On the low gentle banks of the Nara River, not far from its confluence with the Oka, there is still a monastery founded in 1360. Now it is known as the Vladychny Convent, the oldest on Moscow land.
The reason for the emergence - the planting of Orthodoxy
Metropolitan Alexy (Elevfery Byakont) actively built monasteries outside of Moscow. Being an outstanding not only ecclesiastical, but also a statesman, he understood that faith can become a unifying and cementing foundation of the Russian state.
His innocence was confirmed by the first victory of the combined Russian army over the Golden Horde, gained on the Kulikovo field (1380), which happened only 20 years after the Vladychny Monastery was founded.
In honor of whom the monastery was built
Legend has it that the site for the present Vladychny Convent was chosen at the behest of the Mother of God: Moscow Saint Alexy heard her voice coming from the icon, indicating the exact location (right bank of the Nara, Serpukhov neighborhood). Then there were impassable pine forests. The metropolitan entrusted the construction of the monastery to his disciple and cell-keeper (a servant with high dignitaries of the monastic rank and with the elders) Varlaam, who, before laying the monastery, also had a vision of how the Most Holy Theotokos was brought into the temple. These visions gave the name of the shrine being erected - the Vvedensky Vladychny Monastery (now Vladychny Convent). The first wooden church erected on this territory was also dedicated to the Introduction of the Virgin.
Introduction to the Holy of Holies
Immediately after the death of the Monk Varlaam Serpukhovsky in 1377, at the behest of Metropolitan Alexy, the icon of the same name was painted, which immediately began to be revered as miraculous. What does its name mean - “Introduction of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the Holy of Holies”?
According to church tradition, her parents Joachim and Anna at the age of three brought the Virgin Mary to the Jerusalem Temple. Thus they fulfilled their vow and consecrated it to God. In the Holy of Holies the girl was right up to the betrothal with Joseph. This icon has been revered for centuries as the main shrine of the temple.
Monastery Outpost
The present Vladychny Convent for women throughout its existence has been repeatedly forgotten and restored again. After the death of Metropolitan Alexy, the monastery, located on the southern border line of the Moscow principality and included in the watch system, began to gradually decline.
She was repeatedly raided, as she was near the most convenient crossing point through the Oka. The monastery was surrounded by a defensive wall, and on its territory there were guns.
Ups and downs
The revival and heyday of the monastery occurred during the reign of Boris Godunov, who was supposed to fight under its walls in 1598 with hordes of the Crimean Khan Kazy Giray. But the enemy troops retreated, not accepting the battle. Considering this a miracle, Boris Godunov ordered the restoration and improvement of the monastery. Time passed, and the monastery again fell into decay. The case was so bad that in 1806 the question arose of its abolition. The Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna Plato turned to Alexander I with a request to convert the Serpukhov Monastery from male to female.
Convent and its inhabitants
After arriving at the destination of the first abbess of Dionysia with five nuns and four novices, the Vladychny Convent (Serpukhov) flourished. And although it was defined as a class III monastery, which was supposed to have only 17 nuns, the monastery under the wise management of the former treasurer of the Novodevichy Convent of Dionysia began to develop rapidly. Old churches were restored, new buildings were erected, and by the middle of the 19th century, the Vvedensky Vladychny Convent had more than 300 inhabitants. This monastery is famous for its inhabitants. From 1806 to 1845, the famous blessed old woman Euphrosyne, who was known in the world as Princess Yevdokia Vyazemskaya, lived here.
Among his abbesses was Mitrofania, in the world - Baroness Rosen, in whom the monastery flourished. She was abbess from 1861 to 1773. The fate of this extraordinary woman who became the heroine of the works of A. N. Ostrovsky, N. A. Nekrasov, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin is extraordinary and interesting.
