Novotorzhsky Borisoglebsky Monastery is located in the city of Torzhok, is considered an ancient Orthodox monastery, founded by Ephraim around 1038. Under Prince Yaroslav I Vladimirovich of Kiev, it was the third monastery since their appearance. It got its name from the name of princes Boris and Gleb.
The monastery suffered a large number of troubles, ranging from various ruins, fires and was attacked by the Mongol-Tatars.
The gate church-bell tower of the Borisoglebsky monastery fell on 1804, Ananyin led its construction. The bell tower is completed with a spire and is visible from anywhere in the city, which attracts local residents and tourists.
In the upper tier there is a gazebo, in the lower one is the entrance to the monastery.
It also houses the monastery library, which has an unusual shape.
The Vvedenskaya Church, which is also located in the monastery, is considered the oldest building, its construction took place in the 17th century.
Borisoglebsky Monastery in Torzhok is not only the largest in the city, but also the oldest in the Tver region. According to some reports, this monastery was founded in 1038 by the boyar Ephraim. The most ancient construction of the monastery, which has come down to the present, is the Vvedenskaya Church, founded in the 17th century on the site of the former, wooden one. In 1742 there was a severe fire, it caused enormous damage to the monastery. In 1925, the entire monastery was dissolved, and in its place a prison arose and existed for 50 years. But in 1993 the monastery was reopened and believers returned to it.
An ancient Orthodox monastery founded at the beginning of the 11th century by St. Ephraim of Novotorzhsky. The current male monastery of the Tver diocese, one of the three largest ancient monastic cloisters since the spread of Christianity in Russia.
The history of the founding of the monastery
The christening of Ancient Russia by the prince in 988 was the turning point that influenced the further course of the entire history of the Russian state. Dozens of ascetics of the Orthodox faith, with their thoughts and deeds, carried the Christian teaching to cities and villages, founding monasteries, erecting churches and cathedrals, preaching Christ. The bright pearls of faith in the crown of Russian Orthodoxy were monastic cloisters, which sometimes grew up in sparsely populated pagan corners of ancient Russian principalities.
Orthodoxy spread in Russia. Thanks to the ascetics of the faith, pagan rites became a thing of the past, and instead of ritual temples, churches and monasteries arose. The 10th century gave the world the future founder of the Novotorzhsky Borisoglebsky Monastery - St. Ephraim. The founder himself was from Hungary, where Orthodoxy was already widespread at the end of the 10th century. History has not preserved documented data on the date of his birth, and it is known from church sources that, already quite old, Ephraim, together with his brothers Moses and Georgy, left his homeland and entered the service of the son of Prince Vladimir of Kiev, Prince Boris of Rostov. The prince promoted the brothers to the nobility and appointed horsemen to his squad. The pious Prince Boris won the hearts of the brothers with charitable deeds, so serving under him brought them joy and brought peace to their souls.
In 1015, the Grand Duke of Kiev unexpectedly died, and his nephew Svyatopolk, having seized power, decided to get rid of the pretenders to the grand prince's throne and ordered the murder of his cousins - Boris and Gleb, the sons of Vladimir Svyatoslavich. Prince Boris was returning from a military campaign against the Pechenegs, rampant on the southeastern borders of Russia, when the news of the insidious plan of Svyatopolk reached him. Not believing the rumors about his brother's malice and without taking any protective measures, he was overtaken by the killers in his camp tent. Ephraim's brother, George, covered the prince from the attackers with his chest, but was pierced with a spear. Prince Boris was killed on July 24, 1015, and a little later, Prince Gleb accepted the same martyr's death. By a fatal accident, only two of the three brothers went on that campaign - George and Moses. Moses managed to escape from the scene of the tragedy, and after many years of wandering around Lithuania, he, crippled and sick, returned to Russia, becoming a monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.
The death of Prince Boris and brother George shocked Ephraim. He hurried to the scene of the tragedy, but did not find his brother's body. The killers of the prince, trying to take possession of the golden hryvnia, hanging as a sign of distinction and location of the prince on the neck of George, beheaded him. Ephraim discovered his brother's head among many bodies and took it away, secretly kept it for more than 30 years until his death.
