The Krestovozdvizhensky Convent for Women is a monastery within the city limits of Nizhny Novgorod, located on Krestovozdvizhenskaya Square (now Lyadov Square).
Founded in 1823. The convent came into being through the merger of three ancient Nizhny Novgorod women's cloisters — the Zachatyevsky, Proiskhozhdensky, and Voskresensky: the Zachatyevsky Convent, the oldest of the three, was founded between 1355 and 1365 by Anastasia, wife of the Nizhny Novgorod prince Andrey Konstantinovich, who later took monastic vows with the name Vassa, then the great schema with the name Feodora, and was numbered among the locally venerated saints. After two devastating fires, in 1685 and 1715, the Zachatyevsky Convent, which stood at the foot of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, was moved to the Proiskhozhdensky Convent, which stood on the edge of the cliff of the Dyatlovy Hills between the Georgievskaya Tower of the Kremlin and the Georgievskaya Church; the nuns of the burned-down Voskresensky Convent, which had been next to the Nikolskaya Tower of the Kremlin, were also taken in there after the fire.
The final union of the three cloisters into one was hastened by the Church reform of 1764, which abolished small monasteries; in 1814, after another fire, the united cloister was moved to the Arzamas toll gate — to the site of present-day Lyadov Square — and renamed Krestovozdvizhensky (Exaltation of the Cross). Since the nineteenth century, the convent has occupied a plot of land between the Oka Descent, Lyadov Square, and Krasnoselskaya Street; the heart of the convent became the cathedral in honor of the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, built in the shape of an equal-armed cross and consecrated in 1823. Before the October Revolution, the Krestovozdvizhensky Convent was known as one of the remarkable cloisters of Russia, attracting numerous pilgrims.[6][6][6][6][6]
After the Revolution of 1917, the convent's churches were partly blown up and partly adapted for everyday use. In 1995, the convent began to be revived.[1] By decision of the Holy Synod of March 25, 2004, the parish of the Krestovozdvizhensky Cathedral was officially transformed into a convent for women.[1] On September 27, 2005, on the day of its patronal feast — the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord — George, Bishop of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas, celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the convent's cathedral. In 2005, the abbess of the convent was the nun Tatiana.[2] To date, one church has been restored — the one in honor of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord.
Abbess: Nun Filareta (Gazhu). On March 21, 2009, Archbishop George of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the monastery, after which new sisters of the convent were tonsured.[4][1]
Address: Nizhny Novgorod, The Oka Descent, 2a.
Tel.: (831) 433-92-25.
Links
- Official website (archive) (krest.nnov.ru)
On January 31, 2023, during repair and restoration work on the building of the former monastery infirmary, an old icon, "The Cross with Those Standing By," was found, wrapped in tattered cloth and a newspaper dated September 3, 1917. Before the Revolution, the building where the icon was discovered housed a house church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow." An expert commission, created with the blessing of Metropolitan George of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas, determined that at the center of the icon is a chased reliquary cross containing a particle of Mount Golgotha, a particle of the Holy Sepulchre, and 15 particles of the relics of saints; the icon's oklad (metal cover) is silver with gilding, and from the hallmarks it was possible to identify the name of the craftsman — Alexey Zapolsky, who worked in Nizhny Novgorod from 1850 to 1875.[5][5]
Sources
- nn.aif.ru — The Exaltation of the Cross Monastery came into being through the merger of three ancient Nizhny Novgorod convents — the Zachatievsky, Proiskhozhdensky, and Voskresensky. Zachatievs