Pskov land is famous for its magnificent monasteries located in the most unexpected and often very picturesque places. Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Snetogorsk Monastery is one of those ancient structures that has its own interesting centuries-old history. Now it is a functioning convent, located 3.5 km from the city of Pskov. The first mention of it can be found in the annals of the XIII century, but at first it was a monastery.
Snetogorsk Monastery, Pskov
The architectural ensemble of the Snetogorsk Monastery includes the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin, the refectory church of St. Nicholas (1519), the Bishop's House (1805), the ruins of the bell tower and the Church of the Ascension of the Lord (mid-16th century), the fence and the Holy Gates (XVII-XIX century). Today, 60 sisters live in it.
It is located on the right bank of the Velikaya River on Snatnaya Gora, named so because of the snetti fish that local fishermen catch here. It is not known for certain when the Snetogorsk monastery was created. According to one version, it could be founded by monks who arrived here from Mount Athos. Bythe other, which is the main one, - Abbot Joasaph became its creator.
If you look into the annals of the XIII century, you can get information from there that on March 4, 1299, the Snetogorsk Nativity of the Virgin Monastery was burned by the Livonian knights. At the same time, the holy martyr Joasaph died, along with 17 other monks.
But in the XIV-XV centuries the monastery monastery was restored again, and it became one of the main spiritual centers of Pskov. This fact is also evidenced by the construction of a stone temple in it, the first after a long break associated with the Mongols attack on Russia.
New life
In the very center of the Pskov Krom (historical and cultural center), on the banks of the Pskov River, in the XIV century there was a monastery courtyard. Later (in 1352) a church of the Holy Apostle John the Theologian was built on the same site. This farmstead maintained economic and trade relations with merchants from the neighboring B altic states.
The monks of the monastery at that time were the Reverend Fathers Euphrosynus of Pskov and Savva Krypetsky. They worked on the foundation of other monasteries located not far from Pskov.
Snetogorsk Monastery received retired Pskov princes and boyars, who took their tonsure there. During the epidemic of 1420-1421. it was here that the governor of Moscow, Prince Fyodor Alexandrovich of Rostov, took monastic vows, who became very ill, but then returned to Moscow again.
In 1416, Grigory, the son of Prince Efstafievich of Izborsk, was buried in the vestibule of the main cathedral of the monastery. Inside the temple itself, even today you can see ceramide slabs of the 16th-17th centuries. Over time, a large monastery cemetery has grown on the territory of the cathedral. Burial chapels were attached to the walls of the temple.
Located on the full-flowing Velikaya River, the monastery often served as a hotel where merchants and travelers stayed. In 1472 he was visited by Sophia Palaiologos, a Byzantine princess who traveled from Italy to Moscow.
During the Livonian War (1558-1583) the troops of the Polish King Stefan Batory destroyed the monastery. The cathedral itself suffered a fire, as a result of which part of the ancient fresco painting was lost forever, and the brethren themselves took refuge in the courtyard of the monastery.
For the monastery, great disasters and devastation were also brought by the Cossacks and the troops of the Polish voivode Lisovsky. And in 1615 the monastery was captured by the Swedish king Gustav Adolf, who, however, never took Pskov.
The revival and fall of the monastery
However, by the 17th century, the monastery began to be rebuilt. This was facilitated by the border location of Pskov (for Russia it was very important in terms of trade). The Snetogorsk Monastery had a large economic block, participated in the supply of the army and the repair of the walls of the city.
During the Northern War, he again suffered disasters. A fire that broke out in 1710 destroyed the oldest archive with unique historical data related to the time of the creation of the monastery.
The land reform of Catherine II brought the monastery into a real decline. And in 1804 hewas abolished, and in its place it was decided to arrange a bishop's house, where in 1816-1822. lived Archbishop of Pskov Evgeny (Bolkhovitinov), who was not only an active clergyman, but also an excellent historian. All services were mainly held in the church of St. Prince Vladimir (aka the former refectory of St. Nicholas). The great poet A. S. Pushkin also visited this quiet monastery in 1825.
Soviet times
After the October Revolution, the bishop's house was ruined. The destruction also affected the oldest cathedral of the Snetogorsk Monastery, classified as an ancient monument and subject to state protection. The entire territory of the monastery was given over to a rest house. In 1934, the Ascension Church was also partially destroyed, now only ruins remain of it.
During World War II, the headquarters of the powerful German group "North" was located in the monastery. In the St. Nicholas Church, the Germans set up a meeting hall, in the cathedral itself - a shooting gallery and a wine warehouse. A garage was built on the remains of the Ascension Church.
After the war, the Snetogorsk convent was not expected to improve, it was converted into a children's sanatorium and a rest home. Only in the 1950s the monastery would begin to be slowly restored. Partial restoration work, which is still ongoing, began in 1985.
