Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda

Perhaps, on the site of the settlement, swept away by fires during the devastating raids of the Tatar-Mongols or princely civil strife, over time, not far from Staraya Sloboda, a New village grew up, often referred to as New Alexandrovsky village . From the beginning 16th century - New village Aleksandrovskoe and Alexandrov (Aleksandrovskaya) Sloboda.
The proximity of the settlement to Moscow, the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and Pereslavl-Zalessky made it in the 15th century a resting place for Moscow princes during pilgrimage trips.
In the spiritual charter of Ivan III (1504), the New village of Aleksandrovskoe was bequeathed to his son Vasily, the future Grand Duke Vasily III. Grand Duke Vasily III transforms Sloboda into a travel yard.
Later, near Velikaya Sloboda, from a small palace village, a hunting camp of the Pereslavl and Moscow princes, Novaya, or Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, grew up.
In 1509 - 1515. a large complex was built of several palaces, four temples and a number of outbuildings - one of the distant residences of the prince (probably the architect was Aleviz Novy).

Church of the Intercession

According to archaeological discoveries in the 1990s. The Trinity hipped-roof church (now Pokrovskaya) was erected in the 1510s, earlier the Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye (1529-1532), in Alexander Sloboda, which served as the palace church of Grand Duke Vasily III. The church was previously dated to the 1570s.
Trinity Church - the first stone tent ancient Russian temple.

Church of the Trinity at the Sovereign's Court in Alexander's Sloboda. The first stone tent temple.

The temple was built of white stone and oversized bricks. Initially, it consisted of the actual temple part with a sacristy and a refectory, a basement of two spacious chambers and three huge cellars intended for storing valuables. Trinity Church was the house temple of Ivan the Terrible.
It is not surprising, therefore, that its tent completion is the king's favorite architectural form. The tent is painted from the inside - this is the only, unique case of the plot painting of the temple tent. Frescoes depict Russian saints - princes and martyrs - and Old Testament paintings.
In the 17th century, after the Polish-Lithuanian devastation, new additions to the temple were made. From the west, a new vast refectory with a hipped bell tower adjoined it, the lower tier was surrounded by galleries on three sides, and a chapel was added from the south. Probably, at the same time the church was re-consecrated from Troitskaya to Intercession.

Spacious, huge two-story stone royal chambers adjoined the temple, forming together with it a single complex with a dominant - a hipped church. They were built at about the same time as the oldest part of the temple. The chambers were divided into spacious rooms with vaults that did not communicate with each other - each had a separate entrance. Only two chambers have survived in the eastern part of the lower tier, but even from them one can judge the luxury and splendor of the entire building. Giant cellars up to 3.5 meters high were dug under the chambers.

On the top floor there was a large chamber, apparently used for official receptions and holidays. It was dismantled during the rebuilding of the temple - now part of its place is occupied by the refectory of the Church of the Intercession. Ancient engravings have preserved views of the interiors of the chambers, in particular, the large front chamber, where the throne of Ivan the Terrible stood.
Legends attribute untold riches to the underground storerooms of the Intercession Church and chambers. It is alleged that it was here that the richest library of Ivan the Terrible mysteriously disappeared, inherited from his grandmother Sophia Paleolog, and containing many Greek books brought by her from her homeland.

Assumption Church

Assumption Church, which stands at the southern wall of the complex, like most of the buildings of Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, has several stages of construction. Initially, it was a single-domed white-stone church on a high basement, which was covered by an arched gallery. This part was built in 1571-1577, apparently as a house church. In the 1660s the church underwent significant restructuring in connection with the needs of the newly founded Assumption Monastery in the settlement: the completion of the building, which became five-domed, was completely changed, the arches of the gallery were laid and a spacious refectory with powerful pillars supporting the vault was added. Since 1675, a hipped bell tower with a clock was added to the temple - an unusual structure in which the quadrangular pillar of the bell tower ends with an octagonal tent. A little later, in con. In the 17th century, a two-storey private building was added to the refectory from the north.

From the decor of the 16th century, elegant panels of pilasters and portals of the main volume of the temple, with beautiful, lush rosettes, made in the “Fryazh” (Italian) manner, have been preserved. Researchers find similarities between them and the decorations of the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin. The decorations of this church echo the decor of the Trinity Cathedral. The decoration of the 17th century, on the contrary, is restrained and strict.
During the time of Ivan the Terrible, the temple was connected to the sovereign's palace by galleries and passages; the remains of the arched passage are preserved in the northern basement of the temple. Therefore, the version that the miniature graceful church served as a house temple at the palace is quite probable.
See Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Trinity Cathedral

In 1513, the country palace of Grand Duke Vasily III was built and consecrated new church cover Holy Mother of God(now Trinity Cathedral).
“Summer 7021 October 3 in the Sergius Monastery founded a brick gate, and on the gate in the name of Sergius the Wonderworker. Summer 70 November 22, 28, the wooden church in Klementyev was sacred. That year, on December 1, the Church of the Intercession of the Stei Btsy was built in the New village of Oleksandrovsky. Then the great prince entered the courtyard. On the same month of December 15, there was a church of bricks and a monastery in Sergius at the gates of St. Sergius, and Bishop Mitrofan of Kolomensky and Abbot Pamva, and the great prince was at the church.

