Holy Mountains National Park. Svyatogorsk Lavra National Park Holy Mountains Donetsk

ORTHODOX CALENDAR. MODERN LOOK
Where are the Holy Mountains located?
July 30, 2008
Icon of the Mother of God of Svyatogorsk

July 30, 2008 The Russian Orthodox Church venerates the Icon of the Mother of God of Svyatogorsk, and with it the UOC-MP joins this veneration. Especially since 2008 brought into the church life of the Russian Orthodox Church, we can say a number of revolutionary changes. And this year, the celebration of the Icon of the Mother of God of Svyatogorsk will take place against the backdrop of celebrations dedicated to the 1020th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia and with the personal participation of Patriarch Alexy II, which in itself is an extraordinary event for Ukraine.
But, due to historical realities, with the veneration of this icon, the Orthodox Church has a certain historical, and I would even say church conflict, which in the Russian Orthodox Church, where everyone is passionate about new church construction, stubbornly does not want to notice.
For in the Russian Federation, in fact, on the canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church, there is the HOLY SUSPENSION SVYATOGORSK MONASTERY (Pskov region) where there is an icon of the Mother of God of Svyatogorsk and in Ukraine (Donetsk region) there is a restored in 1992. Holy Dormition Svyatogorsky Monastery.
And since 2004, it has already become the Svyatogorsk Holy Assumption Lavra, where there is also the miraculous Svyatogorsk Icon of the Mother of God.
And the celebration of these icons takes place on the same day, although the history of their appearance and the beginning of the cult of veneration, in the time period, is separated by 300-400 years, in favor of the Holy Dormition Svyatogorsk Monastery (Pskov region).
Yes, and believers, there is no previous certainty, where are the Holy Mountains in the Pskov region or in Ukraine? How is it not logical to have two places of religious veneration of the same icon, in monasteries with the same name and in localities with similar names?
But if we follow the logic of recent events, then the decision of the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Alexy II to visit Donetsk and the Svyatogorsk Lavra on July 29 and 30, where on the last day of his stay in Ukraine he will lead the liturgy on the day of the celebration of the "Svyatogorsk Icon of the Mother of God" probably indicates that the “true” Holy Mountains” are located in Ukraine….
It is a pity, however, that Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, in such a situation, was offended, since it is in this HOLY SUSPENSION SVYATOGORSK MALE MONASTERY, in the Pskov region, that the Pushkin family tomb is located. It can be seen that modern politics is more important than the historical memory of the national Russian favorite.
Given this priority and the attention of the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church to the Svyatogorsk Holy Dormition Lavra and its main shrine, we will begin our essay on two monastic cloisters, from this monastic monastery, in order to finally find out where the Holy Mountains are located and whose icon of the Mother of God is revered July 30, 2008

Chapter 1 part 1
Holy Dormition Svyatogorsk Hermitage - Holy Dormition Svyatogorsky Monastery - Svyatogorsk Holy Dormition Lavra (Ukraine)
Historical part
On the right bank of the Seversky Donets River, there is a restored since 1992. monastic monastery - Assumption Svyatogorsk Monastery.
This monastery is located in the region, which, according to church tradition, was Christian long before the baptism of Russia.
We will discard the stories of church tradition that the monastery was originally founded by monks who fled from Byzantium and move on to documentary evidence.
So in the "History of the Russian Church" Metropolitan. Macarius indicates that the Khazars who lived here, already in the middle of the VIII century. had their own bishop, a certain recluse Sosfensky, who was exiled to Kherson for icon veneration.
A century later, the Greek emperor Michael, at the request of the Khazars, sent Sts. Cyril and Methodius to Khazaria, because "byakhu the Jewish peasant faith is very blasphemous."
Whether Cyril and Methodius were in the Svyatogorsk monastery, history is silent. But Metropolitan Macarius claims that after repeated heated debates with the Khazars, Saracens, and especially Jews, the brothers, with God's help, achieved the goal of their embassy - according to the life of the Equal-to-the-Apostles brothers, the prince himself, his boyars and many people believed in Christ and received holy baptism.
Another church authority, Archbishop. Philaret (Gumilevsky). Explaining the name of the Holy Desert, he wrote: “Why are the Donetsk mountains called saints? -
- This name is explained only by the fact that since 1540 the shrine of the Donetsk rocks - the image of St. Nicholas, found by the monks (in the caves), and the holiness of the monks who labored here...
With all probability we can assume that in the XIV century. Svyatogorsk monastery already existed...”
Please note, dear reader, that the first and main icon of the Svyatogorsk Hermitage has been since 1540. became an icon of St. Nicholas!
In the XI-XIV centuries. on the territory of the region, in the immediate vicinity of the Holy Mountains, there existed, according to some modern archaeologists, both a series of small settlements and a large center - "Tsarino Settlement", part of the inhabitants who professed Christianity according to the Greek rite.
The Holy Mountains are repeatedly mentioned in historical documents of the 16th century, such as the Moscow and Lvov annals, and in 1624 Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich bestowed a letter of commendation on hegumen Simeon and the brethren.
In Russian historiography, the granting of such a royal charter is, as it were, the official acceptance of the monastery under the wing of the Russian Orthodox Church and is usually considered as the year of foundation.
And everything that happened before that, as it were, does not count, how many Khazars "Judaizing" wandered around here?
The brothers Cyril and Methodius came and went, and the Khazars, but not the Slavs and the Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians who later left them, remained in the territory of the present in the Donetsk region.
At that time, the Svyatogorsk Hermitage was the most advanced, southern, Russian settlement in the Wild Steppe and stood in the way of the Crimean Tatar hordes, who repeatedly went to Muscovy for tribute, and was also ruined by the Tatars, although, as we know, they did not take monks prisoner and the church was not taxed.
. The fact that the monastery was an advanced fortress and its location on almost impregnable rocks testifies.

