Holy Trinity Skanov Convent (Penza Diocese). Description of the Narovchatka cave monastery

The Trinity-Skanov Monastery is famous for its miraculous icon of the Mother of God and its majestic caves.

Monastery on Moksha

Nobody knows why the Narovchatsky Trinity-Skanov Monastery wears this mysterious name. There is no river with the name Skanov near the monastery. They say, however, that the area on which the monastery was founded in time immemorial belonged to certain Iskansky boyars. But no one knows this for sure. But the Sanaksar Monastery, located not too far from these places, on the banks of the same Moksha River, also has such a name, for some unknown reason. And the famous Optina Hermitage too... And when there are no facts, space opens up for legends and fiction... Either a legend will appear about the repentant robber Opta, or about boyars with strange, almost mythical names...
According to legend, the monastery began two kilometers from here. The monks who came from the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra dug underground caves 570 meters long in the mountain (the Kiev-Pechersk caves are slightly smaller - 510 meters). Today the caves are the main attraction of the monastery, largely thanks to them, buses with pilgrims began turning here from the main “pilgrimage highways.” But the monastery is still quiet and cozy. And pilgrims are truly welcome here. The monastery is headed by Abbess Evstolia, an elderly woman with a surprisingly kind face. It is clear from everything that she is one of those rare “administrators” who tries to solve all issues with love. And the confessor of the monastery, Abbot German, is rumored to be a strong man of prayer. Many come to him for spiritual advice.
It is not known exactly when the monastery was founded. But it is known that in 1676 this monastery suffered a fire, which means its history began much earlier than this date. Not all even famous monasteries can boast of such venerable age.
IN Soviet years the monastery was closed. In one of his churches - in the name of the Beheading of John the Baptist - a club was located and “dances” were held there for many years, where young Salomes, as if at Herod’s feast, wriggled and writhed in a holy place, demanding to “behead” the honorable head of the saint...
A new story Narovchatsky Trinity-Skanova Monastery began in 1989. Then on the territory former monastery there were restoration workshops. And so the comrades in the “shop” decided to fire one of the managers. And he, in order to annoy his former colleagues, began to strive so that not he and not them would get this territory, but... the Church! And in this, with God's help, succeeded. Thus, human weaknesses served God's Providence. Opened convent one of the first in the perestroika years. And ten years later, on October 3, 1999, I visited this monastery His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus'. He examined the restored churches and buildings, served a prayer service at the miraculous Trubchevskaya Icon of the Mother of God, and, concluding his visit to the Trinity-Skanov Monastery, said that this is the pearl of the entire Penza region...

Trubchevskaya Icon of the Mother of God

One of the great shrines of Russia. This icon, kept in the monastery, was included in the list of miraculous icons of the Russian Church. Its celebration takes place on October 3 - and it is no coincidence that it was on this day that His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II visited the monastery. This icon was painted in the city of Trubchevsk, now the Bryansk region, in 1765 by the monk Euthymius from the Chelny Monastery, as stated in the inscription on the icon. There is no information about how and when the icon ended up in the Trinity-Scan Monastery. But the chronicles of the monastery include news of how, during cholera epidemics that claimed many lives, the monks carried out the miraculous icon from the monastery in a religious procession and walked with it around Narovchat. After this, the epidemics stopped. As a sign of special veneration of the icon, in 1853 the residents of the city, not far from the monastery, built a cemetery church in the name of the Trubchevsk Icon of the Mother of God.
After the monastery was closed, this icon for a long time was kept in the local history museum. During the next inventory of museum valuables in 1975, opposite the line “Trubchevskaya Icon of the Mother of God” the inscription appeared: “lost.” But through the efforts of a local historian and journalist, at that time the editor of the Narovchatskie News newspaper, Vladimir Afanasyevich Polyakov, this icon was found in the museum’s storerooms. On this miraculous image lay others museum exhibits. After such “storage”, the icon had to be taken for restoration to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. But this did not make the holy image lose its miraculous power. Just recently, before the New Year, a woman sick with tuberculosis came to the monastery from Saransk. She prayed in front of the Trubchevskaya Icon of the Mother of God and, leaving home, took with her the oil from the lamp in front of the miraculous icon. At home, she prayerfully anointed herself with this oil and soon received complete healing. A month later, she again came to the Narovchatsky Monastery to give praise to the holy icon for the miraculous healing...