Trinity Cathedral

The architecture of the temple is due to the orientation of the masters of Vasily III to main shrine the nearest Trinity-Sergius Monastery - a temple in the name of the Holy Trinity.
The huge massive temple, crowned with a large dome on a light drum, looks powerful and slightly squat, because of the later constructions - a covered gallery with a porch and a porch.
The main volume of the temple is cubic, with a pozakomar covering. Its walls were not always white; The Swedish traveler Petreus de Erlezunda, who wrote a lot about Russia, described the external decoration of the Intercession Cathedral as follows: “The stones were painted with colors so that one was black, the other was white, the third was yellow and gilded. Each has a cross on it. The cathedral was built of white stone interspersed with brick. Such mixed masonry was typical, for example, for the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin, and the carving repeats the motifs of the Trinity Cathedral in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.
Inside, the cathedral is also striking in its size and spaciousness; the interior is well lit thanks to a light drum and windows at the top of the walls. The carved perspective portals leading to the main part of the cathedral are very beautiful.

Murals, made in the middle of the 16th century in the tradition of the school of Dionysius, adorned all the walls, pillars and vaults of the cathedral; unfortunately, they suffered greatly in 1887-1889, when almost all the frescoes were painted with new paintings by Safonov's artel from the village of Palekh. The restorers managed to clear only two fragments of ancient frescoes, the rest are still hidden by later paintings. As for the icons of the cathedral, many were taken to Moscow museums, where they are still kept.
Copper doors in the western and southern portals deserve special attention. The western portal is decorated with the Tver Gates, taken out of Tver by order of Ivan the Terrible in 1569. Probably, these are doors made in the 14th century. for the Transfiguration Cathedral in Tver. Vasilevsky gates were installed in the southern portal, taken out of Novgorod the Great after its defeat by the troops of Grozny.
The stone throne was overlaid with silvered copper plates, the carved canopy above it was gilded.
The main throne of the cathedral was originally consecrated in the name of the Intercession of the Mother of God. In the northern part of the open white-stone gallery, a chapel was built in honor of St. Sergius of Radonezh, in the southern part - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Under the altar, in a white-stone basement, there was a crypt for burials.
Priest of the Intercession Cathedral in the 17th century. consisted of an archpriest, 2 priests, a deacon, 2 sextons, 3 watchmen and a mallow. All of them received an annual monetary salary from the royal treasury. Since 1672, by a letter of tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, he was issued in Alexandrova Sloboda from the mug yard "without Moscow red tape." In addition, the clergy received a salary in grain (rye and oats), and for the holidays - cloth for clothes. From the royal orders, incense, church wine, wax for candles, flour for baking prosphora came to the cathedral. Having a rare high rank of archpriest at that time, the rector of the cathedral was senior over the priests of all the surrounding villages.
Prayers to God in the Church of the Intercession were offered up during visits to the Alexander Sloboda by its founder, Grand Duke Vasily III Ioannovich. Tsar John IV Vasilyevich was a zealous pilgrimage of the cathedral from December 1564 to December 1581. In 1645, Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich prayed in the Intercession Cathedral, he left a gilded chalice and a large silver censer as a gift. In 1671, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich came.
Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich (1676-1682), who annually visited the Dormition Virgin Convent in 1676-1681, was at the Intercession Cathedral on November 29, 1676. On September 30, 1680, he listened to the all-night vigil at patronal feast Intercession, and prayed at the Liturgy on October 1 in the Nikolsky chapel.

Crucifixion Church-bell tower (Church of Alexei Metropolitan)

Next to the cathedral, as if in opposition to its squat, wide silhouette, rises the slender Crucifixion Church-bell tower with a hipped top.
The Crucifixion bell tower (before 1710 - the church of Alexei Metropolitan) dates back to the 1570s. After the 1940s. A.S. Polonsky revealed an earlier pillar-shaped building inside it, the latter began to be attributed to the first construction period of Sloboda and dated, like the Pokrovsky Cathedral, to 1513.
The Church of Metropolitan Alexei was an octagonal three-tiered pillar, richly and ornately decorated.

Model of the Crucifixion Church-bell tower

The church "like under the bells" was built with a clear influence of Italian architecture, and probably at about the same time as the cathedral.
During the time of Ivan the Terrible (most likely in the 1570s), the church was thoroughly rebuilt and turned into a high tower 56 meters high with a ringing tier and a platform for sentinels. The bell tower was crowned with a tall blind tent (windows in the sides of the tent were made later), the base of which rests on several tiers of kokoshniks - the so-called "fiery" completion of the volume. This bell tower was the first in Rus', which was decorated with a tent top; subsequently, such completions spread throughout Rus', becoming almost the most popular in temple architecture.

Crucifixion Church-bell tower (Church of Alexei Metropolitan)

The bell tower is surrounded by two galleries - open and closed. The lower, open gallery goes around the second tier of the bell tower; inside the tier with kokoshniks, a second, closed one is held; it is illuminated by small round windows made in kokoshniks. From the south, a small extension adjoins the bell tower (Marfina's chambers), which was occupied by Princess Marfa.

"Princess Marfa Alekseevna in Alexander Sloboda". Artist M.A. Podkopaev. 2008 Oil on canvas.

From 1698 to 1707 in the Dormition maiden monastery of the Alexander Sloboda, the half-sister of Peter I, Princess Marfa Alekseevna, was accused of helping Princess Sofya Alekseevna during the next Streltsy rebellion. And although the accusation was not actually proven, she was tonsured a nun under the name of Margarita and settled in a special annex to the Crucifixion Church-bell tower.

She brought with her things that belonged to her: a mirror, a leather chair, a mica screen-door, an armchair, a chest (it contains a wooden ladle and a scoop, a wicker form for bread, a basket and a titnitsa; an earthen jug, a pot and a bowl; two copper dishes).

