The name “Entered Oyat Monastery” contains information about its location. There is a cloister on the Oyat River, the left tributary of the Svir. The Oyat River is a region of ancient Slavic settlements and is mentioned in chronicles since 1137.
Ancient monastery
Conventions usually get their name from their first temple. In this monastery, the temple was consecrated in honor of the introduction of the Blessed Virgin Mary into it. Initially, it was a man’s monastery, and it was called Vvedensky Ostrovsky Monastery. Ostrovsky because every spring, at the time of high water on the river, the hill on which the monastery was located turned into an island. Later it received the name Vvedeno-Oyatsky.
The monastery (how to get here, we will tell later) is located on the site of a very ancient monastery, the foundation of which supposedly dates back to the time when Russia was enslaved by the Golden Horde.
Especially honored saint
The first official information about him, mentioned in the life of St. Alexander Svirsky, dates back to 1545. This book was written by a disciple of St. Herodion. The monastery is mentioned in connection with the birth in the village of Mandera, located on the right bank of the Oyat, opposite the monastery, in the Veps family (Veps - a small Finno-Ugric people) peasants Stephen and Vassa of the future saint, venerated in the person of the saints - Alexander Svirsky (1448-1533 )
His parents later tonsured and were buried nearby in the monastery (circa 1475-1480). There is evidence that in those distant times both nuns and monks lived in the monastery, and only later did the present Vvedeno-Oyatsky monastery become a man’s.
The nearby large cloister
At the end of the 15th century, Alexander Svirsky himself set up a monastery in the Olonets region, which was built on the donations of Vasily III in 1533. Why is it mentioned in this article? Because as a result of the Swedish raids and the ruins that they caused, the Vvedeno-Ostrovsky Monastery ceased to exist. And from the middle of the XVII century until 1764, it, restored, was assigned to the Alexander Svir monastery. He was assigned the role of the farmstead of a larger monastery. And in 1764, the present Vvedeno-Oyatsky monastery became a non-staff, that is, a monastery that is under its own support, without any support.
The gradual revival of an independent monastery
Until 1817, all the buildings of the monastery were wooden. The first stone building was the second temple of the monastery - Epiphany. It had a warm chapel, consecrated in honor of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God, a refectory, a bell tower (the date of construction of which is not known exactly) with six bells.
The construction was carried out with the participation of Hieromonk Cyril. The buildings were designed in the style of provincial classicism. The monastery by that time had acquired outbuildings, a well was dug in the territory, and a wooden fence with the Holy Gates grew around the monastery.
The monastic cells were located around the perimeter of the monastery, which also had its own mill on the Chegle River, a tributary of the Oyat. Later, in 1862, there was also a sawmill at the monastery. The old two-story
Vvedensky church, which has remained wooden and cold since the construction, was rebuilt in 1836, and its new chapel was consecrated in honor of Peter and Paul. Considering that the monastery also owned 500 hectares of land, it can be assumed that she did not need any help. The farm was well established, and in 1910 the present Vvedeno-Oyatsky
convent was deprived of a dilapidated wooden structure protecting the burial place of the father and mother of the local saint, and in its place the Cathedral of the Epiphany of the Lord was built. The majestic temple had three chapels and was built by the design of A.P. Aplaksin, diocesan architect. The cathedral was erected in the then fashionable neo-Russian, or
pseudo-Russian style.
The usual post-revolutionary fate
By the beginning of 1917, this monastery was the smallest - only 10 monks and three novices lived in it. The tragic fate of most religious buildings of the Orthodox Church did not pass by this monastery. By the decision of the authorities, it was closed, and all the monks and monks living at that time in the monastery, along with the abbot, were destroyed here, near the walls of the monastery. The temple became a club, and the three-tiered bell tower became a water tower. Many buildings were destroyed.
Revival in a new status
And in such a terrible form in 1991, the former monastery was transferred to the Holy Trinity Izmailovsky Cathedral. In the month of December 1992, a new life began at the cathedral’s farmstead. The monastery was revived, but it became known as Vvedeno-Oyatsky Convent, the first abbess of which was the now deceased Lidia Aleksandrovna Konyasheva (in the world), or mother Fekla. Today's abbess is nun John. The Oyato Monastery is slowly being rebuilt. The source, which scored near it at the end of the last century, has become one of its attractions.
Miraculous power
There was always a spring on Oyat in these places. Before the revolution, he was considered the strongest healing holy source. In addition to the fact that, according to legend, demons are afraid of this water, the source helps women get rid of infertility and recover from other female diseases. The water in it is mineral. Interestingly, its temperature does not drop below 12 degrees throughout the year. Water is not only warm, it contains iodine and radon. The holy spring of the Introducted Oyat Monastery has its own interesting history.
Miraculous rebirth
During the years of militant atheism, Komsomol members fought with the holy spring - they fell asleep. And then, perhaps because there was a water tower in the former bell tower nearby, the water left and again clogged, as Mother Thekla claimed, after the frantic prayers of the nuns. Water was vital for them, as the authorities blocked the water supply to the monastery. The source scored again. And then, near the revived spring, energetic representatives of the nascent bourgeoisie began to spin, wishing to sell holy healing water. As soon as it began to be packaged in bottles, the water again disappeared and returned again after the closure of the enterprise.
The popularity of the holy spring
Now the monastery is actively being restored, and the source is incredibly popular. Above it is a chapel in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Life-giving Spring”, and near the natural pond, into which iodine-radon water flows, a bathhouse was built. The fame of the healing power of the spring has spread far, and pilgrims who believe in its holy power seek to enter the Oyato Monastery.
Station "Oyat" - the main landmark
How to get to the healing spring? The monastery belongs to St. Petersburg and is located on Bolshoy Sampsonievsky Prospekt, in house number 53. The female monastery is located near the Alexander Svirsky Monastery, from which, having passed quite a short time along the Murmansk highway, you need to turn to the Oyat railway station, and that's all after 5 km you will find yourself at the desired monastery.
You can come to the same station from the Ladoga and Moscow railway stations of St. Petersburg, from which the monastery is 200 km away.