Pereslavl-Zalessky: St. Daniil’s Monastery of the Holy Trinity

St. Daniil’s Monastery of the Holy Trinity
7, Lugovaya Street
Phone: (48535) 31907
The monastery was founded in the early 16th century at the site of a common grave. It is situated in a calm picturesque place — on a hill near the Falcon Sloboda, where, a long time ago, birds of prey handlers got falcons for royal hunters.
The founder and the Father Superior of the monastery, Daniil Pereslavskiy, a monk of the Goritskiy Monastery, read the burial services and buried poor people there. Later he became a “grand prince's godfather” and one of the godfathers of Ivan the Terrible. The relics of Daniil lie in the Trinity Cathedral, which has a side altar in his name.
   The principal church of the cloister is the Trinity Cathedral, erected in 1530. The money to build the church was donated by Vasiliy III from his personal wealth as a sign of gratitude for the birth of a son (Ivan the Terrible). The cathedral is decorated with monumental paintings of the 17th century done by a group of master painters from the town of Kostroma, led by Guriy Nikitin. In the 12th century, the St. Daniil’s Monastery of the Holy Trinity was partially rebuilt in brick. The money for the construction came from boyar U.N.Bagriatisnkiy (The All-Saints church and the tent-roofed belfry were erected at the same time).
   Some monastery facilities are linked with the name of diplomat Baryatinsky who lived in the 17th century. He lost his family during an epidemic and spent his last years in the monastery. Before that, Baryatinsky had traveled a lot. Perhaps it is for this reason that some decorations on the facades of the Trinity Cathedral and the Church of Praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which were built to his order, bear details that are atypical of Russian architecture. In the past, the monastery was surrounded by an 18th century stone wall that was removed in the 1930s. Today you can still see some grave stones dating back to 19th and 20th centuries. At present, the monastery is being restored.
   While the end of the 20th century marked an era of renaissance for the monastery, the period of time that followed the Revolution became one of the most tragic in its history. The first act of blasphemy took place in 1919 when the relics of the reverend were taken from the reliquary and their photographs were published in the local newspaper “Izvestiya.” According to witnesses, the relics were kept for a while in the office of the Pereslavl Executive Committee where they “were lying openly on a desk.”
   At that time the monastery was functioning, but some of its quarters were already occupied by ordinary citizens. Within its walls you could see many fruit trees. Fifty apple trees and the same number of cherry trees, blackthorn and raspberry shrubs yielded a fine harvest every year. In 1920s bishop Damian, hostile to the Soviet regime, was arrested and taken away from the city.
   The last service in the Monastery took place in February of 1923 in the Church of the Praise. During the two weeks that followed the service, all the monks were evicted. Over time the monastery compound, which housed a machine and tractor station and a purchasing center, underwent some changes in its appearance. The dome of the Church of the Praise was removed and the arch of the tower clock on the belfry and the turreted stone wall were dismantled. The only parts of the old wall that remain today are a small section of it and the ceremonial Saintly Gates with the Tikhvinskaya Church above them. The services recommenced in the mid-90s. Today the monastery accommodates about 15 monks who live there and participate in the reconstruction of the old facilities.