Bogoroditsky women's living monastery in Ostashkov. “Bogoroditsky Zhitinny Monastery.” Bright evening with Abbess Elisaveta (Evdokimova) (02.12.2015)
Information for 2008:
Information on parish attendance in holidays and an approximate estimate of the total number of parishioners:
On holidays - 250-300 people, on weekdays - up to 50 people. Services are held in the monastery 4 times a week, and once a week in the courtyard.
Information about construction, restoration
◊ At a farmstead in the village of Krapivnya, Ostashkovsky district The construction of the church-chapel in the name of St. is being completed. Nicholas. A livestock farm with an area of 250 sq.m has been built and an additional extension is being added to it. Construction of a residential building of 400 sq. m. is underway. m, a bakery and a bathhouse are being built.
◊ Construction is completely completed farmstead in the village of Petrikovo, Ostashkovsky district: temple in the name of St. prmts. Grand Duchess Elizabeth and nun Varvara with a total area of 130 sq.m. and a residential building with a total area of 120 sq.m.
◊ External work on the gate church in the name of the holy apostles John the Theologian and Andrew the First-Called and all the extensions adjacent to the church have been completed.
◊ A two-story residential building with a total area of 900 sq.m. was built and occupied;
◊ The bishop's building has been restored;
◊ Work is underway to overhaul the monastery hotel;
◊ Work on the arrangement and internal renovation of the parish secondary school has been completed;
◊ Restoration of the bell tower of the Smolensk Cathedral is underway, as well as preparatory work for the restoration of the cathedral itself.
Information about catechesis and education:
◊ There is a Sunday school;
◊ The monastery has an orphanage. Education, medical care, and everyday education are provided for children. The monastery school employs 6 teachers.
◊ The monastery operates a parish secondary school, in which 12 pupils of the monastery orphanage study.
◊ There is a minibus “Gazelle” to provide excursions
◊ There is a vocal class with 20 students;
◊ There is a parish library;
◊ Seminars on pedagogy and psychology were held for urban teachers;
◊ Cultural and educational classes were held with parishioners and students of the city
Information about social service
The monastery has an orphanage. Education, medical care, and everyday education are provided for children.
The monastery regularly provides charitable assistance to poor and large families, a children's hospital, kindergarten, schools.
Working with funds mass media:
Festive monastery newspapers are published; participated in radio broadcasts, published 3 articles in the local newspaper “Seliger”
There is a website at: odigitria.cerkov.ru/bankdetails
Interaction with the Army
Conducting excursions and conversations with groups from military units and military schools.
Interaction with correctional institutions of the Ministry of Justice
A library was collected and donated for the Andreapol colony.
Conducting seminars and explanatory conversations with parishioners and students of urban areas educational institutions about the influence and methods of work of authoritarian sects and pseudo-religious formations.
Information on the number of inhabitants of monasteries, material base, short historical reference
There are 27 nuns living in the monastery, including 1 abbess and 12 children.
Material base
A hotel building, a parish secondary school building, a winter greenhouse, a bakery, a sewing workshop, a bathhouse, a laundry, warm garages and carpentry workshops with equipment for the production of carpentry and furniture, a sculpture workshop, a greenhouse for growing flowers. There is a minibus "Gazelle". A livestock farm with a total area of 250 sq.m and a dairy kitchen for milk processing were built on the farmstead. Two farmsteads.
Historical reference
The Zhitenny Monastery got its name from one of the islands of Lake Seliger.
On October 25, 1715, a decree was issued on the construction of a wooden chapel. However, in 1716, when the chapel was already under construction, the residents of Ostashkov had the idea to build a church for the icon, especially since this did not require any special expenses, they just needed to make small superstructures. The location of the church was determined on Zhitny Island, where a small church once stood 
So, after consulting among themselves, the townspeople submitted a petition to the Patriarchal State Order for permission to erect a church in honor of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God on the island of Zhitny.
Thanks to the diligent efforts of the residents of Ostashkov, the church was quickly built and improved. When it was finally ready, the priest Leonty built himself a cell near it and began to live there. Gradually, monks from different monasteries began to come to the new temple, who, like Leonty, settled nearby and conducted church services. These settlements marked the beginning of the men's monastery on Zhitny Island of Lake Seliger.
