During the years of perestroika, one of the most ancient monasteries of the Oryol land was also restored. Founded in the second half of the 17th century and, together with Russia, survived all the hardships and hardships of subsequent centuries, it was closed and ruined during the years of the ungodly Bolshevik regime. The current period of national history is the time of his second birth.
Burnt monastery
The description of the history of the Holy Assumption Monastery (Oryol) should begin from the middle of the 17th century, when the Epiphany Monastery was located on the territory of the Oryol fortress, surrounded by a dense ring of wooden suburban buildings. Honest monks lived extremely poorly, because they had neither the sovereign's salary, nor serfs, nor lands that could be rented out. They fed mainly on what their brethren brought, sent into the world to beg.
Their main misfortune was the frequent fires that engulfed the settlement and spread to the monastery buildings. And on one of the June days of 1780, the fire completely destroyedmonastery, sparing only its main cathedral, which has survived to our time. With the funds raised by the same world, restoration work was started, the leadership of which was taken over by Hieromonk Evfimy.
At a new location
Reasoning very sensibly that, while remaining in the same place, the monastery would burn more than once due to its proximity to negligent Slobozhans, he decided to move it outside the fortress. After a short search, a site was chosen, located a verst from the city on the banks of the Oka. There, in 1684, he founded a wooden church, which was then consecrated in honor of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos and gave its name to the Holy Dormition Monastery, which has survived to this day in Orel. Hieromonk Euthymius himself, who by that time had been elevated to the rank of hegumen, became its first rector.
The first stone temple of the monastery
Two years later, Archbishop Nikita of Kolomna and Kashirsky blessed the brethren to build a stone church in the name of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. And, what is very important, he backed up his words by sending the necessary funds. According to contemporaries, on the day of laying the new church from Orel to the Holy Dormition Monastery, an ancient Byzantine icon was delivered by procession, glorified by many miracles revealed through it and later becoming its main shrine.
The construction of the stone temple proceeded unusually fast. At the end of 1688 it was solemnly consecrated. Somewhat later, a multi-tiered bell tower was attached to the refectory room, on which eightbells cast by local craftsmen. The main one weighed 80 pounds, then came 45 pounds and 20 pounds. They were supplemented by 5 small bells, during the days of the festivities, they announced the expanses of the Oka with a joyful chime.
The "Golden Age" of the Oryol monks
A century later, in May 1788, the Oryol diocese was established by a decree of the Holy Synod. Over the next decades, its leadership steadily contributed to the development and improvement of the monastery operating on its territory. Thanks to this, by the end of the 19th century, the monastery in honor of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was a very extensive complex, which included 5 functioning churches, as well as a large number of various administrative and economic structures.
On its territory there was an elementary school for children from low-income families, as well as an icon-painting and bookbinding workshop. By that time, the territory of the monastery cemetery had been landscaped and turned into a necropolis, where a prominent philanthropist and theatrical figure Count G. I. Chernyshev, as well as the hero of the war of 1812, Baron F. K.
During this most favorable period of its history, the brethren of the Holy Assumption Monastery (Oryol), in addition to state subsidies, received income from extensive fishing grounds that belonged to them, as well as leased lands donated by we althy pilgrims. They also had their own production workshops, in which they worked along with employees.
Vandals of the 20th century
Immediately after Octoberarmed coup and the coming to power of the God-fighting Bolshevik government, persecution of the church began. They also touched the Orthodox residents of the city of Orel. The Holy Assumption Monastery was closed, and its inhabitants were expelled from their inhabited cells. Subsequently, many of them were repressed for promoting a religious ideology alien to the new government and joined the ranks of countless Russian New Martyrs of the 20th century.
As for the monastery territory and the buildings located on it, over the next decades they were used in the most barbaric way. Thus, the highly artistic marble tombstones that previously adorned the necropolis were destroyed in the mid-1920s and used as building material for the reconstruction of the dam across the Oka. Those that, for various reasons, did not suit the builders, were simply thrown into the water.
A similar act of vandalism was committed against the former rectory, which was a vivid example of early 19th century architecture. In order to equip the production premises of the local cloth factory in it, the building was rebuilt, depriving it of its original appearance and turning it into a rough, featureless structure. The rest of the monastery buildings, including the five churches located on its territory, were also made available to various economic organizations. And over the following years, they were mercilessly destroyed.
In the post-war years, a children's educational colony was created on the territory of the monastery, inwhich for three decades kept teenagers who had not reached the age of majority, but who managed to come into conflict with the law. Their presence also did not contribute to the preservation of what was left of the devastated monastery. As a result, by the beginning of the 80s, almost all the temples were destroyed.
Innocent Olympic victim 80
The communists put the last point in this barbarism in 1980, when, by order of the leadership of the city committee of the CPSU, the same stone Assumption Church, which the ancestors erected in 1688, was demolished. Unfortunately, she was close to the route along which the Olympic flame was supposed to be carried, and the authorities felt that her appearance cast a shadow on the organizers of such a progressive event.
The second birth of the monastery
The revival of the Assumption Monastery, like many Orthodox monasteries in Russia, began during the perestroika period. In April 1992, by order of the mayor of the city, A. G. Kislyakov, all the territory that had previously belonged to him was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Oryol diocese, after which large-scale restoration work began. According to the project of the architect M. B. Skorobogaty, the Assumption Church was re-erected, and the miraculously preserved buildings were restored.
In 1998, the Holy Assumption Monastery (address: Orel, Monastyrskaya Square, 3) resumed its activities after many decades of neglect and destruction. As before, pilgrims began to come to him from all over Russia to bow to the shrines kept within its walls.
Under Bishop Nectarius
A great merit in organizing the spiritual and economic life of the revived monastery belongs to its viceroy, Bishop Nectarius (Seleznev) of Livny and Little Arkhangelsk, who was appointed to this position in 2012. His photo is shown in the article. At the initiative of the bishop, a marble plaque was erected on the territory of the monastery in memory of a native of Orel, a famous poet-monarchist and an active participant in the White Guard movement Sergei Bekhteev.
Many pilgrims are attracted by the holy spring, over which, by order of Bishop Nectarius, a chapel was erected in honor of the Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky. Its water, coming from an artesian well that goes to a depth of 150 meters, is stored in a special silver container and has healing properties.