But now the hard times have passed, the reign of Catherine II has come.
Ukraine was conquered, the Zaporozhian Sich was liquidated.
In 1782, Catherine II concluded a peace treaty with the Crimean Khan Sahib Giray and the need for the Russian Empire and, of course, for the Russian Orthodox Church, in the desert disappeared.
In this regard, in 1787 the monastery was "abolished". According to the “Spiritual States” published by Catherine II on February 26, 1764, all monasteries that owned estates and were not abolished, with the exception of the laurels (Trinity-Sergius and Kiev-Pechersk) and those that were made cathedral, that is, are intended for bishops (Alexandro-Nevsky, Chudov, Rozhdestvensky-Vladimirsky, Ipatievsky, Spaso-Preobrazhensky, Novgorod-Seversky), were divided into three classes and the norm of full-time monks and nuns was established in them.
In the male monasteries of the first class, 33 monks were supposed to, in the second class - 17 each, and in the third class - 12 monks each; in first-class nunneries, there were, according to the state, from 52 to 101 nuns, and in second- and third-class monasteries, nuns were assigned 17 each.
All the monasteries, deserts and sketes in the Great Russian provinces alone in 1762 consisted of 881
Only regular monasteries now received a certain amount of money from the state.
But, not everything here was clean, as they say now, it could not have done without corruption, and the miraculous icons of Svyatogorsk did not help.
An unexpected turn in the history of Svyatogorye was the decision of Catherine II to give this "paradise on earth", as the empress herself put it, to her favorite - Prince Grigory Potemkin. After that, the territory of the desert became his ordinary secular dacha.
Yes, I almost forgot to note that by the time the desert was closed, she owned 27,000 acres of land and 2,000 peasants. The monastic community was very prosperous! And it is not for nothing that Potemkin "liked" it for nothing.
Since 1790 Prince G. Potemkin owned the Holy Mountains, and after his death - his relatives Engelhardt. The ones with T.G. Shevchenko served in the Cossacks, who does not remember. The churches of the monastery were partly dismantled, and partly became just a church parish.
By July 1, 1896, there were 789 of all monasteries, deserts, sketes and women's communities (not counting the few attached monasteries in which only a few monks live to serve) in Russia [
But back to the topic of the story.
Almost 54 years later, the Svyatogorsk hermitage reopened. This happened in 1844 in connection with the arrival of the first 12 monks to the settlement, headed by Abbot Arseny (Mitrofanov).
The history of this “miracle”, if expressed in church language, is as follows.
In 1842, Engelhardt's nephew Alexander Potemkin (namesake of Count Potemkin) and his wife Tatyana (née Golitsyna), having been here, decided to revive the monastery, for which they applied to the Synod with a petition to restore the monastery.
And according to the “most submissive report of the Holy Synod,” Nicholas I, by decree of January 15, 1844, “deigned to restore the Svyatogorsk Assumption Hermitage on the basis of a hostel and accept the Charter of the Glinsk Hermitage of the Kursk Diocese as the basis for the internal well-being of the Onago.” (This bedding still exists - Glinskaya desert in the village of Sosnovka, Glukhovsky district, Sumy region of Ukraine)
Again, I draw the reader's attention to the fact that the king allowed the foundation of not a monastery, but a "desert".
And yet, I draw on the usually out of misunderstanding, or maybe out of malicious intent, an important detail "" to order, I deigned to restore the Svyatogorsk Assumption Hermitage on the basis of a hostel ...".
T. and in its first legal status it was not a monastery, but a hermitage.
This is of fundamental importance, because "Pustyn" is a term for a monastic settlement, in the tradition of Russian Orthodoxy, usually a skete remote from the main monastery.
And in Orthodoxy, hermitism is a form of monastic, “skete” or “desert” life, solitude associated with voluntary acceptance, in addition to the general statutory, additional ascetic vows (for example, increased prayer, strict fasting, silence).
Now let's talk about another important detail of the restoration of the Svyatogorsk hermitage. On the Charter of the Glinskaya Hermitage. This is a special document in Russian monasticism and it deserves a detailed description, since, having understood its essence, one can understand what the monks of the Syatogorsk hermitage were supposed to do.
The charter consists of three departments, including 36 chapters.
The first defines the order of worship and meals.
From 24 o'clock in the Glinskaya Hermitage, morning prayers and the midnight office were read, matins, litia were performed, from 6 o'clock - an akathist to the Mother of God, from 8 o'clock - liturgy, from 16 o'clock - vespers, litia.
From 18 o'clock - Compline with three canons, prayers for the future and a commemoration were also read. The Sunday and festive vigil began at midnight and continued on the Lord's and Mother of God feasts (except for the reading of kontakion and ikos of the akathist) for five hours, and on other holidays for four hours.
On Sunday, at 5 o'clock in the morning, a conciliar akathist to Jesus the Sweetest was performed. A special Glinsky chant was introduced in the monastery, Partes singing of St. Filaret did not allow it.
After the Liturgy, the brethren went in pairs to the refectory, the rite of the Panagia was served. In the desert, uninterrupted reading of the Psalter and daily commemoration according to a special synodikon were performed. In the first week of each month, the consecration of water was performed.
Among the features of the worship of the Glinskaya Hermitage were the deacons carrying tabernacles around the temple, censing with kations (censers with handles).
The second and third sections of the charter regulated the duties of the rector, senior and ordinary brethren. The monks did not have any property, they did not receive anyone in potassium, they met with relatives occasionally and only in a hotel. Women were not allowed to enter anywhere except the temple.
Everyone who entered the monastery was entrusted with the spiritual guidance of an elder. In addition to the existing obediences of the confessor and treasurer, St. Filaret introduced the positions of dean, sacristan, usher, ecclesiarch, housekeeper, sick-list, hotelier, and others in the Glinskaya Hermitage.
According to chapter 25, the brethren who did not fulfill the rule were removed from the wilderness.
The Monk Seraphim of Sarov, who is now so revered in Russia, during the Putin era, called the Glinsk hermitage "the great school of monastic life."
The Glinsk charter, borrowed by many monasteries (about 15), served as "the cornerstone of a lasting structure and prosperity."
Hieromonk of the Glinsk Hermitage Innocent became the first rector of the Svyatogorsk Hermitage.
At the end of 1844, work began on the restoration of churches, clearing caves and underground passages.
Since that time, during the second half of the 19th century, the old buildings near the river were replaced by new stone ones.
The underground church of St. Anthony and Theodosius of the Caves was restored in 1846, and in 1859 the main cathedral of the desert, the Assumption Cathedral, was rebuilt. The Cathedral of the Assumption had a height from the base to the cross of 53.5 m.
In the years 1850-1867, in one of the cells inside a sheer cliff, the Monk John (Kryukov) performed the feat of seclusion.
It was the Svyatogorsk monastery that built the Savior Skete, famous throughout the Russian Empire, at the Borki railway station, where the imperial family was miraculously saved in the crash on October 17, 1888. This is when the Narodnaya Volya, a bomb was planted under the paths, if anyone forgot the school history.
In 1874, a staircase was built to the top of Mount Tabor, called Cyril and Methodius.
The staircase consisted of 511 steps and was made in the form of a covered gallery with 16 platforms, two towers and 22 passages.
In general, we can say that for 70 years a lot of construction was carried out in the monastery: 8 churches in the monastery, 5 churches on farms, 2 sketes, hotel buildings, a hospital, schools, a huge exemplary economy, eldership was revived
This is clearly seen in the surviving pre-revolutionary painting of the Svyatogorsk Monastery and its environs.
In "Complete geographical description of Russia, for 1903." can be read:
"Svyatogorskaya Assumption cenobitic hermitage" is located in the Izyum district of the Kharkov province, 155 versts along a dirt road from the city of Kharkov, 35 versts from the city of Izyum and 18 versts from the city of Slavyansk, famous for its mineral waters ...
From the city of Slavyansk to the station of the same name on the Azov railway three versts, and from there it is 237 versts by cast-iron to Kharkov"
Nevertheless, the monastery received thousands of pilgrims every year. The total number of monks, novices and just residents (Balti) and attendants was about 600 people. A large farm required many workers.
This is how the monastery met fatal for the entire Russian Orthodox Church in 1917.
In 1922, after a period of repression and looting, the monastery was closed.
In today's church literature, one can come across such statements: "The opening of the monastery, predicted by the Svyatogorsk elders, took place in 1992."
The author believes this is a prediction made in hindsight. And in order to prove his point of view, he refers to a historical document.
It is more eloquent than any words, testifies to how the monks lived in the desert under the Bolsheviks.
"The act of investigating the atrocities of the Bolsheviks committed in the Svetogorsk monastery of the Izyum district." It is dated 1919.
“Normal life in the Svyatogorsk Holy Assumption Monastery, known not only in the Kharkov province, but throughout Russia, was disrupted in 1918.
In early January, the Velikokamyshevakhsky Land Committee of the Izyum Uyezd, as well as the Bogorodichansky and Slavic Committees, took into account the property of the monastery, which has its own branches (monasteries) in various places with a household and various workshops.
Having taken into account the monastery property, the committees immediately began to liquidate it in their favor, and Velikokamyshevakhsky mercilessly cut down the forest.
Thus, the entire supply of grain was taken out, and the cattle were sold. The monastic brethren were excluded from the use of the land. The monks who made up the labor force were subjected to forced eviction, and out of 600 people, from 200 to 300 old clergymen and part of the monks who took refuge in the monastery itself remained. The losses of the monastery, according to the most modest calculation, amount to about 250 thousand. This situation did not save the monastery from further attacks. Numerous searches begin in February, each time accompanied by robbery.
Already on February 15, an armed gang of 15 people burst into the monastery, as local peasants said, mainly from Izyum policemen, demanded an indemnity of 15 thousand rubles and, bypassing the cells, took away everything they liked. This time the robbers did not manage to get indemnities. On March 26, a group of Bolsheviks reappeared.
Under the pretext of finding weapons, the uninvited guests went to the cave temples, where they behaved blasphemously, entering here in hats, smoking cigarettes, turning over the thrones and swearing. The confiscation of church utensils, evacuated to the monastery from the churches of the Volyn and Vilna dioceses, dates back to the same time. The selection of these objects, according to the testimony of witnesses, was carried out unusually rudely. Sacred objects were squeezed into boxes with a curse, the Holy Gifts were thrown out of the monstrance and trampled on right there.
After the search, the Bolsheviks went to the rector, demanded church wine and immediately drank it. When they left, they took the monastery horse with them.
By the beginning of April, the brutal murder of the monk Hypatius, who had gone beyond the monastery walls, dates back. Apparently, he was robbed and hacked to death by wandering Bolshevik detachments. In June, armed robbers (from 5 to 8 people) came to the skete near the village of Horozhovka and demanded that the steward of the skete, monk Onufry, issue the money received from the sale of the monastery property. The housekeeper said he had no money. He was taken outside the fence and immediately shot at the gate. Another monk, named Israel, is killed while trying to escape.
Procession in the holy monastery
Banditry, which had somewhat weakened during the time of the Hetmanate, was supported, however, by detachments of Bolsheviks wandering in the vicinity, who were popularly nicknamed "foresters". The murder of several persons from the clergy of the Svyatogorsk monastery dates back to this time.
In October 1918, the icon of the Svyatogorsk Mother of God, which was especially revered in the area, was transferred from village to village. The procession stopped for the night in the village of Bayracek. Here, a gang of robbers attacked the premises occupied by the clergy, broke down the doors and shot the hieromonks Modest and Irinarkh, Hierodeacon Theodotos, who lived in the same house, the psalmist of the local church, the owner of the house and his daughter.
Five corpses lay at the foot of the icon, which stood in a pool of blood. The monks had no money. But more than one motive for robbery led the robbers, judging by the words of one of them during the murder: "You pray that God will punish the Bolsheviks."
With the departure of the Germans, the activities of the Bolsheviks immediately revived. Already on December 1, a group of armed people appeared demanding the issuance of weapons that were available for the self-preservation of the monastery. The weapons were issued. Then a gang of about 100 people, waiting for the results of the negotiations, broke into the monastery and proceeded to rob the monastery and fraternal property.