Seeing that earthly blessings and life are fleeting, and human death is unpredictable, Saint Ephraim decided to devote his life to serving the Lord. He retired from worldly life, and with the blessing of the Metropolitan of Kiev, took upon himself the feat of hospice, going to the sparsely populated northern lands of Russia to carry the word of God to the poorly enlightened inhabitants of those places and to give comfort to all those who suffer, serving them wholeheartedly and meekly. He went to the upper reaches of the Volga and Tvertsa, and in the place where the trade routes of the Novgorodians and Pskovians converged, called Novy Torg, or, he founded a hospitable house. Every merchant and wanderer, entering that house, found in it a kind word and consolation.
A few years later, in 1038, a little further than the hospice house on a hill near the Torzhok River, the Monk Ephraim erected a stone church in the name of the passion-bearers Princes Boris and Gleb, which gave the name to the monastic monastery itself, which arose a little later. Thirty-eight years after the assassination of princes Boris and Gleb and the founding of the monastery, on January 28 (February 10), 1053, the Monk Ephraim departed to God, bequeathing to place in his coffin the head of brother George, which he had carefully guarded for many years.
For more than five centuries the relics of St. Ephraim rested in the ground. In 1572 they were found, and since then every year on June 24 in the monastery this day is celebrated as a holiday, and on January 28 - the day of remembrance of the saint. A century later, the relics of the Monk Arkady of Novotorzhsky (Vyazemsky) were found - the most beloved disciple of Ephraim, who went with him a long path of hospitality, monasticism and zealous service to the Lord. The Monk Arcadius is commemorated on December 26, and the acquisition and transfer of his relics is celebrated on August 27.
In the 11th-12th centuries, the Orthodox monastery, like many churches in the Russian land, was completely destroyed several times during internecine wars. In 1237 the monastery was badly damaged by the Tatar-Mongol. The Poles and Lithuanians captured the Borisoglebsk monastery twice. In 1258, during the reign, the Lithuanians completely ruined it, dispersing the monastic brethren. During the reign, in 1607, the wooden buildings of Torzhok and the monastic Vvedenskaya church were burned by the Poles. In the flames of the fire, the rector of the monastery, Archimandrite Konstantin, and several monks burned alive. At the turn of the XIV-XV centuries, due to numerous devastations, the Borisoglebsky Monastery was so ruined that not a single literate monk remained in it, and the interior of the monastery was very poor.
In 1577, the temple was decorated with two chapels, and in 1620 the Vvedenskaya Church, which burned down in 1607, was rebuilt. Now the stone church of the Entry into the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos is the oldest building of the monastery. In 1742, another big fire almost completely destroyed the monastery buildings.
At the beginning of the 18th century, a new stage in the history of the monastery began - new churches, rectory and fraternal buildings were built. In 1717, the Church of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem was erected. A great contribution to the decoration of the monastery with new churches and chapels was made by the architect N.A. Lvov, a native of those places. According to his project, in 1757-1796, the Borisoglebsky Cathedral was erected, in 1804 - the gate church-bell tower of the Savior Not Made by Hands, in 1809 - the Candle Tower.
Monastery during the years of Soviet power
Before the 1917 workers' and peasants' revolution that thundered all over the world, life in the Borisoglebsk monastery was no different from life in other Russian monasteries - church services were held and other church services were sent. In 1919, authorized representatives of the People's Commissariat of Justice opened the tomb of St. Ephraim, in 1923 the relics of the saint were transferred for storage to the Church of the Archangel Michael in Torzhok, and just three years later, in 1926, they disappeared without a trace. The agony of the Borisoglebsk monastery lasted for several years. In 1927-1929, the fraternal building and the Church of the Lord's Entrance into Jerusalem were given by the new authorities for felting workshops, a hostel for a flax farm and warehouses. In 1931, the monks were repressed, and the monastery was finally closed, and until 1934 the school of agriculture was located within its walls. After that, it housed a military unit, aviation depots, and since 1944 - a maximum security prison. In 1985-1988, the monastery buildings were given over to a medical institution - there was a medical and labor dispensary for people suffering from alcohol addiction.
