Sretensky Monastery and the Church of the New Martyrs

Sretensky Monastery is a Moscow stauropegial (since 1995) male monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church. It was founded in 1397 by Prince Vasily I on the Kuchkovo field in memory of the deliverance of Moscow from the invasion of Tamerlane in 1395. In the 17th century, it was moved to its current location – Bolshaya Lubyanka Street (former part of Sretenka street).

During the reign of Ivan III, the churches of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God and St. Mary of Egypt were rebuilt in stone. In 1482, the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was erected. Since 1521, annually on May 21, a religious procession has been held in gratitude for deliverance from the Crimean Khan Mehmed Giray invasion.

Since the monastery was the first monastery on the way from Moscow to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, it was visited by pilgrims going on a pilgrimage. On November 8, 1552, at the Sretensky Monastery, Muscovites and the clergy, led by Metropolitan Macarius, met Tsar John IV Vasilyevich, who was returning to Moscow after the victorious capture of Kazan. Ivan the Terrible then visited the monastery and endowed it with generous donations.

In December 1925, Sergey Izvekov, the future Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus’ Pimen, took monastic vows in the monastery. At the end of the same year, the monastery was closed.

In 1991, the Cathedral of the Presentation of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. Later, the courtyard of the Pskov-Caves Monastery was opened. On July 6, 1995, by the decision of the Holy Synod, the courtyard was transformed into a stauropegial monastery.

News buildings:

The Church of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church on Lubyanka was built in 2014-2017 as a “temple of blood” in honor of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church. It is an example of modern Russian temple architecture. The author of the project is the architect Dmitry Smirnov.

The five-domed temple has a height of 61 m and can accommodate about 2,000 people. The walls are lined with Vladimir limestone, decorated with carvings. The temple complex includes the upper church of the Resurrection of Christ, the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church, the lower church of St. John the Baptist and the Twelve Apostles, some additional rooms, and an underground parking lot. Holding services in the open air on the square in front of the temple is possible.

Address: Bolshaya Lubyanka, 17, building 3, Moscow

Nearest metro: Turgenevskaya, Sretensky Boulevard, Chistye Prudy.

See also architecture of Moscowchurches and cathedrals of Moscow

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