Spaso-Preobrazhenskaya men's hermitage of the elders corner. Nothing is impossible for true faith. Legends and legends about the origin of Startsevo Ugl

Startsev Corner, Place Spaso - Preobrazhenskaya male desert. On the border of the Sechenovsky district and Mordovia, there is a ravine - a holy place, believers come there not only from Mordovia and the Nizhny Novgorod region, but also from other regions of Russia. Once upon a time there was the Spaso-Preobrazhenskaya male hermitage. But even before its appearance in the middle of the 17th century, hermit monks already lived in this place, hence the second, popular name - Startsev corner. Tradition links the appearance of monasticism with the time of Ivan the Terrible's campaign against Kazan. They say that it was here that St. Spyridon of Trimifuntsky appeared in a vision and ordered to build a monastery. What was done: in this place there really was the Spiridonovskaya winter church, perhaps the only one with such a name in our region. According to legend, in order to escape the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars, the temple went underground. Currently, a marble cross with an appropriate inscription has been installed at this place. There were several temples in the Startsevo corner: Preobrazhensky and Nikolsky. In this holy place there are 4 wells: the Wonderworker Spiridon, Nicholas the Wonderworker, Spasov, all saints. The Nikolsky spring feeds its waters from the sacred well of St. John the Baptist (there was one!). In the 30s. In the 20th century, there was a chapel and a bath with a holy stone above the well. In the early 1960s, the chapel was burnt down and the bathhouse was destroyed. The stone has been preserved. Orthodox with faith and reverence step on this stone to wash their bodies, having hope for the healing of their ailments. The source named after the savior - Spasov is located near the old Spassky chapel. She is very old, over 80 years old. Inside there are a large number of icons, many of which are gifts from parishioners. Here is also found the old cross from the dome of the ruined church. The church was demolished, but the cross remained. The source itself, as well as others with living water, does not freeze even in the most terrible frost. The history of the origin of the source of all saints is remarkable. In 1999, on the night after the Trinity, lightning struck the ground, after which a new source appeared. At that time, there were nuns from Kazan in the desert (it was the second day of the Trinity - spirits day; at this time, someone is sure to be in the desert - in a procession, they bring the icon of the Assumption of the Mother of God, found by believers in 1923, to the elders corner). After a lightning strike, a column of light appeared, after which the nuns saw trickles of water spouting from the ground. Despite the fact that the springs are located next to each other, the composition of water in each is strictly individual: it is different in terms of mineralization. But it is distinguished by one common quality - it has a very beneficial effect on the human body, it is perfectly absorbed as it contains iodine, silicon, colloidal silver. Based on water analyzes (and they are reliable and produced!), there are only three places in Russia with a similar composition of water. It is noteworthy that the industrial development of water is impossible, because with the deepening of the sources, the composition of the water changes. Not far from the marble cross is a hill, the place where, according to legend, the bygone church should appear. The hill is constantly increasing every year, it seems that the dome wants to break through the earth's thickness. Healing properties are also attributed to the hill itself: you need to slowly go around it three times, reading the Mother of God to yourself 50 times in one circle. The only thing this place lacks is a temple. The last church located on the territory of Startsev corner was moved in the second half of the 20th century to the village. Buldakovo, and then in with. Chadaevka. Now it is in a dilapidated state. And the flow of believers does not stop - people are not afraid of not long distances, nor the absence of a road. I would like to believe that there is a prospect of the revival of Startsev Corner in its true sense.

The historical features of the emergence and development of the shrine of Startsev Ugol were investigated by me using the method of literature analysis. The Holy Spirit and Ivankovskaya deserts seriously influenced the formation and strengthening of Christianity in the Ardatov region, but even more important for Ardatov was the Startseuglovskaya Preobrazhenskaya desert, located in the vicinity (now the semi-extinct village of Bolshoe Talyzino), now known as Torgovoe Talyzino (located on the border of Ardatovsky district and Nizhny Novgorod region).

At first, Bolshoye Talyzino belonged to the Alatyrsky district, but with the emergence of the autonomous Ardatovsky district of the Simbirsk province in the 18th century, the entire western Alatyrsky appanage came under the jurisdiction of the new administrative capital. At about the same time, part of the peasants evicted from Bolshoy Talyzin, who founded the new village of Upper Talyzino, which gradually took over the main functions of the volost leadership. And Bolshoye Talyzino turned out to be a little away from the main road, but it successfully flourished due to the bazaars and two annual fairs that attracted peasants and merchants from the whole county. So at the beginning of the 19th century, entire Trading Villages appeared, which, merging with the village, changed its name

According to old historians, the beginning of the Starceuglovskaya desert was laid quite early, between 1641 and 1645. This dating is due to the fact that in one of the petitions of 1685, the Transfiguration monks wrote that their hermitage had existed since the time of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich and that it was set according to the charter of Patriarch Joseph. And since Joseph ruled from 1641 to 1652, while Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich died in 1645, only five incomplete years fell on the joint reign of the autocrat and Kira Joseph.

The location of the monastery can be determined more or less exactly, although it is impossible to indicate exactly where this monastery stood, there is not enough data. As the monks wrote in the petition, their hermitage was built "according to the promise of the Alatorian Bazhen Ignatiev son Topornin" at Startsevy Ugl, in a black forest on the banks of the Vyachka River, over a ravine. The very name of the place - Startsev Ugol - indicated that the Preobrazhensky chernets were not the first monks in those parts that hermits had already visited here before them, the memory of which was reflected in the toponym. The small stream Vachka (Vyachka) flows into the river Menu. This means that the hermitage was located somewhere south of the Topornin estate of the village of Bazhenovka, which was part of the parish of the church in the village of Bolshoi Talyzin. The Vyachka stream now flows along the border of Mordovia and the Nizhny Novgorod region and flows into the Menu near the villages of Vikhlyaevka, Neusypaevka and Ulyanovka of the Ardatovsky district. With a high degree of certainty, one can look for a monastery located in the upper reaches of the Vyachka stream, somewhere between the modern villages of Maloe Ignatovo and Ratmanovo, or a little higher, in the direction of the village of Chadaevka, where some monastery papers were still kept in the last century. There is no big forest there for a long time, however, within a radius of five versts from the hypothetical place of the monastery, the "black forests" were also cut down in time immemorial. The man-owner did a lot of work on the nature-breadwinner.