Abbess Eustolia
originally from Saransk. There she took monastic vows, there she prayed at the church, in which in those early years the guard was the elder Schema-Abbot Jerome (2001), who later became famous throughout Russia. In 1989, Penza Archbishop Seraphim invited her to the Trinity-Skanov monastery that had just been transferred to the diocese. Of course, it wasn't easy to leave hometown and go to a poor monastery. But she made her choice. The first nuns of the monastery lived in very difficult conditions - in the cold, in dampness. The subdeacons told Vladyka Seraphim that the nuns could not stand the difficulties and were about to leave the monastery... Then he arrived at the monastery, gathered them around him and sternly said: “This monastery, after a long desecration, was returned to the Church. If you leave here, we will have to give it back to the state...” Not a single nun left the monastery then... And in 1994, the dean nun Evstolia was appointed abbess of the monastery.
And here we are talking with her in the comfortable, cozy abbot’s building, where from the window there is a view of the beautiful, recently restored Cathedral Church with altars in the name of the Holy Trinity and in the name of the Dormition of the Mother of God.
“A lot has been done over the years,” says Abbess Evstolia. - But the temple in the name of the Trubchevskaya Icon of the Mother of God has not yet been restored. The Church of the Beheading of John the Baptist has not been restored. The caves are in urgent need of restoration, after all, this is both a shrine and a cultural monument for all of Russia! People should see what miracles the faith of our ancestors performed. The cave monks lived in conditions in which we cannot even imagine living... But we have no money for the restoration of the caves. The state does not allocate money for the restoration of the cave temple... They suggested that I give up the caves and give them to a museum - but the caves and the monastery have always been one. In addition, there are plans to build a restaurant for secular tourists near the caves. Well, no, we will never allow this and we will not give up the caves...
Several years ago, city authorities privately asked Abbess Evstolia whether she would object to the restoration of the local church in Narovchat. They correctly explained to her that if the temple operates in the city, then all the local residents will go to it and the monastery will be left without a livelihood. The abbess answered without hesitation: “It is a terrible sin to hinder the restoration of the temple!” Soon the temple in the city became operational and people went to it. But for some reason, just at this time, numerous buses with pilgrims from Samara region and from other regions of the country. Thus, the number from the monastery did not decrease. But this is already higher mathematics", which only true Christians understand!

Hegumen German

As a layman, twelve years ago I came to this monastery as a pilgrim. And he stayed here forever - taking monastic vows and priestly orders. Previously, he was a designer in Perm. Now he cares not only for the sixty nuns of the monastery, but also for numerous pilgrims. They say he is strict. I don’t know if this is true - I didn’t notice it myself. But on our bus he excommunicated most of the women from Communion for a week - and yet many so wanted to receive Communion during the pilgrimage! I asked Father Herman about this.
“Mostly elderly or middle-aged people go on pilgrimage,” he answered. - Most often women go. People sincerely want to be reconciled with God, to begin new life. But this is impossible if they do not realize what it is terrible sin- abortion! But many of them committed this sin. I do not impose strict penances, but I do not bless communion for a week. I do this so that people realize the severity of this sin. They remembered God and repented.
After a long night of confession, Father German stayed to talk with the pilgrims from Samara, and we heard a lot of interesting things. I will give only one episode.
- Many of you - retirement age, - Abbot German says to the pilgrims. - And still you try to work. It is so? (“So,” discordant voices are heard). You help children, grandchildren... And I advise you to quit your job. You've already done your part. Now you all need to stand up for prayer. But already at real prayer. Pray five hours a day for your children and grandchildren. If you pray, their life will get better. And it’s not you, but they who will bring you the money... Here’s a case I know of. A tearful woman came to the monastery and said that her husband drinks heavily. I advised her to read the entire Psalter a day for her husband... She left - and soon returned, already happy. It worked, now he doesn’t drink at all... Another woman’s son couldn’t find a job. She began to pray for him four hours a day, with tears. He immediately got a job Good work. Prayer changes everything, everything can be obtained through prayer...

Underground monastery

At the foot of Mount Plodskaya, the spring of St. Anthony and Theodosius of Kiev-Pechersk gushes out of the ground. Probably this source was begged for. When the monks began to dig caves here, this healing spring came out of the ground to make their labors a little easier...
A rather narrow passage leads into the cave. But those who decide to go there will certainly get through. For some reason, twelve people from our group dared to dive through the mud into the underground world after the rain. I have already heard a lot about these caves, that they have three floors, that they are the longest in Russia, and even that they were studied by specialists and came to the unequivocal conclusion that these caves are man-made... But it’s better to see it once. And so I go down, numbering twelve.
In my youth, I climbed the famous caves of the Gray Brothers on the banks of the Volga, not far from Samara. It was scary there, it smelled like hell. All the time it seemed that something might happen, and you would never get out of this dark labyrinth. Years later, a tragedy occurred there - three tourists suffocated in the caves on May Day, and then several rescuers. Later I walked through the majestic Roman catacombs. There were completely different sensations, and the most important of them was victory over death. And here I am in a Russian underground monastery.

