Yuriev Monastery

At the place where the Volkhov River flows out of the Slavonic Sea, as the Old Slavs used to call the Ilmen Lake, in a very picturesque area, there located a functioning Monastery of St. George. The monastery was founded in 1030 by the Grand Prince of Kiev Yaroslav the Wise named after St. George when being baptized. In the Novgorodian chronicles, the monastery was first mentioned in 1119 when Prince Vsevolod laid a foundation of a stone St. George Cathedral. Obviously the Church of St. George was made of wood prior to that time. The stone cathedral was built in 1130 by architect Peter, who was the first Russian architect mentioned in chronicles. St. George Cathedral, the last grand prince’s construction of the XIIth century, occupies the most important place among the Novgorodian temples by its size and architectural outlook. A slender monumental building rising high above the Volkhov River was clearly seen from the Ilmen Lake. It used to be kind of a lighthouse for travelers. In the XIIth century, after the establishment of the Novgorodian republic and forced transfer of princes’ residence to the Gorodistche, the monastery continued to stay under princes’ patronage. Having lost St. Sophia Cathedral, princes turned the Cathedral of St. George into a sepulcher. Beside the princes, the posadniks (elected governors) and higher clergy representatives were buried there. The monastery used to be the wealthiest landholder. It owned huge territories all over the Novgorodian lands. In Novgorod itself, it possessed a piece of land inside the Kremlin and several city quarters where craftsmen working for the monastery used to live. The monastery got its present outlook in the middle of the XIXth century under Archimandrite Fotiy. The *** of the existing monastery constructions was sponsored by Countess Orlova, Fotiy’s “spiritual daughter”. Anna Alexeevna had also sponsored the construction of the road that presently leads tourists to St. George Monastery. The Belfry of the monastery was built in 1841 based on the design of architect Rossi. If you take a close look at the Belfry you may notice that it looks a little strange and disproportional. This can be explained by the fact that according to the design the construction of one more floor had been envisaged, however, Czar Nikolay I crossed it out when examining the design saying that the Belfry of St. George Monastery could not be taller than the Belfry of Ivan the Great in the Moscow Kremlin. During World War II, the monastery was situated on the front line. The Spanish Blue Division was staying in its buildings and cells. The Fascists arranged an observation point in the dome of St. George Cathedral. They ransacked the temple’s finery and threw the relics of Alexander Nevsky’s mother Feodosia and his brother Fiodor Yaroslavovitch out of the cathedral. Nowadays, the restored architectural ensemble of St. George Monastery preserves its historical and artistic significance. Its role in Veliky Novgorod’s architectural outlook is invaluable.