Icon "Selected saints". 17th century Wood, tempera. On the icon "Selected Saints" are the patrons of the Royal House of Romanov, to which Marfa Alekseevna belonged.
In the closet-kiot are placed: the icon of the Mother of God of Iverskaya, a copper paraman with the image of a cross, Easter eggs, silk air, a copper cross with enamel.

Repeatedly during these years, St. Demetrius of Rostov visited the Dormition Monastery, performing divine services there.

N. Vilkov. The wings of a serf. 1947

The bell tower is also known for the sad legend about Nikita, the serf of the boyar son of Lupatov, who, dreaming of learning to fly “like a bird”, made wings and jumped from the bell tower and flew over the fortress wall. For this, Ivan the Terrible ordered him to be executed. The decree said this about it: "A man is not a bird - he does not have wings, but if someone puts a demonic fiction to his hands, he creates against nature."

Another legend is dedicated to the Time of Troubles and tells that during the Polish-Lithuanian invasion, several hundred people locked themselves in the bell tower, and one girl, not wanting to fall into the hands of the Poles, threw herself from the bell tower and crashed. After that, the bell tower caught fire. The latest excavations confirm that around these years a strong fire in the Crucifixion Church-bell tower actually occurred.
Now the bell tower is open to all visitors to the museum. Its open gallery offers a magnificent view of Alexandrovskaya Sloboda and the surroundings, which have long turned into the city of Alexandrov ...
After the death of Vasily III, Elena Glinskaya (Grand Duchess of Moscow 1533 - 1538) erected fortress wooden walls with gates around the complex of palace buildings, and surrounded it with a moat.

The surviving ramparts of the 16th century fortifications.

To the east of the walls of the monastery, the remains of fortifications of the 16th century have been preserved. in the form of a partially leveled shaft up to 1.5 m high, in which there is a gate opening.
December 3, 1564 Ivan the Terrible from Moscow went on a pilgrimage. By December 21, the royal motorcade arrived at the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. After prayers and the traditional service, Ivan IV went not to Moscow, but to Alexandrov Sloboda. By the autumn of 1565, all the threads of internal management converged in Alexandrov's settlement. Until 1581, the settlement was the main political and cultural center Moscow state, the center of the oprichnina. Here the tsar and his family were during the "pestilence" - the plague that swept Moscow in 1568.
In 1569, the first printing house in Russia was moved here from Moscow. In 1578, the disciples of the pioneer printer Ivan Fedorov, Andronik Timofeev (Nevezha) and Nikifor Tarasiev, printed in it the Psalter, which repeated the first Russian textbook, The Teaching Psalter, published in 1568 in Moscow. In the future, the printing house printed not only books, but also leaflets against Stefan Batory, distributed in "many German cities."

“In memory of the first provincial printing house in Russia and the Moscow printer Andronic Nevezh. The stone was laid in the year of the 480th anniversary of the Alexander Kremlin.

The biggest and most unsolved mystery of the famous Liberia of Ivan the Terrible is connected with Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda. The opinions of scientists are still contradictory about the fate of the royal library. The most tempting hypothesis is that it was preserved intact, immured in the dungeons of Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda.
In 1571, a fair of brides was held in Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda. From all over Rus', two thousand beauties came here, of which Ivan the Terrible chose Marfa Sobakina as his wife.
In November 1581, Tsarevich Ivan died in the Alexander Sloboda, mortally wounded by Ivan IV in a fit of anger. After the death of his son, the king left the settlement forever.
In the beginning. 17th century Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda was heavily destroyed by the Poles: in 1609 and 1611. it was captured by detachments led by Jan Sapieha. The militia of Minin and Pozharsky liberated the settlement from the invaders and, together with the suburban warriors, moved to captured Moscow.
Around 1635, a wooden royal palace was built for Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov in the Alexander Sloboda, which lasted about 100 years.

Dormition Convent

The Dormition Convent was founded in 1651 by the Monk Lukian of Alexandrovsky on the site of a suburban sovereign's court on the charter of Tsar Alexy Mikhailovich and the blessing of Patriarch Joseph.

Rev. Lukian of Alexandrovsky

The Monk Lucian was born at the beginning. 17th century in the city of Galich, Kostroma land, when Rus' gradually returned to peaceful life after the terrible disasters of the Time of Troubles. His parents Demetrius and Varvara were God-loving people. They led an ascetic life and lamented that they did not have children who would pray for them after their death. They made a special vow to God to go to a monastery and end their lives there if the Lord grants them a child. A boy was born, who in holy Baptism was named Hilarion. When the son was eight years old, the father decided to fulfill the vow, given to God and go to a monastery. Hearing this, the lad Hilarion began to ask his father not to leave him in the world and take him with him. The farewell was touching.
Dimitry and his son went to Brynsky Bor, and Hilarion's mother went to a convent, where she ended her life as a monk. The hermit labors and deeds of his father lay deep in the soul of the lad Hilarion. As a monk, Dionysius, who set up a monastery with a church in a deserted place, wore chains and a sackcloth. He learned from his father prayer, fasting, night vigils, seeing in him a bright example of high life.
After the death of his father, Hilarion settled in the monastery of the holy fathers Athanasius and Cyril of Alexandria. For three years he carried obedience there, gained the respect and love of the entire monastery, but soon secretly left the monastery, accepting praise as a formidable danger to the salvation of his soul.
For the same reason, he also left the Intercession Monastery near Uglich.
Illarion firmly decided to settle in a deserted place. By the providence of God, he learns about the desert, remote from worldly habitation, surrounded by forests and swamps, where, despite the abandonment of this place, there was the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin and the icon of Her Precious and Glorious Nativity. Three times they took her to the church in the village of Ignatievo, but she miraculously returned to her chosen place and remained unharmed in the church, where there was not even a roof. Illarion settled there.
To the surprise of many, a monastery began to grow in the desert. Hieromonk Theodosius, who came from the Vologda land, tonsured Hilarion as a monk with the name Lucian.
Through the efforts of the Reverend, the construction of the Dormition maiden monastery in Alexander Sloboda began.
In 1651, the Monk Lucian received a letter of commendation from Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and the blessing of Patriarch Joseph for the founding of a convent in the Alexander Sloboda.
The restoration of the temples began with the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, so the monastery began to be called the Assumption.
In 1654 the Assumption Church was restored and consecrated.
The elder and hegumen Lukian took care of the second monastery, where he often visited, instructing not only the sisters of the monastery, but also people who came here.
Numerous persecutions befell the monk Lucian, but gentle patience, zeal for fasting and prayer, vigilant labors in the external and internal dispensation of the monastery attracted the grace of God to the ascetic, especially manifested in the pastoral care of monks and laity, the power of the preaching word and the gift of insight.
The Monk Lucian reposed in 1655 on the very day of the feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, September 8. And to this day, miracles are being performed through his intercession.
The relics of St. Lucian rest in the now functioning Mother of God-Christmas Lucian Hermitage.