After the construction of a church in honor of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, as well as the unauthorized appearance of a monastic community on Zhitny Island, the monastery more than once encountered serious “difficult circumstances” that threatened its abolition.
At the beginning of 1719, Bishop Ignatius of Suzdal entered the department of Metropolitan of Krutitsky, with the right to manage the Patriarchal Treasury Order and the spiritual affairs of the Patriarchal region, to which Ostashkov then belonged. The bishop, having learned about the unauthorized structure of the monastery, issued a written decree on the abolition of not only the monastery, but also the church on Zhitny.
After the decree was issued, the abbess of the Ostashkovsky Znamensky Monastery, Neonila, submitted a petition in which she asked to give the Zhitennaya Church to their monastery. Their church in honor of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist was very dilapidated, and there were not enough funds to build a new one. Thus, on April 10, 1719, the Patriarchal Order issued a decree, according to which the church on Zhitny Island passed into the possession of the Znamensky Monastery. However, in reality this never happened. After several attempts to dismantle the church, Abbess Neonila abandoned it and did not contact the Order again on this issue.
According to documents for 1724, on the island of Zhitnoy there was a church with the previous consecration, completed in 1719, and a bell tower, and a monastery with a new, better iconostasis. And according to the information about the monks, Balti and novices, at that time there were ten people in the monastery . It is likely that the monks gradually returned to the island, continuing to preserve and support the activities of the monastery.
Soon after the first decree on the abolition of the monastery in 1719, in 1724, on the basis of the Regulations, a second decree on the abolition was issued by the Spiritual Board. Here we were talking about all the small monasteries and deserts that needed to be united with large monasteries. To save the Zhitenny Monastery from closure, Abbot Macarius sent a petition to the Moscow Ecclesiastical Dicastery for the abandonment of the church and the Zhitenny Monastery.
However, the monastery was still abolished, but only for a short time. In 1727, a decree was issued which stated that all monasteries with small estates and without estates that supported themselves would not be liquidated and the monks could return back.
From that time on, the life of the Ostashkovo men's Zhitenny Monastery slowly began to improve.
The Zhitenny Monastery has a fence with towers, holy gates, inside a temple, a bell tower, various civil buildings - fraternal and abbot's buildings, a refectory, as well as outbuildings. The center of the monastery is the main temple - the cathedral in the name of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God. The first wooden church erected on Zhitny Island in the name of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God was built at the request and zeal of the residents of Ostashkov for the main shrine of the city. This wooden “timber” church was five-tiered (“about five belts”), five-domed with a wooden octagonal bell tower. The domes of the church are covered with ploughshare, the cross on the central dome is gilded metal, the crosses on the other four are wooden, upholstered in white iron. The iconostasis consisted of four tiers: local, deesis, festive, and prophetic. In the center of the iconostasis were the Royal Doors.
The wooden church in the name of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God had a chapel in the name of Saints Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom. The iconostasis in the chapel was two-tiered: in the lower one - the Royal Doors and a local row of icons, in the second - the apostles. There were three bells on the bell tower of the temple - one large and two small. 
Initially, all the buildings of the monastery were wooden: there were four fraternal cells. The holy gates were made of timber and ended with a tent; there was no fence. All these buildings of the Zhitenny Monastery were gradually replaced by stone ones. Stone construction at the monastery began in 1737, with the construction of a new cathedral in the name of the Smolensk Icon Holy Mother of God. In 1737-1743, with the blessing of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church and by order of Bishop Veniamin of Kolomna, who administered the Synodal Treasury and the Synodal Region, a new stone church was built to replace the previous wooden one. In 1764, both the Smolensk Church and the chapel were consecrated in the name of Saints Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom.
The facades of the Smolensk Cathedral were decorated with paintings painted on canvas and mounted in frames: above the altar - the image of the Mother of God, on the southern wall and on the bell tower - the Smolensk image of the Mother of God Hodegetria, above the door at the entrance to the refectory - the image of Christ Pantocrator; on the southern and northern walls of the refectory - “Christ Pantocrator” and “Descent from the Cross”.
