Svyato-Nikolsky Convent

The Svyato-Nikolsky Convent (Holy St. Nicholas Convent) is an active Orthodox women's monastery in Saratov Oblast, in the village of Monastyrsky in Pugachyovsky District, a few kilometers from the town of Pugachyov. The convent belongs to the Pokrovsk diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.

History

In 1764 the monk Pakhomy, who came from Poland, founded an Old Believer male skete on this site. In 1788 the community built a church dedicated to Nicholas the Wonderworker; according to some accounts, the church had nineteen domes. In 1836 the monastery was converted to the Edinoverie rite, and the following year, on 28 August 1837, a fire broke out in the community. In 1843 the monastery became a convent for women.

After the revolution, in 1918, Soviet authorities closed the monastery. In 1920 a club was set up in the Nikolsky church, and from 1930 a collective-farm brigade used the former monastery grounds.

Restoration began in 1997, when work started on repairing the Svyato-Nikolsky church. On 28 December 2000 the modern Svyato-Nikolsky Convent was officially established, and on 20 September 2008 a Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the restored church for the first time since the Soviet decades. In 2009, at the proposal of the Saratov regional Duma, the village by the monastery, formerly called Mopr, was officially renamed Monastyrsky.

Legends

The convent is linked to a legend about Yemelyan Pugachev, leader of a peasant uprising: according to tradition, in 1772 he received a blessing to rule as "tsar" from the elder Filaret, one of the monastery's founders. Among the relics venerated at the convent is a fragment of the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh.

Getting there

The convent lies a few kilometers from the town of Pugachyov in Saratov Oblast. Travelers can take a regular bus from Saratov to Pugachyov, or a train to the same town, then a taxi: the distance from Pugachyov to the convent is about three kilometers.