Now that side is a bearish corner of both Mordovia and Nizhny Novgorod. In the old days, all this looked even more wilderness, but this is exactly what the monks were looking for - loneliness and silence. Important Topornin, a philanthropist and organizer, gathered quite a lot of monks in the first years of the monastery's existence - about forty people. Then he cut down the first wooden church in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord, which gave the name of the monastery. In 1652, Topornin sent a petition to Patriarch Joseph with a request to allow the construction of another church, this time in the name of St. to the taste of carpenters who cut down churches all over Russia in a cage and under a tent. A few years later, Patriarch Nikon introduced bans on tents, and detailed instructions appeared in the charters on exactly how and how not to build the house of God.

Most likely, the spiritual life of the monks in the Startsevy Corner was then led by two experienced people - "the black priest Nikifor and the elder Sergius", whose names were included in ancient documents. Again we see monks-pilgrims, wanderers who have found shelter and comrades in service on the very outskirts of civilization.

Topornin erected the winter Spiridonovskaya church the same year, and in order to give the brotherhood economic independence and a solid financial position, he donated to the monastery part of the forest that belonged to him. The monks were engaged in uprooting - they did not need a forest, but arable land.

The benefactor Vazhen Topornin died at the end of the 17th century, and his heirs, grandson Ivan Topornin and son-in-law Ivan Zhadovsky, who deeply regretted the generosity of their relative, "by force" took away the land from the Chernetsy, composed a false petition addressed to the tsars Ivan and Peter Alekseevich. The elders had to harness themselves to squabbling with applicants for arable land, which resulted in a long-term lawsuit. As proof of their correctness, the monks could present the only document - an extract for 1665, in which eight acres in the field and hay mowing for 300 kopecks were recorded behind them "without patrol". The brethren sweated a lot while raising such lands in the clearing! From the kings came an order to the clerk of the Alatyrskaya clerk's hut, Illarion Protopopov, to measure the lands in Startsevy Ugl and reconcile the disputants: to give the heirs of Bazhen Topornin "large" land, and to the monks to write down the donation in full.

At that time, the monastery burned many times, many important papers perished in the fires, the abbots changed almost every year, things went awry, and in 1692 a lawsuit arose again. Without land, the Starceuglovskaya Hermitage had no chance of survival, it hid too far from people and tort roads to rely on pilgrims and alms. Moreover, the robbers were very disturbing: in 1693, under Abbot Irinarkh, some malefactors stole two horses in the monastery, the following year, the forest tati "beat" the elder Savvaty and tortured him the entire monastery treasury - 65 rubles, in addition they grabbed a lot of property. A month later, the thieves again visited the monastery and took away the last horse. In 1701, both churches and cells burned down in another fire; "good people", taking advantage of the turmoil, plundered junk and carried away a box with 50 rubles.

With great difficulty, the elders restored one church, but in 1706 they were robbed again: they took money, two icons from the church, cleaned the cell of Abbot Karion, and tortured the abbot himself terribly - they burned him with fire, beat him, and rubbed him with ropes. The abbot escaped from the hands of the robbers barely alive, but he was no longer a man, but a stump of a man distraught from pain.

Morals in those days were harsh. There is nothing strange in the fact that the monks fled from the desert. And since they hadn’t been gathered in large quantities within the walls of the monastery before, the regular situation in Startsevy Ugl during several reigns of the 18th century wished much better.

Not all, but many abbots of the Preobrazhenskaya Hermitage are known by name. In 1685, the fraternal community was headed by the builder, Hieromonk Nikifor, who tried to arrange the land holdings of the monastery. The first disputes with the heirs of Topornin, who encroached on the monastic lands, fell to his lot. In a protracted struggle with the landowners, the builder Nikifor proved himself to be an experienced and persistent quarrel, and his appeals to Moscow ultimately ended in the assignment to the monastery, albeit a small, but rather comfortable allotment.

From 1692 to 1702, hegumen Irinarkh was the abbot at the Startsevy Corner, leaving behind firebrands and an almost completely ruined economy. Then for five years hegumen Karion, the victim of a robbery, was the abbot. From torture, he never managed to recover, he died long and hard. After his death, for several years the hermitage was led by various people who did not have an officially approved rector's rank: these were ordinary hieromonks, revered by the brethren as mentors due to their age and life experience. In 1711, a legalized governor appeared - Hieromonk Misail, approved by the diocesan authorities as the builder of the desert. But he was replaced by a very interesting person - hieromonk Avraamy, in the world Afanasy Grigoriev, a priest of the village of Ostrovsky, Nizhny Novgorod district. He was born in 1683 to a clergyman's family; upon reaching adolescence, he entered the sexton to his father, then married, but soon became a widow. In 1714, he was tonsured at the Knyagininsky Monastery, received priestly rights, that is, the priesthood, and very soon came to the attention of Bishop Pitirim of Nizhny Novgorod, a famous comrade-in-arms of Peter the Great and no less famous missionary. In 1719, Pitirim appointed Hieromonk Avraamy as the builder of the Startseuglovskaya Hermitage so that the active monk would shake up the despondent monastery and direct the elders to spread the faith among the pagans. Abraham fully justified the hopes placed on him and forced the monks to seriously engage in preaching the word of God among the Mordovians of the surrounding villages. Missionary work is a difficult, ungrateful, and sometimes simply dangerous occupation, because the encroachment of strangers on the faith of their ancestors by the pagans was not always perceived calmly. The Chernets fled from Startsev Ugl to other monasteries, where it was quieter.

The desert thinned out. Pitirim, who by that time had received the rank of archbishop, understood that it was impossible to lose such an educational center in the midst of the pagan population, so he helped the builder Abraham with money, and in 1722 Abraham restored the Church of the Transfiguration and put up new cells to replace the dilapidated ones.

