The Transfiguration Church in Yaroslavl is the main church in the former male monastery. It is a well-known monument of architecture and painting of the 16th century. It was erected in 1506-1516 at the direction of Vasily III.
Construction
In order to build the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior in Yaroslavl, Moscow masters from those who built churches in the Moscow Kremlin were sent to the city. This church sits on the foundations of a cathedral that was built in the 13th century but collapsed in a fire in 1501. At the moment, it is the oldest stone building in Yaroslavl.
As you can see in the photo, the Transfiguration Cathedral in Yaroslavl is a four-pillar cross-domed structure. The basement is quite high. From 3 sides it is surrounded by galleries - open two-tier structures from the western and southern parts. It has helmet-shaped heads that were once covered with white German iron.
Architecture of the Yaroslavl Transfiguration Cathedral contains signs of an order system. And the decor in placesinspired by Renaissance motifs. In general, the monument is light and strict. This is quite in the style of Russian architecture of the 16th century.
The history of the Transfiguration Monastery in Yaroslavl contains numerous episodes of perestroika. It was constantly restored, and the most large-scale works of this profile have been carried out since 1919. This process was completed in 1957-1961 by E. Karavaeva. This was done in order to finally restore the ancient appearance of architectural buildings.
Interior
The walls were painted in 1530-1540 by Moscow and local craftsmen. This information is very accurately and succinctly preserved in the history of the Transfiguration Cathedral of Yaroslavl: references to this moment are in the annals, which are in the hallmarks of the inner edge of the western pillars. There was a signature that immortalized the names of the masters for centuries. The brothers Afanasy and Dementy Sidorov, who signed there, thus became the first local artists whose names are known to today's descendants.
Besides, with their signature they immortalized the name of the temple. At the moment, the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral of Yaroslavl is generally the only Russian monument of the Grozny time, the exact date of painting and the names of the masters of which are known.
The temple was painted according to the traditional system. In painting, rather high artistic merits, monumentality, and spirituality are noted. It is known that the painting was restored several times. In 1700-1781 it was completely restored again. In 1814, painting in the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral of Yaroslavl was painted in oil.paint and the consequences of these edits are most significant. The composition of the Last Judgment suffered, several frescoes were lost during the reconstruction.
Monastery
The history of the Transfiguration Monastery in Yaroslavl is very interesting. It was here that in the 17th century they found "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" - the most important monument of ancient Russian literature. The monastery was also known separately, because the date of its foundation is the XII century.
Yaroslavsky Transfiguration Monastery played a key role in the history of the city. For a long time it was a spiritual and economic center. The surrounding lands gathered around him. The monastery was a rival of the Posada.
It is known that Ivan the Terrible often liked to spend time here. He gave the local monks several villages, 200 villages, and fishing grounds. His son Fedor also liked to visit here. Most of the buildings available here were erected later than the foundation of the monastery itself. For example, the walls here were originally made of wood. And only in the XVII century they were rebuilt in stone. Then the towers appeared.
In the 18th century, a library was equipped in the monastery and began to actively rewrite books. By the end of the same century, the metropolitan lived here. When the revolution thundered, the Transfiguration Cathedral of Yaroslavl was preserved, and the monastery was turned into a museum.
Attractions
There are many of them in this area. Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral of Yaroslavl is the main building of the monastery. Its frescoes are the most ancient monument of architecture. It has an iconostasis, somewhose icons came from ancient times.
Next to the Transfiguration Cathedral of Yaroslavl there are many interesting ancient buildings. For example, the Holy Gates deserve attention. They were created at the beginning of the 16th century. They were at the main entrance to the monastery. In addition, it was from them that the surroundings were viewed as from a watchtower.
An important part of the complex is the Refectory. Three buildings stand out in it - itself, the Church of the Nativity of the 16th century, and the abbot building of the 17th century. The cells where monks lived back in the 17th century have survived.
The Transfiguration Cathedral in Yaroslavl has its own museum. The monastery is no longer considered active, it has turned into one large reserve. There are guided tours that tell about wooden sculpture, carvings of ancient Russian cathedrals. In addition, there is a rich collection of ancient manuscripts. A separate exposition is composed of "The Tale of Igor's Campaign".
Rich history of the complex
One of the oldest buildings in the city is the Transfiguration Monastery in Yaroslavl. He observed virtually the entire history of the city over the past 800 years. When Yaroslavl was founded, Prince Yaroslav of Rostov founded the Kremlin, called the Chopped City. Local pagans were evicted, and people from the prince's capital city stayed here. They began to develop the riverine zones very actively. According to the results of archaeological research, this area was densely populated in the XI-XII centuries.