... We go deeper and deeper. Dark narrow corridors, cells with small recesses for icons. Here sits a bat, ruffled. We pass by it with caution. The walls are dripping, although not much. Steam comes from the mouth - the temperature here at any time of the year, depending on the tier, is from 6 to 12 degrees. We walk, stretched out in a long column, so that the trailing one can always indicate the path to retreat. It’s possible to get lost here, we’re going without a guide. In one place I see brickwork; apparently, the monks were strengthening the wall here. How much effort was required to hollow out these intricate enfilades, these cells and manholes in the “belly of the earth” with a pick and shovel! And how much strength it took to live and pray here! History has hardly preserved the names of the creators of these caves. Only in the “Penza Diocesan Gazette” for 1877 there is a line: “The novice of the monastery John was the first to work on the excavation of them (the caves), followed by others, but most of all the monk Arseny, who almost always lived here.”
Old-timers say that at the beginning of the century the Skanov caves looked quite inhabited. The main entrance was lined with beautiful ornaments. The vaulted ceilings and walls of the cave were whitewashed, and lit candles stood in small niches in front of each cell in the passages. “When I was very young,” a resident of the village of Skanovo told the nuns, “I worked in the monastery’s garden. One evening a monk took us to show us the caves. He showed me the cells. We've gone far down. There was a spring right below in the cave. The water is clean, clean. There are benches near the spring. We approached a door. The monk didn't let me in there. He said: “It’s impossible. The holy relics are kept there.”
It is already difficult for us to understand the builders of this underground monastery. Why did they climb here to pray, when nearby, on the top of the mountain, such a wonderful view of the eternally joyful nature opens up? Isn’t it better to offer prayer “for everyone and for everything” while looking at the pristine beauty of God’s world? It turns out it's no better. After all, the Lord Jesus Christ was born in the Bethlehem cave...
In order to ascend in spirit to the Mountain, our ancestors believed, we must bury ourselves alive underground. So that no earthly hopes remain. The world is a great deceiver, beauty has its own reverse side and is often the cause of temptation. A monk is, after all, someone buried alive, who is no longer afraid of anything and who cannot be taken by anything... And if in other great creations of human genius - be it the Chinese Wall, Egyptian pyramids or even a city on the water - the majestic and beautiful Venice - it seems like some kind of brilliant meaninglessness, some kind of majestic absurdity, then right here, in this underground city, meaning suddenly opens up. Yes, so big that it is very difficult to contain it. It is no coincidence that Russian monasticism began precisely from the Kyiv caves. It will end in caves - during the last persecution of faith. Then this meaning will come to life and appear with our own eyes - as the only true, real path... And then we will remember our ancestors, and we will not guess about why they were so eager to be not on top of Plodskaya Mountain, but in its womb...
We climb out into God’s light, and our comrades up there are strictly counting down the new arrivals. One, two... eight... twelve. So that one of us does not accidentally stay there, getting entangled in the underground corridors - with bats, but also with the Vladimir Icon of the Queen of Heaven, which one of the pilgrims discovered in the cave.
It's not time yet...

Trinity-Skanov monastery, destroyed during long years, is currently in difficult conditions during the period of restoration of monastic buildings and restoration of the monastery economy. Ancient caves are in urgent need of restoration. We ask you to provide all possible assistance to our monastery. We ask you on our knees not to leave our request unheeded. We will pray for the health of all donors.
Our details:
Narovchatsky Trinity-Skanov Convent.
INN 5824000880
Current account 40703810348290108002
In the Narovchatsky office of the Nizhnelomovsky OSB 4291 of the Volga Bank of the SB of the Russian Federation
BIC 045655635
Cor. account 30101810000000000635
Our address: 442637 Penza region, Narovchatsky district, village. Skanovo, Trinity-Skanov Monastery, Abbess Tabitha (Bakulina).

The emergence of the Holy Trinity Skanov Monastery should be dated back to the beginning of the 17th century. A former fire in 1676 on April 26 destroyed all documents by which its original history could be traced. From the patriarchal charters given in 7184 (1676) for the construction of churches, it is known that before the fire there were three churches and other monastic buildings.

The name of the Skanova Monastery, as it appears in the history of the Russian hierarchy, comes from the Skanova River. (“History of the Russian Church Hierarchy” vol. 5, p. 136). According to the legend of old-timers, the desert area, together with the village located nearby, belonged to the Spanish boyars, who took part in the formation of the monastery. By correct pronunciation the monastery should be called the Iskan Hermitage, and the word “Skanova” is reduced later in time.

The Holy Trinity Skanov Monastery had a solid structure both in the 17th century and in subsequent times. It firmly maintained its vitality during the 18th century, when many monasteries, especially after the establishment of monastic states (1764), were abolished and fell into disrepair. So, after 1764, the monastics of the abolished monasteries were transferred to the Holy Trinity Skanov Monastery: the Krasnoslobodsky Predtechensky Monastery and the Insar Hermitage.

Around 1786, the Charter of a strict dormitory was introduced in the monastery, as stated in the Submission to the Holy Governing Synod of Penza Bishop Afanasy on the subject of increasing the number of monastics. In the 19th century, the number of monastics at the monastery increased even more.

The preservation of monastic traditions and spiritual life in the monastery attracted everyone seeking eternal salvation to the monastery.

The Divine service was performed in the monastery in accordance with the general Church Rules and was not permissible.

The all-night vigil was quite long, because during its continuation the explanatory Gospel and the life of the saint according to the Prologue were constantly read. Early Liturgies were celebrated at 5 o'clock in the morning: in winter - in the hospital, and in summer - in the cemetery church. IN winter time, with the Protection of the Mother of God, the good news for the Liturgy began at 9 o’clock, on holidays and summer time- at 8:00. On Sundays, before the late Liturgy, a prayer service to the Mother of God was always served by the rector and all the brethren before the miraculous Trubchevsky image of the Mother of God.

