The small village of Radonezh is located 60 kilometers northeast of Moscow and 15 kilometers from Sergiev Posad. The Paga River flows here around a high hill, surrounding it on almost all sides. This created a natural protection, so the settlement on the top of the hill appeared in ancient times. Now in Radonezh, tourists can visit the reconstruction of the old settlement, as well as places associated with the life of St. Sergius of Radonezh.
Several centuries ago, the Paga River was full-flowing. This predetermined the development of the village of Radonezh as an important transit point between the Russian principalities. The ownership of this village made it possible to control the road from Moscow to Pereslavl-Zalessky. Earthen ramparts were built around the hill, and the hill was surrounded by a wooden wall. The earthen ramparts in the valley of the Paga River are partially preserved, but now they are barely noticeable.
In the middle of the 14th century, Radonezh became part of the Moscow Principality, and in 1410 the village of Radonezh became the center of a separate Radonezh principality. Its prince was Andrey Vladimirovich, the son of Prince Serpukhov Vladimir Andreevich. However, with his death, the Radonezh Principality became part of the Moscow Principality again.
At the beginning of the 14th century, a family of impoverished Rostov boyars Kirill and Maria with three sons Stefan, Bartholomew and Peter came to the village of Radonezh from Rostov the Great. They settled on the territory of the Radonezh settlement. Bartholomew was 12 years old at the time. After moving, he decided to dedicate his life to God and asked his parents for consent to become a monk, but they refused.
Before their death, Bartholomew`s parents themselves became monks of the Intercession Khotkov Monastery, which is located 7 kilometers from Radonezh. The elder brother Stefan was already a monk of this monastery at that time. Bartholomew handed over his part of the inheritance to his brother Peter and went to Stephen in the Khotkov monastery.
There he persuaded his brother to leave the monastery and become hermits in the forest cells. They built their cells in the forest on Makovets Hill, near the Konchura River, 12 kilometers northeast of Khotkov. In 1335 they built the first church of the Holy Trinity there. However, Stefan could not stand the harsh life in the forest and soon left for the Moscow Epiphany Monastery. Bartholomew was left to live alone, but soon Abbot Mitrofan came to him. He conducted the ordination of Bartholomew as a monk under the name Sergius. He was popularly called Sergius of Radonezh, that is, Sergius from the village of Radonezh. Soon other monks began to come to his cell. Sergius of Radonezh became the abbot of the monastic community.
Soon Sergius of Radonezh became the most revered saint in Russia, and the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, founded by him on Makovets Hill, is the spiritual center of Russia. In 1834, the Transfiguration Church was built in Radonezh, where Sergius lived with his parents. The Holy Spring of Sergius of Radonezh still flows at the foot of the mountain. A water wheel has been installed on the Paga River, and paths have been laid on the site of the former Radonezh settlement.
