Uspensky Goritsky Monastery in Pereslavl-Zalessky
Uspensky Goritsky Bogoroditsky Monastery in Pereslavl-Zalessky
Uspensky (Dormition) Goritsky Monastery is a former Orthodox monastery in Pereslavl-Zalessky, which was founded, probably, in the early 1300s under Ivan Kalita.
In the Middle Ages, the monastery owned numerous villages, including Bolshie Sokolniki, Veslevo, Ves’kovo, Voskresenskoye, Dubnevo, Yermovo, Ylyinskoye, Kruzhkovo, Maurino, Nila, Pertsevo, Rodiontsevo, Slavitino, Solomidino, Chashnitsy, Chenzy, Chernitskoye na Oselke, Chernitskoye na Shakhe, Yaropoltsy etc.
Unfortunately, the historic evidence about this monastery is very scarce, fragmented, and obscure, since the monastery’s archive has not survived, and all information about it is obtained from different subsidiary sources. Here is what is known about the monastery:
The date of foundation of the Uspensky Goritsky Bogoroditsky Monastery goes back to 1362. Soon afterwards, Saint Dmitry Prilutsky took his monastic vows there, after which he left the monastery in 1371. In the XV century, Saint Daniel lived here and was the monastery’s abbot (from 1470 to 1500); he also founded in this area, in Pereslavl, the Troitsky Danilov Monastery (in 1508), to which he transferred from the Goritsky Monastery. The further history of the Goritsky Monastery in the XVIth and XVIIth centuries is unknown.
On June 12, 1722, the monastery’s archive was destroyed in a fire.
In 1744, the monastery was abolished and given to the bishop’s residence of the newly established Pereslavl Eparchy (diocese).
In 1788, the Eparchy of Pereslavl was closed and the bishop’s residence was abolished. In 1883, a spiritual seminary was transferred into the buildings of the former monastery.
After the revolution, in 1919, the Museum of Pereslavl was transferred to the monastery.
It is known that during the bishops’ stay in the Monastery the following buildings were constructed: the Cathedral of Holy Virgin’s Dormition and the Gethsemane, between 1753 and 1761; the belfry with the Church of Theophany, 1768-1777; certain sections of the fence and the towers – these later constructions start from the belfry and go along the north side and partially the west side, their architectural style is obviously different from the old constructions.
In 1904, the monastery’s interior presented a pitiful sight of desolation: vast space, surrounded by the walls, was a waste ground, grass-grown, with heaps of garbage and a weedy pond; on one side there are two churches and several insignificant new buildings, lost amid the vast wasteland; the fence, gates and towers are decrepit and crumbling.
The oldest constructions of the monastery that undoubtedly existed in the XVII century are only the two gates, one of which bears the name “Sviatye” (Holy); the south section of the fence with one tower; and the Church of All Saints (which has almost lost its ancient appearance due to later additions). The “Holy Gates” with the Church of Saint Nickolas belong to the outstanding specimen of the Old Russian architecture and, because of this fact, they were often portrayed and described in various publications.