone inscriptions; here lie the ancestors of the poets A. S. Pushkin, A. N. Pleshcheev, commander M. I. Kutuzov, composer M. P. Mussorgsky.

Representatives are buried in the caves ancient family Simansky, who gave the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy I. Bishops were also buried here, including the outstanding Orthodox hierarch Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov).

Shortly before the start of the Great Patriotic War, the Church of the Resurrection of Christ was restored in the caves.

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SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND PHOTO:
Team Nomads
http://www.pskovo-pechersky-monastery.ru
http://pechori.ru/
Dokuchaev I. A. Pechory in the palm of your hand. A guide to ancient monuments in photographs by S. Gavrilova. Pskov, 2002 - 112 pp.: ill.
Yamshchikov S. Archimandrite Alipiy. Human. Artist. Warrior. Abbot. M.: Moscow, 2004. - 488 p. ISBN 5-98637-004-X
Soykin P.P. Pskov-Pechersky Monastery in Pskov district // Orthodox Russian monasteries: Complete illustrated description of Orthodox Russian monasteries in Russian Empire and on Athos. - St. Petersburg: Resurrection, 1994. - pp. 172-174. — 712 p. — 20,000 copies. — ISBN 5-88335-001-1.
Pskov-Pechersky-Uspensky Monastery // encyclopedic Dictionary Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
http://www.photosight.ru/
photo Vyacheslav Makarov, K. Nikiforov.

The legendary monastery in Pechory, Pskov region, is famous for its unique beautiful architecture, its elders, for example the famous saint, the amazing way of the monks to ring bells with their feet using a rope. This monastery is very loved and visited by pilgrims, it is extremely soulful Holy place. Below you can see the author's photos of the monastery from unusual angles.

Holy Dormition Pskov-Pechersky Monastery- one of the largest and most famous monasteries in Russia with a centuries-old history. The name of the monastery is associated with the caves located in it (in Old Russian - pechora), called God-created (i.e. created) caves.

In 1473, the cave church of the Assumption, excavated by the Monk Jonah in a sandstone hill, was consecrated here. This year is considered the year the monastery was founded. The hill in which the Assumption Church and the caves created by God are located is called the Holy Mountain.

The monastery has never been closed in its entire history. During the interwar period (from February 1920 to January 1945) it was located within Estonia, thanks to which it was preserved.

In 1967-2006, Archimandrite John (Krestyankin) labored in the monastery.

Pechory monastery caves

Pechory monastery caves

There is no reliable information about the beginning of monastic life on the site of the modern monastery, just as there have been no scientific studies of the origin of the caves located in the monastery. These caves are located in sandstone deposits along the banks of the now existing Kamenets stream.

Based on a study of other caves located in Pechorah, about which researcher I.A. Agapov concluded that they were of natural erosion-suffusion origin, the caves located in the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery may also be of natural origin.

Legends about the beginning of monastic life in these caves are recorded in the monastic chronicle and subsequently developed in the Pskov-Pechersk patericon. It is possible that some details were added to these legends already in the twentieth century. According to legend, the caves became known to local residents in 1392.

This conventional date, coinciding with the year of death of Sergius of Radonezh, was chosen to indicate the symbolic continuity of spiritual life. Monks who fled to the Pskov land from the south, from the raids of the Crimean Tatars, settled in the caves. From legend, the name of only one of these hermits is known, St. Mark, called the “initial monk” of the monastery.

If early publications of the legend indicate the legendary character of Mark, then in later editions of the history of the monastery Mark is already a historical character. According to legend, the land around the future monastery went to Ivan Dementyev, who accidentally (by God's providence) found a cave, which by that time already had the inscription “God-created caves.”

Pechory Pskov-Pechersky Monastery

According to the monastery chronicle, in 1470 the priest John, who had previously served in the Church of the Great Martyr George in Yuryev-Livonsky (Derpta, now Tartu in Estonia), settled in the cave. Next to the God-created caves, he excavated a cave in which he built a church in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, consecrated in 1473.

In his labors he was assisted by his wife Maria, who took monastic vows with the name Vassa. After her death, John took monastic vows with the name Jonah. Ivan Dementyev handed over a plot of land to the monks and soon a small monastery was formed around the temple. The caves became a cemetery for monks.

Located on the border between Russia and Livonia, where the Germans ruled, the monastery was more than once (according to the monastery chronicle) subjected to destruction by the Livonians.

The rise of monastic life, recorded not only by tradition in the monastic chronicle, but also in the Pskov chronicle, began in 1519, when the Moscow government, in the person of the Pskov clerk Grand Duke Misyur Munekhin and his clerk Ortyush Pskovitin, “inspected a wretched place, unknown to anyone, under German border” - they recognized the strategic significance of the monastery’s position opposite (20 kilometers) from the Livonian fortress of Neuhausen.

In 1523, under Abbot Dorotheos, through the efforts of Munekhin, the monastery was strengthened with wooden walls, the cave temple was expanded, and a church was erected on the Holy Mountain in the name of Anthony and Theodosius, the founders of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.

Pechory Monastery photos

Pechory Monastery photos

The dedication of the monastery cathedral to the Dormition (as in the Lavra), and the church to Anthony and Theodosius, also emphasized the continuity of spiritual life and the significance of the new monastery. The next abbot Gerasim introduced a communal charter in the monastery on the model of the Kiev-Pechersk, which was also approved by the benefactor of the monastery Munekhin

Ancient monastery, according to legend, created at the direction of the Lord himself. The oldest guard on the lines protecting the faith and land of the Pskov region. Here you can see a unique cave church and other wonderful temples.

Holy Dormition Pskov-Pechersky Monastery- this is one of the oldest and largest men's houses in Russia, located in the most picturesque places with karst caves, whose history, full of battles for faith and for the land, dates back 542 years.

Monastery fortress

The monastery was built on a nervous, cave-like terrain. According to legend, local hunters once heard beautiful singing coming from underground in these places. And when one of them began to chop wood in this place, one tree fell and broke the entrance to the cave, on the entrance to which was written “Caves created by God.” Much later, a former priest of the St. George Church of Yuryev-Livonsky settled next to the caves. After the death of his wife, he became a monk and was named Jonah. It was he who, in 1473, arranged the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the cave, from which the history of the Pskov-Pechersk monastery began.

The monastery was located in places where wars were constantly raging, so the rulers constantly strengthened it, especially after the entry of the Pskov lands into the Muscovite kingdom. Construction acquired particular scope under Ivan the Terrible. Powerful defensive structures were built, St. Nicholas Church was erected, which had a passage gate and was connected to the monastery by a passage. The Kamenets stream flows through the valley, above it there are two towers with small arches at the base, which are blocked by an iron grate during an attack - thus, the besieged always had water. That is why these towers are called the Towers of the Upper Lattices and the Towers of the Lower Lattices. They are crowned with several tiers with loopholes for cannons; there was a permanent military garrison.