Andreyevsky Monastery (Moscow)

Russia / Moscow / Moscow / Andreyevskaya naberezhnaya, 2
 monastery, orthodox christianity, listed building / architectural heritage, Russian Orthodox Church
Moscow history is unclear when the first monastery was established on this site. Folklore suggests that it was founded at the end of the 13th century, but for certain it is mentioned in the writings of the 14th century. At the end of the 16th century the area was known as the Preobrazhensky or Transformation Hermitage. Khan Khazi-Girei and his Mongol troops approached the city of Moscow from the south hoping to enter through the Kaluga Gate (today Kaluzhskaya Ploshchad near the Oktyabraskaya Metro Stations) in 1591.

This monastery and another called Donskoi were built as additions to the defensive ring of monasteries surrounding Moscow following the failed Mongol invasion. The sites of these two were probably chosen to fill a gap in the city's southern defenses. However, it does not appear that this particular monastery ever played a defensive role since the 1591 invasion was the last by the Mongol Horde. The name was chosen because the 'miraculous' deliverance of Moscow occurred on the saint's day of the martyr Andrei Stratilat.

Years later, high-ranking boyar and close confident and advisor of Tsar Aleksei I, Fyodor Alekseivich Rtishchev (1625-1673) paid for the renovation of this monastery in 1648. From this time, the monastery served primarily as a scholarly institution whose monks translated books into Russian. One of the most notable translators was the Ukrainian Epifaniy Slavinetsky (?-1675). Slavinetsky, who was invited to Moscow by Aleksei I, was highly educated, particularly in languages. Among other things, he helped Patriarch Nikon translate and revise the ancient texts used by the Orthodox Church. These new translations were an attempt to establish some uniformity between the Greek and Russian Orthodox churches. Instead, they precipitated the division of the Russian Orthodox Church, creating the sect known as the Old Believers.

The Andreevsky monastery was associated with the Zaikonospassky monastery in the Kitai Gorod section of Moscow in 1682. Then, when the Slavonic Greco Latin Theological Academy was established, the students from Andreevsky Monastery studied there. When the school and later the Zaikonospassky monastery ceased operation in 1724, this site on the embankment became a home for foundlings and homeless children. By 1731, it was no longer serving as an orphanage. The monastery was rebuilt to serve as a hospice or almshouse for the poor in 1764. By the end of the 19th century over 950 people were residing within its walls and many of the religious structures were no longer present.

Following the 1917 Revolution, in 1924 the three remaining cathedrals were closed. During Soviet times, the Committee on Standards, Weights and Measures operated from this site in the 1960s, and then from the 1980s the Research Institute of the Meteorological Service was located here. The Russian Orthodox Church re-consecrated the Church of the Resurrection in 1992, restored the Over-the-Gate Church of of Andrei Stratilat and the bell tower Church of John Bogoslov, or John the Divine and today the former buildings of the hospice for the poor contain the Synod library.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   55°42'42"N   37°34'29"E

Comments

  • This is not a museum. This is an active parish of the Church of Russia.
  • Thanks for fixing the entry. I was married in this church and our child was baptist here also.
This article was last modified 4 years ago