The foundation of the Nikolsky monastery was laid by the Russian saint Dmitry Prilutsky in 1348. It was a difficult period for the Russian land. Russia was under Tatar-Mongol rule, and at that time a terrible disease erupted, popularly called the black death, which claimed the lives of many Russian people.
During this period, many holy saints appeared in Russia, helping the suffering people with their prayers, the ability to heal serious diseases. Many of them dressed the poor and fed the hungry. At this time, thanks to the saints, new monasteries and monasteries are being built.
St. Nicholas Monastery in Pereslavl-Zalessky. Its founder
The future Rev. Dmitry was born near Pereslavl-Zalessky in a small village in a family of merchants. In the nearby Assumption Monastery, he tonsured monks and soon became a priest.
After some time, the reverend on the banks of Lake Pereslavl built the St. Nicholas Church and founded a monastery near it, whose abbot Saint Dmitry remained a considerable time.
Meeting with Sergius of Radonezh
In 1354, the Rev. Dmitry Prilutsky first met with St. Sergius of Radonezh in the city of Pereslavl. Through conversations with St. Sergius, Dmitry introduces a compulsory charter in his monastery. They often met with each other for spiritual discussions, discussing how best to bring people to God.
Nicholas Monastery (Pereslavl-Zalessky) began to gain more and more popularity, pilgrims and believers began to flock to it. In 1368, on the recommendation of St. Sergius, Saint Dmitry, desiring a solitary prayer, leaves Pereslavl and leaves for the Vologda lands, where he establishes another monastery - the Savior-Prilutsk monastery.
Nicholas Monastery, Pereslavl-Zalessky. His further story
In 1382, the new ruler of the Golden Horde Khan Tokhtamysh went to war in Moscow. Having ravaged the capital, he went further north, destroying all the cities along the way, including Pereslavl. The Nikolsky Monastery was also burned and ruined. After the Horde troops left these places, the monks returned and restored the monastery.
In 1408, Emir Edigey fell upon Russia. He could not capture Moscow, but he was able to devastate entire volosts around the capital. The sad fate did not pass by St. Nicholas Monastery in Pereslavl-Zalessky and the town itself. They were burned almost to the ground.
Lull
The monastery began to recover from devastating invasions only in the second half of the 15th century. At that time, Tsar Vasily III began to collect land around the Moscow principality into a single state. By the beginning of the 16th century, the monastery of St. Nicholas on Lake Pereslavl became a prosperous and rich monastery, had its own land and peasants, received abundant financial and material donations from pilgrims and pilgrims.
But the Time of Troubles came when the impostor False Dmitry shook the whole Russian kingdom, undermining its very foundation - Orthodoxy. There are few historical records of that time about the Nikolsky monastery. It is only known that the brethren of the monastery defended it “to the last breath”, but could not defend it. In 1609, the monastery was devastated by the Polish-Lithuanian conquerors.
New restoration of the monastery
The monastery flourished in 1613-1645 and was associated with St. Dionysius the Recluse, the novice of the Rev. monk Irinarch, who, together with Patriarch Germogen, blessed the Russian people in the liberation struggle against the Poles and Lithuanians.
In 1613, Saint Dionysius visited the Nicholas Monastery (Pereslavl-Zalessky), where he remained on to work in prayer to God, accepted the schema, and went into the shutter. Thanks to his labors, the monastery received a new life.
Over the next century, the monastery grew right before our eyes. Many churches were built, a cell building for novices and monks, a stone fence and other administrative buildings. Crowds of pilgrims and pilgrims stretched into the monastery.
An ancient Orthodox shrine, the Korsun cross with 19 relics of saints, dated to the 10th century, was brought to the monastery from Suzdal.
The decline of the cloister
By the end of the 18th century, the monastery was one of the wealthiest and most famous Orthodox spiritual centers. But, starting from 1776 and until 1896, the Nikolsky Monastery Pereslavl-Zalessky changed 35 hegumens, each of whom managed the monastery for no more than 3-4 years. This could not positively affect the further development of the monastery. All liturgical and economic activities gradually slipped into decline.
By the end of the 19th century, 5-6 monks lived in the monastery. All buildings, temples and belfries fell into disrepair, and there was no one to restore them. The remaining monks could not maintain the monastery in the same condition as it was before.
