The picturesque cave monastery, which many people call "Crimean Athos" is located in a gorge near Bakhchisarai. It is one of the main sanctuaries of the peninsula, a fertile and amazingly beautiful place.
History of the monastery
No one knows the exact date of the foundation of the monastery. It is located in a rocky area, in the Mariam-Dere gorge. In these rocks of soft limestone, people have lived since ancient times. There are cave towns - Bakla and Chufut-Kale, and monasteries. The legend connects the appearance of the first temples in these places with the fact that iconoclasts from Byzantium fled here.
In the 8-9th centuries in Byzantium there was a movement of iconoclasm, which was periodically supported by the emperors themselves. Thus, in the eighth century, a decree of Emperor Leo the Isaurus explicitly forbade the veneration of icons. Images sacred to many were destroyed, confiscated and defaced. Devotees of icons fled from persecution to remote places - for example, in the Crimean mountains, on the far northern edge of the empire. In any case, the first cave church of the monastery appeared just then. But in time the place was abandoned. The monastery, known to us from historical sources, appeared here already in the 15th century.
Legends link the foundation of the monastery with the miraculous discovery of the icon. A passing shepherd saw an icon of the Virgin Mary high on a rock and took it down from there, but the icon mysteriously returned to its place. Then it became clear that there was a temple there, and God wanted a monastery to be founded.
According to another - more fabulous - legend, a terrible serpent settled in the mountains, which devoured people. The neighbouring population begged the Virgin Mary for help - and soon help came. People found a cave in the mountains, in it a dead monster, and icon of Hodegetria.
Anyway, the monastery, located near the new capital of the Crimean Khanate, Bakhchisarai, became the main monastery for Christians who found themselves in a Muslim environment and subjected to various oppressions. However, while the khanate remained independent, Christians were treated well here, but after the khanate fell under the protectorate of the Ottoman Empire, their lives deteriorated significantly. There were only four monasteries left in the whole Crimea - the Holy Dormition monastery became one of them.
Ignatius of Mariupol
The brightest page of the monastery's history in the 18th century is the stay there of Metropolitan Ignatius, who is now canonised as Saint Ignatius of Mariupol. A Greek by birth, a very learned and moral man, he was appointed metropolitan here in 1771. Coming to Crimea, the saint saw numerous oppressions of the Christian population: heavy taxes, powerlessness and humiliation. The time of his reign fell on the period of the Russian-Turkish war. On the territory of the Crimea there were military operations, at Perekop, at Kerch there were battles. In 1774 peace was finally concluded. On it the Crimean khanate received independence both from Ottoman Empire, and from Russia. Khan became a Russian protégé Shahin-Girey, but it did not help the Christian population. The Khan was characterised by cruelty, and rebellions immediately broke out against him. The country was sinking into turmoil.
Then the saint turned for help to Russia. He asked Empress Catherine IIto help the Crimean Christians to resettle in the new lands and accept Russian subjection. The empress agreed to provide assistance. Considerable funds were allocated for the "exodus", the settlers were promised lands in the southern provinces and exemption from taxes and recruitment duty for ten years.
Metropolitan and his people secretly began to notify Christians about the upcoming resettlement. And on Easter 1778 after the service in the cave church of the Assumption, he officially announced its beginning. The khan was bought off with rich gifts, and he himself provided security for those who were leaving. In total, more than thirty thousand people left Crimea - mostly Greek and Armenian Christians.
It was they who founded the city of Mariupol. The Metropolitan took with him there the main shrine of the monastery - the icon of the Hodegetria. Until the revolution it was kept in the Harlampievsky Cathedral, and then it was lost. Ignatius himself died in 1786, and in 1997 was officially canonised by the Orthodox Church. Now the Dormition Monastery has his icons.
Monastery in the 19th century
But the history of this place did not end here. Many Christians remained in Crimea: some could not abandon their homes and lands, some hoped for a speedy reunification with Russia. The monastery itself ceased to operate, but the Dormition Church remained active, and turned simply into a parish church. For a long time it was the only church on a fairly large territory. After the transition of Crimea to Russia, there were again many Orthodox Christians here, only now it was not the local Greeks, but Russian soldiers of the surrounding garrisons.
