The Holy Dormition Joseph-Volotsky Monastery is one of the most beautiful monasteries in the Moscow region. It is located 130 kilometers northwest of Moscow, along the Novorizhskoe highway. The monastery is a Stauropegion, that means, it is subordinate directly to the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Joseph-Volotsky Monastery was founded in 1479. Considering its location to the west of Moscow, stone temples, as well as powerful fortress walls and towers began to be erected in the monastery almost immediately. It became a fortress. For several centuries, the Joseph-Volotsky Monastery has been involved not only in the religious, but also in the political events of Russia. On the same road is the New Jerusalem Monastery.
Saint Joseph of Volotsky
The Monk Joseph Volotsky (in the world Ivan Sanin) was born in 1439 in the village of Yazvishche near Volokolamsk. He did a lot for church enlightenment and the fight against heresy. He also did a lot to ensure that the unification of Russia into a single state under the rule of Prince Ivan III of Moscow took place as bloodlessly as possible. In particular, he contributed to the reconciliation of Prince Ivan III with his brothers during the invasion of the troops of Khan Akhmat and Standing on the Ugra River in 1480, after which the period of the Mongol-Tatar yoke finally ended in Russia.
At first, Joseph Volotsky was a novice of the Paphnutiev-Borovsky monastery, where he lived for 18 years. After the death of the Monk Paphnutius, he was appointed abbot of the monastery. He tried to introduce a stricter charter of the monastery, but most of the monks did not accept it, so Joseph Volotsky left to wander for two years. Prince Ivan III intervened in this conflict, and Joseph again became abbot, but only for a short time. At that time, he had already decided to establish his monastery near the village of Teryaevo, 20 kilometers from Volokolamsk. In 1479, the construction of the monastery began at the confluence of the rivers Sister and Struga.
Joseph Volotsky was a famous theologian and preacher. There was no books printing in those years, so almost every monk in his monastery copied ancient books. The library of the Joseph-Volotsky Monastery in those years was one of the richest in Russia. Joseph Volotsky personally wrote the book The Enlightener, where he touched on the most acute topics of the church structure.
Joseph Volotsky died in 1515, and in 1579 he was canonized. Such a quick canonization speaks of his great services to the church. The relics of the saint are kept in the lower tier of the Assumption Cathedral of the Joseph-Volotsky Monastery.
Churches of the Joseph-Volotsky Monastery
Stone construction in the monastery began almost immediately after its foundation. The first stone temple was built in the 15th century, but the buildings of that period have not survived to this day.
The cathedrals and churches of the Joseph-Volotsky Monastery, which have survived to the present day, were built in the 16th and 17th centuries. The oldest building is the Refectory with the Church of the Epiphany, built in 1505. The churches are built in the style of the Moscow Baroque and have a rich exterior decor, the facade of the Assumption Cathedral is decorated with ancient tiles.
The Assumption Cathedral is the main temple of the Joseph-Volotsky Monastery. The first wooden cathedral was built in 1479, but a stone church was erected in its place in 1484. In 1688, the dilapidated cathedral was dismantled, and in its place a huge Assumption Cathedral was erected, which has survived to this day.
The stone walls of the Joseph-Volotsky Monastery were built in the period from 1543 to 1566. A powerful wall and 9 towers made the monastery not only a monastic, but also a fortress. During the Time of Great Turmoil, the monastery withstood a prolonged siege by Polish troops, after which the walls were strengthened even more. The fortress walls and towers that have survived to this day were built in 1677-88.
The Bell tower of the Joseph-Volotsky Monastery
Near the entrance to the Assumption Cathedral there was a high bell tower built in 1490. Some historians consider this bell tower to be the prototype of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower in Moscow Kremlin erected in 1505. However, this is an exaggeration, since the height of the bell tower of the Joseph-Volotsky Monastery in the 15th century reached only 17 meters. The Italian architect Bon Fryazin, who built the Ivan the Great Bell Tower, had his own prototypes in Italian cities.
The bell tower in the Joseph-Volotsky Monastery was built in 1692-1694. As a result, its height reached 76 meters. It was one of the tallest bell towers in Russia. The height of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower is 81 meters, and it was forbidden to build anything higher in Russia. At this time, the similarity of the two bell towers appeared.
Over time, the bell tower had a slope, like the Leaning Tower of Pisa or the Inclined Tower in Nevyansk. By the 19th century, this slope reached 1.5 meters. In 1847, restoration work was carried out. The craftsmen were able to stop the increase in slope and stabilize the foundation.
The bell tower of the Joseph-Volotsky Monastery was blown up on November 19, 1941 by retreating Soviet troops, who considered that it could serve as a good reference point for German artillery during defensive battles. Now only ruins with a height of 5 meters remain from the bell tower, but there are plans to restore it.
Joseph-Volotsky Monastery in political events
Considering that the Joseph-Volotsky Monastery was a fortress, he was involved in the political events of the country. All the tsars from the 16th century came to the monastery for a pilgrimage. Many famous people of that time, including Tsar Vasily Shuisky, were also imprisoned here. During the Time Great Turmoil, all military detachments sought to control the monastery, which was an important supporting fortress.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, two church teachings of the josephites and the non-possessors appeared. The group of Josephites was founded personally by Joseph Volotsky, who defended the right of monasteries to own lands. The ideologue of the non-possessors movement was Neil Sorsky, who spoke about the need to give up any property and take a vow of poverty. Some of the most prominent representatives of the non-possessors movement, in particular Vasily Kosoy and Maxim the Greek, were imprisoned in the Joseph-Volotsky Monastery.
There is a necropolis on the territory of the monastery, where historical figures are buried. Many graves, unfortunately, have not been preserved. Malyuta Skuratov, Metropolitan Daniel of Moscow, Princes Boris and Fyodor of Volokolamsk, representatives of the noble families of Shakhovsky, Muravyov, Bezobrazov and others were buried in the Joseph-Volotsky Monastery in 1573. In 1848, during one of her trips from the Goncharov Estate in Yaropolets, Alexander Pushkin`s mother-in-law, Natalia Ivanovna Goncharova, died in the monastery. She was buried here in the monastery.