In 1989, the dispensary was transferred to another building, and the All-Russian Museum of History and Ethnography was located on the territory of the monastery. This was a good reason for research and restoration work, as a result of which the heads of two churches were restored - the entrance to Jerusalem and the Vvedenskaya, as well as the monastery fence was repaired and the Candle Tower was restored.
Revival of life in the monastery
In 1993, the Novotorzhsky Borisoglebsky Monastery was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church, leaving within its walls also a museum of history and ethnography. Bishop of Tver and Kashinsky, Victor petitioned the Holy Synod for the appointment of the abbot of the monastery, who on October 2, 1993 became the cleric of the Tver diocese, hegumen Vassian (Kuraev).
In 1995, the doors of the monastery were opened for five monks, who became the first inhabitants after a long break in the life of the monastery. By 2003 there were already thirteen monks. In December 1997, after the transfer of the Vvedensky Church to the monastery through the efforts of the clergy and the leadership of the Museum of History and Ethnography, restoration work began in it, and already on June 24, 1998, on the day of memory of St. Ephraim of Novotorzhsky, the first service was held in the church. At present, this is the only functioning monastery church; other buildings of the monastery are being gradually restored. Since May 2010, Hieromonk Arseny (Leonov) has been the abbot of the monastery.
Orthodox monasteries resurrecting from the ruins light up like bright pearls, bringing the light of goodness, morality, philanthropy and humility into the world. One of them is rightfully considered the Novotorzhsky Borisoglebsky Monastery - an ancient Orthodox monastery, the oldest monastery on the territory
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You can talk about Torzhok endlessly. An ancient city, picturesquely spread along the banks of Tvertsa, it is famous for its interesting history and beautiful architecture. The dominant of the city is the ancient Novotorzhsky Borisoglebsky Monastery located on a high hill above the river. To the north of it in the past was the Novotorzhsky Kremlin, which burned down in 1742.
I had to visit Torzhok several times. The last one is in July 2017.
If you move along Kuznechnaya Street, then at some distance along the road you can see earth ramparts former Novotorzhsky Kremlin. In the past, it was surrounded by a 1.5-kilometer wall with 11 towers, some of which, according to some researchers, were stone.
During the great fire of 1742, all the wooden buildings of the Kremlin burned down and were no longer restored. Now a complex has been created on part of the territory "Novotorzhsky Kremlin", the exposition of which consists of reconstructions of ancient weapons and defensive means from the time of the siege of the city by the troops of Batu Khan.
S.M. Prokudin-Gorsky. The rampart near the Borisoglebsky Monastery. [Torzhok.] Summer 1910
The center of the territory of the former Novotorzhsky Kremlin is marked Cathedral complex on Veche Square. Here are the cold five-domed, built in 1814-1822 according to the project of Carl Rossi and warm Entrance Jerusalem Church 1841-1842. During the years of Soviet power, the interior decoration of churches was almost completely lost.
S.M. Prokudin-Gorsky. Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral and the Church of the Entrance to Jerusalem in Torzhok from the left bank of the river. Tvertsy. 1910
Almost opposite the former Kremlin, next to the Mikhailo-Arkhangelsk (Annunciation) Church stands Monument to the Novotorzhsky Saint Venerable Ephraim of Novotorzhsky(sculptor Evgeny Antonov, 2015).
According to the life of the saint, the boyar Ephraim served as grooms for Boris and Gleb. After their martyrdom in 1015, he decided to retire from worldly life, and from Kiev went to Torzhok. There, together with his disciple Arkady, in 1038 he founded the Borisoglebsky Monastery in memory of the murdered princes and erected a stone temple in it. Ephrem died in 1053 and was buried in the church he built. His relics and the relics of Arcadia were venerated as the shrines of the Borisoglebsky Monastery, but were lost in the 30s of the 20th century.
Monument to the Novotorzhsky Saint Rev. Ephraim of Novotorzhsky
According to legend, the Borisoglebsky Monastery was founded in 1038 by Ephraim Novotorzhsky. The first written evidence of the Novotorzhsky Borisoglebsky Monastery dates back to the 12th century; it is one of the oldest monasteries in Russia.