In 1896, the inhabitants of Pereslavl turned to the Holy Synod with a request to rename St. Nicholas Monastery in the convent. Two years later, the petition of the people was granted, and from that time the monastery became known as the Nikolsky Convent of Pereslavl-Zalessky of the communal charter.
New life of the monastery
In 1898, four nuns and eight novices came from the Assumption Monastery of the city of Alexandrov to the Nikolskaya Monastery. A year later, through the labor and prayers of the nuns, the rickety bell tower was restored, some administrative, residential and utility buildings were restored. In 1900, there was a need to expand the Annunciation Church due to the large number of parishioners, from which we can conclude that the inhabitants of Pereslavl began to actively visit the St. Nicholas Convent (Pereslavl-Zalessky), despite the fact that it is in wetlands.
In the same year, all liturgical paraphernalia was restored, 12 golden brocade vestments for priests were sewn. Moreover, Mother Superior Anthony, who has the ability for needlework, sewed them.
Within two years, cell buildings, administrative buildings were built, and temples were repaired. By 1903, the monastery was completely landscaped, shone with beauty and wealth. The number of parishioners, pilgrims and believers has grown tenfold, and about a hundred nuns have already lived in the monastery.
Again devastation?
After the revolution of 1917, the monastery was again desecrated and devastated - the main church of St. Nicholas, the bell tower and the fence. In many buildings, the monastery housed livestock buildings. In a private room for nuns, a boarding school for intellectually underdeveloped children was organized. The remaining premises were distributed to residents of the city.
New time - new breath
70 years have passed since the last closing of the monastery, and now in 1993 the monastery was officially transferred to the Orthodox Church. A year later, the first natives arrived there. Now the St. Nicholas Monastery (Pereslavl-Zalessky), the photo of which can be seen in this article, has about 50 nuns and novices.
Currently, the works of nuns, parishioners, philanthropists and simply indifferent people are restoring destroyed temples and structures, as well as building new buildings and churches. So, the monastery fence, the bell tower, the church of St. Nicholas and much more have been restored or rebuilt according to ancient drawings.
The relics of the holy Prince Andrei Smolensky and the Monk Cornelius the Silent rest in the cloister’s temples.
Today, St. Nicholas Monastery is one of the most visited by believers and prosperous abode of the city and region.
But restoration work is still far from over. Waiting for their time, the Smolensk-Kornilievsky Church, the Church of the Baptist John, is approaching the end of the restoration of the monastery church in honor of Peter and Paul.
The territory of the monastery is striking in its splendor, beauty and accuracy. It has many of the most diverse flowers and ornamental plants, there is a pond with lilies and rare species of fish.
Additional Information
Each church, chapel, and especially the monastery, have some peculiarity or feature, or even not one. Nicholas Monastery Pereslavl-Zalessky also has such a “highlight”. What icon hangs above the entrance to any church? The temple, in honor of whom it was consecrated. In the monastery above the entrance to the main St. Nicholas Cathedral, Saint Nicholas is depicted in full-length mosaic against the background of the monastery. He is the patron and protector of these places. No matter how the monastery was neither destroyed nor burned, it constantly revolts anew in even brighter glory, as if “rising from the dead”.
Every day from 6.30 a.m. special services are performed in the monastery, consisting of morning prayers, blessed prayers and liturgies. All pilgrims or tourist groups can come to the monastery any day and take part in common prayer with the natives of the monastery.
For the convenience of guests and visitors, the Nikolsky Monastery (Pereslavl-Zalessky) divides the schedule of services on its official page on the Internet, which is very convenient for pilgrim groups who want to get to the monastery for a certain service.
You can come to the Nikolsky Monastery Pereslavl-Zalessky with your family yourself. The address of this wonderful place, which has centuries-old memory of ancient events, is Yaroslavl Region, Pereslavl-Zalessky, ul. Gagarina, 39.
At the moment, the monastery is building two new churches: one on its territory in honor of Prince Andrei Smolensky, and the other in the village of Godenovo in the name of Sophia the Wisdom of God. In this village there is a monastery courtyard with located household and industrial premises, which helps the monastery to provide itself with all the necessary products.
The great Russian holy ascetics lived and preached in this place, the monastery experienced many ups and downs in order to shine even more vividly in our time, glorifying God's providence and human affairs performed according to His commandments.