7,000 rubles were stolen from the monastery's cash register, the monks' clothes, shoes, underwear, watches, etc. were taken away, and all the loot was taken away on the monastery's six horses, while capturing two more carriages.
The days of January 2 and 3, 1919 were the most difficult for the Svyatogorsk monastery and at the same time the days of the most intense blasphemy and mockery of the Orthodox monastery and violence against its clergy and monks. On January 2, at about three and a half in the afternoon, up to 60 Red Army soldiers arrived at the monastery on 16 wagons.
They had red ribbons on their chests and on their rifles. With a whoop, they burst through the gates of the hotel and, having scolded the monk in charge of the hotel in the square, beat him with a rifle butt and scattered around the buildings of the monastery.
The robbery began with the most incredible abuse. At that time, a divine service was going on in the Church of the Intercession. Several Red Army soldiers rushed into the temple in hats, loudly demanding the abbot and the issuance of keys to the monastery vaults. A demand was made for the issuance of 4 million indemnities and 4,000 money that was in the monastery cash desk was taken away. The Red Army soldiers broke up into small parties with the aim of a wholesale search and robbery of the monastery premises. At the abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite Tryphon, they scattered all the furnishings and things, demanding money with abuse and threats with weapons.
Searches, robberies and bullying went on simultaneously in all the cells. The monks were deprived of their property down to the last shirt and boots, inclusive. Icons were broken and thrown to the floor, monks were forced to smoke and dance in the corridors.
From one of them (monk Joseph), under the threat of execution, they demanded that he scold the Lord and the Mother of God, and after refusing, they forced him to smoke, forcing him to inhale deeper by beatings. The beaten, robbed and desecrated brethren began to gather, led by the archimandrite, in the temple for worship. But even there Red Army bandits burst in all the time, in hats and with candles in their hands, examining the feet of the worshipers and taking away the boots that seemed fit to them.
At about 2 o'clock in the morning, when a certain lull seemed to have set in, they began to celebrate the liturgy.
Feast in the revived monastery
The liturgy in the cathedral was served by the archimandrite with other clergy. During the litanies, a group of Red Army soldiers broke into the temple. One of them ran into the pulpit and shouted: "Enough praying for you, you've been trampling around all night, get out of the church!" - turned back by the shoulders of the hierodeacon who had proclaimed the litany. At the strenuous requests of the archimandrite and the brethren, permission was given to finish the liturgy. But the Red Army did not leave the temple.
During the singing of the cherubic song, they entered the throne and continued to examine the boots of the worshipers. The brethren, expecting further suffering and even death, took communion of the Holy Mysteries. By the end of mass, a new gang of Red Army soldiers burst into the temple. One of the gang, holding scissors in his hands, shouted: "Stop, don't move, come one by one, I'll cut everyone's hair," and immediately cut off the hair of one of the monks. The monks tried to escape.
Another Red Army soldier ran into the altar, opened the Royal Doors and, standing in them, shouted: "Don't come out, I'll shoot." At the same time, the Red Army soldiers carried out robberies, blasphemy and bullying in all the premises of the monastery.
In the apartment of the archimandrite, the fanatics slept, hiding themselves in stole, in the treasurer's room they pierced the portraits of the hierarchs of the Russian Church. Bullying and violence continued everywhere. Several monks had their hair and beards cut off, and were forced to dance, smoke, and even drink ink by beatings. In the morning, when mass began again, the Red Army soldiers did not allow the service. The bursting gang attacked the clergy and began to drag them out of the temple in robes, but, yielding to the requests of the priests, allowed them to undress.
Then everyone, led by the archimandrite, was taken out of the temple. They took off the archimandrite's boots, gave him some kind of props, and, despite the frost, they lined everyone up in front of the church. Accompanied by beatings and obscene abuse, mocking training of monks in marching and military techniques began.
At that time, another group of Reds were blaspheming in a nearby temple. One of them, wearing a robe and miter, sat on the throne and leafed through the Gospel, while others, also in robes, blasphemously represented the service, now opening and closing the royal doors for the amusement of their like-minded people. The temple was defiled by feces at the candle box.
Stones and icons from miters and icons - everything was stolen. All the loot was taken out of the monastery on 38 wagons. At the same time, all the monks of the "hospital farm" located next to the monastery were robbed without exception.
During the reign of the Bolsheviks, by order of the Izyum Executive Committee, an indemnity in the amount of 80 or 85 thousand rubles was imposed on the Bogorodichansk volost. The Bogorodichansk executive committee demanded 50 thousand from the monastery as an indemnity. The brethren collected 10,000 rubles, and 5,000 were paid from the monastic sums.
In the spring of 1919, a colony of children of different ages, up to and including 18 years old, was sent to the monastery from Petrograd and is located in two monastery buildings. A colony of up to 350 people was in charge of the communist Poltoratsky, leading education in the spirit corresponding to communism. All icons from the occupied buildings were removed, church visits are prohibited.
During their retreat at the end of May this year, the Bolsheviks once again visited the Svyatogorsk Monastery.
First, some military man appeared and, calling himself General Shkur, demanded that he be shown the abbot, and then a gang of "fighters" broke in, demanding 50,000 indemnities. At the same time, Hieromonk John was forced to put his head under the blows of a checker. The hieromonk escaped with the fact that he gave the rapists the 40 rubles that were with him and received two blows with a whip.
During the retreat, the Bolsheviks cut off the hair on the heads and beards of hieromonks Nestor and Boniface, killed the monk Timolai in the field and chopped up the novice Moses, who was still alive with severed fingers.
This act of investigation is based on the facts obtained by the Special Commission in compliance with the rules set forth in the Charter of Criminal Procedure. Compiled on July 17, 1919 in Yekaterinodar.
And these are all yesterday's zealous parishioners, about whom A.P. wrote so warmly. Chekhov, in his story about visiting the Svyatogorsk desert, truly God subjected his best servants to a severe test ....
And on June 8-12, 1922 in the city of Bakhmut, a court session of the Donetsk Provincial Revolutionary Tribunal was held.
9 people of the Svyatogorsk brethren, led by Archimandrite Tryphon, were judged. The main accusation is the concealment of church valuables from being withdrawn to help the starving.
The verdict was passed after a 6-day trial, which sentenced Archimandrite Trifon (Skripchenko) to 2 years of forced labor with imprisonment.
So, by 1922. if any of the monks managed to survive, then they clearly had no time for forecasts about the revival of the monastery.
For the Bolsheviks came in earnest and for a long time. The times for everyone, both believers and non-believers, are terrible, even the most terrible ...
But after 1922, the Soviet authorities managed to find another use for church buildings - one of the well-known health resorts in Ukraine was created in the desert.
In 1948, the remaining buildings of the monastery were declared a cultural monument, and in 1980 Svyatogorye was proclaimed a state historical and architectural reserve, whose employees did a lot for the fundamental study of the history of the Holy Mountains, the restoration of shrines mutilated by the war
But then came 1991. The USSR collapsed, and in free Ukraine, they began to slowly return church property appropriated by the state.
Through the efforts of the local Gorlovka diocese in 1992, the Holy Dormition Svyatogorsk Hermitage resumed its activities as a monastery.
The chain of times, as they say, is connected…. But there is one but. To understand it, you need to make a digression and explain to the unprepared readers that today in the ROC are monasteries.
At present, all monasteries in Russia are divided into cenobitic and non-cenobitic, full-time and supernumerary.
In cenobitic monasteries, the monks receive everything they need from the monastery, and they provide their work for the priestly service in the monastery and various monastic “obediences”, as assigned by the abbots, to the benefit of the monastery;
Neither the monks, nor the officials with the abbot at the head can dispose of anything here on the basis of property rights; abbots are elected by the monastics themselves (who have full monastic ordination).
In non-cenobitic monasteries, monks, having a common meal from the monastery, clothes and everything else necessary for a monk, acquire themselves on the salary given to them or on income from divine services and from various types of monastic "labor work", the products of which can be sold (for example, dressing crosses, icons, etc.).
The abbots of these monasteries are appointed by the diocesan bishop with the approval of the Holy Synod.
Established monasteries are those that receive maintenance on a certain fixed scale and have in their composition the number of monastics determined by the state.
They are divided into three classes according to the size of the content issued to them and according to the degree of rights.
In the first class, four laurels and seven stauropegial monasteries (Solovetsky, Simonov, Donskoy, Novospassky, Voskresensky - called New Jerusalem, Zaikonospassky and Spaso-Yakovlevsky) are allocated with some special privileges and rights.
The name of the stauropegial is derived from the words - cross and - I erect, and they explain it in the sense that when they were established, the cross was erected in them by the patriarchs themselves, in whose direct control some of them were at first.
Their advantages now lie in some hierarchical features of the services of their archimandrites (for example, they have the right to overshadow the people during the liturgy with trikirii and dikirii) and in the fact that they are removed from the jurisdiction of diocesan hierarchs, being directly in charge of the Holy Synod or the Moscow Synodal Office (Moscow stauropegial monasteries).
In the management of economic affairs, the laurel takes part in the so-called. a “spiritual cathedral” of the oldest monastics, and in all other monasteries, the “eldest brethren” assist the rector in managing the economy.
The internal structure of the monastic life of all monasteries is regulated by general monastic rules, special statutes and "instructions for the dean of monasteries."
With some of the first There are monasteries, at some distance from them, in secluded places, with several cells for a more strict ascetic life, the totality of which is called a skete (such, for example, the Anzersky skete of the Solovetsky monastery, Gethsemane - the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, etc.).
Freelance monasteries are called monasteries that do not receive a salary and exist on income earned by the priesthood and the labors of the monks themselves.
And the Svyatogorsk Assumption Hermitage until 1918, this is a provincial, cenobitic, monastic community of the Kharkov diocese.
But back to our time!
As of 2007 the monastery was in charge of three ground and three cave churches, two bell towers, on the main one there are 17 bells, the weight of the main bell of the “abbot” is more than 6 tons.
Among the parishioners of the UOC-MP, it is believed that there are no monastic cloisters like Svyatogorsk in terms of beauty and unusual construction.
Cave passages, about one kilometer long, with chapels, tombs, cells are revered as a shrine.
In addition to them, the miraculous image of the Mother of God of Svyatogorsk, the relics of St. John the Recluse, reliquaries with particles of the relics of many saints, of which there are the relics of St. John the Baptist, the Evangelists, as well as a part of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord.
The most revered holidays in the Holy Mountains:
May 22 - St. Nicholas. The procession rises on this day to the Holy Rock to the temple of the miracle worker.
July 30 - Svyatogorsk Icon of the Mother of God. There is a crowded procession with a miraculous icon around the monastery.
August 24 - St. John the Recluse, a procession is made around the monastery with the icon and relics of the saint, with a confluence of several hundred clergy and up to 10 thousand pilgrims.
August 28 - Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos - patronal day of the monastery. The main celebrations are held in the Assumption Cathedral.
Worship services are performed daily. All obediences in the monastery are mainly performed by the brethren, from which a wonderful choir is formed.
In addition, the brethren work in carpentry, sewing workshops, a smithy, a bakery, an apiary, gardens, prosphora, fraternal and pilgrimage meals, in garages, as guides and in other obediences, the renascent monastery has no shortage of which.
And everything in the monastery would be according to the charter, there would be peace, smoothness and God's grace, if not for politics ...
(end of part 1)

