Sretensky Convent

The Sretensky Convent (Convent of the Meeting of the Lord) stands in the village of Baturino, Pribaikalsky District, Republic of Buryatia, in the valley of the Itantsa River among low hills. The convent is about 70 km from Ulan-Ude along the Barguzin highway and about 100 km from Lake Baikal. It is the first and so far only Orthodox convent in Buryatia.

History

The first, wooden Sretenskaya (Meeting of the Lord) church was built in Baturino in 1777. In 1811 the parishioners decided to replace it with a stone church. Construction stretched over decades: the lower, winter chapel, dedicated to the Meeting of the Lord, was finished by 1829, while the upper, summer chapel, dedicated to the Great Martyr George the Victorious, was consecrated in August 1836.

The church was closed in 1936, like most churches in Buryatia during the Soviet period. According to local accounts, the men who took down and threw the bells from the bell tower soon died of an unexplained illness — a story still remembered in the village as a tale of punishment for desecrating the church.

The church was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church in the late 1990s in a half-ruined state. The Pruize family undertook its restoration, building a bakery for communion bread, a refectory and cells for the sisters next to the church. In the spring of 2000, Bishop Evstafy (Evdokimov) of Chita and Zabaikalye officially opened a convent at the church.

The convent today

About 14 nuns, novices and postulants currently live at the convent, headed by Abbess Nika (Tolmacheva). The convent keeps a fragment of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord and relics of the Great Martyr George the Victorious, the Great Martyr Panteleimon and the Venerable Varlaam of Chikoy.

The convent also runs a guesthouse for pilgrims and a children's shelter, home to two girls. On patronal feast days up to 500 pilgrims come to Baturino. A large memorial (poklonny) cross stands on one of the nearby hills visible from the convent.

Getting there

Baturino can be reached by car along the Barguzin highway, about 70 km from Ulan-Ude. Buses and shared minivans also run from Ulan-Ude to the village from the city bus station. GPS coordinates: 52.33380, 107.85728.