Nothing helped: the monks left. In 1726, Avraamy left the monastery for a while, instead of him the reins of government were taken over by a certain monk Kornily Ulanov, a man, apparently, sluggish and inert. The reign of Cornelius fell on years of severe onslaught on monasticism, brought by extortions and prohibitions to a desperate situation. Many small brotherhoods lost their independence in 1727 and merged into various monasteries that had solid economic support. This cup did not pass the Starceuglovskaya Hermitage, its situation turned out to be critical, the community was teetering on the verge of extinction. The monks were transferred to Alatyr, partly to the Trinity Monastery, partly to the Holy Spirit Hermitage. The builder Abraham immediately returned to the deserted monastery, in a short time he returned all the monks. This energetic and highly devoted man then ruled, according to some sources, until 1735, according to others - a year more. He tried with all his might to replenish the staff with people, even went against the rules and tonsured five monks without asking them for "patches", that is, in fact, he hid runaway peasants under the heel. He was not forgiven for this: his case was dealt with in Alatyr, then in Nizhny Novgorod. He was excommunicated from the management of the desert and charged a huge fine for disobedience. In the era of Bironovshchina, the persecution of the most active part of the clergy entered the system, and Abraham simply fell under another wave of checks, revisions, investigations and subsequent executions. But the main thing that Hieromonk Abraham did was to save the core of the monastery, not to let the desert fall apart, to gather around him a few monks, but those who were not afraid of difficulties and work. Abraham did not give the monastery allotments to the treasury, which ensured the further development of the monastery. And it was not his fault that the events that followed followed a different scenario, for the very policy of the state led to the curtailment of the institution of monasticism, which had the ability to comprehensively influence the state of the people's spirit.

After Avraamy, there were no people willing to lead the desert for a long time, and then Archbishop Pitirim, by a strong-willed decision, assigned the abbot's duties to the treasurer Mitrofan and the white priest Moses Yermelev. Collegiate leadership in monasteries was extremely rare, all the more rare was the participation in such a difficult task not of a monk, but of an ordinary parish priest. Probably, the treasurer Mitrofan did not have the right to the priesthood, therefore the spiritual nourishment of the brethren was entrusted to the unshorn man. However, Mitrofan held on to a leadership position for only two years, 1738 and 1739, and then he stepped aside. Under him, the newly rebuilt Spiridonovskaya Church again died from fire (its restoration dragged on for a decade and a half). In 1759, it burned again, but this time it took only two years to rebuild and remake it after the fire, because Bishop Feofan of Nizhny Novgorod helped with funds.

Since 1743, Hieromonk Macarius worked as a builder in the Transfiguration Desert, in the world Matvey Gavrilov, a peasant located not far from Startsev Corner of the Russian village of Kirzhemany. Matvey Gavrilov was tonsured by Hieromonk Avraamy in 1730 and remained in his native monastery. Unfortunately, Macarius did not adopt the energy or mental preparedness of his mentor; he was an intelligent, kind, economic person, but in that period of the desert, a strong-willed and authoritative cleric was required, able to firmly hold the reins of government in his hands and ensure the flow of significant financial resources to the monastery from outside, from donors and well-wishers. There was no need to expect help from the state, moreover, in Russia even then a new offensive against monasticism was gradually being prepared, another wave of secularization was rising. In 1753, Hieromonk Macarius said goodbye to the dubious honor of leading the crumbling brotherhood, and then he lived in the monastery in the position of an ordinary hieromonk. From 1753 to 1755, the builder, Hieromonk Martinian, was rector, who obtained permission from Bishop Theophan to send monks to collect alms in the cities, because begging remained the only means of subsistence for the brethren. On alms, it was possible to more or less tolerably maintain the staff and look after the temples.

Although in the 17th-18th centuries there were no monasteries that lived freely in our region, the Starceuglovskaya Hermitage had a particularly hard time. It existed on the verge of death, so that the builder Martinian was simply forced to seize on the bleak prospect of begging. The rector wrote to Bishop Theophan that “there is nothing definite in the hermitage for monastic, church and other needs and the brethren of salaries according to the states, and in that our hermitage, behind that lack of church needs and in the monastery building, there is a need, and there is nowhere to take on those needs ..." The bishop gave permission for begging on the condition that the monks "except for our diocese would not ask" and "conscientiously" enter all alms in the parish books. A small income was also brought in by rented shops built of boards near the walls of the monastery. From about the 1720s, the Transfiguration Fair gathered near the monastery once a year, not so hot, which was a marketplace designed for the exchange of goods between peasants and artisans of Alatyr, Temnikov, Arzamas. There was no smell of major transactions at the Preobrazhenskaya Fair, but she had her own five rubles for renting desert shops. For reference: customs fees at this fair amounted to the same amount, and the proceeds from the sale of wine in taverns that temporarily opened here, at the auction, amounted to 18 rubles or more (data from 1737). Once, when the collection from taverns fell, the customs officers, in an excuse to the disgruntled authorities, explained the shortage by "belittling the roosters and the sale of drinks."

After Martinian, the builder Hieromonk Joseph ruled the monastery for a year and a half, then the builder Hieromonk Theophylact (1757-64). Theophylact happened to meet the auditors, who in 1764 carefully described the hermitage and actually sentenced her to disappearance, recommending the Synod to withdraw her from the state. And so it happened: the monks, and there were only six of them left, moved to Alatyr, the monastery remained restless and empty.

I would like to describe the temples of the desert in general terms. The Church of the Transfiguration, as it turned out from the inventories of 1764, was single-domed and covered with wooden scales, that is, a plowshare. Its dimensions were (by modern standards) 12 by 6 meters, that is, it is almost a chapel, it is so small.

In addition, there were no special utensils or decorations in it: from valuable property, the auditors registered the Gospel in a sheet, that is, in the format of an infofolio (this is the usual size of altar liturgical books printed in Moscow and then dispersed throughout Russia); liturgical vessels and utensils were partly forged from copper, partly ceramics were used, and other lamps were generally carved from wood. The royal gates and the iconostasis had no carvings, so they were called "smooth", that is, they were made by ordinary carpenters in the form of simple frames for icons.

The second church, Spiridonovskaya, was even smaller than the Transfiguration, but also about one dome, lined with wooden scales. Of the shrines, two icons were of value - the Transfiguration of the Lord in the summer church and the Kazan Mother of God in the winter. These images had some silver decorations: on the first one there are nine crowns, on the second there is a setting along the margins and a crown on the Mother of God and baby Jesus.