The National Natural Park "Holy Mountains" is a national natural park located in the northern part of the Donetsk region of Ukraine, in Slavyansky (11957 ha), Krasnolimansky (27665 ha) and Artyomovsky districts. Created on February 13, 1997 by the Decree of the President of Ukraine # 135/97. The park mainly stretches along the left bank of the Seversky Donets River with large ledges on the right bank.

natural value.
There are chalk mountains in the park, where rare plants of antiquity have been preserved, for example, Cretaceous pine, preserved from the pre-glacial period.

One of the attractions of the Holy Mountains park is ancient oaks (photo by Sergey Orlik)

In 2008, the chalk mountains on the territory of the national natural park "Holy Mountains" were included in the Top-100 of the all-Ukrainian competition "Seven Natural Wonders of Ukraine".

The total area of ​​the park is 40,589 hectares, of which 11,878 hectares are owned by the park.

Flora: the total number of plant species growing in the park is 943, of which 48 are listed in the Red Book of Ukraine. The vegetation of the Seversky Donets river valley is protected: relict pine forests of Cretaceous, relict and endemic plant groups on chalk exfoliations, ravine forests, steppes, meadow and swamp vegetation flood. The flora includes 20 endemic species.

Fauna: 256 species of animals live in the park, 50 of them are listed in the Red Book of Ukraine. The fauna includes 43 species of mammals, 194 - birds, 10 - reptiles, 9 - amphibians, 40 - fish.

Historical meaning.
On the territory of the park there are 129 archeological objects (from the Paleolithic to the Middle Ages), 73 historical monuments. In 1980, a state historical and cultural reserve was founded on the current territory of the park. The basis of the complex of monuments of the reserve is the Holy Dormition Svyatogorsk Lavra (founded in the 13th-16th centuries, received the status of a laurel in 2005), located on the rocky right bank of the Seversky Donets. The complex of historical monuments also includes the monumental sculpture of Artyom by IP Kavaleridze. Next to the monument is the Great Patriotic War Memorial.

Highways and railways were built on the territory of the park, a number of settlements are located (including the city of Svyatogorsk). From the south, the city of Slavyansk adjoins the territory of the park.

Compound.
The National Natural Park "Holy Mountains" includes the following specially protected natural areas:
. botanical monument of nature of national importance "Mayatskaya Dacha"
. forest reserve of local importance "Urochishe Sosna"
. forest reserve of local importance "Floodplain-1"
. natural monument "Oak"
. Arboretum of the Mayatsky forestry
. ornithological reserve of local importance "Martynenkovo ​​Bog"
. general zoological reserve of local importance "Black Stallion"
. local botanical reserve "Landysh"
. landscape reserve of local importance "Podpesochnoe"
. landscape reserve of local importance "Chernetskoe"
. hydrological monument of nature of local importance "Lake Chernetskoye"
. "Pine Plantations"
. natural monument "Poplar"

Seversky Donets river.
The Siversky Donets River (historically correct name - "Siversky" - from the word Siverko, northern, cold wind) is the right tributary of the Don; originates in the Belgorod region, about 50-60 km northeast of Belgorod.

Crosses the state border between Ukraine and the Russian Federation near the city of Volchansk, Kharkov region. Within the borders of Ukraine, it flows through the territory of Kharkov, Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The nature of the current is flat, calm; almost throughout its entire length it flows in a wooded area (or rather, it feeds floodplain forests with its waters). It has many inflows and separated oxbow lakes. The flow is regulated by two large reservoirs: Belgorod (from Belgorod almost to the state border) and Pechenezh (from Volchansk to Pecheneg). Significant tributaries - right: Oskol, Aidar, Derkul; left: Udy, Dry Butt, Lugan. Large settlements in the flow zone: Volchansk, Chuguev, Zmiev, Balakleya, Izyum, Svyatogorsk, Novodruzhesk, Lisichansk, Happiness. On tributaries: Kharkov, Kupyansk, Kramatorsk, Slavyansk, Lugansk.

Of the fish in the river, there are pike, perch, pike perch, bream, ide, chub, burbot, catfish, roach, rudd. In the reservoirs - carp, crucian carp. In the oxbows and tributaries - tench, golden carp, loach. The forests along the banks are still rich in various mushrooms. From living creatures: mink, muskrat, nutria, weasel, marten, squirrel, hare, fox, roe deer; raccoon dog, boar, wolf and elk. Of the birds: partridge, quail, waders, snipes, lapwings, several species of ducks, gray crane, mute swan, stork, woodcock, polar geese.

