Danilov Monastery

Coordinates: 55°42′40″N 37°37′45″E / 55.71111°N 37.62917°E / 55.71111; 37.62917
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Danilov Monastery
Daniil
AbbotArchimandrite Alexius
Site
LocationMoscow, Russia
Coordinates55°42′40″N 37°37′45″E / 55.71111°N 37.62917°E / 55.71111; 37.62917
Other informationHeadquarters of the Russian Orthodox Church since 1983.

Danilov Monastery (also Svyato-Danilov Monastery or Holy Danilov Monastery;

Russian Orthodox church and the official residence of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus'.[citation needed
]

History

Danilov Monastery is claimed to have been founded in the late 13th century by

Kremlin
. All that remained at the original location was a graveyard.

In 1560,

Kaza Giray
approached Moscow, the grounds were fortified and used as a mobile camp.

The katholikon consists of three churches: one below and two above.

In 1606, the rebels led by

impostor by the name of Ileyka Muromets, who had pretended to be tsarevich Peter (son of Feodor I of Russia), was executed next to Danilov Monastery. Being in the center of many military events during the Time of Troubles
, the monastery was severely damaged in 1610. In the early 17th century, it was surrounded by a brick wall with seven towers.

In 1710, there were 30 monks in Danilov Monastery. In 1764, there were only twelve of them on staff. By 1900, however, the number rose to seventeen. Among the monks who lived in Danilov Monastery during its history was the renowned Greek scholar Nikephoros Theotokis, who retired to this monastery in 1792 from his bishop's position in South Russia, and lived here until his death in 1800.[1]

In 1805, an almshouse for elderly women was established at the monastery; later it was turned into an almshouse for elderly clergymen and their widows.

In 1812, the monastery was ransacked by the

Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra shortly before the French occupied Moscow.

A visit by Ronald Reagan
in 1988

First documented information on Danilov Monastery's landownership can be traced back to 1785, when it owned 18

desyatinas of land. By the end of the 19th century, the monastery had already possessed 178 desyatinas and a few buildings in Moscow
.

In the second half of the 19th century, Danilov Monastery's cemetery was a final resting place for many writers, artists and scientists, such as

desyatinas
of land.

After the

baptism
.

Buildings

Apart from the 17th-century defensive towers and walls, the surviving buildings include the katholikon (main church), the Neoclassical cathedral of the Holy Trinity (1833-1838), the Baroque gate church and belltower of St Simeon Stylites (1681, 1732), a group of 19th-century dwellings for monks and the father superior, and the extensive modern residence of the Holy Synod and the Patriarch (1988). Right next door is the large parish church of the Renovation of the Temple in Jerusalem, built in 1832–1837 to Neoclassical designs by Fyodor Shestakov.

The oldest building is the

Tsar Alexis
as a church dedicated to the feast of the Intercession. Two Baroque upper churches were completed in 1730 and 1752, respectively. The katholikon is the only building in Moscow to feature two distinct churches above another church on the ground floor.

Bells

The belltower (as seen from a crèche)

When the monastery was closed in 1929 and 1930, its bell set was saved from

Faberge Eggs, agreed to pay for the repatriation of the 18 bells and for the cost of casting replacements of them in Russia to be hung at Harvard.[4] The first of the bells, known as the Everyday (or Weekday) Bell, weighing 2.2 tons, arrived at the Danilov Monastery on September 12, 2007; the remaining seventeen were returned on September 12, 2008.[5]

References

  1. ^ Никифор Феотоки (Nikifor Theotoki) in Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian)
  2. ^ "Harvard bell returns to Russia - The Boston Globe". www.boston.com.
  3. ^ "A History by Diana Eck § Lowell House". Archived from the original on 2012-07-16. Retrieved 2010-09-07.
  4. ^ "Russian monastery's delight as bells head home from Harvard". the Guardian. September 7, 2006.
  5. ^ "Returning of the bells". www.danilovbells.com. Archived from the original on October 16, 2017.

External links