Sviatohirsk Lavra

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An aerial view of the Sviatohirsk Lavra.

The Sviatohirsk Lavra from the left bank of the Seversky Donets River.

The Sviato-Pokrovska Church of the lavra.

The Sviatohirsk Lavra or the Sviatohirsk Cave Monastery (Ukrainian: Свято-Успенська Святогорська Лавра; Russian: Свято-Успенская Святогорская лавра) is a historic Orthodox Christian monastery (a lavra) near the city of Sviatohirsk in Donetsk Oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. The lavra is located on the right bank of the Seversky Donets River. The name comes from the hill on which it sits on — Sviatohirsk or Holy Hill.

[edit] History

The first monks to settle the area were in the 14th-15th centuries. The first written mention of the monastery was in 1526. In 1624, the monastery was officially recognized as the Sviatohirsk Uspensky Monastery. During times of the Crimean Khanate, the monastery was invaded a couple of times. The monastery was of great importance in the Russian Empire, which was sometimes considered as the Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra of the southwest.

In 1787, the government of Catherine II had paid for the restoration of the monastery. In 1844, it was once again restored, paid for by monetary donations from Aleksander Mikhailovich Potemkin and his wife Tatiana Borisovna. During the next seventy years until 1914, the monastery was one of the most important monasteries of the Russian Empire. In 1922, the monastery was rebuilt and converted into a residence.

Before its destruction, the Sviatohirsk Lavra complex consisted of: a worker's shop, windmills, various kinds of repair shops, and trading buildings. The lavra's main Dormition Cathedral was designed by Alexey Gornostaev, who included a traditional Byzantine tower.

Before World War I, the monastery was inhabited by approx. 600 monks. During the 1930s, the monastery was destroyed by the Soviets, along with other numerous religious attractions throughout the Soviet Union.

After the fall of the Soviet Union and the regaining of Ukrainian independence in 1991, the monastery was restored a year later. In 2004, the monastery was officially granted the status of a Ukrainian Orthodox Church lavra. Today, the monastery community consists of more than 100 people, which increases each year.

On October 25, 2005, the National Bank of Ukraine issued its 10-hryvnia commemorative coin (picture) depicting the Sviatohirsk Lavra.^[1]