The Resurrection Monastery (russian: Воскресенский монастырь, ''Voskresensky Monastery'') or New Jerusalem Monastery (russian: Новоиерусалимский монастырь, ''Novoiyerusalimsky Monastery'') is a major
monastery of the
Russian Orthodox Church in
Moscow Oblast,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...
.
The Voskresensky Monastery has given rise to the eponymous village, which has grown into the town of Voskresensk (currently known as
Istra).
From 2010 to 2016, a large-scale restoration was carried out.
History
The New Jerusalem Monastery was founded in 1656 by
Patriarch Nikon as a patriarchal residence in the vicinity of
Moscow. The monastery took its name from the concept of
New Jerusalem
In the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible, New Jerusalem (, ''YHWH šāmmā'', YHWH sthere") is Ezekiel's prophetic vision of a city centered on the rebuilt Holy Temple, the Third Temple, to be established in Jerusalem, which would be the ca ...
. This site was chosen for its resemblance to the Holy Land. The River Istra represents the
Jordan, and the buildings represent the 'sacral space' or holy places of Jerusalem.
In his time, Patriarch Nikon recruited a number of monks of non-Russian origin to populate the monastery, as it was intended to represent the multinational Orthodoxy of the Heavenly Jerusalem.
[Jerusalem and Moscow: Apocalypse Postponed?]
/ref> By the patriarch's death in 1681, however, the building remained unfinished. His cleric Ioann Shusherin records that the royal family, in particular Tsarevna Tatyana and Regent Sophia, then oversaw the building work and ensured the buildings completion, finalised with its consecration in 1685. In the 17th century, the New Jerusalem Monastery owned a large library, compiled by Nikon from manuscripts taken from other monasteries. By the time of the secularization of 1764, the monastery possessed some 13,000 volumes.
In 1918, the New Jerusalem Monastery was closed down. In 1920, a museum of history and arts and another of regional studies were established on the premises of the monastery. In 1935, the Moscow Oblast Museum of Regional Studies was opened in one of the monastic buildings. In 1941, the German army
The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwa ...
ransacked the New Jerusalem Monastery.[ Before their retreat they blew up its unique great belfry; the towers were demolished; the vaults of the cathedral collapsed and buried its famous iconostasis, among other treasures .][Photoalbum: russian]
Воскресенский ставропигиальный монастырь
}[Alexander Wert]
Russia at War, 1941-1945
publisher: Basic Books, December 1999 1136 pages In 1959, the museum was re-opened to the public.
Restoration and buildings
The New Jerusalem Monastery was re-established as a religious community only in the 1990s. The main buildings within the walled circuit are the following:
* The katholikon of the Resurrection (1656–1685) is a huge rotunda patterned after the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, hy, Սուրբ Հարության տաճար, la, Ecclesia Sancti Sepulchri, am, የቅዱስ መቃብር ቤተክርስቲያን, he, כנסיית הקבר, ar, كنيسة القيامة is a church i ...
. The wooden dome and a cluster of neighbouring chapels are of later construction. These were designed by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, Vincenzo Bernardacci, Karl Blank, Konstantin Thon, and other leading architects of the Russian Empire.
* The 17th-century belltower has 7 stories rising to the height of 58 meters and features 15 bells (the largest weighing some 500 poods). Destroyed in 1941, the structure was not rebuilt until the 2010s.
* Patriarch Nikon's residence (1658)
* The stone wall with towers (1690–1694) was designed by Yakov Bukhvostov, a key proponent of the Naryshkin Baroque.
* Church of the Holy Trinity (1686–1698), like other major buildings, is finished with majolica and stucco moulding.
In March 2009 Russian president Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev ( rus, links=no, Дмитрий Анатольевич Медведев, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician who has been serving as the dep ...
signed a presidential decree on the restoration and renovation of the New Jerusalem Monastery. The federal government was instructed to subsidize the monastery restoration fund from the federal budget from 2009, with deputy prime minister in Putin's cabinet, Viktor Zubkov estimating it will cost about 13–20 billion Russian roubles.[Itar Tass, March 9, 2009- ''Medvedev signs decree on financing of New Jerusalem Monastery renovation'']
As of June 2016, there has been great restoration done in the main cathedral, with much of the interior reconstructed and readorned. The great belltower was rebuilt to old designs. The monastery is open to visitors and is actively serving again. Many thousands of visitors come each day, especially on holidays.
References
External links
Virtual visit to an interactive 3D model of New Jerusalem Monastery
;Views
New Jerusalem
Tower of New Jerusalem kremlin
Tower Varuha
Tower of New Jerusalem
Walls and towers of New Jerusalem fortress
{{Coord, 55.9216, N, 36.8459, E, source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title
Russian Orthodox monasteries in Russia
Religious organizations established in the 1650s
Christian monasteries established in the 17th century
Buildings and structures in Moscow Oblast
Museums in Moscow Oblast
Religious museums in Russia
1656 establishments in Russia
Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Moscow Oblast