The Smolensk Cathedral of the Zhitenny Monastery has partially survived to this day, but, unfortunately, in a dilapidated and heavily distorted form. The octagon that crowned the temple was dismantled to its foundations, the windows were expanded, and the architectural decor was trimmed. Currently, we can only see the remains of architectural decoration on the walls of the former Smolensk Cathedral.
As A.A. Galashevich noted, stone buildings of the 30s - early 40s of the 18th century in the province are very rare. During these years, very little was built, and in the architecture of the few churches of this period, the traditions of architecture of the late 17th century, most often Moscow Baroque, were clearly evident. The Smolensk Cathedral of the Zhitenny Monastery is a vivid example of how the style of modern times, the Baroque, gradually replaced the “patterned” style of the previous century, at the same time, the Baroque itself was actively influenced by it.
The gate church in the Zhitenny Monastery was built in the Baroque style; it is beautiful in composition - slender, tall, tiered, and also in its architectural decoration - lush platbands, numerous pilasters, a patterned wide cornice that crowns each tier, like a crown. A.A. Galashevich in his research notes that the gate church of the Zhitenny Monastery was erected by a team of architects from Toropets. He believes that this temple is the pinnacle of a short flowering of local architecture. In 1890 the temple was renovated.
Inside the gate church there was a wooden carved gilded iconostasis. Judging by the surviving inventory, the iconostasis was three-tiered. In the center are the Royal Doors, carved and gilded, above them the “Holy Spirit in radiance.” In the bottom row, the first to the right of the Royal Doors is the image of the Savior with the upcoming Saint Spyridon, Bishop of Trimifuntsky (on the southern doors), and John the Theologian. To the left of the Royal Doors is an image of the Most Holy Theotokos with St. Ambrose of Milan (on the northern doors) and St. Andrew the First-Called.
The second tier of the iconostasis was like this: above the Royal Doors - “The Last Supper”, above - “The Coronation of the Mother of God”, and to the right and left - the cycle of holidays “The Nativity of Christ”, “The Baptism of the Lord”, “The Presentation of the Lord”, “The Nativity of the Virgin Mary”, “ Presentation of the Mother of God into the Temple." The third tier of the iconostasis is the Deesis tier, in the center “Savior in Power”, the Mother of God, John the Baptist and the twelve apostles stand before the Lord (all of them, in prayer for the human race, are turned to the Savior). The iconostasis was crowned with the image of the Resurrection of Christ. The iconostasis contained six small icons with images of various Saints. All icons are picturesque, executed in oil by Ostashkov painters.
In the gate church there were icons of the Smolensk Mother of God, especially revered Christian saints: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, Nicholas of Myra, as well as the Venerable Nil of Stolobensky, Joseph of Volotsky, Russian Saint Demetrius of Rostov 
In 1751, a stone bell tower was erected over the western entrance to the main cathedral. The contract for its construction was drawn up in December 1750; this document was carefully kept in the archives of the Zhitenny Monastery until the monastery was closed in the 1920s. The largest “good news” bell, weighing 60 poods, was installed on the bell tower. In 1756, a one-story stone fraternal refectory with a kitchen was added to the northern side of the bell tower, and in 1762, with the blessing of Tver Bishop Athanasius, a chapel was built on the left side in the name of the newly-minted wonderworker St. Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov (consecrated on September 21, 1762)
The bell tower of the Smolensk Cathedral of the monastery has been preserved; it is tall, three-tiered, with a powerful pillar-shaped octagonal bell tier on a quadrangle. The bell tier is completed by a low, graceful tier, above which is mounted on a drum an onion-shaped head topped with a cross. The completion of the bell tower is in amazing harmony with the top of the gate church in the name of John the Theologian and Apostle Andrew the First-Called.
The fence and towers of the Zhitenny Monastery were built in 1760-1761. In the fence on the western side there was access to the lake. The fence is long (200 fathoms, that is, 432 meters), the architects decorated its facades with pilasters, which give it a special picturesqueness, avoiding the monotony of perception. On the inside, the fence is decorated with an arcade. Hexagonal turrets with a hipped top were located at the corners of the fence.
