Thanks to the blessings, labors and sometimes suffering of Sergius of Radonezh, many monasteries appeared in Rus’. Some of them were discovered by his students, others by himself. Such a monastery was a monastery on the banks of the Kirzhach River, in the Vladimir region.
Reverend Sergius himself chose the place and supervised the construction. He spent 4 years in this monastery before returning to the Lavra.
With his direct participation, the brethren built the first wooden Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the uninhabited forest, cells for monks and a refectory appeared.
After 4 years, Metropolitan Alexy ordered Sergius to return to the Lavra. The monk accepted the decree with humility, left the new monastery in the care of his disciple, Roman, and returned to Sergiev Posad.
Thanks to its founder, the monastery was popular. Rich merchants and boyars came here, and poor people came on foot. Soon, the area around the monastery ceased to be deserted: new villages and settlements arose, because the monastery owned vast lands.
In the 17th century, the wooden Annunciation Church was replaced with a stone one, and the monastery itself was surrounded by a stone wall. By this time, there were 4 churches on the territory of the monastery: Annunciation, Sergius, All Saints, Spassky.
But during the reign of Catherine II, the monastery was closed. The churches became parish churches, the brethren were distributed to other monasteries, and the property was transferred to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.
After the revolution, the churches were closed, but even the Bolsheviks recognized the high historical value of the building. A branch of the Vladimir Historical Museum is located in the former churches. But by 1930, the museum fell into disrepair and was looted.
The City Council began to use the buildings for economic needs. In 1932, the Sergius Church was blown up.
In 1963-64, an attempt was made to restore the Annunciation Church. The cathedral was covered with a new roof, entrance doors were installed, and the Soviet-era superstructures were dismantled. No internal work was carried out.
In 1989, the Annunciation and Sergius churches were transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1990, the first liturgy was celebrated there. A convent opened in 1995.
Charity FundHoly Land
Temples and Monasteries of Russia