S.M. Prokudin-Gorsky. Borisoglebsky monastery [from] the bridge. [Torzhok.] Summer 1910
The monastery was badly damaged in 1607 during the capture of Torzhok by the Poles and in 1742 from a big fire. The buildings that have come down to our time date back to the 17th-19th centuries.
In 1925, the Novotorzhsky Borisoglebsky Monastery was closed, a strict regime prison functioned within its walls for almost 50 years, after which there was a medical and labor dispensary for alcoholics. In the late 1980s, the former monastery was handed over to the exposition of the All-Russian Historical and Ethnographic Museum, whose workers put a lot of effort into restoring the buildings mutilated during the years of Soviet power.
Restoration work, though very slow, continues to this day. The monastery was returned to the church, part of the territory is closed to the public, because monks live there.
Architectural monuments of the Borisoglebsky Monastery, scheme
It was built according to the project of the architect Nikolai Alexandrovich Lvov in 1785-1796 on the site of an ancient stone cathedral. Empress Catherine II took part in the solemn laying ceremony. In 1931 the cathedral was closed. Its interior decoration has been lost, including 37 icons by V.L. Borovikovsky. Only one of them has survived to this day, which is stored in the Tver Art Gallery.
Fraternal Corps (1818–1819)
Behind the Borisoglebsky Cathedral you can see Church of the Entry into the Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the oldest surviving stone temple in all of Torzhok. It was built in the 17th century on the site of an old wooden church that burned down in 1609.
Borisoglebsky Cathedral and the Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary behind it
The main decoration of the Borisoglebsky Monastery is a three-tiered a bell tower with a gate church in the name of the Savior Not Made by Hands, built in 1804-1811. One of her mysteries is the name of the architect. According to one version, he was Nikolai Aleksandrovich Lvov. According to another, the local self-taught architect Fedor Ananin. The height of the bell tower with a spire is more than 50 meters; this is the tallest building in Torzhok.
From the territory of the monastery, standing on a hill, beautiful views of Torzhok open up. Nearby you can see the Church of the Resurrection, built in 1749 and still empty.
Another interesting building of the monastery - candle tower, erected in the pseudo-Russian style in 1860-70 according to the project of the local architect Stepan Ivanovich Grebenshchikov.
From a high slope, residential buildings and temples are visible on the opposite bank of the Tvertsa.
Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, 1778-1784
Attention is drawn to the buildings of the former Resurrection maiden monastery, the first written mention of which dates back to 1625. The main monastic buildings date from the 18th-19th centuries. Behind him is the already mentioned Church of Elijah the Prophet.
Behind the trees is visible, built in 1750-1753, later completed several times.
Now the bell tower of the Borisoglebsky Monastery is open to the public, and for only 100 rubles you can climb to the very top! Of course, I could not miss this opportunity!
Restoration work is underway in the bell tower. Before the revolution, it was painted with warm beige marbled paint, which gave it a special elegance and emphasized the structural details.
S.M. Prokudin-Gorsky. Borisoglebsky Monastery. [Torzhok.] Summer 1910
Inside the bell tower, the remains of paintings made in 1809 by the artist M.L. Rotokanov have been preserved.
The interior of the Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands
A temporary, very steep wooden staircase leads upstairs. Several times there are wide wooden platforms where you can relax. It's no joke - to rise to a height of more than 40 meters!
As you rise higher and higher, ever wider panoramas of Torzhok open up. Once again you are amazed by the beauty of this ancient city. Still, to restore all its buildings ... Here, you can see the territory of the former Novotorzhsky Kremlin and the ancient Posad, numerous temples, suspension pedestrian and automobile bridges thrown over Tvertsa.
And here, built in the middle of the 18th century on the site of the churches of the Annunciation and Michael the Archangel of the 17th century that burned down in 1742. In 1849-1864 the temple was rebuilt in pseudo-Russian style. The bell tower was erected in 1864, built on in 1887. From 1931 to 1936, the relics of Saints Ephraim and Arcadius were kept here. In the Soviet years, the church was converted into a bakery.
The already mentioned Cathedral complex is extraordinarily picturesque. Behind him is seen Church of Pope Clement 1835 built.
Church of the Entrance to Jerusalem, the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior and the Church of Clement, Pope of Rome
From a height in the distance, a picturesque Tveretskaya embankment, bounded by suspension pedestrian and automobile bridges. This is one of the most beautiful places in the city.
