Zilantov Assumption Monastery. Reborn from the ruins. Holy Dormition Zilantov Monastery in Kazan. Through oblivion to rebirth

Zilantov Holy Dormition Monastery is a monastery located in Kazan on Zilantovaya Mountain, more than 2 kilometers below the Kazan Kremlin along the old bed of the Kazanka River.
The monastery was founded by John IV on October 15, 1552 after the capture of the city, and was built on the site where the royal tent and camp church stood and where Russian soldiers killed under the walls of Kazan were buried. In 1559, the Volga flood washed away and destroyed the monastery walls, after which the monastery was moved to the top of the mountain.
The Moscow royal couple took a close part in the restoration of the monastery in its new location. Tsar John Vasilyevich and Tsarina Anastasia donated 400 rubles (a very significant amount according to the monetary system of that time) for the monastery building, and Tsarina Anastasia, in addition, donated an entire iconostasis for the monastery church.

An old photograph of the Zilantov Monastery - almost the entire complex of the monastery was destroyed.

The name of the monastery is associated with legends about the mythical creature Zilant.

There are many legends about Zilant Mountain. Here is one of them.
“One day the khan ordered to bring to him a girl who loudly reproached him, the founder of the city.
- Why are you scolding me, beauty?
“Oh, great founder of the city, you don’t know how hard it is for women to carry water so far.” I wish we could move the city closer to the water.
“There is a convenient hill closer to the water, but there are a lot of snakes and wild pigs there,” objected the khan.
“Can’t the Great Khan’s sorcerers cope with this?” - said the girl.

Khan decided to move the city to the hill where the Kremlin now stands. But this place was inconvenient, as it was filled with snake nests. People were frightened by the snake's whistle and avoided the hill. During the winter they brought a lot of brushwood and straw up the mountain, and in the spring, when the snakes crawled out onto the straw, they set it all on fire.

The fire destroyed all the snakes, large and small. But one winged serpent rushed after the hero, who set fire to the straw. The snake overtook the hero near the village of Churilin, near a ravine, which in Tatar is called Alty-kutar, and in Russian - Kutarka, and tore it into 6 parts. Later, the burnt snake settled on Mount Dzhilantau, from where it flew out at night towards the Kazan fortress and struck fear into its inhabitants.”

The monastery guard said that the bells were old and had been preserved in their time. And they look like new ones.

The main ensemble of the monastery was formed in the 17th century. It contained the Assumption Cathedral (1625), a temple in the name of Alexy Metropolitan of Moscow (1720), the Church of All Saints (1681, rebuilt in the 1890s), the Holy Gate with a hipped bell tower on the southern wall (1897), jagged white stone walls (1822), many residential and outbuildings, incl. The abbot's corps, which has survived to this day (1808).

Church of Vladimir Equal to the Apostles

Attached to the monastery is a monument-temple with a church in the name of the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands, built over the mass grave of soldiers who fell near Kazan. In its extant form, the new church was consecrated on August 30, 1823 by Archbishop Ambrose.

On this site, from 1720 to 1923, there was a temple honoring St. Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia, the Wonderworker. On September 10, 1918, Archimandrite Sergius and the brethren of the Zilantov Monastery were shot in the refectory of this church.

The Trinity Cathedral of the monastery is an exact copy of the cathedral of the same name of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.

In 1640-1642. In the monastery, the Suzdal Bishop Joseph, a native of Ukraine, exiled on charges of heresy, lived in exile. In 1732-1740 the monastery housed the Kazan Theological Seminary, and from 1740 the New Epiphany School. Later, both educational institutions moved into their own buildings. In 1829-1850 The abbot of the monastery was Archimandrite Gabriel, the author of the first multi-volume history of philosophy in Russia.

There is a cross installed on the territory of the monastery. The inscription under the cross reads: “In memory of the soldiers who gave their lives for the Orthodox faith and the Fatherland, novices who voluntarily and resignedly raised the cross of obedience, and all known and unknown Orthodox prayer books and righteous people, monastics and laity, whose prayer feat holds up this world.”

