Sretensky Monastery (russian: Сретенский монастырь) is an Orthodox

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, founded by

Grand Prince Grand prince or great prince (feminine: grand princess or great princess) ( la, magnus princeps; Greek: ''megas archon''; russian: великий князь, velikiy knyaz) is a title of nobility ranked in honour below emperor, equal of king or ...

Vasili I Vasily I Dmitriyevich ( rus, Василий I Дмитриевич, Vasiliy I Dmitriyevich; 30 December 137127 February 1425) was the Grand Prince of Moscow ( r. 1389–1425), heir of Dmitry Donskoy (r. 1359–1389). He ruled as a Golden Horde ...

in 1397. It used to be located close to the present-day

Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical bui ...

, but in the early 16th century it was moved northeast to what is now

Bolshaya Lubyanka Street Bolshaya Lubyanka Street is a radial street in Moscow's Central Administrative Okrug. The street runs north-east from Lubyanka Square to Sretenka Gates Square on the Boulevard Ring. The path of Bolshaya Lubyanka is continued by Sretenka Street (to ...

. The Sretensky Monastery gave its name to adjacent streets and byways, namely

Sretenka Street Sretenka Street (russian: link=no, улица Сретенка) is a street in Meshchansky district of the Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow. Sretenka Street goes from Sretenskie Vorota Square to Bolshaya Sukharevskaya and Malaya Sukharevs ...

, Sretensky Boulevard, Sretensky Lane, Sretensky Deadend, and Sretensky Gates Square.

History

Unlike most other Russian Orthodox churches of the same name the monastery is not, as might be expected, named after one of the

twelve Great Feasts In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the feast of the Resurrection of Jesus, called Pascha (Easter), is the greatest of all holy days and as such it is called the "feast of feasts". Immediately below it in importance, there is a group of Twelve Great F ...

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

''Sretenie Gospodne'' (''Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple''), with ''Sretenie'' being a Church Slavonic word for "meeting". The origin of the monastery's name comes from the fact that it was built on the spot where the muscovites and the ruling Prince had ''met'' the

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most c ...

Our Lady of Vladimir , other_title_1 = Our Lady of Vladimir , other_language_2 = uk, Вишгородська ікона Божої Матері , other_title_2 = Vyshgorod Mother of God , wikidata = Q546241 , image = Virgin of Vladimir.jpg , image_upright = 1 ...

on August 26, 1395. It was being moved from Vladimir to Moscow to protect the capital from the imminent invasion of

Tamerlane Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...

. Soon thereafter, the armies of Tamerlane retreated and the grateful monarch founded the monastery to commemorate the miracle. In 1552, the Muscovites gathered at the walls of the monastery to meet the

Russian army The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �ВSukhoputnyye voyska V}), also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces ...

returning after the conquest of

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering ...

. In 1925, the monastery was closed down. In 1928–1930, most of its buildings were dismantled by the

Soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in th ...

, including the Church of

Mary of Egypt Mary of Egypt ( cop, Ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ Ⲛⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ; ; c. 344 – c. 421) is an Egyptian saint, highly venerated as a Desert Mother in the Eastern Orthodox and Coptic Churches. The Catholic Church commemorates her ...

(14th-16th century) and Church of

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day De ...

(16th century). Only the Cathedral of the Meeting of the Icon of Our Lady of Vladimir (собор Сретения Владимирской иконы Богоматери) with a side chapel to the Nativity of

John the Forerunner John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

(built in 1679 by the order of

tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the te ...

Fyodor Alexeyevich) survived to this day. Services in the Vladimirsky Cathedral resumed in 1991. The cathedral was transferred to the authority of the

Pskovo-Pechorsky Monastery Pskov-Pechory Monastery or The Pskovo-Pechersky Dormition Monastery or Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery (russian: Пско́во-Печ́ерский Успе́нский монасты́рь, et, Petseri klooster) is a Russian Orthodox male monaster ...

in 1994, but nowadays it is a separate monastic establishment, with Patriarch

Kirill Kirill is a male given name, deriving from the Greek name Κύριλλος (Kyrillos) which in turn derives from Greek κύριος (kyrios) "lord". There are many variant forms of the name: Cyril, Cyrill, Kyrill, Kiryl, Kirillos, Kyryl, Kiril, K ...

as its

archimandrite The title archimandrite ( gr, ἀρχιμανδρίτης, archimandritēs), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot ('' hegumenos'', gr, ἡγούμενος, present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") wh ...

. Since 1998 the Monastery is headed by Bishop

Tikhon (Shevkunov) Metropolitan Tikhon (russian: Митрополит Тихон, secular name Georgiy Alexandrovich Shevkunov, russian: Георгий Александрович Шевкунов; born 2 July 1958 in Moscow) is a bishop of the Russian Orthodox C ...

as the Patriarch's representative (namestnik).

The new church

In November 2013, an official body that oversees construction on heritage sites approved the construction of a large " church on blood" dedicated to the

New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Orthodox Church New Martyrs and Confessors of Russian Church (russian: Новомученики и исповедники Церкви Русской, before 2013 - New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, russian: Новомученики и исповедники � ...

. The 61-metre-high building, fittingly situated next door to the infamous

Lubyanka Prison The Lubyanka ( rus, Лубянка, p=lʊˈbʲankə) is the popular name for the building which contains the headquarters of the FSB, and its affiliated prison, on Lubyanka Square in the Meshchansky District of Moscow, Russia. It is a large Ne ...

, was completed in early 2017, in time for the 100th anniversary of the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...

when attacks on the Russian Orthodox Church had begun. Architectural preservationists voiced their concern that the outsize building would irrevocably alter the surrounding cityscape.Sophia Kishkovsky (November 15, 2013)
Activists criticise plans to build on site of 14th-century monastery in Moscow
''

The Art Newspaper ''The Art Newspaper'' is a monthly print publication, with daily updates online, founded in 1990 and based in London and New York City. It covers news of the visual arts as they are affected by international politics and economics, developments ...

''.

References

External links

English web-site of Sretensky monastery

Official website
{{Authority control Monasteries in Moscow Russian Orthodox monasteries in Russia 1397 establishments in Europe 14th-century churches in Russia Christian monasteries established in the 14th century Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Moscow