As for the construction of temples, the use of plowshares for finishing is a very interesting phenomenon. The ploughshare was an aspen figured plank with ledges in the lower and upper parts. With the help of ledges, the plowshares were fastened to each other without nails and looked like scales from a distance. Such finishing techniques were very fond of in the north of Russia from there, they, together with the monks, migrated to the middle lane, but in the 18th century the use of plowshares in our region was by no means common.

Usually a temple of the northern type looked like a spacious hut with a steep roof, the head was small and deaf, without windows. The roof was covered with round plowshares, and on the head, especially the bulb, there were figured planks, and of different sizes, because the curved surfaces required varying formats. Scales are complex carpentry work, akin to art; it means that Startsev Ugol sometimes got real masters who had to pay a lot of money for their work. Another property of aspen plowshares was that from the rain the tree acquired a strange shade and from a distance the scaly domes and roofs seemed to be cast in silver. The effect was so strong that even knowledgeable people mistook wood for a noble metal. In addition to the head, on the Church of the Transfiguration, there was also a belfry above the refectory; the bell tower, like the head, by the builders "crashed" into the roof and was also upholstered with a plowshare.

After the abolition of the desert, churches began to be considered "on the churchyard", that is, parishes for several villages. Although both churches were described as dilapidated in 1783, they served for some time before closing. The Transfiguration Church was still intact in 1838, when it was dismantled and transported to the village of Chadaevka, where it was restored with great changes. The graveyard of Startsev Ugol was destroyed at the same time. In 1873, the Church of the Transfiguration in Chadaevka was rebuilt again, significantly expanded, and connected to a new large bell tower. The last update took place in 1898. During the years of the struggle against religion, this monument of the 18th century suffered serious damage, and the bell tower is in a particularly deplorable state, which can collapse at any moment.

Spiridonovskaya Church as a cemetery stood until 1879. From the previous volumes, only the log house was preserved in it, many times renovated and re-decorated. For the last quarter of the 19th century, it was empty and gradually deteriorated until it fell into complete disrepair. Then it was dismantled for firewood, which was used to heat several nearby churches.

And the Preobrazhenskaya Starceuglovskaya Hermitage itself gradually faded into oblivion, the memory of it faded and became thinner to nothing, in the sense that local residents have knowledge of its history not from written sources, but from the legends that exist in those parts. This does not mean that Startsev Corner has disappeared from the field of vision of the Church. After the elimination of the desert, its place regularly came to life, because migrating elders, of whom there were always enough, found peace here. From an organized monastery of the Elders, the Corner turned into a skete, which from time to time was empty, and then revived again. Mysterious monks gave rise to many legends that adorn Talyzin folklore; the laity also always gravitated towards the shrine, because since ancient times near the monastery three springs have been revered as holy ones - Spassky, Spiridonovsky, Nikolsky. Priest Valery, rector of the Talyzin church, today, with the blessing of Metropolitan Nikolai of Nizhny Novgorod and Bishop Varsonofy of Saransk, has resumed public services at Startsevoy Ugol, where a small chapel has been built and springs have been tended.

A cemetery is now located on the site of the desert, but if you look closely, you can see traces of ancient ramparts that were once piled up to the walls of the monastery. The cemetery itself is a leveled area on the edge of a ravine. A small chapel stands on the site of the winter church of the monastery. From old age, the chapel is half rooted into the ground.

The intruders ruined it, stealing all the icons, carefully kept in the most difficult times. Near the chapel on the street rests against the trunk of an apple tree forged cross of the 17th century. - the original, the value of the shrine.

Another old cross, which once crowned the dome of one of the monastery churches, was dug up by the inhabitants of the surrounding villages and placed in the chapel above the Spiridon spring.

The question is also raised about the restoration of the Chadayevskaya church, once built from the remains of monastic churches. Startsev Corner comes to life; This experiment of the Christian dispensation of the region turned out to be not very successful in the past, but without it the history of the Faith would not be complete.

Conclusion

Thus, I achieved the goal of my work, I conducted a study of the shrine of Mordovia, Startsev Ugol. So, I had conversations with the priest of the Bolsheignatovskaya Church Father Alexander and local residents of the villages of Gorki and Torgovoe Talyzino. Priest Alexander told about the legends that have come down to us since the era of Ivan the Terrible. There are many legends among the local population about the mysterious monks who lived in caves underground. Thus, I received previously unknown, but quite interesting and important information regarding Startsev Ugl.

However, it was not enough for a systematic consecration of the material, and I turned to the available literary sources, in which the history of the appearance of the shrine of Startsev Ugl is quite fully consecrated.

Exploring my native land, I realized that even such a small piece of land as the desert in the vicinity of the village of Gorki surprises with its rich history. The feeling of the motherland is one of the most important feelings of every person; everyone loves it, regardless of age. As the people say: "Even a bird is not fit to live without its homeland." And therefore, each of us has a place with which the most pleasant memories from childhood are associated. But it’s not enough just to love the Motherland, you need to know its history and nature. After all, not being interested in your native land, not knowing your roots means not knowing yourself.

Bibliography

1 Bakhmustov S. Monasteries of Mordovia / S. Bakhmustov. - Saransk, Mordov. book. publishing house, 2000. - 976 p.

2 Makhaev V. B. Architectural history of the Mordovian region / V. B. Makhaev, A. I. Merkulov. - Ruzaevka, 1998. - S. 70.

Illustrated version: http://www.turizmvnn.ru/cont/show/49434/

A mystical place, a place of "power" in the Nizhny Novgorod region. It is located in the south of the Sechenovsky district, near the border with the Republic of Mordovia.

On the Internet you can find several articles that talk about Startsevy Ugol. All of them, basically, begin with the history of the emergence of Startsev Ugol...

The history of Startsev Ugl dates back to the time of Ivan the Terrible's campaign against Kazan. The king had a dream in which Saint Spyridon gives him a letter, and it says: "I, Saint Spyridon, will help you defeat the Khanate." And so it happened - Ivan the Terrible conquered Kazan. After the victory, in the place where he had a dream, the king erected a church. Since that time, the elders began to live here, and during the reign of Mikhail Fedorovich (between 1641 and 1645), the Transfiguration Hermitage was formed ...