The Seversky Donets River (photo by Sergey Orlik)

Seversky Donets is the largest river of the left-bank Ukraine. The river basin area of ​​989,000 square kilometers is twice the size of Switzerland or the Netherlands. The length of the river is the same as the Vistula or the Western Dvina, and almost equal to the Rhine. The Seversky Donets is the only full-flowing and the only navigable river in the Donbass. A river without which it is difficult to imagine the life of the region. The most important significance of the Seversky Donets valley lies in the fact that it is a huge reservoir of fresh underground high-quality drinking water. The river basin is 76.5% of the Donbass water supply. Due to river waters, water is supplied to the Lugansk and Donetsk regions. The consumers of river and groundwater in the Seversky Donets basin are cities and towns with a population of about 7 million people. Water from the Seversky Donets flows through a 170-kilometer canal to the central regions of the region. It is drunk by residents of Donetsk, Makeevka, Gorlovka, Slavyansk and Kramatorsk - about half of the entire population of the region!

Water from the Donets irrigates fields and gardens, is supplied to the metallurgical plants of Donetsk and Makeevka, chemical enterprises of Avdeevka, Gorlovka and Slavyansk.

Floodplain plantations of the river valley are classified as protective forests of the first group and perform an important water protection task. No wonder three hundred years ago, Peter the Great, under pain of death, forbade cutting down forests in river valleys.

Getting everything you need from nature, it is worth remembering to take care of it. 17 rivers that once flowed into the Seversky Donets have already disappeared from the face of the Earth. Of the 246 rivers flowing through the region, 93% are polluted. The problem of water supply now has a global character all over the world.

Every year, tens of thousands of people improve their health in the Donts region. The Donets was a Kastalsky source for Tyutchev, Chekhov, Bunin, Tsvetaeva, Nemirovich-Danchenko, Repin ... (According to ancient Greek legend, the nymph Castalia pursued by Apollo threw herself into the stream. Apollo gave the stream miraculous power: whoever drank from it became a poet).

The Seversky Donets is one of the most beautiful rivers in Ukraine. The right bank is predominantly mountainous: chalk outcrops descend to the water in a cliff. There are many ravines along the steep slopes. The left bank is low, sandy, covered with water meadows, numerous lakes and oxbow lakes, often grows into a forest approaching the water itself. The bottom of the river is sandy, there are rifts. Current speed 0.5 0.1 m/sec. Depths on the stretches are 2.5-10 m, on riffles in low water up to several centimeters.

One of them is the National Natural Park "Holy Mountains" (http://www.svyatygory.org - official site). The park was created on February 13, 1997. It is located in the northern part of the Donetsk region of Ukraine, in the Slavyansk (11957 ha), Krasnolimansk (27665 ha) and Artyomovsky districts. It is located along the left bank of the Seversky Donets River with large ledges on the right bank. In 2008, the chalk mountains on the territory of the national natural park "Holy Mountains" were included in the Top-100 of the all-Ukrainian competition "Seven Natural Wonders of Ukraine".

The park is working on the protection and study of valuable natural and historical and cultural complexes and objects on its territory, creating conditions for organized tourism and recreation of the population and environmental education of visitors.

The park is of great importance in historical and archaeological terms. On the territory of the Holy Mountains there are 129 archeological objects (from the Paleolithic to the Middle Ages), 73 historical monuments. In 1980, a state historical and cultural reserve was founded on the current territory of the park. The basis of the complex of monuments of the reserve is the Holy Dormition Svyatogorsk Lavra (founded in the 13th-16th centuries, received the status of a laurel in 2005), located on the rocky right bank of the Seversky Donets. The complex of historical monuments also includes the monumental sculpture of Artyom by IP Kavaleridze. Next to the monument is the Great Patriotic War Memorial. The composition of the National Natural Park "Holy Mountains" includes 13 specially protected natural areas of the Donetsk region - landscape, forest, botanical reserves and natural monuments.
The vegetation of the National Natural Park "Holy Mountains" is of great scientific value. Half of the species of higher plants that have ever been recorded in the South-East of Ukraine grows on an area of ​​40.5 thousand hectares - 943 species, including 27 species - trees, 63 - shrubs and 853 - herbaceous plants. 48 plant species are listed in the Red Book of Ukraine, 20 species grow only in this territory. The vegetation of the Seversky Donets river valley is protected: relict and endemic plant groups on
chalk exfoliation, ravine forests, steppes, meadow and swamp vegetation. Of particular value are unique chalk pine forests formed by chalk pine, a tertiary relic listed in the Red Book of Ukraine and the International Red List of IUCN (IUCN). As a unique corner of nature, the chalk mountains have long attracted the attention of scientists. Cretaceous pine is different from Scotch pine. At present, in Ukraine, Cretaceous pine has been preserved only in the "Holy Mountains" park and the "Melovaya Flora" reserve.
The fauna of the park is very interesting - 256 species of animals live on the territory of the "Holy Mountains". The fauna includes 43 species of mammals, 10 - reptiles, 9 - amphibians, 40 - fish. There are weasels, polecats, American minks, pine martens and stone martens - common inhabitants of the typical biotopes of the national park. There are also ermine, badger and otter listed in the Red Book of Ukraine. Several groups of wolves constantly live in the park. Ungulates are represented by roe deer and wild boar native to the region, a taiga inhabitant of elk, which spread widely in the second half of the 20th century, and sika deer acclimatized from Primorye in the 60s.
In total, among the wild inhabitants of the "Holy Mountains" national park, 49 species are listed in the Red Book of Ukraine and 13 - in the European Red List. The rare composition of the animal and plant world can be confidently considered the golden fund of the "Holy Mountains".

The National Natural Park "Holy Mountains" is a wonderful place for organizing and conducting tourism, environmental excursions and environmental education. Here you can relax, improve your health and get acquainted with the beautiful natural and cultural-historical complexes.

The bogatyr Ilya Muromets, staying in some geographically indefinite lands, meets the giant bogatyr Svyatogor. Ilya either accidentally intersects with him when he moves towards the Holy Mountains, or he himself arrives at the Holy Mountains, where the mysterious giant can only be, because, according to the instructions of the epic, “his mother did not wear the cheese of the earth” (Gilf. No. 1 ). Often, the acquaintance begins with the fact that Ilya strikes Svyatogor sleeping in the saddle several blows, but he does not react to them and does not even wake up. At the same time, Svyatogor imperceptibly grabs Ilya and throws it into his pocket (in his bosom). Upon arrival at the Holy Mountains, the giant wakes up and notices Ilya. The heroes decide to fraternize (exchange crosses) and then travel together through the mountains. Some options mention the transfer of Svyatogor Ilya his knowledge and heroic skills. Soon the brothers notice an open coffin standing among the mountains (var.: craftsmen who make the coffin) and decide to try it on. Ilya's coffin turns out to be prohibitively large, but Svyatogor just fits; he is so comfortable in the coffin that he asks Ilya to cover it with a lid (or the lid falls on its own). However, it is not possible to remove the cover and free Svyatogor. Attempts by Ilya Muromets to break the lid lead to the fact that iron (copper) hoops jump on it, which finally lock Svyatogor. The latter understands that his destiny is to die in this coffin. He bequeaths his sword to Ilya, and also offers to take part of his enormous strength through the last gasp or foam (sweat) that will come out of him at the moment of dying. Sometimes
Ilya absorbs this power into himself, sometimes he refuses it, realizing that the power of a dying giant can be fatal for him.

S. V. Koncha EPIC ABOUT SVYATOGOR AND THE QUESTION OF THE HISTORICITY OF THE EPIC EPO
http://www.drevnyaya.ru/vyp/2010_4/part_4.pdf

...In the early stages of studying the epic epic, Svyatogor was usually considered the embodiment of some natural element, a personified symbol of its strength and power. With such an approach, however, it remains completely incomprehensible what kind of element Svyatogor can embody, what his strength manifests itself in, why the “elemental hero” cannot appear “in Holy Russia”, why the earth does not wear him, and why, ultimately , he inevitably dies in an ordinary oak coffin. A timid attempt to see a resurrecting pagan deity in Svyatogor, by analogy with the fact that the Egyptian Osiris also dies sealed in a coffin, was not successful, since the epics do not contain any hint of the resurrection of Svyatogor and do not endow the giant hero with any signs of a deity

V. G. Smolitsky convincingly spoke out against the opinion about the “seniority” of Svyatogor, that is, about some special (“mythological”) antiquity of the legend about him. He emphasizes the well-known fact that there are no other epics that would describe the qualities of Svyatogor, except for the epics about meeting Ilya with him. Acquaintance with Svyatogor occurs, as it were, through the medium of Ilya Muromets, through comparison with his strength, his size, his temper, his origin and status, that is, with the qualities known from other epics. If the image of Svyatogor was more ancient than the image of Elijah, we would certainly have the opposite relationship and, most likely, would have echoes of ideas and legends about him in other epics. Therefore, not the "senior" hero Svyatogor, but the "younger". The appearance of this image must necessarily have been preceded by the glory of the image of "his cross brother Ilya Muromets."

