An outstanding monument of Russian history - the Trinity-Sergius Deserts (Russian patterned architecture) - is now protected by the state. However, the monastery had to go through difficult times, as a result of which part of the buildings was irretrievably lost. Today, not every resident of Russia knows what the Trinity-Sergius Deserts looks like. This is a real asset of Russian culture, and it deserves that every Russian knows about it.
The foundation of the monastery
In 1734, the Russian Empress Anna Ioannovna decided to transfer the land 10 versts from St. Petersburg, which previously housed the seaside cottage of the Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerinsky, the Empress’s elder sister, to her confessor. Archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra Varlaam wanted to retire, it was for such a refuge that the new land was intended. So the deserts of the Trinity-Sergius appeared, by the name of the monastery in which Varlaam had previously served. The word "desert" meant "a place of solitude, seclusion," later "monastery." Varlaam also received permission to transport to the new monastery a small wooden church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary from the estate of Tsarina Praskovya Fedorovna. It became the first temple of the monastery, which was consecrated in honor of St. Sergius of Radonezh on May 2, 1735. The desert, thanks to the authority of the abbot, is quickly gaining fame, its weight in the religious life of St. Petersburg is growing rapidly, but for another 30 years the monastery remains a small secluded place near the Gulf of Finland.
Heyday
Under Elizabeth Petrovna, the Trinity-Sergius deserts acquired a new status. The empress decided to create an “ideal” monastery on the basis of the monastery and takes a number of actions to do this. The daughter of Peter the Great was very fond of building, in her reign St. Petersburg acquired many worthy structures: the Winter Palace, the Cathedral of the Smolny Monastery, the Great Peterhof Palace, the Tsarskoye Selo Grand Palace.
Having decided to transform the Trinity-Sergius deserts, to which she had special feelings: in the chambers of the abbot of the monastery she was waiting for the outcome of the fateful coup and the first service was held in honor of the happy conclusion of this event, Elizaveta Petrovna begins with the construction. The Empress orders the architect P.A. Trezini project of the Holy Trinity Cathedral. The architect takes as the basis the initial version of the project of the Smolny Monastery of Rastrelli and creates a new image of the future temple.
In 1756, the cathedral began to be erected, after which the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh was built in 1758, stone cells for monks, watchtowers and walls were erected. In 1764, the Trinity-Sergius Desert in Strelna gains independence, it no longer submits to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, its own archimandrite stands at the head of the monastery. But Elizabeth no longer saw this transformation of her beloved desert, for which the most successful period was not coming. The position of archimandrite is often occupied by new faces who simply do not have time to do something serious for the development of the desert.
Only in 1834 did the period of true prosperity of the Trinity-Sergius desert begin. At the head of the monastery stands a very interesting person - Ignatius Bryanchaninov, a brilliant graduate of the Engineering School, a strong poet, a nobleman who refused an exciting social life and gave his strength in the name of the prosperity of the monastery. Nicholas I gave him a covenant - to make from the Trinity-Sergius desert a model of all the monasteries. For twenty years, the abbot strove for this goal, and he succeeded very much.
One of the frequent guests of the monastery was the emperor himself, who often asked for advice and blessings from the archimandrite. Ignatius established rather strict orders in the monastery, creating a canon like Optina Desert. For the next 40 years, his successor, Ignatius Malyshev, continued the work of developing and strengthening the monastery. During this period, the Trinity-Sergius Deserts, a photo of which today convey only part of its grandeur, is being built up with new buildings: temples, residential buildings, farm buildings, a library that totaled more than 6,000 books. The monastery becomes a real small town, several schools, a wheelchair house, a hospital for the poor, a hotel have opened in it. A land plot of 50 acres was added to it, on which the monks grew crops, vegetables. The Trinity-Sergius Deserts is becoming a prestigious and authoritative place, it comes here to pray to know, many famous and eminent people rested at its cemetery.
The last abbot of the monastery, Sergius, was the confessor of the Grand Dukes Dmitry and Konstantin Romanov. Before the revolution, the monastery played an important spiritual role in the life of the state, was a prominent cultural and economic center.
Years of loss
Everything changed after the revolution. In 1919, the monastery of the Trinity-Sergius Deserts was closed, although services continued for some time. Most of the monks were sent into exile, some remained in the local labor commune. The property of the monastery was looted, in 1921 the Bolsheviks exponentially shot the rector Sergius. In 1931, a military retraining school was opened here. During the war, the construction of the monastery was badly damaged by shelling. But the worst begins in the 60s. In 1962, the Trinity Cathedral was no longer considered a monument and demolished. The Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary was blown up in 1964, at the height of the Khrushchev anti-religious campaign. In 1968, the Church of the Resurrection of Christ was destroyed.