In my own words, I want to try to tell about my observations and impressions received when visiting Startsev Ugl, which I had heard about, read about for a long time and was going to visit it without fail...

The road from Nizhny Novgorod to Startsev Ugl took about 3.5-4 hours with several stops. Leaving at 10 am, I was already there at 2 pm.
Route: Nizhny Novgorod - Rabotki - B. Murashkino - Knyaginino - Sergach, Urazovka, Sechenovo. I had to clarify the road to Buldakovo: in one of the articles on the Internet it was said that two roads go to Startsev Corner - from Buldakovo and the second from Mordovia, from the village of Gorki. In the very first yard, a young local resident explained that there is a road from Buldakovo, it starts right after the village and goes to the left across the field. But there is one deadly place - a ford (dam) through a small swampy stream (a tributary of the Pyana), which cannot be bypassed in any way, so you can get to Startsev Angle by car only from the Mordovian village of Gorki .....
-From Buldakovo there is a good, new, asphalt road to the south, to the Republic of Mordovia. Shortly after crossing the border, she enters the highway running from west to east. At the crossroads, turn left, east, the first village will be Gorki. It should be noted here that almost the entire road from Nizhny to the village of Gorki is in very good condition. All the tracks are new, and the district centers that come across along the way have ring roads, and you can go very quickly.

To the left of Gorki, across the road, is a cemetery. In front of it is an asphalted area, from which a good dirt road begins to the northeast, leading after 3-4 km to Startsev Ugl. There is only one fork, on it you need to take to the right, along a more rolled road. This well-trodden road in summer goes through black soil, which in muddy conditions probably turns into a slippery mess. The road leads to the car park next to the Chapel.
From the chapel begins a ladder descending down into the Startsev ravine.
The ladder leads to Spasov's spring. There is a chapel, a well, a cross. To the left is a path to the source of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Near this source there is also a chapel, a well, a cross and three holy stones, on the largest of them there are two depressions, "from the knees of the elders praying on it for many years" .
Some pilgrims who come here, having taken buckets of water from the source, douse themselves standing on this stone. To the right of the Spasov spring, the path goes to the spring of the Wonderworker Spiridon. Next to this spring there is a well-placed and comfortable font.

They say that you can’t drink water from the source of the Wonderworker Spiridon - there is dead water. Why i do not know...

According to legend, in Vavilov Dol, during the enemy invasion, the church, along with the worshipers, went underground - but neither the temple nor the people died, and to this day, they say, either a bell ringing, or monastic singing, or a pillar of light will illuminate the night darkness.....

Perhaps there was once a church on it. It is said that this church may reappear, rising straight from the ground. Believers go around the hill three times, reading prayers.

A little lower, on the southern bank of the ravine, in the 90s of the last century, a very beautiful marble cross was installed in memory of the appearance of St. Spyridon Trimifunsky to Tsar Ivan the Terrible and Prince Ignatius of Mordovskiy.

During its installation, several visiting nuns held a prayer service, staying at the cross for the night, there was a strong thunderstorm at night, and lightning struck the ravine, which opened another source, which was then called the source of All Saints. This is the last source in Startsevy Ugl. There is a well and a wooden cross.
On the northern bank of the Startsev ravine, near the source of All Saints, there is a small cemetery, and on the southern bank there is another parking lot with a wooden cross.
That's all there is now in the Startsevy Corner.

There really is a road to Buldakovo, only it is very poorly traveled. If you walk along it or drive about 2 kilometers from Startsev Ugl, then you get exactly to that ford, which only a four-wheel drive tractor can overcome. The inhabitant of Buldakovo was right that he did not advise to go here.

There are no other roads towards the neighboring villages of Chadayevka or Ratmanovo. Around fields, ravines or tall grass. But there are wonderful views of the surrounding area, rapeseed and wheat fields, on a hill to the north of Startsev Ugl, claiming to be the highest in the Nizhny Novgorod region.

Being in the Startsevy Corner, you literally feel some kind of energy - this happens when you are in a holy, prayerful place.
And if you spend another night there ... To do this, in order not to embarrass the visiting pilgrims, it is better to go down a little lower, along the southern coast of the ravine, at least 80 meters, you can find a parking place there (of course, do not leave any garbage behind and use a gas stove without making fires). From the parking lot you can easily walk to the springs, the font, admire the evening views and the sunset...

If you're lucky, at night you can hear the bell ringing, church singing, or see a pillar of light from the Holy Hill...
- Having bathed several times (in the afternoon, in the evening, in the morning) in the font, having drunk holy water from the springs, standing on the Holy Stone, the Holy Hill at the marble cross, having recharged the energy emanating from the earth (having felt this magical grace), then, having returned home, you will surely for a few more days you will feel a surge of strength, being impressed by this trip.

I am sure that Startsev Corner is truly one of the most mystical places, a place of "power" in the Nizhny Novgorod region.

GBOU RM SPO Saransk State Industrial and Economic

College"

Research work

Shrines of Mordovia

Spaso-Preobrazhenskaya Hermitage

Startsev Corner

Completed by: Ukhanova Elena,

2nd year student

specialties

"Economics and Accounting"

Head: Kozlova N.V.

Introduction………………………………………………………………………...3

Legends and traditions about the origin of Startsev Corner……………………….4

Historical features of the emergence and development of the shrine -

Startsev Corner……………………………………………………………………….8

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………19

References…………………………………………………………………20

Application…………………………………………………………………………21

Introduction

Each person has his own small homeland, a place that is closest to him in the world. And wherever his fate brings him, the city or village in which he grew up will forever remain beloved. And the warmest memories are inextricably linked with the native land. It is always nice to remember him.

Some time ago, our family moved from the Bolsheignatovsky district to a suburb of the city of Saransk. There is a place in our area with a surprisingly interesting history, rich in legends and legends, the past. This place is popularly referred to as the Startsevy Corner.

The urgency of the problem. Preserving the heritage of ancestors, preserving traditions, remembering and knowing the history of one's land, ennobling holy places - this is necessary for the spiritual, moral development of the individual, for the education of patriotism.

Target my job is to conduct a study of the sacred place of Mordovia - the Spaso-Preobrazhenskaya desert, or as this holy place is also called - Startsev Ugol.

