Svyato-Spassky cave monastery: Golgotha and the Garden of Gethsemane in the village of Kostomarovo

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In the book of Proverbs V. Dahl has a wonderful saying: "Not worth it without the Holy city, the village without a righteous man". Knowing what ordeal was experienced in different years, the Church in our country truly believe that the walls of temples and cathedrals protects the Almighty. Otherwise not to explain how managed to survive Svyato-Spassky monastery, built at the foot of the chalk hills on the river don, in the 12th century. He had to endure not only hurricanes and natural storms, but also to face Communist persecution, but the cave monastery has been stripped, it can rightly be called a Bastion of Russian Christianity.





About two thousand years ago Andrew went to the East to draw Scythian peoples to the Christian faith. According to legend, these picturesque mountains reminded him of Jerusalem earth, so he put a stone cross on top of one of the limestone mountains and founded the cave monastery.





Later the monks used the chalk caves as a refuge to hide from persecution, first in the 12th century cave monastery on this site was fully erected. Today he is considered one of the most ancient architectural monuments of Russia, since the precise time of its construction very difficult. The architecture of the Cathedral has a strong Byzantine influence in the massive body of the building, straight walls, rounded arches and Orthodox decorations. Every year it attracts thousands of pilgrims from all over the country, the monastery can host up to 2000 people.





Those who happened to visit the cave monastery, with admiration tell about the fantastic feeling of lightness and divine grace that they have experienced during their stay in the monastery. Come here for healing, cleansing, and also in those situations when you need to make responsible decisions. In the monastery there is even a Cave of repentance, where he remained for sinners, to pray for my sins. Healing power of and the surrounding picturesque landscape, the locals believe that the village Kostomarovo looks the same as the Holy Land, as it has Calvary, Tabor and even the Garden of Gethsemane.





During the Communist regime, the monks were expelled from the Church of the Saviour, the last hermit, known as the father of Peter, was there shot. Despite this, the Holy place was known in all the surrounding areas, Christians still come to pray in this monastery. In 1960 Nikita Khrushchev in the struggle against the believers took a radical decision – he gave the order to flood the Church so that the people did not return to these places. However, the monastery survived.





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