Monastery today
In 1993, the Trinity-Sergius Deserts, a photo of which at that time represented a miserable sight, was transferred to the Orthodox Church. Restoration work began slowly, the monks again settled in the monastery. In the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh, regular services are held, the destroyed cemetery is being restored, restoration work is being carried out in the preserved buildings. The monks dream of someday restoring what was lost, but so far they have not reached their hands, there is still a lot of work in the monastery. But nevertheless, the Trinity-Sergius Deserts, the architecture of which has been partially preserved and today amazes architects with the skill and talent, pleases the visitor’s eye with its facilities.
Architectural complex
The architectural style of the desert can be defined as traditional Russian patterned architecture. The buildings of the monastery combine well-established architectural canons with innovative ideas. When creating the monastery, classical planning schemes were used, when the main temple and the area adjacent to it became the center of the composition, and the rest of the buildings are already around. The main development of the territory takes place in the second half of the 19th century. Here you can see elements of eclecticism, which was relevant for Russian and European architecture of that time. Also, the presence of Russian motifs is characteristic of the monastery buildings.
The Trinity-Sergius Deserts, the patterned architecture of which became an example of the use of national motifs in temple architecture, was built as a Russian monastery, the appearance of the cathedrals and all buildings should speak about this. The final appearance of the monastery was formed by the last quarter of the 19th century, the complex included more than 10 ceremonial buildings and several buildings for various purposes. Many famous architects worked here . P. Trezzini created the project of the Trinity Cathedral and the planning project for the development of the territory, Luigi Ruska built the Invalid House, A.M. Gornostaev erected the Pokrovskaya and Spasskaya chapels, worked on the projects of the churches of the Intercession and Gregory the Theologian, and monastic cells were constructed according to the Rastrelli project. Of great importance was the monastery cemetery, on which many famous sons of Russia rest, today its historical appearance is gradually being restored.
Church of St. Sergius
The Trinity-Sergius desert was originally built around the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh. The first temple was wooden; it was transported from St. Petersburg. At the end of the 18th century, the first stone cathedral was erected in its place, which in 1854 was again significantly rebuilt. The architect Gornostaev builds a church in the Byzantine style, with five chapters and two chapels: Christ the Savior with the tomb of the Apraksins and the martyr Zinaida with the graves of princes Yusupov. The large two-story temple accommodates up to 2 thousand people, it is decorated with Roman-style windows. The iconostasis is decorated with precious and semiprecious stones, the mosaic floor is made according to the sketches of the architect. The Cathedral has survived all the difficult times and today continues to operate.
Trinity Monastery Architecture
Trinity Monastery became the heart of the monastery. It was founded in 1756, the work was led by architect P. Trezzini. The five-domed stone cathedral was erected in 4 years. The temple was striking with its rich interior: stucco molding, frescoes and murals, a lot of light - all this created a feeling of festivity. The small temple, with a capacity of 600 people, impressed with its magnificent view. In it, Trezzini embodied the best of baroque architecture. A lot of details, stucco moldings, five freely arranged domes with columns made the temple ceremonial and luxurious. He became the standard for the construction of churches throughout Russia for as many as 20 years.
Church of St. martyr valerian
The Trinity-Sergius desert was the last refuge of many great people, one of them was Count Valerian Zubov, an outstanding commander, conqueror of Derbent. At the place of his repose, a two-story temple with an empire-style portico was built. The building has an unusual shape of a rotunda, which houses a semicircular iconostasis. The building is a single complex with a Handicapped House. Until today, the building has been preserved, but in a very distorted form due to restructuring in the 40s of the 20th century, when a labor colony was located here.
Church of the Protection of the Holy Virgin
The desert was built up thanks to well-known customers, so the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary became a building commissioned by Prince Kochubey in honor of his dead wife. The project of the cathedral was created by R. Kuzmin, in 1859-1863 it was redone and completed by Harald Bosse. A small but very high temple was built in the Renaissance style, forming the historical appearance of the monastery. The building was lined with gray stone from Scotland and very reminiscent of the Florentine cathedrals. The church was destroyed in 1964.
Grigoryevsky temple
The Church of St. Gregory the Theologian was built in 1855-1857 according to the project of the court architect Alexander the Second A.M. Stenschneider. It is designed in the Russian-Byzantine style and is a small room with a two-tiered iconostasis painted on a gold background and a white marble descent into the tomb of Count G. Kushelev. Trinity-Sergius Deserts today is working on the restoration of the interior of the church, which has been preserved in a converted form, but does not work.
Church of the Resurrection
The St. Petersburg Monastery of the Trinity-Sergius Deserts has always been the embodiment of the Russian spirit. The most “Russian” building can be called a tent church in the name of the Resurrection of Christ. It was built in the years 1877-1880 by the project of A. Parland, the famous author of the Cathedral of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg. Multi-colored brick facades, stained glass windows, bas-reliefs with figures of Russian saints - all this made the Resurrection Cathedral look like a beautiful toy. The interior of silver, porphyry, bronze was also striking in magnificence. In 1968, the church was blown up.