Russia - Table of Contents ............... Architecture Around the World

Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery
Goritsy
, Russia
Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery Official Web site

Monastery walls

Entrance

Buildings

Miscellany

Museum:

Pantocrator and Resurrection icons

Archangel Gabriel icon / Cover from the icon The Savior Enthroned / Shroud Entombment

The Virgin of Tolga icon and cover / The Virgin of Vladimir icon and cover / The Virgin of Fedorovskaya icon and cover / Crowns from the Icons

Goritsy is a tiny settlement near the White Lake. 

Goritsy’s Kirillo-Belozersky monastery, built in 1397 by St. Kirill, who left a life of luxury to become closer to God. Interestingly, by the 16th century, the monastery was the second richest landowner in Russia and had close connections to ruler Ivan the Terrible.

The walled area of the monastery features two priories and eleven churches, most of them dating to the 16th century. The monastery walls, about half a mile long and almost 23 feet thick, were constructed in 1654-80 to hold off Lithuanian invaders. It could not, however, resist the Bolsheviks. The monks were shot or sent to labor camps, though it was one of the few monasteries not turned into a concentration camp.

In October 2010, when these photos were taken, only five monks lived here.


Photos and their arrangement © 2010 Chuck LaChiusa
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