The monastery lived rather poorly, only on donations.
Since 1662, the Monk Cornelius of Alexandrovsky, rector of Lukian's Hermitage, became the spiritual father of the monastery.

Venerable Cornelius of Alexandrov

Icon of Cornelius of Alexandrovsky with a particle of relics

The Monk Cornelius was born at the beginning of the 17th century, in a difficult, mournful and devastating Time of Troubles for Rus'. His parents Ignatius and Evdokia were merchants and lived near Moscow, in Troitskaya Sloboda. In holy Baptism they named their son Kosma. He diligently studied the Holy Scriptures and other soulful books, learning how to turn his mind to God. From youth on Cosmas lay the seal of a special person chosen by God, he was adorned beyond his age with humility, meekness, solitude and silence. The heart of the pious youth did not lie in the trading business, which his father was engaged in. His soul aspired to the Highest, incorruptible and truly blissful wealth, hidden in faith and love for God.
Having reached the age of 23, he decided to finally renounce the world. In one of the Moscow monasteries, Cosmas took monastic vows with the name of Cornelius and after living there for five years, he moved to the Florishchev Hermitage, then already known for the severity of its charter. The ascetic carried out the choir and other fraternal obediences with great diligence. The pious and righteous life of the monk, his spiritual experience, his meek loving soul vividly attracted people who wished to receive guidance from the ascetic, and even blessing for a new way of life.
Learning about the labors and deeds of Blessed Lucian, the founder of the Mother of God-Christmas Hermitage, Cornelius was imbued with great reverence for his holy memory. He wished to remain in this God-saved monastery, consecrated by the pious life of the monk and the burial of his holy relics. Orphaned after the death of Blessed Lucian, the brethren soon fell in love with Saint Cornelius and began to beg him to accept the priesthood, to be their shepherd, and at the same time the builder of the monastery. Coming to the monastery on business in the Alexander Sloboda, the Monk Cornelius did not disregard the nuns of the Assumption Monastery, founded by Saint Lucian, giving them alms and comforting them in their sorrows. The abbess of the monastery, Julitta, with her sisters, like the brethren of the Lucian Hermitage, also began to pray to Blessed Cornelius to be their shepherd. And the old man did not refuse. Since that time, the Monk Cornelius, like Saint Lucian, has provided care for two monasteries.
In 1658, Patriarch Nikon confirmed Saint Cornelius with the title of builder of Lukin's Hermitage and entrusted him with the management of both monasteries, male and female. His love and compassion, like the sun, extended widely both to the monks and the laity. More and more sisters came to the Dormition Convent.
The Monk Cornelius used all the time free from church affairs and cell prayer for diligent employment in bodily labor. Kelar, bread, kvass, living, sewing, dyeing, shoemaking and other work were closely connected with the skill and labors of the holy builder. The reverend did not hesitate to arrange a hospital for the sisters. Every week he visited those who were in it. Blessed Cornelius himself buried and buried those who had departed, those who died in the monastery, and on Saturdays he diligently commemorated all the deceased nuns. The monk, with great participation, took care of the orphans and wretched girls, starting from the age of two, he gathered them to the school that he founded at the monastery, and assigned one of the sisters to them for education and the first teaching of reading and writing. For wanderers and the poor, the saint commanded to arrange a meal in the monastery and taught to honor Christ Himself in them. Through the prayers of St. Cornelius, thanks to his tireless cares, both monasteries expanded and strengthened significantly. Under him, the monastery expanded, the number of sisters increased to 200. He carried out their improvement at the expense of generous benefactors from the members royal family, princes, boyars, on the contributions of the Sovereign himself.
Under him, the monastery expanded, the number of sisters increased to 200. The charter of the monastery was a hostel, funds from the royal treasury were allocated for its maintenance. The Pious Sovereigns Tsars Alexei Mikhailovich and Fyodor Alekseevich themselves, as well as many noble boyars, nobles and merchants, visited the Assumption Monastery for pilgrimage.
In 1664, the monastery was transferred to Rugu, that is, it began to receive a regular allowance from the treasury.
At this time, the architectural ensemble of the monastery took the form that it currently has: a stone cell building, a stone fence with towers and Holy Gates with the Church of Theodore Stratilat above them, a hospital building with the Church of the Presentation of the Lord were built.
It often happened that during the day the sovereign’s masters worked, and from evening until morning, the Monk Cornelius and his sisters, not sparing themselves, for the glory of God and for the benefit of the holy monastery. Abbess Anisia of the Assumption Monastery asked Patriarch Joasaph II for a blessing for the stay of the Monk Cornelius in the monastery. From that time on, the elder did not leave the Dormition Monastery, continuing to take care of the Lukian Hermitage with unflagging attention. For over twenty years, by the grace of God and the intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, Blessed Cornelius labored in building the monasteries founded by St. Lucian. Saint Cornelius reposed on August 11/24, 1681 and was buried in a crypt under the altar of the Trinity Cathedral of the Dormition Monastery.
Celebration in the Cathedral of Saints of Vladimir on June 23/July 6, as well as locally on November 1/14 and August 11/24.