Based on the relevance and the set goal, I set myself the following tasks:

Find and describe legends and legends about the origin of Startsevo Ugl;

Consider the historical features of the emergence and development of the shrine of Startsev Ugol, having studied and analyzed special literature.

object my research work is the shrine of Mordovia - Startsev Ugol. Subject The same is the study of the features of the emergence and development of the shrine of Startsev Ugol.

During my work, I used the following research methods:

Conversations with the priests of the Bolsheignatovsky district, father Alexander and father Alexei, old-timers of the villages of Gorki and Torgovoe Talyzino, pilgrims who visit this holy place;

Analysis of local history literature.

Legends and legends about the origin of Startsevo Ugl

In order to obtain research information regarding the legends and legends about the emergence of Startsev Uglamnaya, conversations were held with the priest of the Bolsheignatovskaya Church Father Alexander and local residents of the villages of Gorki and Torgovoe Talyzino. Popular veneration of the holiness of the place is associated not only with the monastic monastery that used to be there, but also with a tradition that goes back centuries.

Priest Alexander told about a legend that has come down to us since the era of Ivan the Terrible.

... The sovereign-father went to Kazan. His daring army went to fight the adversaries. The Mordovian prince Ignat met the Terrible Tsar. Affectionately met, gave to drink, fed, escorted through his possessions and reached the border. It was customary among the Mordovian people to escort dear guests to the sources, and there they said goodbye. But Prince Ignat reached the border of his possessions, but there is no source, no matter how. They began to say goodbye. The king ordered to serve a prayer service for the blessing of water. While reading the Gospel, an old man approached the king. They served a prayer service, began to say goodbye. Here the old man gives Tsar the Terrible a scroll and says: “Peace be with you, Tsar Ivan! You are going to a great cause. God bless you. Here is my scroll, but do not read until you take Kazan. With these words, the elder gave a scroll and at the very feet of the king stuck his wooden staff into the ground. And from under the staff scored the key! Everyone rejoiced: a good omen. And the old man disappeared. Tsar Ivan parted with Prince Ignat. The royal army went to their great cause - to take Kazan. On the way, Tsar Ivan could not resist, unfolded the scroll, and it was written in Greek letters. The king of the Greek Maxim ordered to call him to read the scroll. They called, Maxim read the following: “You, tsar, will take Kazan. If it be your will, then build a temple on the place where we met, and if you are zealous, then put up a monastery. » And the signature is St. Spyridon, the miracle worker of Trimifunts. The king and all his neighbors marveled at the wondrous miracles of God.

They took Kazan, and went home to Moscow in a different way. But the king did not forget about his meeting with St. Spyridon. From Moscow, he sent monks to build a monastery on the site, provided the monks with everything necessary, and ordered them to pray to God day and night and remember St. Spyridon. So in the Mordovian outback a monastery arose. Monks lived among the pagans, which they could not stand! During one of the raids, the pagans set fire to the monastery. The monks all went to the temple, and this temple went underground ... The holy place was empty, and the spring still beat.

Prayer never ceased in Startsevy Ugl, the monastery was revived, impoverishment set in again, the monks left, but someone remained and performed his feat of silence and prayer in the dugouts. New times have come. The temples were all extinguished. And the people went on and on to the holy springs. The old-timers remembered the holy tradition that St. Spyridon sanctified that place with his appearance.

With the blessing of the Bishop of Saransk and Mordovia Barsanuphius, it was decided to erect a cross, which was carried out in 1998. Cross made of white marble, carved, in the middle - in full growth St. Spyridon, blessing the people. To the right of the saint, the Mordovian prince Ignat, seeing off the king, and to the left, Saint Spyridon draws water in a dry place. Above St. Spyridon - Savior not made by hands.

On Spirits Day, a religious procession went out from the Michael-Arkhangelsk Church in Bolshoy Ignatovo. Went to bow to the Holy Cross. There was also a religious procession from the Nizhny Novgorod diocese.

They united at the Cross, served a prayer service. It is already a tradition - on the Day of the Spirits and on the Transfiguration to go in procession to the holy places, marked by the Life-Giving Cross.

There were many legends among the local population about the mysterious monks who lived in caves underground. Where these caves are, no one knows. During the years of the persecution of the Church, the Chekists tried more than once to find them, they went with the dogs to the stream, but here the dogs lost track. The documents of the NKVD preserved inquiries about a certain hieromonk Mikhail, whom the authorities were looking for in several districts. He was hiding in one of the caves on the edge of the Starzeuglovsky cemetery. People knew him well and still remember him as an ascetic who remained faithful to his monastic vows in difficult conditions.

Now in the place where the temple went underground - a hillock, which grows every year. Father Alexander wanted to build a chapel here. When they dug a hole for the foundation, at night he had a dream that light was coming from there, and the temple was standing. He realized that there was no need to build anything. And what is even more unusual! Everything that was dug was thrown back into the hole. But the hole could not be filled! And so she remained. Between the stone cross and this mound there is a lowland densely overgrown with grass and willows. There used to be a swamp here. They say that in the 1920s, 80 clergy were brought here from all over the area. They forced them to dig a hole, and then they threw them alive there and threw mud and mud at them. They say that in this place until now at night, if you listen to the earth, the groans of the martyrs will be heard.

Local residents are constantly drawn to the Startsev Corner, because three springs have been revered in the desert since ancient times: Spiridonsky, Spassky and Nikolsky.

The people have a custom associated with them: when you approach the well, you must definitely wash yourself with water, and even better, pour yourself over your head. This water has a certain energy that cannot be explained. From Spiridonium water heals the thyroid gland and infertility in women.

But it is best to pour yourself in the Nikolsky spring. It is located in the thickets of willow and hazel, so the chapel, the cross, the well log house and the stone on which they are washed with water from the source do not immediately open to us.

That well is shallow, the water is quickly muddied by silt rising from the bottom. Father Alexander said that there was a chopped, blue-painted chapel. It was burned in the early 60s of the XX century. Under the chapel there was a gap between the stones, and the water flowed through the chute very quickly. Now this place is overgrown, and earlier there was a font below, and they bathed in it, and the stone, they say, floated on the water.

