The Monastery of the Holy Mandylion or Zaikonospassky Monastery () is an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

on the

Nikolskaya Street Nikolskaya Street () is a pedestrian street in the Kitay-Gorod of Moscow. It connects Red Square and Lubyanka Square. In 1935, it was renamed from ''Nikolskaya Street'' to ''Street of the 25th of October'' before its original name was restored ...

Kitai-gorod Kitay-gorod (, ), also referred to as the Great Possad () in the 16th and 17th centuries, is a cultural and historical area within the central part of Moscow in Russia, defined by the remnants of now almost entirely razed fortifications, narro ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, just one block away from the

Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...

. It was founded in 1600 by

Boris Godunov Boris Feodorovich Godunov (; ; ) was the ''de facto'' regent of Russia from 1585 to 1598 and then tsar from 1598 to 1605 following the death of Feodor I, the last of the Rurik dynasty. After the end of Feodor's reign, Russia descended into t ...

.''Заиконоспасский монастырь, Спас на "Священной улице", Orthodox site "Pravoslavie", August 2008, in Russian.'' At first called "Saviour the Old", the monastery gradually acquired its present quaint name which alludes to its location and means "the Saviour behind the icon shops". In the late 17th century, the monastery's learned administrators such as Symeon of Polotsk and Sylvester Medvedev had it transformed into a hotbed of

enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

. Between 1687 and 1814, it was home to the

Slavic Greek Latin Academy The Slavic Greek Latin Academy () was the first higher education establishment in Moscow. History Beginning The academy's establishment may be viewed as a result of the incorporation of the Left-Bank Ukraine into Muscovy after the Treaty of Perey ...

, Russia's first

secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...

establishment. There is a memorial

plaque Plaque may refer to: Commemorations or awards * Commemorative plaque, a plate, usually fixed to a wall or other vertical surface, meant to mark an event, person, etc. * Memorial Plaque (medallion), issued to next-of-kin of dead British military p ...

in honor of its most famous student,

Mikhail Lomonosov Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (; , ; – ) was a Russian polymath, scientist and writer, who made important contributions to literature, education, and science. Among his discoveries were the atmosphere of Venus and the law of conservation of ...

. After Lomonosov founded the

Moscow University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...

in 1755, the academy declined in importance. The surviving buildings include the Baroque

katholikon A ''katholikon'' or catholicon () or ''sobor'' () refers to one of three things in the Eastern Orthodox Church: * The cathedral of a diocese. * The major Church (building), church building (temple) of a monastery corresponding to a conventual ...

of the Holy

Mandylion According to Christian tradition, the Image of Edessa was a holy relic consisting of a square or rectangle of cloth upon which a miraculous image of the face of Jesus Christ had been imprinted—the first icon (). The image is also known as the ...

(originally constructed in 1660-1661; rebuilt in 1717–1720 and 1742), several 17th-century chambers as well as a former school building which dates to 1822. After the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

, the monastery's distinctive belltower was pulled down and the remaining buildings were given to the

Moscow State Institute for History and Archives The Russian State University for the Humanities (RSUH; ), is a university in Moscow, Russia with over 25,000 students. It was created in 1991 as the result of the merger of the Moscow Urban University of the People (est. 1908) and the Moscow Sta ...

. The

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

had the Zaikonospassky Monastery reopened in 1992. It has been involved in litigation with the institute's successor over ownership of these assets. In 2014, the belltower was rebuilt to the same design.

Burials

Karion Istomin Karion Istomin (; late 1640s – 26 May 1717) was a Russian poet, translator, and one of the first Russian enlighteners. He was a student of Sylvester Medvedev. Life Karion Istomin was born in Kursk. He was a celibate priest and then a hegumen a ...

* Symeon of Polotsk

References

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