At Liturgies, a lesson was always read. Vespers began at 5 pm in the summer and at 4 pm in the winter. After the evening service, the rule was read: the canons to the Sweetest Jesus, the Mother of God and the Guardian Angel. Akathists were read on the eve of Sunday, on Wednesday and Friday - an akathist to the Savior, and on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday - an akathist to the Mother of God. After the evening meal, at the ringing of the small bell, the brethren again gathered in church, where Small Compline was read, then the memorial service and evening prayers.

Processions of the cross, except those performed throughout Russia on three known days, i.e. On January 6, August 1 and on the day of the Midsummer, three more were celebrated in the Scanova Monastery: two - around the monastery on the temple holiday of the Holy Trinity and the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God (these passages were introduced from ancient times) and one - in honor of the Trubchevskaya Icon of the Mother of God, in the newly built cemetery church, on the day of its consecration (October 3).

This move was introduced with the verbal blessing of Bishop Ambrose II in 1854.

In 1795, in the middle of the monastery, on the site of the dismantled one-story stone Holy Trinity Church, construction began on a stone two-story, five-domed, Holy Trinity Cathedral.

The lower church of the cathedral with two altars: in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God and the Three Saints was consecrated on October 8, 1801 by the builder of the monastery, Cornelius.

On May 29, 1808, with the blessing of Bishop Moses of Penza, Archimandrite Israel consecrated the upper church of the cathedral in the name of St. Life-Giving Trinity.

On the southern side of the monastery in 1809, the refectory Church of the Beheading of the Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John was built, which was consecrated by the abbot of the monastery Cornelius in 1812.

In the summer, the brethren were engaged in arable farming and fishing in the Moksha River. Not far from the monastery there was a beekeeper (up to 80 hives), which provided honey and wax for the monastery candles. On the Sheldais River, near the village of Monastyrskoye, there was a wooden water mill granted to the monastery in 1797 by Emperor Paul I.

Outside the fence, four two-story stone living rooms were built for visitors. In one of the buildings there was a hospital for the brethren and visitors, and an icon-painting room. There was a wooden forge on the banks of the Moksha River. Near the monastery there were located: a grain barn, a stone barn, a living room, a cattle and horse yard, a stone glacier and outbuildings. At the monastery there was a garden, a vegetable garden and there were hay meadows and forest lands.

In the village Narovchat, on the corner of the market square, on the estate land donated by the Tsars: John, Peter and Sophia Alekseevich (40 fathoms long and 20 fathoms wide), where there used to be a vegetable garden, on which anise was sown for the use of the Tsars, first a wooden one was built, and then - stone chapel in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, covered with iron, inside of which was placed an iconostasis with holy icons, gilded in places.

At the chapel there were two cells for a monk living among the brethren. Next to the chapel in 1857, a two-story house with outbuildings was built for the rector of the monastery, Archimandrite Ambrose, which was rebuilt again after a fire in 1872. The chapel belonging to the monastery has now been preserved.

In the 30s of the 20th century, the monastery was closed and destroyed.

The monastery cathedral was turned into a warehouse and poultry farm, the cemetery church into a bird feed kitchen, bells were thrown from the bell tower, and the tombstones of the monastery crypts were flooded into the Moksha River. Icons, church utensils, and the library were partly looted and partly transferred to the local museum. In the church, in honor of the Beheading of the Holy Prophet and Forerunner of the Lord John, a club was blasphemously organized. Other buildings housed a store, a garage, a dining room, and the workers of the local state farm lived.

In 1990, the monastery was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church.

On March 12, 1990, nun Mitrofaniya (Peretyagana) arrived from the Riga Monastery and was appointed abbess of the Holy Trinity Skanova Convent. Seven sisters came with her. By the end of the first year of revival, there were already up to thirty nuns in the monastery.

The monastery lives mainly through the labors of the nuns themselves. The monastery has its own farm: a field for planting potatoes and sowing grain crops, a vegetable garden, an orchard and a berry plot, meadows, a barnyard with domestic animals and a poultry house. The sisters of the monastery carry out different obediences: choir singing, clergy, in the refectory, in the prosphora, in the sewing room, in the vestry, in the barnyard, in the almshouse. In the summer, the sisters take care of the flower beds, cultivate the fields, grow vegetables and berries in the garden, and take care of the garden. There are sisters in the monastery who can drive trucks and cars.

In their free time from obedience, the sisters are engaged in needlework: they weave rosaries and belts, embroider icons with beads, make crafts from natural materials, learn gold embroidery, paint with paints and braid with beads Easter eggs, learn church hymns.

The monastery is located in the Narovchatsky district of the Penza region, 1.5 km southeast of the Narovchatsky Trinity Skanov convent in the depths of Mount Plodskaya (Peshernaya, Gorodok). There are many legends about the time when the first man-made caves appeared here, but there is no reliable information. As the “Penza Diocesan Gazette” (1877) reports, “1.5 versts from the monastery there is a mountain called “Gorodok”... Inside the mountain in different directions caves have been excavated 18 versts wide, 40 versts high,... and shutters were made as a model for small rooms, without any decorations. The novice of the monastery, John, was the first to work on their excavation, followed by others, but most of all the monk Arseny II, who almost always lived here.” Indeed, at the beginning of the 19th century. the caves were actively developed with the participation of Hieromonk Arseny, who was the rector of Trinity Skanov monastery from July 20, 1825 to January 1827. After leaving office for health reasons, he retired to the caves and continued the “construction” of cells and an underground church.