On the eve of winter, when the road to Startseva Ugl has not been covered, many residents of the surrounding villages take water from springs. And in winter, if a cold or other illness happens to someone, they simply wash themselves with this water and the illness recedes. But not only water here has power, but even air and earth. Being in these places, you feel the influence of history.

Following further along the path, you can stumble upon the traces of an old well. Here is what Father Alexander tells about him: “One woman from Sergach told about her resurrection when she was a girl. This was after the war. She was visiting her grandparents in Sechenov. I played with my friends and fell asleep by the dunghill. The children saw that she was sleeping and fled. Two days later she began to have a headache, and a week later she died. The doctors said: “Suspicion of meningitis. Everything!" Her parents left Sergach to pick her up for burial, and her grandparents went on a horse and brought her to Startsev Ugol. It was on Ilyin's day, August 2. Matushka Margarita (ehhimona) at that time was walking from the spring of Spiridon to the chapel. And just halfway through, grandparents laid the dead body of a girl who had already been issued a death certificate by doctors. They turned to their mother for help. “And what will I do,” she asked, “I can only pray.” She began to pray, raised her hands to heaven and began to ask the Lord to work a miracle on the girl. And water gushed out from under her feet. She mixed this water with earth, poured it into the girl's ear and turned her over to the other side. And then worms crawled out of her head and larvae from her head, and the girl was resurrected and is still alive. She never left God, raised her son, grandson, and now she has accepted the schema. And from that moment on, there are worms and larvae in the water, but it was a dry place.”

Pilgrimages

24 April 10 Olga Larkina

Here everything breathes with holiness… (pilgrimage to Startsev Ugol)

Many hundreds of people gather on the Holy Spirit's Day at Startsev Angle near the Mordovian village of Gorki. Pilgrims from distant cities and villages travel by cars and buses, parishioners of local churches go on a religious procession. So this year, on June 16, many worshipers gathered in this holy place, where, according to the old-timers, at least until the nineties of the last century, the intimate senile life did not stop, where everything breathes holiness. Even on our first visit to the Mordovian village of Bolshoe Ignatovo, to the relics of Priest Konstantin crucified during the years of revolutionary turmoil, we heard about the hidden desert, where, as in Vavilov Dol, during the enemy invasion, the church, along with the worshipers, went underground - but not the temple , no people died, and even now, they say, from under the hill one can hear bell ringing, then monastic singing, then a pillar of light will illuminate the darkness of the night. And the hill itself gradually rises up ...

The history of Startsev Ugl dates back to the time of the campaign against Kazan by Tsar Ivan the Terrible. Here, Saint Spyridon of Trimifuntsky appeared to the Sovereign of Russia and Prince Ignatius of Mordovskiy and predicted the victory of the Russian army over the Kazan kingdom. In memory of this, a stone church was built with funds granted by the Tsar - the same one that later sheltered the Orthodox under the ground. In one of the petitions of 1685, the Transfiguration monks wrote that their hermitage had existed since the time of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, and that it was established according to the letter of Patriarch Joseph. The joint reign of the Autocrat Michael and Cyrus Joseph fell for five incomplete years, between 1641 and 1645. It was then that the Starets-Uglovskaya Preobrazhenskaya Hermitage was founded. Meanwhile, prayer elders lived in this quiet place for a long time, and the name Startsev Ugol was assigned to it even before the foundation of the monastery. The pious governor, who got these lands, which were already in oblivion, for his service, having learned their history and the fact that monks still live secretly in the caves, decided to build a monastery here. Mordovia considers this monastery its own, the Nizhny Novgorod region its own, over the centuries the borders have constantly changed. And now the place where the later monastery was, from the time of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Catherine's times, belongs to the Nizhny Novgorod side, and the first monastery, where the temple went underground, is located on the Mordovian side.

In the famine years, the monastery always helped the population with bread, because the economy was strong, the monks themselves uprooted the forest, cultivated the fields. Several times the hermitage went through hard times - the well-known Decree of Catherine II on the secularization of monasteries in 1764 abolishes this hermitage, but it is reborn again - and again the enemy slander, allegedly either a runaway serf or a recruit was secretly tonsured here, and again the monastery is closed, and the monks are transferred to the Alatyr Holy Trinity Monastery. But who could forbid the elders to pray in the holy Starets Corner?..

According to the documents, the last temple of Startseva Ugl was sold for firewood due to dilapidation at the end of the 19th century in order to heat the church in the neighboring village. But it turned out that, as the old-timers recall, the temple, already sold for firewood, stood until the 30s of the 20th century.

The old people whom I found remember this Spiridon church well, - said the rector of the Bolsheignatovsky church, Priest Alexander Nikitin. - They remember the elders Mikhailov - two hermits who went into seclusion after the revolution. They lived in caves, they were hunted for a long time, but the dog never found a trace. The monks left on the water, and the entrance to the caves was arranged so that there was a puddle in front of it. There are many interesting legends and beliefs around this holy place. The old woman Pelageya lived in Ignatovo, she knew Metropolitan John (Snychev) and Metropolitan Manuel (Lemeshevsky) well. Polya's grandmother said that during the years when Vladyka Manuel ruled the diocese in Chuvashia, they often visited Startsevy Ugl. Get to Alatyr, and from there they got under the guise of stove-makers - they changed clothes, such unpretentious peasants - and already with a few faithful people they got to Startsev Ugol. There is evidence of old-timers from Alatyr who remember this well. Vladyka John told his spiritual daughter that one day Vladyka Manuel left him in a chapel built on the site of the Spiridon Church. He fell asleep, and when he woke up, Vladyka Manuel was not there, he only came in the morning. Vladyka John came out of the chapel and saw that candles were burning on every grave in the monastery cemetery. And when he came closer, he did not see the candles.