A beautiful view of the monastery opened both from the Volga and from the trains of the railway that laid past the monastery in 1890. In 1918, it was here that the White Czechs installed their guns.

Previously, it had a monastery and a parochial school, located near Zilantova Mountain outside the walls of the monastery and housed in a one-story wooden building on a stone foundation. About forty boys studied at the school, up to half of whom were Chuvash, who lived in the school premises at the full expense of the monastery. The school was consecrated and opened on September 17, 1909 under the care of Archbishop Nikanor (Kamensky) of Kazan and the diligence of the rector of the Zilantov Monastery, Archimandrite Sergius.

At the beginning of the 20th century. The Zilantov monastery was experiencing its heyday. In 1909, it was headed by Archimandrite Sergius (Zaitsev), under whom the number of brethren increased to 34 people. When Kazan was occupied by the White Czechs in August 1918, on Zilantovaya Mountain, almost in front of the entrance to the monastery, the White Czechs installed two guns, from which they fired at Raskolnikov’s destroyers, who were bombarding the ancient city. The military operations that took place in close proximity to the walls of the holy monastery could not but affect the normal course of monastic life, already disrupted by the decrees of the Soviet government.

In the center of the monastery is the Trinity Cathedral, a copy of the Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. They say that Ivan the Terrible himself ordered that measurements be taken from the Lavra Cathedral, however, such a temple was never built, and the Assumption Cathedral, erected in stone in 1625, was simply similar to the Lavra Cathedral. It was destroyed in 1929 and in 2002 a temple was erected here, consecrated in honor of the Trinity.

Along the wall of the monastery there is a small bell tower, which is called the “Zilantov candle”.
The bell tower is open, you can climb to the very top.

On September 10, 1918, the White Czechs left Kazan. Red troops burst into the city. Ten monastics of the Zilantov Monastery, led by the archimandrite, were shot without trial on unclear charges of shelling Red Guards.

For some time the monastery was inactive, but soon an Orthodox community was formed on its basis. The community existed until 1928, and then was liquidated. The monastery cemetery, which had the burials of eminent citizens, was destroyed in the 30s.

In 1998, the monastery, destroyed almost to the ground, was transferred to the Kazan diocese. A women's monastic community is located here. Currently, through the efforts of the monastery’s patron Natalya Vladimirovna Devyatykh, general director of the Zarechye JSCB, the Assumption Cathedral, the abbot’s and sister’s buildings with the house church of Adrian and Natalia have been restored, a bell tower, the Trinity Cathedral and the baptismal church of St. equal to book Vladimir, the painting of the temples has been completed.

The Assumption Cathedral of the Zilantov Monastery is the oldest.

The monastery has its own library (pictured).

The largest church of the monastery is in the name of the martyrs Adrian and Natalia, with a sister building located next to it.

The ensemble on Zilantova Mountain itself was almost wiped off the face of the earth (except for the All Saints Church - 1681, rebuilt and acquired its modern appearance in the 1890s, and the Rector's building - 1808).
The former men's monastery has now been revived as a women's monastery.

The monastery began to be revived as a convent at the beginning of the 21st century. The surviving Rector's building and the Church of All Saints were restored, and the gate bell tower with St. Michael's Church was re-erected.

Zilantov Monastery is one of the oldest in Tatarstan. Initially there were three stone churches in the monastery. The first is the cathedral, in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary; the second - in the name of All Saints with the chapel of Sts. Apostles Paul and Peter, where the ancient icon of the Mother of God of Smolensk and the revered large iconographic image of the martyr John of Kazan, buried, according to legend, on the site of the Zilantov Monastery, were located. The third church, near the eastern monastery wall, was dedicated to St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow. In addition to these three churches, a church in honor of the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands was also assigned to the monastery.

In 1836 and 1839, the Zilantov monastery was visited by Emperor Nicholas I and Tsarevich Alexander, the future Tsar-Liberator Alexander II.

