In the Tver province, in the city of Torzhok, on the banks of the Tvertsa River, there is a holy monastery. The elevated area, already picturesque, is set off by the beauty and grandeur of the temples.
Novotorzhsky Borisoglebsky Monastery is one of the oldest and most beautiful Orthodox monasteries in Russia. Its founder was St. Ephraim in 1038. This happened during the reign of the Kyiv prince Yaroslav the Wise (almost at the same time as the foundation of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra), and the monastery itself is the third since the beginning of the appearance of monasteries in Russia.
Novotorzhsky Borisoglebsky Monastery. Torzhok
The name of the monastery comes from the names of two princes - Boris and Gleb. The first temple was built in honor of them. The beloved sons of Prince Vladimir, who baptized all of Russia, were pious Orthodox rulers.
Reverend Ephraim served as a groom for the princes and was from the Ugrian land. He had two siblings(George and Moses) who lived at the same time, under Boris and Gleb. Ephraim was brought up in the Christian faith from his youth, and strengthened it even more by faithful service to the pious princes.
Like Ephraim, his two brothers were also ready to lay down their lives for their masters at any moment.
After the martyrdom of the brothers, Ephraim left worldly life, deciding to devote himself entirely to serving God.
Imperishable relics
From Kyiv, he went to the land of Drevlyanskaya, which was located near modern Torzhok, and organized a hospice there on the banks of the Dorogoshche River. With great Christian love and deep humility, he cared for the sick, served the suffering and burdened with the passions of the perishable world, calmed and gave shelter to the poor and wretched.
The act of God that happened later told him to build the Novotorzhsky Borisoglebsky Monastery, which he founded closer to Torzhok on the mountain on the banks of the Tvertsa River.
Having lived for 38 years after the murder of princes Boris and Gleb, he peacefully passed away to the Lord (February 10, 1053). And only 500 years later, during the time of Ivan the Terrible, the incorruptible and fragrant relics were found. This day (June 24) is now celebrated by the celebration of the discovery of the miraculous relics of St. Ephraim.
And a hundred years later, the relics of St. Arkady Novotorsky, the archimandrite of this monastery and a disciple of St. Ephraim, were found. He took an active part in the construction of the Borisoglebsk monastery. The nationwide veneration and rumor about his holiness was confirmed by the acquisition of his holy relics 600 years after his death.death. The saint is commemorated on August 27 and December 26.
Tough Times
Novotorzhsky Borisoglebsky Monastery suffered a lot of severe disasters. Together with the fatherland, it was repeatedly devastated and ruined. Three times the monastery burned to the ground in the internecine princely wars of 1167, 1181 and 1372
In 1237 he was attacked by the Mongol-Tatars.
Lithuanians and Poles were often uninvited guests. They first came to this land under Alexander Nevsky in 1258: the Lithuanians captured the city of Torzhok, destroyed the monastery and dispersed the monastic brethren.
During the time of Vasily Shuisky, in 1609, the Poles ravaged the city along with the monastery. The Church of the Presentation of the Most Holy Theotokos, built of wood, was burned to the ground. The archimandrite of the monastery Konstantin, along with several acolytes and parishioners, also died in the fire.
An amazing fact remains that despite all the destructive actions, the stone church created by St. Ephraim still stands intact.
Decay
But let's go back to those old times again. After bitter trials that brought devastation and devastation, the Novotorzhsky Borisoglebsky Monastery experienced a period of severe decline. By the end of the 14th - beginning of the 15th century there was not a single literate monk in it, so the monastery chronicles were practically not kept.
A little later, a new round of development of monastic life begins, or rather, its improvement, prosperity and ex altation, which she achieved thanks to her rector and the monks, who worked with special zeal.
They sent many petitions to sovereigns and nobles in order to receive finances for the improvement of the Novotorzhsky Borisoglebsky Monastery. And they were successful in this matter.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the Gateway Spasskaya bell tower was laid.
The beginning of the revival of the monastery
In 1785, Catherine the Great ordered the construction of a new Cathedral of Boris and Gleb in the same place, N. A. Lvov was appointed chief architect. The Classicist building was completed in 1796.
However, an important and only common desire for the ex altation of the monastery was the desire for the ex altation of the monastery, which consisted in a strict monastic life, observance of church charters and canons, as well as a long prayer service, as was customary in the ancient Orthodox tradition.
The monastery flourished until the October Revolution of 1917, but then it shared the cruel fate of many monastic cloisters. In 1919, people from the People's Commissariat of Justice decided to open the tomb of the saint and found a head next to him, about which they made an act. It was the head of Ephraim's beloved brother, George, which he found at the scene of his murder, kept for many years and bequeathed to be buried with him.
In 1925, the brethren were dispersed, and the monastery was turned into a strict regime prison. Later, it housed a medical and labor dispensary, where alcoholics were treated. Years later, it housed a historical and ethnographic museum.
The management of this institution made a lot of efforts to restore the mutilated ensemblemonastery after the prison regime.
Restoration
Only the Candle Tower and a section of the surrounding fortress wall could be restored.
In 1993, it was decided to organize a museum in the monastery.
Hegumen Vassian (Kuraev) was appointed abbot of the monastery. The first five inhabitants appeared in the monastery in 1995. They settled in the cells of a one-story building, which was once intended for keeping prisoners. In the same year, during the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Nilo-Stolobenskaya desert, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia also comes with a blessing.
Address of the Novotorzhsky Borisoglebsky Monastery. Worship Schedule
A little later, two years later, in December 1997, the building of the Vvedensky Winter Church of the Borisoglebsky Monastery was handed over to the monks, who immediately began active restoration work. A year later, on June 24, 1998, on the day of the memory of St. Ephraim of Novotorzhsky, the ancient walls of the monastery church finally heard the Divine Liturgy again.
In the photo, the Novotorzhsky Borisoglebsky Monastery simply delights - this is one of the most beautiful monasteries on earth. The gradual resurrection of the radiant monastery led to a stream of parishioners and pilgrims.
Address of the monastery: Russia, Tver region, city of Torzhok, st. Staritskaya, house 7.
Novotorzhsky Borisoglebsky Monastery is open from 8.30 to 19.00. Divine services are held from 8.30 and from 16.00.
