Video: Holy Savior Cave Monastery: Golgotha and the Garden of Gethsemane in the village of Kostomarovo
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
In the collection of proverbs by V. Dahl there is a wonderful saying: "A city does not stand without a saint, a village without a righteous man." Knowing what ordeals the church in our country experienced in different years, you truly believe that the walls of temples and cathedrals are protected by the Almighty. There is no other way to explain how we managed to survive Holy Savior Monastery, built at the foot of the chalk mountains on the banks of the Don in the 12th century. He had to survive not only hurricanes and natural storms, but also to face communist persecution, however cave monastery I endured everything, it can rightfully be called a bastion of Russian Christianity.
About two thousand years ago, Andrew the First-Called went to the East to convert the Scythian peoples to the Christian faith. According to legend, these picturesque mountains reminded him of the land of Jerusalem, so he put a stone cross on the top of one chalk mountain and founded a cave monastery there.
Later, hermit monks used the chalk caves as a refuge to hide from persecution; in the 12th century, the first cave monastery on this territory was fully erected. Today it is considered one of the most ancient architectural monuments in Russia, since it is very difficult to determine the exact time of its construction. A strong Byzantine influence is noticeable in the architecture of the cathedral: the massive body of the building, smooth walls, rounded arches and Orthodox decorations. Thousands of pilgrims from all over the country come here every year; the monastery can accommodate up to 2,000 people.
Those who have visited the cave monastery with admiration talk about the fantastic sensation of lightness and divine grace that they experienced during their stay in the monastery. People come here for healing, cleansing, and also in those situations when it is necessary to make responsible decisions. The monastery even has a Cave of Repentance, where sinners remained to atone for their sins. The surrounding picturesque landscape also has healing power; local residents believe that the village of Kostomarovo looks the same as the Holy Land, because it has its own Golgotha, Tabor and even the Garden of Gethsemane.
During the communist regime, the monks were expelled from the Church of the Savior, the last hermit, known as Father Peter, was shot there. Despite this, the holy place was known in all nearby areas, Christians still came to pray in this cave monastery. In 1960, Nikita Khrushchev, in the fight against believers, made a cardinal decision - he gave the order to flood the church so that people would not return to these places. However, the monastery survived.
The ban on holding services in the monastery was lifted only after many years. The first official services in the Spassky Monastery took place in 1993, and in 1997 a convent was founded here. In recent years, the cave complex has been reconstructed, roads have been restored to facilitate the path for pilgrims.
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