Sretenskaya Church

Sretenskaya Church

Church of the Presentation of the Lord. 1601 - 1699

On the site of the cemetery, the Sretenskaya hospital church was built, with a hospital ward and later a small almshouse adjoining it. This is a small, modest temple with simple architecture - a low quadrangle with one cupola and a single-span belfry above the western entrance. Inside the temple is divided by three arched openings into the main volume and the refectory. Under the altar there is a vast cellar, where, in particular, the sisters of Peter I Martha and Theodosius were buried.

hospital building

Cell building

Long adhesive body

The decoration of the first floor is noticeably different from the later second floor - it is made in a characteristic Russian style, with rich figured architraves on the windows and carved door decorations. The building was divided into "clean" and "black" halves - residential and utility.
In the “clean” half, magnificent tiled stoves with benches have been preserved, and rich rosettes have survived on some vaults of the first floor, probably preserved from buildings from the time of Ivan the Terrible, which were partially included in the new building.
In 1858 the monastery was badly damaged by fire; in particular, the cell building was also badly damaged. According to the project of N.A. Artleben, it was rebuilt, and by 1870 a brick second floor appeared in it.

In addition to the large cell building, several more cells were built on the territory of the monastery - these are much simpler houses, cut down in the second floor. 19th century

Gate Church of Theodore Stratilates

Monastery towers


Monastery wall

The entire territory of the Kremlin is surrounded by a high stone fence with towers, built in con. 17th century The shape of the fence is extremely simple - it is an irregular quadrangle with a U-shaped ledge at the southern entrance; four round towers with spiers were placed at the corners, connected by a high wall. Construction began in the 1670s. The first walls were erected on the north side, and by the 1680s all work was completed, with the exception of the eastern part of the monastery. The last, eastern section of the wall was completed already in the 18th century. and on a smaller scale - the walls there are lower and thinner than in other places.
The walls are made in compliance with all the rules of fortification, but most of the loopholes are already decorative, in particular, machicols - holes for hanging battles - are not real, they are just an imitation. On the outer side of the walls there is a decorative arcade-columnar belt. From the inside, niches with recesses-furnaces are arranged along all the walls.
Despite their imposing appearance, the walls have never served a defensive purpose. But these powerful fortifications, like a fortress, have preserved for posterity in their original form many monuments of the 16th-18th centuries, which saw many of the most important events of those times.
On the territory of the Assumption Monastery, several more buildings of the 18th-19th centuries have been preserved, which also served the everyday needs of the monastery. Firstly, this is a gatehouse at the entrance gate with a tent for lime. Partially, this building has retained the features of ancient Russian architecture - its windows are decorated with characteristic frame architraves.
In the far part of the Kremlin there is a carriage house - a simple large building.
By 1682, the parish Cathedral of the Intercession came under the jurisdiction of the Assumption Monastery, and, probably, at the same time it was re-consecrated in honor of the Holy Trinity. The salary of the archpriest began to receive the monastery confessor, since then monastery priests and deacons have served in the church, and the prosphora was no longer needed, since the nuns baked prosphora from now on.
In September 1687, in time for the arrival of Tsar Peter Alekseevich at the Trinity Cathedral, a new five-tiered iconostasis was erected by Moscow tsarist masters in the Trinity Cathedral, which also preserved some of the icons of the 16th century. In front of him in 1696, 6 silver lamps with gilded decorations and the 7th raised one, donated by Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich to commemorate his grandmother, Tsarina Natalia Kirillovna, lit up.
In September 1700, in the former Nikolsky chapel, an altar was consecrated in honor of the righteous Simeon the God-Receiver (abolished in 1870).
To the beginning 18th century the gallery surrounding the cathedral was closed, combining two western white-stone chambers into one building, which housed a rich sacristy and a monastery library with a collection of manuscripts, documents and early printed books.
In 1727, there were already about 400 nuns in the monastery, among them there were many nuns from eminent Moscow boyars.
In 1764, with the introduction of monastic states by Empress Catherine II, the Dormition nunnery in Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda was ranked first class, and funds from the treasury were allocated for the maintenance of the abbess and 100 nuns. There were only four such women's monasteries in Russia at that time.
The way of life in the Assumption Monastery was set as an example to others at the meetings of the Holy Synod. Diocesan hierarchs sent nuns there to learn how to bake prosphora and slender church singing. The monastic sewing of robes for icons and embroidery of church vestments were famous. The nuns of the monastery were repeatedly elected abbesses of other monasteries of the diocese.
They lived in the monastery by their own labor: all the time, free from worship, they were engaged in cultivating the land, keeping livestock, mowing, needlework, teaching at the monastery school for girls, serving old and sick nuns in the almshouse, and during the First World War, caring for wounded soldiers.
The monastery was famous for its gardens with apple and cedar trees, linden alleys, flower beds, bee houses and ponds.