Behind the Tveretskaya embankment you can see the spire of the bell tower and the dome Church of Elijah the Prophet built in 1822. The Imperial Travel Palace in Torzhok belonged to her arrival. On February 13 (according to the old style), 1826, a coffin with the body of Emperor Alexander I was placed in it for the night, and on May 31, that of Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna.
On the opposite side, behind the trees, you can see an elegant wooden Ascension (Tikhvin) Church, erected in 1717 on the site of an older wooden church of the Klet type.
Extraordinarily interesting octahedral ringing tier. By the beginning of the 20th century, there were 11 bells here, the largest of which, cast at the Moscow factory of A.D. Samgin, weighed just over 500 pounds. Above the ringing tier there was a clock mechanism that functioned for a long time even after the closing of the Borisoglebsky monastery.
The ringing tier of the bell tower and the dome of the Borisoglebsky Cathedral
And again the way up the narrow stairs.
And finally, I am at the very top of the bell tower, in a huge gazebo-belvedere with a through colonnade. From here, the widest panoramas of Torzhok and its environs open. The beauty of the landscape is breathtaking.
In the Borisoglebsky Monastery in the building of the former Spiritual government and hospice currently placed posted exposition All-Russian Historical and Ethnographic Museum. One part of the museum exhibition - "Monasteries and Temples of Torzhok" , introduces the history of the Novotorzhsky Borisoglebsky Monastery and other temples and monasteries of the city. Here you can see archaeological finds from the Borisoglebsky Monastery, the ancient Novotorzhsky serpentine, church utensils, etc.
Cell, reconstruction
Cell, reconstruction
Reconstruction of the Borisoglebsky Cathedral in Torzhok at the end of the 16th century
Exposition dedicated to the bell tower of the Borisoglebsky Monastery and a portrait of the architect Fyodor Ananyin
Novotorzhsky serpentine (amulet-amulet)
Another "Genius of Taste" , dedicated to the work of the "Russian Leonardo da Vinci" - the architect Nikolai Alexandrovich Lvov(1753-1803/1804 according to the new style), who designed many buildings, palaces and churches in Moscow, Tver province, St. Petersburg and its suburbs. In addition, old photographs of Torzhok are presented here.
In 1785-1796. by architect N. A. Lvova a new cathedral was built in its place. But the foundations of the ancient cathedral can still be seen today. The first stone was laid during the construction of the cathedral Catherine II.
The oldest building of the monastery is the Vvedenskaya Church (XVII century). The architectural ensemble of the monastery also includes: Gate Church and Entrance Jerusalem Church.
From the monastery comes a beautiful view of the river Tvertsa and Torzhok.
At the moment, the monastery is used by the Orthodox Church and the All-Russian Historical and Ethnographic Museum.
For pilgrims wishing to visit the monastery, there is a comfortable monastery hotel.
Founded a monastery Venerable Ephraim Novotorzhsky, whose fate is very unusual.
Most likely, at the beginning of the 11th century, he and his brothers George and Moses came from Hungary to Russia, where all three entered the service of his son Grand Prince of Kiev Vladimir - Boris. They were equestrians, which was a very high rank in the ancient Russian hierarchy. The Ugrins, as the Hungarians in Russia were called, served their new master faithfully until the year 1015 came.
A completely legitimate question arises, why did the Hungarians come to Russia at all? As mentioned above - for the sake of a career. But not only. Both Kievan Rus and Hungary at that time represented a single Christian space. Only after the split of Christianity into Orthodoxy and Catholicism in 1054 did Hungary become a Catholic country. Prior to this, the Greek clergy played an active role in the Christianization of Hungary. It is no coincidence that on August 20/September 2, 2000, the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople canonized the first king of Hungary Stephen, who ruled and died before the division of the Christian Church into Orthodox and Catholic, therefore he is revered by both concessions, including the faithful of the diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church in Hungary.