The temple began to receive rich donations. The head of the Bakhchisarai garrison Colonel Totovich helped to renew the iconostasis and donated an icon of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary - it became the temple. The ruler of the Tauride region Vasily Kakhovsky made new royal gates with his own money. In 1818, during his trip around the peninsula, Emperor Alexander I came here and also made a rich donation. The second time he made a pilgrimage to the Crimean monasteries just before his death in 1825. In 1837 the heir to the throne - the future Emperor Alexander II - visited.
In the middle of the century there was also a revival of the monastery itself. In 1850, after a solemn and crowded divine service, it was announced about the restoration of the Dormition Skete.
During the Crimean War, a hospital was located here. Here were brought soldiers and officers from besieged Sevastopol. Those who could not be saved were buried in the monastery cemetery. In 1875 near this necropolis was built a small church dedicated to the patron saint of soldiers - St George. The funds for its construction were allocated by General G. I. Perovsky.
In 1896 appeared Church of St. Innocent of Irkutsk. It was built in honour of the patron saint of another Innocent, the Archbishop of Kherson and Tauris, the famous preacher Innocent (Borisov). He was canonised already in the 20th century at the same time as Ignatius of Mariupol.
The monastery grew and developed. At the end of the XX century there were five churches, refectory, bell tower, abbot's house and two hotels. The monks lived in cave cells cut out in the rock. A water pipe was cut into the rock, and water was supplied from underground springs: the monastery even had its own fountain under the rock. The royal family came here many times, the last time Nicholas II was here in 1913.
Four years after the revolution, in 1921, the monastery was closed, and all the valuables were taken away. Part was destroyed, part went to the Bakhchisarai Museum. On this place was formed labour colony. Most of the buildings were dismantled, only the cave cells, the Church of the Assumption and refectory were preserved.
During the Great Patriotic War there was a hospital here again, and in the post-war years there was a psychoneurological dispensary.
In our time
The revival of the ancient monastery began in 1992. The monastery was returned part of the territory, restored economic buildings, and most importantly - the cave temples.
Many now call this place "Crimean Lavra" or even "Crimean Athos", that is, the main monastery of the peninsula. Now there are three churches - St. Assumption, St. Constantine and Helen and St. Mark the Apostle. The place where the icon of the Hodegetria once appeared is marked by a balcony, which offers a beautiful view of the surrounding area. The monastery is decorated with images carved directly into the rock - for example, the entrance to the Church of the Assumption is marked by a huge figure of a seraphim with six wings. The iconostasis is also made of white carved stone. Surprisingly, despite the fact that the church is located in a cave, it is filled with bright light coming from the high balcony. In a separate niche is kept a revered icon - a copy of the same one that appeared here in the XV century.
Festive services are performed in the Church of the Assumption, and for everyday services they go down to another church dedicated to the Evangelist Mark. It is already truly "cave-like" - there are no windows in it.
Monks now live not in caves - down under the rock built new brotherly buildings, as well as a hotel. The hotel is small, so large groups of pilgrims are often accommodated overnight right in the temples.
Above the spring there is a chapel with the icon of the Virgin Mary "Life-bearing Spring".
This is a working monastery, so when visiting you should take into account some restrictions. Here it is asked not to use mobile phones and not to take photos, short and open summer clothes are not allowed, women should be with their heads covered. Excursions here are conducted by the monks themselves.
Passage to a number of Muslim shrines on the territory of Chufut-Kale (Zynjyrly madrassah and Muslim cemetery) is possible only through the Holy Dormition Monastery. In the mid-2000s, a critical situation arose due to the dissatisfaction of the local Islamic population with the activities of the Orthodox monastery. There were even several attacks on the monastery and it had to be taken under guard. Then the abbot offered to build special gates with Islamic symbols for Muslims at the expense of the monastery. However, even now, the conflict between the monastery and the Crimean Tatar community is not completely exhausted.
In the monastery sometimes services are held not only in Church Slavonic, but also in Crimean Tatar.
On a side note
- Location: Bakhchisarai, Mariampol Street, 1.
- How to get there: Aut. No. 2 from the railway station "Bakhchisarai" to the railway station "Bakhchisarai".
- Official website: http://lavra-crimea.ru
- Entrance is free..
