One of Russia's oldest monasteries, the Kirillo-Belozersky (named after Saint Kirill of Belozero), stands on the banks of the Sheksna River in Vologda Region in northern Russia. If you approach it from Lake Siverskoye, the monastery seems to rise from the water, like the legendary town of Kitezh. Its towering fortress walls and church and belfry domes merge into a fanciful image of Old Russia

The monastery was founded in 1397 by Saint Kirill, pupil of Saint Sergius of Radonezh. In the early 1390s Saint Kirill with his close associate Saint Ferapont travelled in the north of Russia until they reached Mt. Maura near the Sheksna River. When the monks climbed to the top of the mountain, they saw a beautiful and deserted land lying below, with forests, lakes, and meadows. Their choice was made.

On a small hill in the woods that bordered Lake Siverskoye Kirill and Ferapont erected a wooden cross and dug a cave. After some time Ferapont moved on farther north and on another lake founded a monastery that came to bear his name. Kirill was not alone for long. Other monks soon joined him. Thirty years after it was founded, in 1427, the cloister was home to about 50 monks. Saint Kirill introduced strict rules in the monastery. Anyone who complained was immediately expelled. Saint Kirill wrote in a letter: "Anyone who refuses to obey the Father Superior shall be expelled from the monastery, so as to hold all the rest in fear."

In no time the monastery gained fame across Old Russia. Supported by the Moscow princes, it continued to grow and soon figured prominently on the political scene. In the 15th century its Fathers Superior supported the Moscow princes in all the turmoil of political struggle. The monastery spread political messages far and wide, calling for an end to enmity and strife and the creation of strong and merciful authority. "The Prince must have pity on his people," wrote Saint Kirill of Belozero. "Courts must be fair and judges must not take bribes." The monastery was one of the strongholds of a religious and moral trend popular in Russia in the late 15th century and home to its leaders, who spoke out against excessive wealth accumulated by some monasteries, believing this stood in the way of spiritual fulfilment. From the monastery their ethics spread all over Old Russia.

In the first half of the 16th century the monastery began to be frequented by Moscow's grand princes and tsars, who came to pray and donate money for construction on the grounds.

In 1528 Grand Prince Vasily III with his young wife visited the monastery to ask God and the monks of the monastery to give them a child. The future Ivan the Terrible was born soon after this visit. To commemorate the event the Grand Prince built a church on the monastery grounds in honour of the birth of John the Baptist, and years later Ivan the Terrible himself donated a large sum of money to the cloister.

Ivan the Terrible visited the monastery three times before he expressed the wish to take monastic vows. His wish was fulfilled shortly before his death.

During his reign the monastery was the site of exile for many outstanding personalities. When the exiled nobility donated money to the cloister, an infuriated Ivan the Terrible accused the monks of a sinful life, avarice, drunkenness, and indulgence of the exiled noblemen.

The Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery was one of the icon-painting centres with a tradition founded by the talented icon painter Saint Dionisy. An intelligent and educated spiritual leader. Saint Dionisy was also a wood carver, writer, carpenter, blacksmith, and even enjoyed weaving baskets. In 1424 he painted a portrait of Saint Kirill of Belozero. Developed by his pupils, the traditions of icon painting survived until 1917. Among the monastery's icons the most revered were those of the Mother of God. A total of 88 such icons were placed in the various churches on the monastery grounds.

The monastery's library was the richest such library in Russia. Its initial 17 manuscripts once belonged to the monastery's founder. By the 17th century it contained over two thousand manuscripts.

In the late 16th century the Saint Kirill Monastery was a strong fortress encircled by a stone wall one kilometre in length with eight towers and three gates. Though it had its weak points, the fortress beat back three attacks by Polish invaders and highway robbers who tried to capture the monastery in 1612-1614. Though the monastery's lands were devastated, the cloister itself survived.

In subsequent centuries the monastery continued to enjoy the favours of Russian tsars and play a key role in political events. For saving Tsar Alexis' (Alexey Mikhailovich's) tutor and relative, its Father Superior was granted the title of archimandrite, and the cloister received money to erect new fortress walls.

It took almost 25 years to build the new walls, 10 metres tall and 7 metres thick. Extending for more than 1,500 metres, they enclosed an area of 6 hectares, while the monastery with all its lands occupied some 120 hectares. The towers reached 25 metres in height.

The monastery came to be regarded as one of the three "great fortresses of the tsars", along with the Trinity and Saint Sergius Monastery some 60 km north of Moscow and the Solovets Monastery, located on the islands in the White Sea.

The cloister's main church, the Cathedral of the Assumption, was built in 1497 by masons from the old Russian city of Rostov the Great. The richly decorated interior included icons with frames, church utensils, and needlework mostly donated to the monastery by Moscow's tsars and members of the nobility. One of the holiest objects was the miracle-working icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria ("she who points the way"), painted by a Moscow craftsman before the Andrey Rublyov period and donated by Saint Kirill of Belozero in 1397. Another revered icon was the Assumption of the Virgin, believed to have been painted by Andrey Rublyov (1360-1430), and the Saint Kirill of Belozero icon, painted by Saint Dionisy.

By the early 17th century the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery was one of the richest in Russia. A hamlet that appeared nearby gradually became the town of Kirillov. The monastery began to decline in the latter part of the century, and when Catherine the Great in the 18th century began to strip the monasteries of all their property, it lost its wealth overnight. Gradually its many buildings fell into ruin. In the early 20th century 1,350 of the most valuable manuscripts in the monastery library were transferred to the library of a theological academy in St. Petersburg.

During the fierce antireligious campaign launched by the new atheistic authorities after the 1917 revolution, the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery was closed, and its last Father Superior Anastasy executed. Transformation of the monastery into a museum some time later saved some buildings and many of the old church utensils, art treasures, and the icons painted by Saint Dionisy. In recent years the monastery has been reviving.

by Alexandra Balashova

(“Moscow today & tomorrow”. August / 2002)