But let us return to Kievan Rus, where in 1015 Boris and his brother Gleb from the hands of his own brother in the struggle for the throne of the Grand Duke. Boris is the first to die, and with him his brother Ephraim George, who tried to protect the prince. Attackers don't just kill George, but they cut off his head, apparently in order to remove the golden hryvnia that he wore around his neck. George's act is quite understandable, the fact is that Russian warriors in the X-XI centuries. received a neck hryvnia as a reward, and quite high. And George, unlike his brother Moses, did not flee, but died in an unequal battle as a warrior, protecting his master.
We do not know where Ephraim was at that time and, obviously, we will never know. But it is known that Ephraim soon came to the scene of the tragedy, to the banks of the Alta River, and found there the severed head of his brother George. For this, Ephraim had very little time, if we only imagine how many wild animals lived at that time. Therefore, it can be assumed that he was not far from the scene of the tragedy. Terrified, afraid to share the fate of his brother, Ephraim flees north to the lands that Novgorod controlled at that time. Soon, on the banks of the Tvertsa, he, as it is written in his Life, "built a hospitable house and took upon himself the feat of country-love."
Why did Ephraim take with him the head of his brother George? Why didn't he bury her along with the body at the place of his death? We also find the answer to this question in his Life: "... in order to bequeath then to put with him in one tomb." In 1572, the tomb of Ephraim was opened. “The honest relics of St. Ephraim were found on June 11, 1572. Archbishop Leonid of Novgorod, returning from Moscow to Novgorod, then visited the Borisoglebsk monastery for prayer. He asked the abbot and the brethren where the relics of the miracle worker were laid. When the tomb of the saint was shown, the archbishop ordered that the tomb itself be opened. Then those present saw the body of the monk incorruptible and felt the fragrance.” As you can see, nothing in the Life is said about the head of George. And this is also a mystery.
The cathedral built by Ephraim stood for almost 750 years. In 1785-1796, on the site of the old dilapidated cathedral, a new one with the same name was erected according to the project of the Tver architect Nikolai Alexandrovich Lvov.Empress Catherine II during her journey along the Vyshnevolotsk water system, she solemnly laid the first stone of the future cathedral, built in the traditions of Palladian architecture, of which Lvov was an ardent supporter. But the foundations of the ancient cathedral can still be seen today.
After Prince Boris his brother also dies Gleb. Many historians believe that their brother was behind the murder of the princes. Svyatopolk, nicknamed the Cursed. Over time, Boris and Gleb were canonized as martyrs-passion-bearers, making them intercessors of the Russian land and heavenly helpers of Russian princes. But when exactly the canonization took place, scientists are still arguing. A variety of dates are called - 1020, 1039, 1071.
To determine the date of canonization, we use several clues that history has provided us. The fact is that, being a deeply religious person, Ephraim could start building a cathedral dedicated to Boris and Gleb only after their canonization. From his Life we know that Ephraim first received the blessing of the Archbishop of Novgorod, and only then, in 1038, began the construction of the monastery. In addition, it is known that Boris under the name novel Russian and Gleb under the name David Polish are included in the list of saints of the Roman Catholic Church. This could only be possible if they were canonized before the separation of the Churches in 1054. From the foregoing, we can conclude that the canonization of Boris and Gleb took place at the turn of 1037-1038.
There is evidence that even before the construction of the monastery, Ephraim traveled to Kiev. Maybe even repeatedly. This could only happen after 1019, when Yaroslav the Wise. The question arises: why? Apparently, he went to Kiev for a reason. Ephraim personally knew and loved the murdered princes and contributed to their glorification as best he could. And as soon as this happened, he immediately began the construction of a cathedral and a monastery in their honor. Most likely, he did not return to the banks of the Tvertsa empty-handed.
The fact is that in 1095 particles of the relics of the holy princes were transferred to the Czech Sazava Monastery, and in 1155 to Vladimir Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky, the former prince of Vyshgorod, took out the sword of Boris, which was kept in the church in their honor, which was built in Vyshgorod, not far from Kiev, in 1115. It is quite possible that in the Borisoglebsky Monastery there could be relics associated with the first Russian saints.
The church in Vyshgorod was destroyed during the invasion Batu to Kiev in 1240. At the same time, the relics of the holy brothers were lost, and attempts to find them again, undertaken in different years, did not produce results. Obviously, the same fate befell a particle of their relics, which ended up in the Czech Republic. And two years earlier, in 1238, Torzhok for two weeks - from February 21 to March 5 - held back the siege of the Mongol-Tatar troops. Torzhok fell and was plundered.