In the 1930-1950s, the NKVD prison was located on the territory of the monastery.

On the upper platform of the belfry hang 10 bells donated by the Donetsk Metallurgical Plant, the largest of which weighs 7.4 tons.

No less famous is the Zilantovsky cemetery of the monastery. The cemetery occupied the entire eastern half of the mountain and was an integral part of the holy monastery. It was part of its centuries-old history, the glorious past of the monastery and was the source of many donations - contributions to the monastery for the funeral of the soul.
This is the oldest Russian cemetery in Kazan. Here in 1529 the holy martyr John was buried. Later, a new Russian cemetery appeared: where all the soldiers who fell near Kazan in 1552 rested in a huge mass grave.

Many residents of Kazan expressed a desire to be buried on the “holy mountain at the house of the Most Holy Theotokos” and, during their lifetime, made wills in favor of the Assumption Monastery. For others, relatives contributed to the funeral. The deceased brothers of the holy monastery were also buried here. The cemetery was very small in size, like most Russian monastic necropolises, but at the same time it was considered one of the holiest places not only in Kazan, but throughout the entire diocese.

Not only outside the monastery walls, but also inside the fence itself there were many burials - they filled all the spaces free from buildings. Pre-revolutionary photographs literally show a forest of crosses at the altar of the Assumption Cathedral. During the restoration and reconstruction of the monastery, human remains are found constantly and everywhere: at the foundations of buildings, under the roots of trees... truly, the entire monastery stands on bones, and only by realizing this, you gradually begin to understand its special role and the sanctity of this place.

In the monastery necropolis, commoners were buried to the southwest of the monastery (opposite the railway track). This part of the churchyard was destroyed in the 30-40s of the 20th century. Most of Zilantova Mountain was cut off by earth-moving equipment, because... sand, soil, and crushed stone were needed for construction work.

The other, elite part of the cemetery, where eminent townspeople and persons who made contributions to the monastery were buried, was located either on the territory of the monastery or to the northeast of the monastery. There, in the family crypt, the honorary hereditary citizen of Kazan, Ivan Ivanovich Alafuzov, was buried. At the monastery cemetery there were family tombs of famous Kazan merchants Alexandrovs, Tikhomirovs, Kondirins, Krasheninnikovs, Shmagins, Moiseevs, and the Marquises de Traverse.

The name of the mountain (in Tatar - Zhilantau) comes from the name of the legendary dragon that allegedly lived on the mountain. It is Zilant that is depicted on the coat of arms of Kazan. The main ensemble of the monastery was formed in the 17th century. On a high mountain, outside the walls, there was the Assumption Cathedral (1625), a temple in the name of Alexy Metropolitan of Moscow (1720), and many residential and outbuildings.

A beautiful view of the monastery opened both from the Volga and from the trains of the railway that laid past the monastery in 1890. The most revered relic of the monastery was the icon of the Smolensk Mother of God, brought to Kazan by Ivan IV.

In 1640-1642. In the monastery, the Suzdal Bishop Joseph (Kurtsevich) (d. 1642), a native of Ukraine, lived in exile; he was removed from the see and exiled on charges of heresy. However, ten years later, under Patriarch Nikon, his views were accepted by the church. Joseph's grave, located in the Assumption Cathedral, has not survived.

The heyday of the Zilantov Monastery in Kazan

Ten monastics of the Zilantov Monastery, led by the archimandrite, were shot without trial on unclear charges of shelling Red Guards. For some time the monastery was inactive, but was soon inhabited by nuns. The female monastic community existed until the early 20s, and then was liquidated. The monastery cemetery, which had the burials of eminent citizens, was destroyed in the 30s.

In 1998, the Zilantov Monastery complex was transferred to the Kazan diocese. A women's monastic community is located here. Currently, the external facade and domes of the Church of All Saints and the abbot's building with the house church have been restored. Located at: Kazan, Zilantova Gora.