Coat of arms of Narovchatsky district. "In an azure field on golden land

with three black caves in a row - a silver mountain with two of them

same caves at the base, crowned with a golden laurel wreath."

On the mountain in 1866-1880. A five-domed stone church was built in the name of the Kiev-Pechersk Mother of God and St. Saints Anthony and Theodosius of the Kiev-Pechersk Wonderworkers (consecrated on September 6, 1870), made in the forms of ancient Russian architecture, with a hipped bell tower, a chapel and several cells for the brethren. Later, in 1886, on the right side of the church, through the efforts of the rector Archimandrite Gideon and at the expense of the philanthropist Varvara Yakimova, a chapel was built in the name of St. Great Martyr Barbara. Unfortunately, today the above-ground buildings on the mountain have not survived. The chapel at the foot of the mountain near the spring has also not survived. Previously, it was near it that the main entrance to the cave complex was located.

Temple above the caves before destruction.

Upper entrance to the cave complex.

Chapel.

Distant corridors of the system.

The Narovchat caves have repeatedly attracted the attention of speleologists and archaeologists. It is believed that their length exceeds the famous caves of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. The currently accessible part, according to some sources, is over 600m. The complex has three tiers (according to legends, there were supposedly lower floors, but there is no objective evidence of this yet), combining long galleries, numerous cells (in the lower two tiers), small crypt chambers/ossuaries(?), underground chapels , transition stairs between floors, niches, narrow junctions and many others. The first (upper) tier clearly stands out as an independent section, which is connected through a gap in the collapsed cell with the lower tiers. The second tier is connected to the third (lower) tier by passages and manholes. The height of the main gallery passages is 1.9-2.0 m or more, the average width of the passages is 0.7-1.0 m. Air temperature in caves all year round the same: from 6 to 12 degrees depending on the tier. There are two entrances available. Some fragments have survived church texts on the walls.

Separate chambers are connected by narrow manholes.

Monastery corridors

Modern strengthening works

It is noteworthy that during construction or later, some parts of the caves were lined and reinforced with ordinary bricks. Subsequently, after the closure of the monastery, these bricks were actively removed to the surface by the local population for their own and collective farm household needs. This to some extent contributed to the destruction of walls and vaults. In this regard, some parts of the cave look quite depressing.

The establishment of the Holy Trinity Skanov Monastery dates back to the beginning of the 17th century. All documents by which one could trace its original history were lost in a fire in 1676. It is only known that this monastery existed long before the said fire and had a well-maintained appearance.

Initially, the monastery was a male monastery; since 1786 it had a Charter of strict dormitory. The Divine service was performed in the monastery in accordance with the general Church Charter, without omission. The all-night vigil was quite long, since during its continuation the interpretive Gospel and the life of the saint were constantly read in prologue. Early Liturgies were celebrated at 5 o'clock in the morning, in the winter in the hospital, and in the summer in the cemetery church. In winter, the gospel for the Liturgy began at 9 o'clock, on holidays and in the summer - at 8 o'clock. On Sundays, before the late Liturgy, a prayer service to the Mother of God was always served by the rector and all the brethren before the miraculous Trubchevsky image of the Mother of God. At Liturgies, a lesson was always read. Vespers began at 5 pm in the summer and at 4 pm in the winter. After the evening service, the rule was read - the canon to the sweetest Jesus, the canon to the Mother of God and the Guardian Angel. Akathists were read on the eve of Sunday, on Wednesday and Friday - an akathist to the Savior, on Monday, Tuesday and Saturday - an akathist to the Mother of God. After the evening meal, at the ringing of the small bell, the brethren again gathered in church, where Small Compline was read, then the memorial service and evening prayers.


The monastery had a rich sacristy, a solid library and an archive, which included decrees of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Grand Dukes Ivan Alekseevich, Peter Alekseevich and Empress Sophia Alekseevna, and a charter from Patriarch Joachim.

After the fire of 1676, the wooden Holy Trinity and St. Nicholas churches that were damaged in the fire were rebuilt. But the Holy Trinity Church burned down again around 1785, and St. Nicholas Church in 1802 was dismantled due to the dilapidation of the bell tower in which it was located. In 1762, on the north side, among the fence, a high stone bell tower was laid, in which a new St. Nicholas Church was built above the gate in 1793–93.

In 1795, in the middle of the monastery, on the site of the dismantled one-story Holy Trinity Church, construction began on a stone, two-story, five-domed Holy Trinity Cathedral. The lower temple of the cathedral with two altars: in honor of the Assumption Mother of God and the Three Saints, the upper temple of the cathedral in the name of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity. In 1809, the refectory Church of the Beheading of John the Baptist was built on the southern side of the monastery. In 1853, the stone cemetery church of the Trubchevskaya Icon of the Mother of God was built.