However, on the banks of Kotoroslthere was a place of cult significance for the pagans. It was the Veles temple. According to some reports, in the second half of the 12th century, a monastery was founded here precisely in order to destroy the pagan place of worship. By that time it was a tradition to build a temple on the site of pagan temples.
In addition, often people tried to make the time of celebration or the nature of worship close to Orthodox shrines. So the pagan day of Veles and the day of the Transfiguration of the Savior were celebrated on the same day - August 6th. On the site of existing buildings in the XIII century, Prince Konstantin the Wise laid the "stone church" of the Transfiguration of the Savior. Yaroslavl was of particular importance, as there were princely outposts here.
Prince Konstantin until 1214 founded the first school in the north of Russia. There were monastic libraries in which more than 1000 Greek manuscripts were kept - the richest stocks at that time. There were also scribes and translators. Probably, the well-known Spassky Gospel of the 13th century was created here. This is the most important exposition in the Museum of Yaroslavl.
Archaeological excavations near the cathedral
The construction of the temple was completed by Vsevolod Konstantinovich in 1224. But because of the Tatar-Mongol invasion, the flowering of the Volga city was interrupted for many years. The fire of 1221 resulted in the destruction of 17 churches. Like many other Russian cities, in 1238 Yaroslavl was captured, ravaged and burned to the ground. The inhabitants, who defended themselves to the last, were killed. This is evidenced by archaeological excavations of 2005-2006 on the site of the former UspenskyCathedral on Strelka.
Group graves were discovered. Almost all the bones in them belonged to women, the elderly and children. There were almost no others, since the combatants were on the Sit River, where they jointly opposed enemy detachments. Blows leading to death were applied from above, from the side or from behind. Studies have shown that the burials were not made immediately, but somewhat later, in the spring. This suggests that the inhabitants of the destroyed city made an exodus in winter, and then partially returned along with warmth.
A valuable find in the cathedral
The rise of the monastery took place at the end of the 13th century. Then it became a princely tomb. Previously, the princely family was buried in the Petrovsky Monastery or in the Assumption Cathedral. But starting with Fyodor Cherny, they began to be buried here.
Wooden and stone monastery buildings have not been preserved. However, archaeological excavations have shed light on their original location. Became clear and their appearance. The walls were in the shape of an irregular pentagon, there were towers and gates.
The cathedral was built in 1216-1224. Nearby there was a temple of the Entrance to Jerusalem of 1218-1221. There was a moat around the monastery. There was also a dungeon. After another fire in 1430, mummies of 3 people were found in the basement of the Transfiguration Cathedral. There was information that miraculous healings were once performed here. The fire made it possible to discover miraculous relics, which later became saints. These were Yaroslavl princes Fedor and his two sons - David and Konstantin.
Golden Age
This period for Yaroslavlthe reign of Fedor is considered. In the late 1250s, the princely throne was left without an heir and the daughter of Konstantin, who died in the legendary battles on Tugova Gora in 1257, according to the traditions of those years, could not be the heiress. For this reason, her mother Xenia decided to find a noble son-in-law, but not rich enough to join Yaroslavl to her principality. She chose Fedor Cherny, the Chernigov prince, whose reign was very successful.
Later
If further events were also favorable, it is possible that Russian statehood would be formed around this center. Fedor's children - David and Konstantin - did not achieve their father's former greatness. In the future, for many centuries, the city with its monastery played a crucial role in the history of Russia.
Soviet era
In Soviet times, many institutions were located here, at one time a school functioned on the territory of the monastery, the military was located and entry was carried out strictly with passes, ordinary local residents also lived. But most of the time, exhibitions and a museum were open here. The complex received a lot of damage during shelling by the Red Army in the 1920s. But after intensively restored. The buildings have been restored to their original appearance.
Opening hours
The cathedral is closed from October 1 to May 1. In the rest of the time it is open every day from 10:00 to 18:00, there are no breaks. Weekends are Wednesdays and rainy days. The rector is Priest Andrey Rykov.
How to get there
It is located at the address: Yaroslavl, Bogoyavlenskaya Square, 25. You can get to the cathedral by bus from the railway station, as well as from the Yaroslavl Spit. The stop is called "Square of the Epiphany".
Reviews
According to reviews, the Transfiguration Cathedral needs restoration. Most tourists note the beauty of this place, as well as the spirit of history of this ancient cathedral. The reviews say that a fee is paid at the entrance to the complex, which houses the Transfiguration Cathedral.