The situation with the “ethnic”, if I may say so, correlation of Svyatogor also looks incomprehensible. The “wonderful hero” seems to be opposed to Russia (understood in epics not just as a country, but also as the center of world goodness and truth). “He did not travel around Holy Russia,” states the epic (Gilf. No. 1). When Ilya hits Svyatogor at a meeting, he says: “Oh, it hurts that the Russians bite the fly” (BOD. No. 4). However, the fact that Ilya easily enters into friendly relations with Svyatogor, becomes his twin brother and even (in some cases) exchanges crosses with him, indicates that Svyatogor was thought of as more of a “own” and positive character than a stranger, “evil” and potentially hostile (note that epic Russian heroes, as a rule, do not make friends with non-Russians).

The impossibility of Svyatogor to exist outside of his native Holy Mountains is explained by the epic by the exorbitant power of the hero. Svyatogor, therefore, is not only a stranger, but also a creature that is not qualitatively comparable to ordinary people.

It is significant that the "mountain giant" Svyatogor in all cases without exception dies in a coffin (tomb, domino) with a lid.

The rite of body position in chamber tombs existed in Russia approximately between the first decades of the 10th century. and the time of adoption of Christianity. Numerous burials in chambers were found at burial grounds in the regions of Kiev, Chernigov, Ladoga, Smolensk (Gnezdovo) and Rostov (Timirevo). The rite was undoubtedly inherent in the noble stratum.

The dimensions of the tombs range from approximately 2 x 1 x 0.5 m to 5.5 x 5 x 4 m. They, therefore, are quite comparable with the above epic indications of the ratio of the sizes of the "Svyatogorov's coffin" and an ordinary person, which Ilya Muromets acts here. , lying "like a child" in only one "corner" of the tomb.

The presence of individual Christian features in pagan-by-general chamber burials has been repeatedly noted, to which we can include the already mentioned candles, as well as pendant crosses. In Gnezdovo, in particular, a cross was found at a military burial with a horse, dating back to the 70s of the 10th century. The latter can be compared with the presence of a cross at the “monster” Svyatogor noted by many variants of the epic.

Let's return from the description of the tomb to Svyatogor himself. For its characteristics, in addition to size, the following features are essential.
1. Nothing is known about his exploits and past deeds; in the course of the plot, he also does not perform any significant actions.
2. He cannot live (be) outside the Holy Mountains, although Ilya Muromets usually meets him on the way to this place.
3. He is extremely inert; during a meeting with Muromets, he is depicted sleeping in the saddle and almost does not feel the blows inflicted on him.
4. He wakes up from sleep only when he arrives at the Holy Mountains, and only here for the first time he notices Ilya, whom he is taking with him.
5. He inevitably dies in both stories about him. His death is already predetermined, the coffin intended for him awaits him on his "native" Holy Mountains.
All these traits, clearly incompatible with the heroic "status" and giant power, find their explanation if we assume that Svyatogor is none other than a dead man on his way to his final resting place.

The deceased outstanding warrior, who is the epic Svyatogor, apparently did not bear this name during his lifetime, that is, there was never a living Svyatogor. Otherwise, the epic would certainly tell about his previous deeds. The image of Svyatogor, rather, looks like the embodiment of a dead man as such, regardless of his lifetime past. The very word "Svyatogor", apparently, is a euphemistic designation of the deceased, to some extent similar to the modern "deceased". As rightly pointed out by many researchers, it is clearly derived from the name "Holy Mountains" - a place that the giant hero cannot leave in order to travel freely on the ground ("through Russia").

The holy mountains, where he stays, not being able to leave them, the "svyatogor", that is, the dead man, the deceased, is nothing more than a pagan burial mound.

The “handshake” mentioned bylina between the father of Svyatogor and Ilya Muromets is accompanied by considerable folklore material. As we remember, Ilya gives the old man a mace or a piece of red-hot iron, which he takes for the hand of the hero. A similar motif is found in fairy tales and legends, in particular, this is how Holger the Dane, who is in the dungeon of Kronborg Castle (and thought to be long dead) greets visitors. Apparently, such a “mediated” handshake is an echo of some kind of ritual action of a spiritualistic nature, which makes it possible to establish contact with the inhabitant of the other world and at the same time protect the living from its dangerous effects.

The motif of the “unfaithful wife” of Svyatogor quite organically fits into the context of the funeral ritual reproduced by the epic. The features of her behavior, “treason” to her husband with Ilya, sudden death find their explanation when comparing fragments of the corresponding variants of the epic with the description of the funeral of a noble Rus by Ibn Fadlan, where considerable attention is paid to the rite of a posthumous wedding and the killing of a young girl who wished to become a friend of the deceased in the afterlife. world

It can be assumed that the prototype of Muromets in this plot is the ritual manager, a pagan priest, or (based on analogies with the texts of Ibn Fadlan) a relative of the deceased.

But there are also variants (prose retellings) of this plot, where Ilya really dies near the tomb of Svyatogor:
Ilya Muromets ... began to approach the horse, took hold of the saddle, took his foot in the stirrup - then Ilya and the horse both died. Here they ended - Ilya and Svyatogor (Sidelnikov, No. 40).
Then Ilyushenka said goodbye to Yegor-Zlatogor, rode off a little and turned to stone on his horse - the move was gone. The Lord did not let him. And Yegor-Zlatogor turned to stone in a coffin
“Well, this is probably my death, since Svyatogor the Bogatyr has died, then I will probably die too. - And he got off his horse, tied him to the coffin, went into the coffin, the lid closed and Ilya died

Thus, we come to a paradoxical, at first glance, conclusion: the mysterious giant-hero “Svyatogor” may turn out to be none other than the deceased Ilya Muromets!

This conclusion may seem too speculative, but in its favor it is possible to bring variants of the same plot, where Ilya Muromets dies in a fatal coffin in the same way as Svyatogor dies. The name of the latter is not mentioned. The role that Ilya usually plays in the epic about Svyatogor either goes to his unnamed "comrade", or to Ilya's usual epic brothers - Alyosha and Dobrynya, who alternately try on the coffin, try to break the hoops flying at him. Although the options where Ilya acts as Svyatogor are rare, other epic heroes never find themselves in a similar situation, which may indicate that it was no coincidence that Ilya replaced Svyatogor.

http://www.varvar.ru/arhiv/slovo/svyatogor.html

Natalia Kogan, f oto author

The Saints the mountains

Magazine “Obvious and Incredible”, No. 3, 2010

The National Natural Park "Holy Mountains" on the Seversky Donets keeps innumerable natural, spiritual and historical treasures.

Quietly, softly over Ukraine,

Charming mystery

July night lies

The sky is so deep

The stars are shining so high

And Donets shines in the darkness.

F. Tyutchev, "Holy Mountains"

reserved places

Chalk hills up to 200 meters high, overgrown with relic forests, hang over the smooth surface of the Seversky Donets River. Cretaceous pine is of the greatest interest in the flora of Svyatogorye. This relic tree of the preglacial era is listed in the Red Book. Another attraction is sumac, or skumpia. This shrub with pink, like clods of fluff, fruits has long been known as an ancient Russian leaf tanning agent called "Svyatogorsk leaf" and was used at the royal morocco factories. Svyatogorsky oak forests have long been the subject of interest of scientists and foresters. Unfortunately, the main areas of oak forests were cut down in XVIII - XIX centuries, however, some of their habitats have survived to this day: in the oak grove of the park, the main attraction is the six-hundred-year-old oak-patriarch. On the Cretaceous deposits of the local mountains, rare endemic plants of the glacial and recent periods have been preserved.

Another feature of the Svyatogorsk natural oasis in the steppe zone of the Donetsk basin is the richest concentration of cultural heritage monuments from almost all historical eras and various ethno-cultural communities. Over the past hundred years, archaeological expeditions of scientific institutions and museums in Kiev, Kharkov, Donetsk have been working in the Svyatogorsk historical area. The subject of their research is the sites and workshops of the ancient man of the Stone Age, mounds and settlements of the copper-bronze era, Scythian-Sarmatian monuments, the first settlements of the Slavs, medieval settlements of the times of the Khazar Kaganate, Kievan Rus, the Golden Horde. Many finds of archaeologists are presented today in the expositions of the Svyatogorsk Historical Museum.

The picturesque nature of Svyatogorye, its antiquity, legendary history attracted and inspired the work of many artists and writers. G. Skovoroda, F. Tyutchev, A. Chekhov, I. Bunin, S. Sergeev-Tsensky, M. Gorky, I. Repin have been here.