In the 30s of the 20th century, the monastery was closed and destroyed. The monastery cathedral was turned into a warehouse and poultry farm, the cemetery church into a bird feed kitchen, bells were thrown from the bell tower, and the tombstones of the monastery crypts were drowned in the Moksha River. Icons, church utensils and the library were partly looted, partly transferred to the local museum. A club was organized in the church in honor of the Beheading of John the Baptist; in other buildings there was a store, a garage, a canteen, and housing for workers of the local state farm. The abbot and inhabitants of the Trinity-Skanova Monastery were arrested and many were killed.


The revival of the monastery began in 1990, when the monastery was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. The monastery was now established as a women's monastery, since at that time the believers were mainly women. On March 12, 1990, a new abbess and seven sisters arrived from the Riga Monastery to the Skanov Monastery. By the end of the first year of revival, there were already up to thirty nuns in the monastery.


Now the Holy Trinity Skanov Monastery has been restored from ruins, acquired its original appearance and is the pearl of the Penza region. There are about 70 nuns in the monastery. Divine services are held here daily, and the indefatigable Psalter is read. The monastery lives mainly through the labors of the nuns themselves. The monastery has its own farm: a field for planting potatoes and sowing grain crops, a vegetable garden, an orchard and a berry patch of meadow, a barnyard with domestic animals and a poultry house. The sisters of the monastery carry out obedience: choir singing, churchwomen, in the refectory, in the prosphora, in the sewing room, in the sacristy, in the barnyard. In the summer, the sisters take care of the flower beds, mow hay, cultivate the fields, grow vegetables and berries in the garden, and take care of the garden. In their free time from obedience, the sisters are engaged in needlework: they weave belts and rosaries, embroider icons with beads, make crafts from natural materials, learn gold embroidery, paint Easter eggs and braid Easter eggs with beads, and learn church hymns.


In the Holy Trinity Monastery there is a shrine of the Russian Orthodox Church - the miraculous Trubchevskaya Icon of the Mother of God. The icon was painted by the priest of the city of Trubchevsk, Oryol province, Euthymius in 1765, as indicated in the inscription on the icon, at the request of the Tambov diocese, to which the Narovchatsky district was assigned at that time. IN mid-18th century century, the Holy Trinity Skanov Monastery was repeatedly burned down by fires. Prayer chants were offered and people turned to the Mother of God for help. This was the reason to order an icon of the Mother of God for the monastery. This icon is included in the list of miraculous icons of Russia. For more than two centuries, the Trubchevskaya Icon, especially revered by parishioners and providing wonderful help and patronage to the residents of the Narovchatsky district, was in the Holy Trinity Skanov Monastery. The “Penza Diocesan Gazette” reported in 1869 and 1877: “This icon is taken into the homes of townspeople to serve prayers and all-night vigils, and in the monastery itself many pilgrims flock to it with faith and serve prayers.” “In 1831 and 1848, during the raging cholera in Narovchat, this holy icon was also carried into the city, and its reverent admirers attributed the speedy cessation of the epidemic disease to the mercy and patronage of the Queen of Heaven.”


Before late XVIII century, the Trubchevskaya icon was located in the one-story Holy Trinity Church. After the completion of the two-story Holy Trinity Cathedral, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the icon was in the Holy Dormition lower church of the Holy Trinity Cathedral monastery behind the front pillar on the left side in a gilded icon case. On the icon, through the efforts of Abbot Philaret, a silver chasuble with a gilded crown and a crown decorated with precious stones was made using donations. In 1853, 114 sazhens from the monastery, a stone church was built in the name of the Trubchevskaya Icon of the Mother of God.

In the 30s of the last century, during the closure of the monastery, the icon was preserved and taken to the Narovchatka Museum of Local Lore, where the silver chasuble and gilded crown were removed from it, and “removed” from the crown. gems. For almost half a century it lay in dust and oblivion. It was ignored and used as an exhibit table. During the next inventory of museum valuables, next to the line “Trubchevskaya Icon of the Mother of God” they wrote: “lost.” This was in 1976.


In 1993, the icon was discovered in the museum's storerooms, but covered in dust and mold. Having cleared it of dust, everyone found in the corner of the icon the inscription: “1765”, and three letters - “EVF”, which meant that this icon was painted in 1765 by the priest Euthymius. The icon was returned to the monastery. It was sent to the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius for restoration, which lasted for 9 months. Now the updated icon is again in the Holy Trinity Scan Monastery. There are several known cases of miraculous healings through the Trubchev icon.

3 kilometers from the above-ground monastery, on the slopes of Mount Plodskaya, there are caves where hermit monks labored in the past.

Skanov cave monastery

Skanov cave monastery is one of the largest in Eastern Europe for cave monuments of this group. For the European part of Russia, it can be considered one of the largest. The Skanovsky caves are longer than the underground structures of the famous Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

The cave is located 2 km northeast of the village. Skanov, not far from the Holy Trinity Skanov Monastery. Mount Plodskaya, in which the entrance to the cave is located, is framed by forest. Below the mountain there is a river valley. Moksha. The caves are embedded in gray and brownish-gray glauconitic, fine- and fine-grained sandstones of medium strength, Otradnenskaya sequence of the Santonian stage. In the near-surface part there are colluvial sandy loams with crushed sandstones.