Abbess Elizabeth (Lavrova) abbess from 1794 to 1883.
In 1794, in the family of the deacon of the village of Voskresensky, Kovrov district, Vladimir province, Nikolai Lavrov, a daughter, Anna, was born. She was taught to read and write by her father, although literacy was a luxury for girl children at that time. Having reached adulthood, Anna wished to leave the world and entered the Suzdal Rizopolozhensky Monastery. In 1832 she was transferred to the Murom Trinity Monastery for girls, where in 1837 she was tonsured into the robe with the name of Elizabeth.
Archbishop Parthenius of Vladimir, who saw the obedience and strict monastic life of the nun Elisaveta, in 1838 appointed her treasurer of the Rizopolozhensky Suzdal Monastery, in 1843 - abbess of the Trinity Murom Monastery. In 1844, the Pereslavl Feodorovsky Monastery was entrusted to its management, and in 1845, the Suzdal Intercession Monastery. Finally, as an active and experienced abbess, on January 21, 1846, she was appointed abbess to the Assumption Monastery in the city of Alexandrov, which she brought to a flourishing state, wisely ruling for 37 years.
Mother Elizabeth's Day began and ended with cell prayer. At the first stroke of the bell, she hurried to worship, giving the rest of her time to taking care of the monastery. If things did not allow her to be in the temple, Abbess listened to the services in the cell.
As a kind and caring mother, the sisters entrusted to her especially loved Matushka, seeing in her an example of monastic life. She evoked deep respect and love for her prayerfulness, work and courtesy among the city dwellers, who considered her an exemplary abbess. For good governance from the Imperial Cabinet in 1858, Abbess Elisaveta Lavrova was awarded a gold pectoral cross, in 1873 - a cross with decorations; in 1871 and 1883 awarded the blessing of the Holy Synod.
Having weakened, in the 90th year of her life, Abbess Elisabeth filed a petition for retirement, and on May 29, 1883, she settled in a separate cell with her niece-nuns, all the time devoting herself to prayer and thoughts about the future eternal life.
A few hours before her death, she was honored with the Communion of the Holy Mysteries, without letting go of the rosary, quietly and peacefully, with a prayer on her lips, on August 7, 1883, she died.

Water chapel. 1825

This is a low wide octagon without windows, covered with a wide octagonal roof. The roof is crowned with a small cupola. Above the entrance is a place for an icon. Inside the tent, a large vat was installed with a pipe connected to it, and a stove. The well served the most prosaic purpose - ordinary (not holy) water was taken here for the daily needs of the monastery.

Abbess Euphrasia (Lihareva) abbess from 1883 to 1913.
In the XVIII-XIX centuries. in the Trinity Cathedral, large repair work. At the expense of the merchant Zubov, in 1852, a new carved gilded iconostasis was installed in the Sergievsky side-altar, and by 1889, in the same style, at the expense of the Alexandrov merchants Pervushins, a five-tier one was installed in the central church, with the preservation of old icons. In 1887-1889. under the guidance of archaeologist G.D. Filimonov by the artist-painter A.D. Belousov cleaned the altar paintings and 6 frescoes on the pillars from the three-layer recording with oil paints, and well-preserved towels were opened along the lower part of the walls.