The history of the holy monastery

The lack of accurate evidence about the time of the foundation of the Svyatogorsk monastery and the circumstances of the appearance of the first Svyatogorsk caves gave rise to many legends and hypotheses. According to the "Byzantine" version, the Svyatogorsk monastery was founded during the time of iconoclasm and the mission of St. Cyril and Methodius in Khazaria in VIII - IX centuries. According to another version, the founders of the monastery are believed to be the local steppe population of the “Northern branch” XI-XII centuries or the Kiev monk Fr. Nikon during his trip to Tmutarakan.

One of the most popular versions relates the beginning of the monastery to the middle XIII century, when, after the invasion of Batu into Russia, part of the monks of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery allegedly found their refuge in the chalk rocks near the Donets River. Another legend says that in the middle XV centuries, Athos monks, having left the Holy Mountain in Athos under the onslaught of the Turks, moved up the Donets and, seduced by the beauties of Svyatogorye, founded a monastery here.

Quite realistic information about the time of the emergence of the Svyatogorsk monastery is given by written and archaeological sources. For the first time the name of this area was mentioned by the German ambassador to the Moscow court Sigismund Gerbenstein in 1526.

Russian chronicles XVI centuries mark the role of the Holy Mountains as a guard post on the southern borders of the Russian state. The first documentary evidence of a cave monastery in the Holy Mountain dates back to 1620: hegumen Ephraim and 12 monks of the Holy Mountain are mentioned in it. According to the Muscovite Acts, the Holy Monastery of the Royal Hermitage annually received assistance in bread and money from the royal salary. In 1624, “by decree of the Grand Sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke Mikhail Fedorovich of All Russia, the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos of the Svyatogorsk Monastery was ordered to the black priest Simeon with a bartia, or whoever will pamper another hegumen in that monastery, to give annual rugs in Belgorod of rye for twelve quarters, oats for twelve quarters, ten rubles each from the tavern and customs revenues.

The most ancient and unique monument of the Svyatogorsk Monastery are the caves of the chalk rock. External danger from the south, primarily from the territory of the Crimean Khanate, determined the long-term presence and development of the monastery directly inside the chalk cliff. Caves carved into the rock by hand are a complex system of labyrinths connecting underground churches, cells, a refectory, and a necropolis. The developed infrastructure of the communal desert was formed during XVI - XVIII century and was a five-tier complex of cave-type structures. The names of most of the abbots are known XVII century, except for hegumen Ephraim and the black priest Simeon. In 1628-1631, elders David and Alexander signed documents on behalf of the monastery, in 1640 the monastery was headed by the black priest Kirill, and in 1651 by Ignatius. The most famous among the abbots of the cave monastery was the first archimandrite Joel. Under him, the first ground structures were built under the chalk cliff and the gradual resettlement of the monks to the "hem" - the coastal plateau of the river began. Since then, the Svyatogorsk Monastery began to turn into a unique architectural monument, combining different styles and different eras.

Present to the favorite

In 1787, the Svyatogorsk Assumption Monastery was abolished according to the Manifesto of Catherine II on the secularization of church and monastic property with the transfer of its land holdings and subjects of peasants to the treasury. It was in this year that the Empress' motorcade followed the Holy Mountains on the road from the Crimea to St. Petersburg. Catherine's travel program II , places of stops, meetings, events completely depended on Prince Grigory Potemkin-Tauride. In the monastery, the empress was expected and hoped very much for her visit. However, the cortege passed by. Apparently, the Most Serene Prince had already conceived a plan, the essence of which became clear later. There is a legend that the day before, when Potemkin was traveling from St. Petersburg to the Crimea, he passed through these places. When the prince saw the wonderful Svyatogorsk area, he ordered to stop on the road and admired the Holy Mountains for a long time, asked the local official accompanying him about them, wrote down the information received in a pocket book and drove on. And after some time, talking with Catherine, as if by the way he noticed that he really liked the Svyatogorka grove. In "Russian Antiquity" for 1876, the correspondence of the Empress with her favorite was published, which contained information about the donation to the Svyatogorsk estate to the Serene Highness Prince, dated October 1, 1790. But Potemkin did not have time to use the royal gift and realize his plans for the development of the Svyatogorsk estate, since he soon died.

Heir to earthly paradise

Since His Serene Highness Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin-Tavrichesky was not officially married and had no children, the inheritance of the “earthly paradise” turned into a separate complex story that lasted until the events of 1917 and which is simply unrealistic to understand without compiling a whole grove of family trees.

So, after the death of the prince, the Svyatogorsk estate was to be divided among themselves by the closest relatives - Potemkin's sisters Maria, Pelageya and Martha. But by the time the property was divided, the sisters and their husbands had already died, and their children automatically became heirs. Such heirs were the children of Marfa Alexandrovna Engelhardt (nee Potemkina) and Vasily Andreevich Engelhardt: son Vasily and five daughters.

The family of Baron von Engelhart originates from Heinrich Engelhart, a member of the city council in Zurich in 1838. V XV century, the Engelgarts moved to Livonia, then to Courland and Poland. V XVII century for military meritPolish king Vladislav IV granted the Engelgarts estates in Smolensk. In the end XVII - early XVIII centuries, the Engelgarts are moving to the service of the Russian throne.

So, after Grigory Potemkin, Vasily Vasilyevich Engelhardt became the owner of the estate, who by the time he received the inheritance was already in the rank of lieutenant general, had a reputation as a zealous owner, kept all his estates in order, which brought significant income. By a strange coincidence, V.V. Engelhardt was also not married and had no children of his own, but he adopted two girls, Alexandra and Ekaterina, and three boys, Vasily, Andrei and Pavel, who were later granted the nobility and surname of Engelhardt and all the rights of heirs, but no one was the owner of the Svyatogorsk estate did not become one of them.

The Svyatogorsk estate of Engelgart became part of the Izyum district of the Sloboda-Ukrainian province. Behind the estate there were 25 thousand acres of land and more than 4 thousand inhabitants lived. V.V. Engelgart in every possible way contributed to the establishment of peasant farms, the development of industrial crafts and trade.

Pearl of Svyatogorye

After the death of V.V. Engelgart, the Svyatogorsk estate was to be divided between his sisters, and there were no less than five of them. But the younger sister became the owner of the estate, by that time already Princess Tatyana Vasilyeva Yusupova, who bought herself four plots of the sisters, which were to become their inheritance so that such a beautiful estate would not be divided and fragmented.

Tatyana was born on January 1, 1769, at the age of 12 she was taken to the court of Catherine II as a lady-in-waiting. The Empress took an active part in arranging the personal life of the young maid of honor, so at the age of 16 she married Lieutenant General Mikhail Sergeevich Potemkin, who tragically died (drowned) 6 years later. From this marriage, T.V. Potemkina had a son, Alexander, and a daughter, Ekaterina. The Empress still cares about the fate of the now widow, and in 1793 Tatyana Vasilievna, thanks to royal courtship, marries for the second time - to Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov, but this marriage was also unsuccessful, but for reasons different from the first: we can say that the spouses did not get along characters. The princess lived separately from her husband and had her own social circle, which was distinguished by a highly intellectual level. She communicated with Pushkin, Zhukovsky, Derzhavin, Krylov. At the same time, the princess skillfully conducted business in her numerous estates, and was known as an expert in financial matters. With significant income from estates, she was able to satisfy her passion for rare gems. The Yusupova collection included such famous stones as the Polar Star diamond, the Aldebaran diamond, Philippe's pearl II Spanish "Peregrine", Marie Antoinette's earrings, Caroline Muret's diamond and pearl tiara and others. With such expensive hobbies, the princess led a very modest lifestyle and was engaged in charity work. In the history of the Holy Mountains, Princess Yusupova is known for her refusal to resume the activities of the Svyatogorsk Monastery in the second half of the 1830s. This happened only when her son, Alexander Mikhailovich Potemkin, became the owner of the estate, and Svyatogorye again became Potemkin's.

Italian villa

We can say that Alexander Mikhailovich Potemkin was the only direct heir in the history of the inheritance of the Svyatogorsk estate. In 1841 he became the owner of these magnificent lands. By this time, Potemkin was already a very well-known figure in high society, the leader of the St. Petersburg provincial nobility. In his St. Petersburg house on Millionnaya Street, the highest society gathered, the soul of which was his wife Tatyana Borisovna Potemkina, nee Princess Golitsyna. Count S. D. Sheremetiev, who knew the Potemkins closely, wrote in his memoirs: “The famous Potemkin house in the capital was at one time some kind of open house, almost a hotel for anyone who only wore a cassock or was reputed to be a saint. Whoever stayed in this house, whoever was given shelter in countless rooms and nooks and crannies of this labyrinth, whatever they did in this house with the knowledge and without the knowledge of the hostess, all-powerful Tatyana Borisovna, who is still like a mystery to me ... the owner of the house himself Alexander Mikhailovich Potemkin is a harmless old man who was busy with only one thing, so that he would not be disturbed and interfered with his countless habits.