We do not know for sure whether there were some artifacts related to the first Russian saints on Tver land in ancient Torzhok or not. We can only hope that they were here, and maybe they still are, while under wraps.
Victor Gribkov-Maisky, member of the Union of Journalists of Russia
Novotorzhsky Monastery in the name of the Holy Martyrs Princes Boris and Gleb in the city of Torzhok Diocese of TverThe monastery was founded by the Monk Ephraim Novotorzhsky about a year, during the reign of the Grand Duke of Kiev Yaroslav I Vladimirovich, almost at the same time as the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, belongs to the number of the oldest monasteries and is considered the third monastery since their appearance in Russia. The name of the monastery arose from the names of two princes Boris and Gleb, in whose honor the first church was founded.
The monastery has undergone repeated devastation and devastation. Three times the monastery burned in internecine wars in , in , years. In the year was attacked by the Mongol-Tatars. The monastery suffered twice from Lithuania and the Poles. The first time - during the time of Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky, in the year when the Lithuanians captured the city of Torzhok, ruined the monastery and dispersed the brethren. Another time - in the year, in the reign of Vasily Shuisky. The monastery and the city were ravaged by the Poles, the wooden Vvedensky church was burned, and the archimandrite of the monastery Konstantin with the brethren and some people died in the flames. With all the disastrous permits, the stone church built by the Monk Ephraim remained intact and undamaged.
After so many ruins and devastations, the Borisoglebsk monastery was brought into such poverty and poverty that at the end of the 14th - beginning of the centuries there was not a single monk who knew the letter, the property of the monastery, according to the inventory, was very meager.
The prosperity of the monastery continued until the revolution of the year. And then he, like most Russian monasteries, shared the fate of his country.
In the same year, representatives of the People's Commissariat of Justice opened the tomb, found another head next to the relics of St. Ephraim, about which a special protocol was drawn up. Before the revolution, the relics of the founder of the monastery, St. Ephraim of Novotorzhsky, rested in a silver reliquary in the Borisoglebsky Cathedral, and with them was the head of George, the brother of the reverend, laid according to the will in a coffin. Here, under a bushel, were the relics of the Monk Arcadius, which have never been removed from the ground. In the year the relics of St. Ephraim were transferred to the Michael-Arkhangelsk Church in the city of Torzhok. In a year, the relics disappeared without a trace.
The measures to close the monastery began in - years, when part of the buildings of the monastery (the Church of the Entrance to Jerusalem and the fraternal building) were given over to felting workshops, warehouses and a hostel of a flax farm. At the beginning of June, a flurry of arrests of the monks of the Borisoglebsky monastery swept through, and it was finally closed.
Initially, the monastery complex was transferred to the Molotov state farm. In - years there was an agricultural school, from a year there was a military unit, in the late 1930s - military aviation depots, then a prisoner of war camp, from a year - a prison, and in - years - a medical and labor dispensary for alcoholics.
In the same year, after the withdrawal of the prison and the LTP from the monastery, the All-Russian Historical and Ethnographic Museum was located in it, in connection with which research and restoration work began. The building of the Spiritual Board, the Candle Tower and a section of the monastery fence (northern, southern and partly eastern fence) were restored, the heads of the Vvedenskaya and Entrance to Jerusalem churches were restored.
In 2010, a decision was made on the joint use of the monastery by the museum and the Orthodox Church.
The monastery was reopened in 1993 according to the petition of the Bishop of Tver and Kashin Victor and the Determination of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church of October 2, 1993 with the appointment of the abbot of the monastery, cleric of the Tver diocese, hegumen Vassian (Kuraev).
In a year, five monks come to the monastery and they settle on the territory of the monastery, in a one-story building, built once to house prisoners.
The first building of the architectural ensemble of the Borisoglebsky Monastery (Vvedensky Winter Temple) was handed over to the monks only in December of the year. Immediately, work began on its restoration, and on June 24, on the day of the memory of St. Ephraim of Novotorzhsky, the first Liturgy was celebrated in the monastery.