The monastery on Zilantovaya Mountain was founded in Kazan in 1552. Initially, it was located near the mass grave of Russian soldiers who died during the capture of Kazan. But this place was flooded with water almost every year and in 1559 the monastery was moved to Zilantova Mountain. The name of the mountain (in Tatar - Zhilantau) comes from the name of the legendary dragon that allegedly lived on the mountain.

It is Zilant that is depicted on the coat of arms of Kazan. The main ensemble of the monastery was formed in the 17th century. On a high mountain, outside the walls, there was the Assumption Cathedral (1625), a temple in the name of Alexy Metropolitan of Moscow (1720), and many residential and outbuildings. A beautiful view of the monastery opened both from the Volga and from the trains of the railway that laid past the monastery in 1890.

In 1732-1740 the monastery housed the Kazan Theological Seminary, and from 1740 the New Epiphany School. Later, both educational institutions moved into their own buildings. In 1829-1850 The abbot of the monastery was Archimandrite Gabriel (Vasily Nikolaevich Voskresensky) (1795-1868) - a scientist-philosopher, author of the first multi-volume history of philosophy in Russia. At the beginning of the 20th century. The Zilantov monastery was experiencing its heyday. In 1909, it was headed by Archimandrite Sergius (Zaitsev), under whom the number of brethren increased to 34 people. In August 1918, Kazan was occupied by the White Czechs, and guns were installed on Zilantovaya Mountain (as the dominant one) (against the will of the monastics). On September 10, 1918, the White Czechs left Kazan. Red troops burst into the city. Ten monastics of the Zilantov Monastery, led by the archimandrite, were shot without trial on unclear charges of shelling Red Guards. For some time the monastery was inactive, but was soon inhabited by nuns. The female monastic community existed until the early 20s, and then was liquidated. The monastery cemetery, which had the burials of eminent citizens, was destroyed in the 30s. in 1998, the Zilantov Monastery complex was transferred to the Kazan diocese. A women's monastic community is located here. Currently, through the efforts of the monastery’s patron Natalya Vladimirovna Devyatykh, general director of the joint-stock commercial bank Zarechye, the external facade and dome of the Church of All Saints and the abbot’s building with the house church have been restored, the bell tower and the Church of St. equal to book Vladimir and Trinity Cathedral.

(Zhuravsky A.V., Lipakov E.V. Orthodox churches of Tatarstan. - Kazan, 2000.)

Here you won’t see crowds of tourists with cameras at the ready, or run into an old friend while passing by. This place seems to be so close to the Kazan Kremlin - just across the river, it seems you just have to stretch out your hand from hill to hill - and at the same time so far away. When I get into a taxi and call “Zilantov Monastery,” the driver always asks where it is and how to get there. Few people know that this is one of the oldest Orthodox monasteries in the entire Volga region. His story is amazing and tragic.

Surprising - because today one of the oldest Orthodox monasteries has been almost completely rebuilt; by the end of the 90s, only ruins remained on Zilantova Mountain. Tragic - because these ruins and the ground are covered in the blood of innocent people. I'll try to tell the story briefly.

The Holy Dormition Monastery was founded by Ivan the Terrible himself on the day of the capture of Kazan - October 15, 1552 - to perpetuate the memory of the fallen soldiers. Initially, the wooden monastery was rebuilt in a lowland, on the site of a mass grave of fallen soldiers, where the Temple of the Holy Image of Christ the Savior now stands. I have already written about this temple and its dungeon.

The location turned out to be not the most successful - during the flood the buildings were flooded - and already in 1560 the monastery was moved to Zilantova Mountain, which is nearby. Zhilan tau in Tatar means snake mountain, it was named after the legendary dragon that supposedly lived on the mountain (Zilant is still depicted on the coat of arms of Kazan today). On the mountain, the life of the monastery improved. Initially wooden, it soon acquired the first stone buildings (Assumption Cathedral 1625, All Saints Church 1681).