During the 1840-1860s, the Potemkins tried to visit the Svyatogorsk estate every year and spend the second half of August and September here. Memoirs of contemporaries about the turbulent life of Svyatogorye, when A.M. Potemkin was the owner of these places, have been preserved. Fairs were held here, which from the height of the Holy Mountains presented a wonderful picture: “In the wild, but majestic area, an immense mass of people in multi-colored old festive robes fuss and swarm, like an anthill, from the very village of Bogorodichny and the ferry crossing across the river. Donets and up to the Holy Mountains ... peasants and various trading people stood in hundreds of wagons and wagons, wherever they please ... The abundance of all kinds of rural products was such that it was hardly possible not only to drive, but to pass between them ... fruits and vegetables - even rake in a shovel , and from rural peasant products there was an abundance of linen, woolen, leather and wood products. In addition to fairs, many landowners were attracted to the Holy Mountains by magnificent balls with dances and sumptuous treats. These balls were arranged here by the Svyatogorsk manager in specially built pavilions. As historian D.I. Miller, the landowners moved here from five counties, and hundreds of carriages and carriages stood around the pavilions until dawn.

It was thanks to Tatyana Borisovna Potemkina that the Svyatogorsky Monastery was revived. Despite his busyness in the capital, driven by his wife's inextinguishable desire to open the Svyatogorsk Monastery as soon as possible, A.M. Potemkin allocated 10 thousand rubles and 300 acres of land for the restoration and maintenance of the ancient monastery. And on January 15, 1844, the Svyatogorsk Monastery was renewed according to the report of the Holy Synod with the highest consent of Emperor Nicholas I , and on August 12 of the same yearThe official opening of the monastery took place. In addition, a magnificent house was built on the slope of the Holy Mountains near the monastery, in which not only the imperial family and distinguished guests, but also many cultural figures, famous writers, poets, and artists stayed. Here is how Vasily Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko wrote about the Holy Mountains: “A completely Italian villa! She sheltered on a mountain and wrapped herself in a fragrant thicket, like a hermit running from the world ... From the upper balcony of the villa - everything is in full view, both the white cliffs and the monastery itself. A better point could not have been chosen for the picture. Ledges of mountains after ledges - and everything falls into the Donets. The same distance as from the chalk cliffs, you won’t see enough of it…”. Here is how a good friend T.B. wrote about these places. Potemkina, religious figure and writer Andrey Nikolaevich Muravyov: “a picturesque dacha in a semi-mountain, with extensive views of the entire Donets valley with a cloudless sky of Ukraine, reminded me of the Roman villas of Frascati, with their gaps on the wonderful desert of the eternal city; I was especially struck by the unexpected spectacle of the Svyatogorsk monastery and its chalk cliffs, carved with monastic cells, under the canopy of centuries-old oak forests, from the luxurious terrace.

From A.M. Potemkin's estate passed to his great-nephew, because he and his wife did not give birth to their own children, T.B. Potemkina predeceased her husband in 1861, and Potemkin's own sister and her children predeceased him.

Donetsk Switzerland

In 1861 Emperor Alexander visited the Svyatogorsk estate of the Potemkins. II family. When the emperor's wife came out to the open gallery of the Potemkin house and saw the view of the Holy Mountains above the Seversky Donets, she exclaimed: "This is my Switzerland!"

In 1872, Count Georgy Ivanovich Ribopierre became the owner of the Potemkin estate. So Ukrainian Switzerland was taken over by a representative of an ancient Swiss family. Genus of Count G.I. Ribopierre originated from the patricians of the cantor Vaad in Switzerland - one of the branches of the oldest noble family of Ribopierre in Alsace. The genus is known from XI-XII centuries. In Russia, a representative of this family, the great-grandfather of George Ribopierre, Jean Ribopierre, appeared in the time of Catherine II with a letter of recommendation from Voltaire. A native of France, Jean (Ivan) Ribopierre was warmly received by the Empress Voltairian and received the post of adjutant to Prince G. Potemkin-Tauride. On Sunday, he married the maid of honor of the Empress Agrafena Alexandrovna Bibikova, from whose marriage a son, Alexander, was born. Alexander Ivanovich Ribopierre in 1809 married Ekaterina Mikhailovna Potemkina, the sister of Alexander Mikhailovich Potemkin, who owned the Svyatogorsk estate in 1841-1872. From this marriage, the Ribopiers had four daughters and two sons - Mikhail and Ivan. The first died in infancy, and the second, having married Sofya Vasilievna Trubetskoy, had a son, George, who became the owner of the Svyatogorsk estate. By this time, the Ribopiers already bore the title of count, granted on the day of the coronation of Emperor Alexander II - August 26, 1856.

Georgy Ivanovich Ribopierre was born on August 15, 1854 in Tsarskoye Selo. His childhood was spent in Italy and Switzerland. From the age of 12, George studied at the Florentine Gymnastic Society, and at the age of 14 he trained at the Galem Circus and organized his own amateur circus. In 1870, Georgy returned to Russia and at the age of 16 entered the Sokolov private boarding school, where he continued to enjoy sports. G. Ribopierre devoted 1873-1885 to military service, after which he completely devoted himself to two hobbies that became his life's work - horse breeding and athletic sports. The count founded his own stud farms in St. Petersburg, the Simbirsk province and in his Svyatogorsk estate. At the stud farms, the count built hippodromes, where competitions of thoroughbred horses were held. In 1896, G.I. Ribopierre became the first president of the St. Petersburg Athletic Society. A year later, he held the First Russian Weightlifting Championship. In 1900, he became a member of the International Olympic Committee and ensured the participation of Russian athletes in the 1908 Olympic Games. In fact, Count Ribopierre stood at the origins of the Olympic movement in the Russian Empire.

And in the Svyatogorsk estate, the count carried out a serious reconstruction, under him the territory on the left bank was built up with hotels, summer cottages and restaurants, a narrow-gauge railway was laid with a length of 8 kilometers from the Svyatogorsk station to the venue of the fairs. The end station of the horse-drawn carriage was opposite the hotel of the monastery.

Nevertheless, according to contemporaries, the count did not often visit Svyatogorye, occasionally Countess Ribopierre also visited the estate. “Ribopierre led an extremely secluded life, and no one, except for his closest friends, visited him. One of the reasons for this is the count's marriage. He was married to a Hungarian woman ... she was a beautiful, but very eccentric woman. The count married her when her daughter was born, the only heir to his enormous fortune ... The count himself was very handsome, of medium height, with delicate features and beautiful intelligent and kind brown eyes. He wore small sideburns, walked rather slowly, and lately he was often ill. The reason for this was the impossible way of life that he led: the count turned day into night and back. He went to bed very late, at five o'clock in the morning, and got up at three or four in the afternoon. Count G.I. Ribopierre died in 1916 at the age of 73 after a cold and unsuccessful treatment. A year later, the Svyatogorsk estate was nationalized by the Soviet authorities. The Svyatogorsk monastery was again closed for many years.

Epoch symbols

The closure of the Svyatogorsk monastery in 1922 led to the disappearance of many architectural monuments of these places, including the Church of the Transfiguration, which crowned one of the chalk mountains above the Seversky Donets, and the master's house itself, traces of the foundation of which today can hardly be found among the thickets of grass and trees. Other cult, residential and outbuildings were adapted for the Rest House of the working masses, which received the symbolic name of the All-Ukrainian Rest House named after Artem. In commemoration of this significant event for the Soviet state, the famous sculptor I.P. Kavaleridze in 1927, a 22-meter monument to the Bolshevik Fyodor Andreevich Sergeev, nicknamed Artem, was poured from reinforced concrete, which was erected on top of one of the chalk mountains (by a happy coincidence, not on the site of the Transfiguration Church). The monumental sculpture, created in the style of cubism, went through the war, becoming a monument to Soviet constructivism and a symbol of the Soviet era. During the Great Patriotic War there were heavy battles. Soldiers who died during the liberation of Svyatogorye from fascist invaders were buried near the monument to Artyom, and a memorial complex was created where the names of more than 2,000 soldiers and officers are immortalized.

The Svyatogorsk Monastery resumed its activities 70 years after its closure - in 1992. In 2004, by the decision of the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Holy Assumption Monastery received the status of a Lavra.