After the war, believing village women came to clean the chapels for the feast, and then there were four of them - in the cemetery and at all three sources. The widow Agrafena sat down on a bench by the Spiridon’s well, looked at the Holy Hill, and she herself thought: is it true what they say about this place, will the church come out of there or there is nothing there - so, people came up with ... "I'm here at the market was - for one price bought wool. And while she got home, they asked how much she took - she added two rubles. So, maybe here - something once happened, and they invented God knows what ... "Suddenly he sees - The hill opened up and from there leaves - as if on a horse - an Angel. White robes sparkle like lightning, its appearance is like fiery. In fear, she crossed herself and crossed him - but he did not disappear. The angel traveled around Agrafena, and next to her was an old man. He took him by the hand and took him inside the hill. For three days she disappeared there, and who says - seven. And it seemed to her that she had spent a day in this underground church. I saw the elders there, stood in the service. And there she took schema tonsure, and the ascetic schema nun Margarita (Nikitina), well-known in these parts, who to this day is called Ignatovskaya, who - after the place of rest - Ardatovskaya, became the heir of the schema nun Vera. She knew the road to the caves, to the underground church well. But she forbade talking about the fact that she was also in the cave. Already before her death, Mother Vera discovered all this. And then, after taking the vows, they took her out in schema clothes and put her in the same place from which she had been taken. He sits - and does not know if this is a dream or reality. And he hears the astonished: “Pear, is it you?! Where have you been, we have been looking for you here for so many days! Children don’t know where you have gone ...” She began to tell that she was taken to an underground church, they did not believe. Only Mother Margarita stood nearby and smiled softly, saying nothing.

Schema-nun Margarita was the builder of the last women's community in Startsevy Ugl. They did not have time to register the community, because just before the revolution it was still being built. Cells were built, a chapel was erected, but the only church was officially considered as a church on a graveyard, mothers came here to serve, and for the midnight office they gathered in the chapel, there was no priest at the church. In dashing years, the inhabitants were dispersed, the land was taken away. In order to destroy even the very memory of the Startsevy Corner, the cells were dismantled, the log cabin of the temple was taken away, and the chapel was burned down. Mother Margarita went to the village of Sechenovo in the Nizhny Novgorod region, to which Startsev Ugol belonged, to seek the truth. But she went to suffer, the perspicacious mother knew that she had to accept heavy torments from the atheists. She came - and here she was not accused of any sins. Matushka was shot, but the Lord left her alive, people dug her up and saved her... Matushka Margarita herself, a wondrous miracle worker, deserves a separate story. About the prediction of St. Philaret of Ichalkovsky - and the close acquaintance of the mother with St. Luke (Voyno-Yasenetsky). About her resurrection of a dead girl and the appearance of the fourth - "forbidden" well in the Startsevo corner. And you can read about many more spiritual exploits of the mother in one of the next issues of Blagovest.

Six years ago, water from three miraculous sources of Startseva Ugl was taken for examination. What is interesting: the wells are in the same locality, located on the same level, and the water in the sources is different in composition. But the most amazing thing happened on the way, while they were taking cans of water for examination. Five people were in the car, and they all witnessed a miracle. The jars were labeled with ordinary white paper, and they were inscribed with a pencil from which source this or that water was taken. And suddenly, faces appeared on the labels one after another: on a jar of water from the spring of Spyridon Trimifuntsky - the image of St. Spyridon, on the other bank - St. Nicholas, and on the water from the source of the Mother of God two images appeared at once: the Lord and His Most Pure Mother. All the way these faces were visible.

One night, several nuns were praying at the Startsev Corner. It was just when a marble cross was brought to Starsev Ugol in memory of the appearance of St. Spyridon of Trimifuntsky. The nuns read akathists to the Mother of God, Saints Spyridon and Nicholas the Wonderworker. And then at three o'clock in the morning a terrible thunderstorm broke out.

Father Alexander woke up in the middle of the night and wanted to look for a car to transport the people who remained in Startsevy Ugol after the consecration of the cross, and in the morning, as the Lord directed, to return there together with the parishioners. But nothing happened to him with the car. In the morning, after the prayer service, we arrived at Startsev Ugol - thank God, everyone is alive. The pilgrims told the priest: “While we were praying, we suddenly saw a pillar of light, and our eyes involuntarily gravitated towards it. One novice asked mother for her blessing to go and see what it was shining like that. And mother said: “Stop where you are standing. There is no need to be distracted from prayer. "We finished the akathist to St. Nicholas, sang the magnification - and went to the chapel. And we saw halfway between the chapel and the springs, not far from the forbidden well, above the soil - a trickle of water." It turns out that at night in the place where they saw a pillar of light, lightning struck and pierced the turf, water came out from there. Good clean water is a step away from the well from which water is not ordered to be taken.

And priest Andrei Bublienko told us about the amazing story of an unremarkable icon, kept in the Michael-Arkhangelsk Church in the village of Bolshoe Ignatovo, written on a rough sheet of tin not by an icon painter - one of the last elders of the pre-revolutionary desert, schemamonk Michael. The icon "Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos" was painted on the day when Russia renounced the Sovereign. “But just as the Mother of God did not die, but only fell asleep, so Russia will still wake up from her sleep,” said Schemamonk Michael. Many miracles were revealed from the icon. On June 18, 1996, she saved Bolshoe Ignatovo from an unheard-of hurricane that caused a lot of trouble to the surrounding villages. Father Alexander prayerfully carried it out of the church, lifted it up - and the terrible black cloud approaching the village seemed to split against an invisible wall ... At times, the icon streams myrrh. On the first anniversary of the uncovering of the relics of the murdered Priest Constantine, three swarms of bees flew into the temple - and covered the closed coffin with the relics and this particular icon. The bees did no harm to anyone, and only sweet drips of honey on the burial cover and on the icon testified to a miraculous visit. There was another case. The old pilgrimage mentally condemned her fellow villagers, sitting idle on a bench: “I’m going to church, but they ...” But when, entering the temple, she wanted to venerate the icon, she was horrified: the Apostles depicted on it turned away their faces! "Judge not lest ye be judged"...

Recently, the Lord has vouchsafed - we, four Samara pilgrims, visited Startsevy Ugl. They prayed in the chapels, washed themselves with water from all sources, kissed the holy crosses. There was an everlasting feeling of a miracle, and if an underground prayer had sounded at that time, we would have taken it for granted. However, it was a miracle that our desire to visit the holy Startsev Corner came true. But the greatest shock for us was the three stones at the well of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. On the largest of them, looking closer, you can see even hollows - footprints that a person who kneeled in prayer could leave. How many elders prayed here for centuries that the stone firmament became like wax under their feet. And what power was their prayer!