In 1993, finally, the convent was transferred to the Pskov Diocese. Divine services began to be conducted in St. Nicholas Church. To this day, such shrines as particles of the relics of St. martyr JosaphSnetogorsky, Great Martyr Panteleimon, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, St. Tikhon of Zadonsky, St. Macarius Zheltovodsky, as well as the icons of the Tikhvin and Iberian Mother of God.
On July 26, 2012, the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God was given to the Snetogorsk Monastery for free use for a period of 50 years.
Snetogorsk Monastery: Germogen (Murtazov)
It will be no less interesting to get acquainted with the confessor of the Snetogorsk convent - Father Hermogenes (Murtazov). It is he who bears a huge responsibility for the entire monastic way of life.
As he says about himself, he comes from Tataria, but his last name is not Tatar at all, as it might seem, but real Russian, since it ends with "ov" - Murtazov, in the Tatar version it should end with "in". Father Germogen was born in the Novo-Sheshminsky district, where the Sheshma River flows into the Kama, where the city of Chistopol is located nearby, to which his whole family later moved.
History of the Chistopol region
Everyone in his family was Russian. Historically, when Ivan the Terrible conquered Tataria, in order to keep all the lands under control, he transported entire Russian villages there. Their own area was created from immigrants from Smolensk. On Svobodka Street then lived servicemen, freed from taxes, on Popushkina Street there were cannons, the third was called Targets, because of the targets they were shooting at. In general, a whole military settlement. There were several villages around the area, for example Mikhailovka, everyone knew that the Mikhailovsky regiment was stationed here, and inEkaterinovka - Catherine's regiment. Such a serious guard did not allow various manifestations of unrest to occur. This area was called Chistopolsky, since at first it was an open field. It is located about 200 km from Kazan.
Biography Facts
There were no priests in his family, only his mother and grandmother were deeply religious. His brother - father Nikon - became a hierodeacon in the courtyard of the Pyukhtitsky monastery. The sister lives with Hermogenes in the monastery. Their mother Magdalene had three children, and they all became monastics. Father died in the Great Patriotic War, in the very first days of the war.
There was a church in Chistopol, and Father Germogen's mother bought a house there on a par with the nuns. Father Hermogenes graduated from high school, then worked as a postman, then was drafted into the army in the Baku anti-aircraft artillery. He never took off his cross. In the church, he met the nuns from a closed monastery. After the demobilization, two old nuns and a chanting mother prepared him for admission to the Saratov Theological Seminary.
In the same place, in the seminary, in 1959, Father Hermogenes accepted the priesthood. 45 years have passed since then.
After the seminary, a year later, he entered the Academy at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra (near Moscow). He often visited the Pskov-Caves Monastery and even wanted to get a job there in the parish, but he was sent to the Holy Dormition Pyukhtitsky Monastery (Estonia), and since 1965 he served there for almost 30 years.
New assignment
About his service as a confessor in a convent, he said thatto be a burning bush to burn and not burn out. For some time his spiritual father was John (Krestyankin). Together they decided that Hermogenes needed to leave the monastery and leave, especially after he had a bleeding ulcer twice. It was then that Father Hermogenes thought that he would no longer be able to serve, and therefore decided to retire. His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, with whom he was on good and trusting terms, gave him a wide path and told him to choose any monastery. But then Vladyko Eusebius arrived and asked Father Hermogenes to help the Snetogorsk Monastery. And from that moment he settled there. From the Pukhtitsky monastery they constantly received help, and gradually the monastery began to revive. A hotel for pilgrims, a barnyard, etc. were built.
Patriarch
In early September 2014, Patriarch Kirill personally visited the Snetogorsk Monastery. In St. Nicholas Church, he was greeted by Archimandrite Hermogen (Murtazov) with the abbess, who noted that in many years the Primate of the Church had visited their monastery for the first time.
Father Hermogenes presented His Holiness with a list of the icon of the Tikhvin Mother of God, as the Pskov people often resorted to her for help during the Great Patriotic War.
The Patriarch also made a speech, who admitted that he was glad to visit one of the oldest monasteries - the Snetogorsk convent of the Pskov diocese, which once played a very important strategic role of a fortress on the path of the invaders, but then was destroyed already in a relatively peacetime, when on the territory of the monastery began to be locatedSoviet organizations that did not spare architectural monuments.
Conclusion
The patriarch arrived not alone, but with a large delegation, and expressed the hope that the issues related to the restoration of the monuments of the monastery would soon be resolved. As a sign of respect and gratitude, he gave the monastery an icon of St. Macarius with a particle of relics. Now we can say with confidence that the entire Snetogorsky Monastery will be restored anew. Father Hermogenes is that faithful guardian (like his ancestors in the time of Ivan the Terrible), who fulfills his spiritual and mentoring mission, rooting for his offspring with all his heart and soul.