XVII-XVIII centuries - the heyday of the monastery. The Kazanka River then flowed right here, under the mountain (the river bed changed in the 1950s after the creation of the Kuibyshev reservoir), and all ships going to Kazan from the Volga passed by the monastery. The monastery had its own lands and lands, warehouses and piers on the river, and even conducted active trade. This is what it looked like in the 19th century (lithograph from 1832, taken from Wikipedia):

The 20th century brought unprecedented wars and strife, and Zilantova Mountain became the site of one of the bloody dramas of those years.

In 1917, the new government took away the land from the monastery, and many novices were drafted into the army. In August 1918, Kazan was occupied by the White Czechs, who liked the location of the monastery: on Zilantovaya Mountain, against the will of the monks, guns were installed to fire at the Red troops. The Red Army soldiers stormed into the city in September. Enraged, without trial or investigation, they shot ten monks of the Zilantov Monastery, led by Archimandrite Sergius (Zaitsev), on charges of shooting Red Guards. Today, at the site of the execution stands the Church of St. Prince Vladimir Equal to the Apostles (on the right).

The monastery cemetery, where many eminent citizens were buried, was razed to the ground in the 1930s. Today there are only a few fresh graves and preserved remains of tombstones from past centuries.

A memorial cross was erected in memory of the cemetery.

During the Soviet years, a children's colony, warehouses and even communal apartments were located on the territory of the monastery. All buildings were destroyed almost to the ground; only the Rector's building and three walls of the Church of All Saints survived. In 1998, the monastery was transferred to the Kazan diocese, and it was revived as the Holy Dormition Zilantov Monastery for women. Almost all the buildings of the ancient monastery were rebuilt. The Cathedral of All Saints was restored.

They built the rector's and sister's buildings with the house church of Adrian and Natalia.

A small bell tower was erected.

The Trinity Cathedral was rebuilt, which is an exact copy of the Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra of the same name (on the right).

The monastery was literally restored from ruins; today there is a pilgrimage house, a church shop, a refectory, a library, a Sunday school, and nuns live here.

There is also an Orthodox Center for the Protection of Motherhood and Childhood, located in the basement of the Trinity Cathedral. Today he actively helps not only the needy families of Kazan and the republic, but also refugees from Ukraine. These bags have already been sorted, warm clothes will go to the regions.

We met Valentina, who came to Kazan from the Lugansk region in August 2014 with her husband and small child. Their bus was shot at the border; the driver was unable to take passengers to their destination. Valentina and her family had to look for options on their own where to live and how to get there. Now the girl works at the Maternity Protection Center at the monastery and is engaged in helping people who find themselves in similar life situations.

The center is always in need of diapers, baby food, hygiene products and food. For many single mothers, this is the only option.

While work is in full swing in the basement, the street is still quiet. A silent nun will pass, a monastery cat will run by and that’s it, again not a sound. It’s impossible to talk loudly, and it seems that time has stood still here.

Only the snow creaks quietly underfoot. And you immediately think about what ancient land you are walking on. Despite the fact that almost everything around is new buildings that are not even twenty years old, the state of awe does not leave. This land remembers everything.

In 2014, a project for the reconstruction of the Admiralteyskaya Sloboda was approved in Kazan - this is precisely the area around the monastery. They want to restore the old bed of the Kazanka as a system of ponds, lay out parks around it, build embankments and new bridges. It would be great if all this were brought to life. But with the arrival of tourists, the monastery will no longer be quiet, like a forgotten monastery. Make sure to visit here to remember the history and listen to the silence.

How to get there:

The number 1 indicates the Zilantov Monastery,
2 - Temple in honor of the soldiers who died during the capture of Kazan (the place where the monastery was originally located),
3 - tram and bus stop "Rechnoy Tekhnikum".

You can get to the “Rechnoy Tekhnikum” stop from the railway station by buses No. 10a, 53, 63, 72, tram No. 5, or walk across the Kirov Dam.