Add a review about St. John the Theological Monastery in Saransk

This monastery (or rather even say - a cultural complex) appeared in the 18th century as a farmstead thanks to M . Polyansky, who managed under Peter I the Kazan region . After retiring, Polyansky was engaged in the construction of the cathedral in Saransk, where it was later buried . The beginning of the complex is considered the construction of the temple of Archangel Michael in 1702 . After a couple of years here was erected an outstanding St. John the Theological Cathedral, which in 1730 . added a bell tower gates and fence towers . scho a few decades in the territory there are other buildings: the poorhouse, mansion, office space .In the beginning of the 19th century, a temple of the icon of the Sign of the Mother of God was built here . Well, the establishment of the monastery as such took place in 1994 .

Today the monastery is not so much a monastery in its pure form, but the fact that in ancient times Russia was called a churchyard. Here you can see the temples, wings, the park area with bridges and ponds @ Dominant of the complex - of course, the central St. John the Theologian Church, consecrated in 1704

Compositional churchyard can be imagined as a symmetrical pentagon, in the center of which stands the temple of John The theologian, and on the sides - the Arkhangelsk church, the Znamenskaya church, the bell tower and the tower at the corners

In general, mixed architectural style with elements of the Stroganov baroque . predominates in the complex.The main effect at the inspection of the Makarovsky churchyard is created by the harmony between simple and complex solutions . Many buildings look like towers in their appearance: this is true for the central church, for the bell-towers of two smaller churches, and for the corner towers themselves no functional load, except for the purely decorative completion of the architectural ensemble .

In the second half of the 20th century the complex began to be restored. Over the following years, all the destroyed buildings were restored, and the "castle" of the main church was rebuilt. Since all this was happening in Soviet times, of course, we did not intend to return the complex to its religious significance. Here it was planned to arrange something like an open-air museum with a restaurant and a rest area

Makarovsky Pogost (St. John the Theological Monastery)

The dominant of the complex - of course, the central St. John the Theologian Church consecrated in 1704 . He is an impressive elongated quadrangle on which the tent with the head . was built. In its construction, figured bricks of several dozen varieties were used . At the construction of the temple M . Polyansky had several goals in mind, including defensive - hence the impressive shape of the temple-fortress . Thanks to the high belfry in which case it was possible to raise the alarm, and in a sturdy podklet with thick walls and tiny windows near the ground hide a lot of people .

The church was lucky to avoid unnecessary extensions, and Today we can admire it virtually in its original form, with clear and clean lines. The services in the temple were held from the end of the Great Patriotic War and until the 1960s, when the restoration work began.

The Michael Archangel Church was consecrated in 1702, just before the main temple, although it was actually started later. Originally, the Church of St. John the Theologian was "cold", and Polyansky decided to supplement it with a "warm" church.

Znamensky temple in honor of the icon of the Mother of God was built in 1803, but in the 1930s. is destroyed. After 50 years the temple was restored, and in 2005 it was consecrated after the restoration. The main icons are the icons of the Mother of God "The Sign" and the "Inexhaustible Chalice."

The gate belltower of the temple complex is about 36 m in height on four tiers, of which the two lower ones are rectangular and the upper ones are octagonal

After official restoration Monastery began work on the conversion of the premises of the complex. In the main church, they began restoration of the iconostasis and interior paintings, remodeled the interiors of the hospice temples, and set up the park. Today, the churches of the Makarovsky churchyard are open to believers. Also in the monastery are two arks with parts of the relics of the Reverend Fathers of Kiev-Caves.

The monastery is open to pilgrims, who can easily stop here for a few days. For them, there is a pilgrim center with a buffet and a refectory, as well as a hotel.

Practical information

Address: Makarivka, ul. Nagornaya, 35.

The village is located 5 km from Saransk, and there is a bus from the city.