On the territory of the Zhitenny Monastery from 1751 to 1758 and from 1772 to 1801, the Ostashkov Theological School was located in a wooden outbuilding (and for some time it had a bursa for 19 poor students), as well as from 1773 - the Ostashkov Spiritual Board. Initially it was located under the refectory of the gate church in the name of John the Theologian and Apostle Andrew the First-Called; in 1802 it was transferred to the south-eastern stone building.
There was an orchard in the Zhitenny Monastery. It was located in the southwest of the Smolensk Cathedral, on the eastern side of the abbot's building. The garden had a wooden fence on a stone foundation with stone pillars.
In 1928 the monastery was closed. In 2002, the monastery began to operate again. In 2003, the shrine - the founder of the monastery - the Smolensk Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary was returned.
The history of the restoration of the Bogoroditsky Zhitenny Monastery
In 1920 the monastery was closed. Before the opening, there was a dairy factory on the territory of the monastery. According to the petition of the Archbishop of Tver and Kashinsky Victor dated July 17, 2002, the decision of the Holy Synod determined the opening of the Theotokos Zhitenny convent with the appointment of the abbess of the monastery, nun Elisaveta (Evdokimova).
Currently, the territory of the monastery has been landscaped, the gate complex, the bishop's building, two fraternal buildings, and outbuildings have been restored: a carpentry workshop, an apiary, a barnyard, a vegetable garden, a bakery, a sewing workshop; The flower farm provides the townspeople with seeds and seedlings. On the allocated island of Fomin, the territory is being landscaped, and it is planned to plant a garden.
Preparatory work is underway to restore the cathedral in honor of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God. In the summer and on holidays, the monastery receives many pilgrims from youth and children's organizations, for whom the monastery hotel was built. These days it becomes a center for children and youth, where creative evenings and spiritual conversations are held.
Now 40 people live in the monastery: 1 abbess, 3 nuns, 5 nuns, 8 novices, 9 people in the farmsteads, as well as mothers with children who live in a social hotel.
There are three courtyards at the monastery: Nikolskoye (the village of Krapivnya, Ostashkovsky district), Pokrovskoye (the village of Yeltsy, Selizharovsky district), the courtyard named after St. prppmchch. Elizabeth and Varvara (village of Petrikovo, Ostashkovsky district). At the Pokrovsky Compound there is a spring in honor of St. Vmch. Paraskeva Pyatnitsa, the first mention of which dates back to the 16th century. A chapel was founded here.
(Information provided by the Information Service of the Tver Metropolitanate.)
The Ostashkov Zhitenny Monastery is located near the town of Ostashkov on one of the islands of Lake Seliger, called Zhitenny. Until 1700, on this island there were granaries for grain supplies collected by the Office of the Patriarchal Court from the inhabitants of the adjacent island of Klychno, who later founded the city of Ostashkov. The island is connected to the city by an embankment.
The foundation of the monastery was laid at the beginning of the 18th century, by decree of Sovereign Emperor Peter the 1st of March 19, 1716.
The reason for the establishment of the monastery was the rivalry between the parishioners of the Trinity and Resurrection churches of the Ostashkovo settlement over the possession of the Miraculous Icon of the Smolensk Mother of God Hodegetria. In ancient times, the icon stood on the gate of the city wall and after the fire that happened in 1711 and destroyed everything, it was found completely unharmed in the ashes. In the manuscript about Ostashkov, the icon is called the Miracle-Working Icon, and it is attributed to the blessed protection of the city, especially in times of trouble. To eliminate the rivalry between churches, a wooden-timber church was built on Zhitny Island, in which the icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria was placed as a temple.
The church had five domes covered with wooden scales, on the middle dome there was a gilded iron cross, on the others there were wooden domes covered with tin. The church was headed by the widowed priest of the Church of the Resurrection, Leonty Ivanov, to whom monks from different monasteries began to come, began to build cells for themselves and conduct divine services. 
In 1734, on June 13, with the blessing of the Holy Synod, the construction of a stone church began in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos Hodegetria of Smolensk with a warm limit in the name of the Three Saints: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom on right side from the western entrance. The lower part of the temple is square, with a sloped quadrangular projection for the Altar, the upper is octagonal. Five chapters with gilded iron crosses. The church was consecrated on December 16, 1743.