At the foot of the mountain there is a healing spring in honor of the Saints Reverends Anthony and Theodosius, the Kiev-Pechersk wonderworkers. Previously there was a wooden chapel here. At the source, the climb up the mountain begins at a fairly steep stairs. The mountain is the most high point surroundings.


Not far away (4-5 km southeast of the village of Skanovo) there is another healing spring - the Panik (Ponik) spring. A chapel and a gazebo were built next to it.

As local historians suggest, the cave monastery was founded in the 14th century by monks of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. According to historians, its foundation can be dated back to the middle of the 17th century.


One of the first mentions of caves on Mount Plodskaya (Peshernaya, also known as Gorodok) dates back to the second half of the 19th century: “1.5 versts from the monastery there is a mountain called “Gorodok”<…>Inside the mountain, in different directions, caves were excavated 18 wide (about 0.8 m), height (vault) 40 vershoks (about 1.8 m), length up to 256 fathoms (546.2 m), and small rooms were made as a sample shut up, without any decorations. The novice of the monastery, John, was the first to work on their excavation, followed by others, but most of all the monk Arseny 2nd, who almost always lived here” (Penza Diocesan Gazette, 1877).


“Arseny II, from the lower ranks of the military, was a simple-minded, meek man with a hard-working life, for which he was respected and loved both by his brethren and by others who knew him. For his pious life, he was awarded both hieromonasticism and abbotship at the monastery by his Eminence Ambrose 1st of Penza, who sometimes spent many days with him in spiritual conversation. However, he did not remain abbot of the monastery for long (from July 1825 to January 1827) and, leaving it, at will, retreated into the caves,<...>in which he had previously worked, distributing them, and built in them several cells and a place for the church.<...>He died in the monastery and was buried near the cathedral church on the south side; Many visitors to the monastery commemorate his tomb” (Penza Diocesan Gazette, 1877).



In the 19th century, active construction was underway above the caves: “At the base of the mountain there is a spring and above it a wooden chapel. It should be noted that on the mountain there was also originally a chapel and several cells for the brethren living there. But at present, a stone church with the same bell tower has been built in the caves, built under the current rector, Archimandrite Ambrose, using the amount he personally donated and the amount of willing donors. The construction of this church began in 1866 and was completed in 1870, in which it was consecrated on September 6th. There is only one throne in it - in the name of the Kiev-Pechersk Mother of God and the Monks Anthony and Theodosius of the Pechersk wonderworkers. In addition to the chapels, there are 5 wooden wings near the caves” (Penza Diocesan Gazette, 1877). The temple also had a limit of St. Vmch. Barbarians. The temple was made in the forms of ancient Russian architecture, with a hipped bell tower.


a spring and a wooden chapel above it.

A few descriptions of the condition of the cave at the beginning of the 20th century have been preserved: “Old-timers say that at the beginning of the century the Skanovsky caves had a very attractive appearance. The main entrance was lined with beautiful ornaments. The vaulted ceilings and walls of the caves were whitewashed, and lit candles stood in small niches in front of each cell in the passages. “When I was still very young,” says one of the residents of the village of Skanovo, “I worked in the monastery garden. One evening a monk took us to show the caves. We entered - everything was clean, whitewashed, candles were burning. They showed us the cells. We went far down. Below There was a spring right in the cave. The water was pure, pure. There were benches near the spring. We approached a door. The monk didn’t let us in. He said: “It’s impossible.” The holy relics are kept there."


In 1930 The underground monastery, as well as the Holy Trinity Monastery, was finally abolished and subjected to destruction. The monastery buildings were occupied by a state farm. The church and other buildings on Plodskaya Gora were spontaneously dismantled by the local population for bricks to repair stoves, houses and the state farm cowshed.

One of the last monks at that time lived in a cave with a novice. Some time later he was killed there unknown people. The body of the murdered monk was discovered in the cave by a novice returning from work.

It is possible that some of the entrances were subsequently blown up.

Description of the cave monastery
Skanov Cave Monastery presents a complex structure of galleries and rooms laid out on three tiers at a depth of 6 m with an amplitude of 12 m. Stable temperatures were recorded in different tiers: the first tier t 11-12 °C, the second tier t 8-9 °C, the third tier t 6-7 °C. The cave is dry, there are practically no water intrusions. Common animals include: insects (mosquitoes and butterflies); rodents (mice); bats (brown long-eared bats), three species of bats were recorded wintering in the cave: Brandt's bat, water bat and brown long-eared bat.

The first (upper) tier (about 126 m of passages), extended in a northern direction, is practically devoid of chamber spaces, with the exception of an expansion in the entrance area. The entrance to it is in a sinkhole. Perhaps the upper tier was connected with the above-ground structures of the monastery. Now the first tier is connected to the second through a joint formed as a result of the collapse of the vault of the second tier room. Perhaps it was previously associated with the second tier with 1-2 galleries, now filled up.

The second tier occupies the northeastern part of the dungeon. It has a separate entrance, now cleared. According to the testimony of old-timers, this entrance was used by monks. Here there is a maximum concentration of rooms, various niches, benches and galleries. It is possible that the development of the cave monastery began from this site.