Abbess Tamara (Lihareva) abbess from 1913 to 1922.
Abbess Euphrasia's native niece, Alexandra Vasilievna Likhareva, was born around 1866 into a noble family of an official of the Moscow Mariinsky Hospital. Having received an education, in 1883, 18-year-old Sasha became a resident of the Assumption Alexander Monastery. Being a cell-attendant of the abbess, she also taught needlework at the monastery school, and in the years Russo-Japanese War cared for wounded soldiers.
In 1907, the novice Alexandra Likharev, who was 41 years old, was tonsured a monk and named Tamara.
In 1909 she was appointed a sacristan, and in 1911 she was approved by the dean of the monastery.
In November 1913, after the death of Aunt Abbess, Nun Tamara became her worthy successor. On January 2, 1917, Abbess Tamara was awarded a pectoral cross by the Holy Synod. A heavy life cross awaited her - sorrows, needs and persecutions for the faith. The destruction of the monastery began, searches and “requisitions”, famine and a typhus epidemic, hard work in the labor artel created to preserve the community - all this first of all fell on the shoulders of Matushka. In 1918 Abbess Tamara was deprived of voting rights as the head of the monastery, and in March 1922, during the withdrawal church values arrested for concealing property and sentenced to 2 years in prison. At this time the monastery was closed.
After her release in 1924, Matushka went to her sister in Ruza, near Moscow. To live, she quilted blankets for sale, but she devoted most of her time to prayer. On May 19, 1931, the 65-year-old abbess Tamara was again arrested on a denunciation. She was accused under article 58 part 10 of the Criminal Code of “conducting systematic anti-Soviet agitation aimed at disrupting the measures of the Soviet government (against the closure of the cathedral in the city of Ruza); using religion, treats women who come to her in an anti-Soviet spirit; has a close relationship with the arrested priests and the higher clergy of Moscow.” On June 10, 1931, Likhareva was sentenced to exile to Kazakhstan for 5 years. Sent by stage.
Around 1942, very sick and infirm, Matushka settled in Pavshino near Moscow with her brother, a provincial priest Leonid Likharev. Always dressed in a monastic manner, never letting go of her rosary, Abbess Tamara attracted people with her kindness, quietness and spiritual wisdom. Hosting many at her place, she herself went to Petushki and Strunino to instruct the nuns. She maintained a spiritual connection with Bishop Athanasius (Sakharov), receiving his letters from prison. Mother's earthly journey ended on 02/14/1953 in the village. Pavshina.
After the revolution, the gradual ruin of the monastery began, in which at that time there were 300 sisters. Few of them managed to escape persecution for their faith: the majority were disenfranchised, others were awaiting arrest, prisons and camps for the so-called "anti-Soviet and religious agitation, participation in counter-revolutionary groups of churchmen."
In the spring of 1922, a commission for the seizure of church valuables removed many precious frames, rizas and crowns from icons, and the most valuable items were transferred to the local museum. In January 1923, the Trinity Cathedral was taken from the monastery and transferred to the museum, which was used as a warehouse for storing requisitioned church valuables from the churches and monasteries of the Aleksandrovsky district, and since 1931 - as an anti-religious department.
On February 13, 1923, the Assumption Monastery in Alexandrov was closed, and all property and valuables were transferred to the museum.
The territory of the monastery was officially called the village of "Zarya": in most of the residential buildings people settled, ran a household. Sheds, cellars, gardens and even pigsties were located within the monastery walls. In addition to the expositions of the museum, the temples were used as warehouses, a vegetable store, a dairy, a confectionery, film distribution, and a planetarium. Unique monuments of architecture in the power of new owners and without proper restoration were subjected to gradual destruction.
In May 1923, during the restoration, the architect P.D. Baranovsky removed 4 late chapters from the Trinity Cathedral (1824-1825). In 1926, the gilding was washed off the iconostases, and soon the iconostasis of the cathedral itself was dismantled.
In 1927, homeless children stationed on the territory of the Trinity Cathedral stole several candlesticks and lamps. In subsequent years, the most valuable icons and salaries, church utensils, manuscripts, and tiles were taken to the funds of the State Historical Museum(Moscow) and the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum (Suzdal).
In 1946, the authorities allowed the authorities to resume services in the Trinity Cathedral of the monastery to the persistent requests of believers. On August 24 (the day of memory of St. Cornelius), it was leased to the parish community and for long years became the only functioning temple in the area.
1946-1947 - Archpriest Nikolai Petrovich Delektorsky (Rector of the Trinity Cathedral). Born in 1878 in the town of Pokrov. He graduated from the Pereslavl Theological School and the Vladimir Seminary. In 1903, he was ordained a priest in the Bobruisk diocese of Belarus, where he served until his arrest in 1933. Until 1937, he was imprisoned in the Dmitrovsky camps. Since October 1944, he was appointed rector of the Dmitrov Church with. Baksheev, Struninsky (now Aleksandrovsky) district. In August 1946, he was moved to the post of rector of the newly opened Trinity Cathedral in Alexandrov. From October 1947 he served in the village. Perniki, Sobinsky District, Vladimir Region, where he died on December 6, 1952.
1947-1948 - Archpriest Alexander Sakharov
1948-1949 - Archpriest Nikolai Tsvetkov

1949-1960 - Archpriest Peter Stepanovich Uspensky.
Born in 1884 in the churchyard of Veretyevo, Kovrovsky district, Vladimir province. He graduated from the Theological School and the Vladimir Theological Seminary.
Ordained a priest in 1905, he served in the village. Voznesensky Kovrovsky district before his arrest in 1930. Sentenced to exile for 5 years.
Upon his return, he served in the churches of the Kirzhachsky district, from August 1949 he was the rector of the Trinity Cathedral. From 1948 to 1959 - the confessor of the deanery, then - the dean. He died on June 8, 1960, was buried in the old city cemetery. He was respected for diligence, honesty and conscientiousness in the performance of duty, demanding of himself and his colleagues, loved by parishioners for peacefulness, long-suffering and humility.

1960-1961 - Priest Vladimir Zyryanov (after - Bishop Job)
1961-1972 - Archpriest Andrey Prokopevich Borodachev. Born in 1900 in a family of peasants with. Spassky Privolzhsky district of the Samara region. Ordained to the priesthood in 1956 in Saratov. From August 1959 - the third priest of the Trinity Cathedral, from December 1961 - its rector. In con. In 1972, due to health reasons, he left the state, served in various churches of the Vladimir diocese. From April 1974 - rector of the Church of the Intercession with. Davydovsky Kolchuginsky district of the Vladimir region. In 1986, at the request, he was enlisted for the staff. He died in 1992, was buried at the temple in the village. Davydovsky.
1973-1976 - Archpriest Alexander Filippov
1976-1980 - Archpriest Konstantin Zakharko
1980 - hegumen Alexander (Chernavtsev)
1981 - Hieromonk Platon (Znamensky)
1982-1984 - Archpriest Andrey Kamenyaka (after - Hierom. Job)
1984-1986 - Archpriest Dimitry Yurtin
1986-1988 - Archimandrite Filaret (Radaev)
1988-1991 - Archpriest Georgy Zapolnov.
In these difficult years for the church, the clergymen in it were educated pastors of high spiritual life: Archpriest Peter Uspensky, Nikolai Kharyuzov, Leonid Rozanov, Andrei Borodachev, Professor Archpriest Andrei Sergeenko, Archdeacon Sergei Zenziveev and others. Almost all of them suffered suffering for their faith: prisons and camps, humiliation and oppression. Among the parishioners of the temple were surviving nuns who sang in the kliros and served at the altar.
The lost iconostasis was replaced by a new one, made in the style of late classicism, from the church of the village of Pokrova. In con. 1940s under the guidance of architects P.S. Polonsky and N.V. Sibiryakov, the significantly dilapidated church was repaired at the expense of the parish. Two side porches were removed, a blind area was made around the temple with water drainage, basements were restored, the dome was repaired and water heating was installed.
In the 1980s The Vladimir restoration workshop carried out trial clearing of frescoes of the 16th century, and also renewed the fresco painting of the dome, the northern and western walls of the main volume.
On November 10, 1991, the Assumption Convent was reopened.
With the opening of the monastery on January 1, 1992, divine services were resumed in the Trinity Cathedral according to the monastery charter and the reading of the indestructible psalter. In May 1995, the newly acquired relics of St. Cornelius (d. 1681) were placed in the cathedral, before which prayers began to be served. For two decades, the monastery has carried out extensive repair and restoration work, and the restoration of unique frescoes has been completed. In 2010, the five-tier iconostasis was recreated.
The most important event in modern history monastery was the acquisition of the relics of the confessor and builder of the monastery of St. Cornelius in 1995, which now openly rest in the Trinity Cathedral.
In the basement of the cathedral, under the altar, there are seven tombs. Not all graves have been identified, but it is known for sure that the first one from the entrance belongs to Hieromonk Cornelius, confessor and builder of the Assumption Monastery (died August 11, 1681). General-in-chief I.I. is also buried here. Buturlin, exiled during the reign of Catherine I to the Krutets estate near Alexandrov. It is assumed that two young daughters of Ivan the Terrible and Maria Temryukovna are also buried here.