In 1751, a stone bell tower in three tiers was built above the western entrance to the church and a gilded iron cross was placed on it.
In 1761, with the blessing of His Grace Athanasius, Bishop of Tver and Kashin, the left warm chapel was installed in the name of St. Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov Wonderworker, and consecrated on September 21, 1762.
In 1878, on December 13, a chapel was consecrated in the name of St. Nile of Stolobensky the Wonderworker, built in front of the right chapel with the blessing of His Eminence Philotheus, Archbishop of Tver and Kashinsky.
A stone fence covered with planks, with 4 towers covered with iron, was built around the monastery for 2 fathoms in 1760-61. Another stone church is above the holy gates, in the name of the Holy Apostles John the Theologian and St. Andrew the First-Called. Built with the blessing of His Grace Gabriel, Bishop of Tver and Kashin, and consecrated in 1768. It has one chapter with a gilded iron cross. Renewed in 1890 under Archbishop Savva. In 1920, the monastery was closed by the Soviet authorities. Before the opening, there was a dairy factory on the territory of the monastery. According to the petition of Archbishop Victor of Tver and Kashinsky dated July 17, 2002, the decision of the Holy Synod determined the opening of the Mother of God Living Convent with the appointment of nun Elisaveta (Evdokimova) as the abbess of the monastery.
There are 4 people living in the monastery: 1 abbess, 1 schema-nun and 2 novices.
In the short period since the determination of the Holy Synod, a lot of things have already been done to revive monastic life in the monastery: metal gates have been installed, house church, in which services are performed on Sundays and holidays, as well as the monastic rule and the Psalter is read, the territory and monastery buildings are cleared of debris. Underway construction works without stopping the service in the gate church of St. John the Theologian and Andrew the First-Called.
An artesian well is being restored to supply the monastery drinking water. Two living rooms have been built. Materials are being prepared for the prosphora bakery and monastery cellars.
A project was developed, space was allocated and planning was carried out for the construction of a wooden church on the monastery courtyard in the village. Petrikovo, which is 15 km from the city of Ostashkov. A greenhouse for growing all year round vegetables
Mother Superior established a good relationship with the city vocational school, whose students attend monastery services and assist in ongoing work. Since the opening of the monastery, five articles about the history and current situation of the monastery have been published in the regional newspaper “Seliger” in Ostashkov. There is no Sunday school at the monastery yet, but classes, conversations are held with children, and children's parties are organized.
The temple is served by the priest Mikhail Mikhailov assigned to this monastery.
There are farmsteads at the monasteries of the cities of Kashin, Bezhetsk, Torzhok and the village of Ushakovskie Gorki, Staritsky district. In Kashin. in honor of St. Ap. Peter and Paul; in the city of Bezhetsk - the Holy Cross Church, in the city of Torzhok - the St. John the Theologian Church and in the village of Ushakovskie Gorki - the St. Nicholas Church.
The Ostashkov Zhitenny Monastery is located near the town of Ostashkov on one of the islands of Lake Seliger, called Zhitenny. Until 1700, on this island there were supposedly granaries for grain supplies collected by the Office of the Patriarchal Court from the inhabitants of the adjacent island of Klychno, who later founded the city of Ostashkov. Which is hard to believe, since the island is very low and can be flooded during floods, which is detrimental to life. And in Klichin, with its sand and terrain, it’s a little difficult to plow.
The island is connected to the city by an embankment.
The foundation of the monastery was laid at the beginning of the 18th century, by decree of Sovereign Emperor Peter the 1st of March 19, 1716.
The reason for the establishment of the monastery was the rivalry between the parishioners of the Trinity and Resurrection churches of the Ostashkovo settlement over the possession of the Miraculous Icon of the Smolensk Mother of God Hodegetria. In ancient times, the icon stood on the gate of the city wall and after the fire that happened in 1711 and destroyed everything, it was found completely unharmed in the ashes. In the manuscript about Ostashkov, the icon is called the Miracle-Working Icon, and it is attributed to the gracious patronage of the city, especially in times of trouble. To eliminate the rivalry between churches, a wooden-timber church was built on Zhitny Island, in which the icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria was placed as a temple.