Hard times
In 1919, the Vladychny Convent (Serpukhov) was not destroyed - it was closed by evicting all the inhabitants, and the School of Red Military Aircraft was placed in the strong walls of the monastery buildings. The flight school was here until 1978. And then a real misfortune came to the walls of the former temple - for 17 years it was systematically plundered. Local residents literally smashed it in bricks, from which they laid out garages and summer cottages for their joy.
Last rebirth and prosperity
In 1995, work began on the restoration of the complex, followed by the flowering of the monastery - nuns settled on the ruins. The Holy Synod blessed the renewal of the monastery. Mother Alexia (Petrova) and several ascetics came to the wasteland, where there was nothing - neither communications, nor living quarters. And only thanks to their feat now Vvedensky Vladychny Convent (Serpukhov), this outpost of Holy Russia, looks the same as under Boris Godunov. But restoration work continues.
Revival Aid
To recreate the former appearance of the monastery, to make it suitable for living, there are few works of conscientious nuns. They themselves, even having revived the ancient craftsmanship of gold embroidery, which the monastery is famous for now, could not have collected even a small part of the necessary amount. The question arises: “Who helps the Vladyka Convent?” Serpukhov is a district center, and this small town is also unable to restore the monastery, although the administration is doing everything possible. Of course, there are donations, and we can say that the monastery is being restored by the whole world.
Demanded shrine
But the Vladychny Convent has one priceless shrine - the icon of the Mother of God “Inexhaustible Chalice”. The acquisition of the icon dates back to 1878 and is associated with the Monk Varlaam, the first rector of the monastery. This year, a retired soldier dying from drunkenness, who lives in the Tula province, Varlaam appeared in a dream and sent him to Serpukhov Convent, saying that there is an icon "Inexhaustible Chalice", which alone can save him from death. The healing was so quick and powerful that the fame of the miraculous image rushed first throughout the district, and then on. The icon was in the female monastery until 1919. After the closure of the Vladychny Monastery, she was transferred to the Cathedral of Nikola Bely. After 1929, when St. Nicholas Cathedral ceased to exist, traces of the shrine disappeared. But there is a version that it is now in a private Moscow collection, the owner of which, being an absolute atheist, money for transferring the shrine to the monastery requires sky-high.
Miraculous lists
In 1993, two revered miraculous lists of this icon were made - one is in the Vladychny Convent, the other in the Vysotsky Monastery, located on the opposite high bank of the Nara. And the folk path to these shrines does not heal. People come here and go from different parts of the country: in the Vladychny Monastery there is a turn to the icon - it heals people from drunkenness, drug addiction and smoking. This image makes the monastery the main attraction of Serpukhov.
A peculiar compound
It should be noted that getting to the monastery is not so easy, so tourists do not visit it, and the monastery loses from this. People come here purposefully, for help. Their donations are the main source of income for the complex. Vladychny Convent reviews are the best. People come to such places for peace of mind and healing, but when pilgrims are greeted with cleanliness and grooming, it becomes doubly pleasant. It is interesting that there is a peacock farm on the territory of the monastery, and this is so appropriate, because there is a peacock feather in the coat of arms of the city of Serpukhov. And it is depicted there because in these two monasteries, which were opposite each other on different banks of the Nara since ancient times, from 1691 peacocks were bred.
Temples and shrines of the monastery
On the territory of the monastery there are several temples. The first is the Vvedensky Cathedral, built in 1362 and rebuilt by Boris Godunov. In this form, the five-domed temple exists now. The second is the Church of St. George, built at the end of the 16th century. He is very handsome. In the next, XVII century, the church of St. Alexius was erected.
Another courtyard church, built in 1599 in honor of the martyr Theodotus of Ankir, complements the overall picture of the unusual monastery. The monastery has several miraculous shrines, including the relics of the Monk Varlaam, each of which is surrounded by legends. How to get to the monastery? By train from the capital go to the station "Serpukhov". From here to the monastery runs bus number 4 "October". The route is called so because the monastery is located on Oktyabrskaya Street, at number 40.