The third tier, the longest, occupies the western part of the dungeon. It has a separate entrance, which is now equipped in the form of a chapel. In addition to this entrance, there are several more blocked. The tier is represented mainly by passages with a small number of rooms and niches. It is possible that some of the passages of the tier were created in the 19th century. with the revival of cave digging. Most likely, the passage was equipped for the passage of pilgrims to the main premises of the monastery on the second tier. The end of this passage is equipped with niches for relics. Then, apparently, from the central passage the rest of the third tier system develops in different directions. The third tier has various joints and connections with the second tier in the central part of the cave labyrinth. One of them was formed as a result of the collapse of the arch of the gallery of the 3rd tier, passing under the floor of the gallery of the 2nd tier.

The cross-section of the galleries is mainly box-shaped (arched), in some places rectangular. The width of the passages is from 0.5 to 1.1 m. The height is from 1 to 2 m. In the most collapse-prone areas, the galleries are reinforced with brickwork. There are niches for icons in the walls and at the dead ends of the galleries.

In total there are more than 33 rooms in the caves. Many of them were whitewashed. Structurally, the premises can be divided into groups: premises with a separate entrance opening; rooms connected to the gallery; premises (halls) at the intersection of galleries.

The most common are hermit cells (closed cells), on average 2.2 x 1.4 in plan, with a height of about 1.5-1.8 m (in some cells the floor is covered with scree, due to which their height is less). They are equipped with one or more couches and lecterns, and niches for icons are carved into the walls. Some cells have vents. The cells are connected to the gallery by a narrow doorway with a high threshold (some have door grooves). Some of the cells could have had a funeral purpose (especially those with a low ceiling height). The monastery also contains chambers and niches for burial (ossuary).

Along the gallery of the second tier, 7 niches-beds were cut out. There are two possible options for using these niches: residential (“cell-gallery”); for storing Christian relics - for example, relics (arcasolia niches).

Of particular interest is the crypt measuring 2.2 x 1 m with a brick vault on which crosses are painted in red paint. In the floor of the crypt there was a tomb, which was obviously covered with a slab (grooves were preserved along the walls). On three sides above the floor there is a fresco with inscriptions in Church Slavonic. It is possible that this crypt was also used as a chapel. In the cave monastery there is another chapel, built at the intersection of passages.

Two sections of the monastery, located on the second tier, can be interpreted as cave temples, which were subsequently not used for their intended purpose. In the southeastern section of the second tier, there is another tomb; perhaps there was a monastic necropolis (kimitirium), located around one of the mentioned temples.

Of the graffiti, the most common are images of crosses, cut out or painted with paint or soot on the walls of galleries, in the dead ends of galleries, in entrance openings and niches.

Since 2006, active restoration and clearing of the cave monastery began. Restoration work are carried out to this day under the guidance of employees of the Narovchatka Historical, Archaeological and Natural Museum-Reserve. An entrance in the form of a chapel was equipped, several hundred meters of galleries were lined with brick, and a staircase was built to climb the mountain to the cave. The spring under the mountain has been cleared and strengthened. The issue of building a monastery from the Trinity-Skanova Monastery above the cave has been resolved.

Trinity-Skanov convent, village. Narovchat, Penza region

The Trinity-Skanov Monastery was founded as a monastery for men in the middle of the 17th century. No exact information has been preserved about the name of the Scanova Monastery. According to one version, the name comes from the Skanova River that supposedly once flowed near the monastery. According to other sources and the surviving legend, it was named the Skanov Monastery after the surname of the local landowner, boyar Iskansky.

Since 1985, it has been a nunnery frequently visited by pilgrims. Its unique appearance is remembered for a long time. This one is very beautiful corner- “pearl” of the Penza land. Thanks to the care of numerous nuns, the monastery lives and prospers. The sisters work in obediences - planting potatoes and other crops. There is also a farmstead where they grow poultry, are engaged in livestock farming.

The monastery holds daily divine services, prayers are held in front of the main shrine of the monastery - the especially revered icon of the Mother of God called "Trubchevskaya", The Unstoppable Psalter is read.

The Trubchevskaya Icon of the Mother of God is included in the list of miraculous works of the Russian Church and is revered abroad. Its celebration takes place on October 16th. Art. (October 3, Old Art.), on the occasion of the consecration on this day in honor of her temple in the monastery. It was on this day that His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II visited the monastery. The icon is glorified for its miracles.

In the mountain, historically called Plodskaya, which is located not far from the Trinity-Skanova Monastery in a picturesque place, there is the Cave Monastery. There are different versions about the origin of these caves, but there is no doubt that it was through the efforts of the monks that they acquired the appearance of three-level passages with cells, approximately 2x2 meters, on both sides. The founder of the cave monastery is called Arseny II, who retired to the caves in 1826, but there are also versions about an earlier use for monastic residence. The total length of the cave passages is great - more than in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Now the passages have been preserved for a length of about 600 m, part of which is accessible to visitors. In total there were approximately 2.5 km, most of which are now destroyed and unexplored.