The Trinity-Sergius Varnitsky Monastery is located on the western outskirts of Rostov the Great. The monastery was founded in 1427 at the birthplace of the great Russian Saint Sergius of Radonezh. The monastery is a metochion of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, the main Spiritual center of Russian Orthodoxy.
In the place where the Trinity-Sergius Varnitsky Monastery is now located, in the 13th century there was the estate of the Rostov lord Kirill. He had a wife, Maria, and three sons: Stephan, Bartholomew, and Peter. At the beginning of the 14th century, Kirill became impoverished and moved with his family to the village of Radonezh in the Moscow region. In the center of this village there was a fortress that controlled the busy road between Moscow and Pereslavl-Zalessky.
Kirill and Maria became monks of the Intercession Khotkov Monastery before their deaths. The shrine with their relics is located in the Intercession Cathedral of the monastery. The eldest son Stephan became a monk before the death of his parents, and the middle brother Bartholomew took monastic vows after the death of his parents under the name Sergius. He entered the history under the name Sergius of Radonezh.
After becoming a monk, Sergius of Radonezh persuaded his brother to leave the Khotkov monastery and found a new monastery. They founded a monastery 15 kilometers north of Radonezh, which was later called the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Sergius became the most revered saint of the Russian Orthodox Church. He lived during the feudal fragmentation, when the Russian principalities were in vassalage to the khans of the Golden Horde. Sergius urged the princes to unite to fight the Horde. Russian Russians even called him " Abbot of the Russian Land", "Collector of Russian lands". In 1380, he blessed Dmitry Donskoy and his army for the battle of Kulikovo Field.
In 1427, Bishop Ephraim of Rostov identified a place in the village of Varnitsy, where the house of lord Kirill was located. St. Sergius of Radonezh was born in this house, so they decided to found the Trinity-Sergius Varnitsky Monastery here.
The wooden buildings of the Trinity-Sergius Varnitsky Monastery were destroyed by a Polish military detachment during the Time of Turmoil, but in the 18th century stone temples were built in the monastery. In 1919, it was closed, and most of the temples were destroyed again. In 1990, the Trinity-Sergius Varnitsky Monastery became a metochion of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Active restoration of all temples and buildings began here. The monastery is directly subordinate to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.
In the center of the Trinity-Sergius Varnitsky Monastery is the Cathedral of St. Sergius of Radonezh. Next to it is the Trinity Cathedral and several other churches and chapels. The fortress walls of the monastery have been completely restored. In the buildings of the Trinity-Sergius Varnitsky Monastery there is a Gymnasium of St. Sergius of Radonezh. Students from all over Russia come to enroll there.
A Cross of Worship is installed near the monastery. It symbolizes the place where the meeting of little Bartholomew with the elder monk took place. According to legend, this meeting prompted the boy to become a monk and serve the unification of Russia. In the 19th century, the artist Mikhail Nesterov painted his famous painting "Vision to the boy Bartholomew", which depicts this meeting.