Shrines of the monastery

Shrines of the monastery:
- venerated Passion Icon of the Mother of God (XVII century),
- an ancient monastic relic (120 particles of relics),

The relics of St. Cornelius of Alexandrovsky (rest openly).

The relics of St. Cornelius Alexandrovsky

Kornily Alexandrovsky

Sunday School

Each monastery, created primarily for the salvation of the souls of those striving in it, is especially called today to be also a source of enlightenment and revival of the region where the Lord placed it. A Sunday school has been opened at the monastery, in which the sisters teach the Law of God and church scripture. Now it has over 50 students.
Traditional monastic obediences were revived: painting icons and artistic painting, woodcarving, sewing and gold embroidery. The monastic cross is difficult, but this “narrow path” leading to the Kingdom of Heaven is also saving. To work with prayer, with joy in the Lord, with sincere gratitude to Him in all circumstances is not so easy. This art is learned from elder sisters, inspired by the experience of ecumenical and native ascetics who come to the monastery from the world.

monastery courtyard

In 1993, a monastery courtyard with the Exaltation of the Cross Church was opened in the village of Snegirevo, Kalchuginsky District, Vladimir Region.

Saltykov's estate, XVII-XX centuries

Address: Vladimir region, s. Snegirevo, Kolchuginsky district, with. Snegirevo. In the 18th century, the Saltykovs, the owners of many estates on the Vladimir land, built a new estate on the banks of the Vorsha River. The place where the estate was founded became known as the village of Snegirev. A large manor house, a house church in honor of the Position of the Robe of the Lord and various outbuildings were built in the estate. All manor buildings were located in a large park with two ponds.
In 1813, the owner of the village, Prince N.I. Saltykov, Field Marshal General and Chairman of the State Council and the Committee of Ministers, built a new manor Holy Cross Exaltation Church with a stone bell tower. The crypt of this church became the family burial place of the princes Saltykov. Princes N.I. were buried here. Saltykov with his wife, his son S.N. Saltykov and grandson A.D. Saltykov with his wife. Now only the basement from the burial of Prince A.D. has survived. Saltykov, who died in 1859. In the 1920s. the coffins with the bodies of the late Saltykovs were stolen from the crypt. An obelisk of S.N. Saltykov, made in the workshops of M.S. Anisimov in St. Petersburg and established by the nephew of Prince S.N. Saltykov. In the first half of the 19th century, a hospice was built next to the Church of the Exaltation.

Exaltation of the Cross Church in the village of Snegirevo

The church is a rare type of church - a three-aisled basilica. The central nave is stretched from west to east. From the east, the entrance to the crypt under the altar, to the tomb of the Saltykovs. Above the central transept rises a round single-tier bell tower. The church is made of bricks. In the interior, the temple has four pillars, the vaults of the central nave are brick, the side naves have flat ceilings. Holy Cross Church is a rare monument of religious architecture early XIX century. Used for its original purpose by the Vladimir Diocese.

In 1887, in Snegirev, which by that time had become a village, a parochial school was opened, located in the house of the princes Saltykov. The ensemble of the estate of the princes Saltykov is an interesting example of a noble estate of the classicism era.

Park, XVIII-XIX centuries.

The park of the ensemble of the Saltykov estate has existed since the birth of the estate. The park consists of regular and landscape zones, a cascade of ponds is preserved. A small (north-eastern) part of the park is regularly cultivated. An alley has been preserved along the road from north to south from the village of Snegirevo across the Vorsha River and a group of planted trees from the west of the alley. The park occupies an area within the boundaries: from the north - the Vorsha River, from the south - a field road to the village of Snegirevo, from the west - the Medvedka River, from the east - the border of the Sobinsky District (forest path). In the western part of the park, closer to its edge (Vorshe River), a cemetery was built, which is currently in use.

After the revolution, the estate was ruined. Nothing remains of the large palace complex, decorated with rotundas. During the years of persecution of the Church, the temple was not closed, but it was not repaired. Only in the early 1990s. The parishioners carried out a major overhaul of the temple and the restoration of wall painting.
See Kolchuginsky District. . Aleksandrovsky district, With. Lukyantsevo.
Smolensk Zossimova male hermitage. Aleksandrovsky district, pos. them. Lenin.
Trinity Stefanov Makhrishchi convent. Aleksandrovsky district, with. Mahra.