The church had five domes covered with wooden scales, on the middle dome there was a gilded iron cross, on the others there were wooden domes covered with tin. The church was headed by the widowed priest of the Church of the Resurrection, Leonty Ivanov, to whom monks from different monasteries began to come, began to build cells for themselves and conduct divine services.
In 1734, on June 13, with the blessing of the Holy Synod, the construction of a stone church in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos Hodegetria of Smolensk began with a warm border in the name of the Three Saints: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom on the right side of the western entrance. The lower part of the temple is square, with a sloped quadrangular projection for the Altar, the upper is octagonal. Five chapters with gilded iron crosses. The church was consecrated on December 16, 1743.
In 1751, a stone bell tower in three tiers was built above the western entrance to the church and a gilded iron cross was placed on it.
In 1761, with the blessing of His Grace Athanasius, Bishop of Tver and Kashin, the left warm chapel was installed in the name of St. Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov Wonderworker, and consecrated on September 21, 1762.
In 1878, on December 13, a chapel was consecrated in the name of St. Nile of Stolobensky the Wonderworker, built in front of the right chapel with the blessing of His Eminence Philotheus, Archbishop of Tver and Kashinsky.
A stone fence covered with planks, with 4 towers covered with iron, was built around the monastery for 2 fathoms in 1760-61. Another stone church is above the holy gates, in the name of the Holy Apostles John the Theologian and St. Andrew the First-Called. Built with the blessing of His Grace Gabriel, Bishop of Tver and Kashin, and consecrated in 1768. It has one chapter with a gilded iron cross. Renewed in 1890 under Archbishop Savva. In 1920, the monastery was closed by the Soviet authorities. Before the opening, there was a dairy factory on the territory of the monastery. According to the petition of Archbishop Victor of Tver and Kashinsky dated July 17, 2002, the decision of the Holy Synod determined the opening of the Mother of God Living Convent with the appointment of nun Elisaveta (Evdokimova) as the abbess of the monastery.
There are 4 people living in the monastery: 1 abbess, 1 schema-nun and 2 novices.
In the short period since the determination of the Holy Synod, a lot of things have already been done to revive monastic life in the monastery: metal gates have been installed, a house church has been equipped, in which services are held on Sundays and holidays, as well as the monastic rule is performed and the Psalter is read, the territory has been cleared of garbage and monastery buildings. Construction work is being carried out without stopping worship in the gate church of St. John the Theologian and Andrew the First-Called.
An artesian well is being restored to provide the monastery with drinking water. Two living rooms have been built. Materials are being prepared for the prosphora bakery and monastery cellars.
A project was developed, space was allocated and planning was carried out for the construction of a wooden church on the monastery courtyard in the village. Petrikovo, which is 15 km from the city of Ostashkov. A greenhouse is being built on the farmstead to grow vegetables all year round.
There is a small parking lot near the monastery, since the road to Klichen is locked. You can go around the monastery and stand in the forest, next to the beach.
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On the edge of Ostashkov, surrounded by the clear waters of Seliger, the Bogoroditsky Zhitenny Monastery is modestly secluded - an idyllically beautiful and at the same time austere monastery, an ancient architectural monument and the spiritual center of the Tver Upper Volga region. The fate of the monastery, like many other Russian Christian shrines, is full of tears of grief and happiness, joyful and sad events, but, having overcome all obstacles, it was reborn and writes its history further. Today, the revived Bogoroditsky Zhitenny Monastery unites Orthodox Christians of Ostashkov and neighboring villages, pilgrims and ordinary travelers wandering in search of hope, spiritual strength and faith.
Today, the revived Bogoroditsky Zhitenny Monastery unites Orthodox Christians of Ostashkov and neighboring villages, pilgrims and ordinary travelers wandering in search of hope, spiritual strength and faith.
History of the monastery
According to legend, the Zhitennaya holy monastery was built on March 19, 1716 to reconcile the parishioners of the Trinity and Resurrection churches, who could not share the miraculous icon of the Smolensk Mother of God. It was believed that the icon patronized Ostashkov and always protected him in difficult times. In order for the discord on the Zhitny Peninsula to subside, a church was built, where the icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary was kept.
Initially, this monastery was for men; monks from many surrounding churches gathered here, built homes for themselves, and held services.