Photo: temples and places of worship, abbeys and monasteries, other places, Intercession Monastery, Suzdal

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The Intercession Monastery: a Dungeon for Unwanted Wives

Temples and places of worship • Abbeys and Monasteries • Other places

The Intercession Monastery (Pokrovsky Monastery) in Suzdal was founded in the XIV century by Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky in memory of the rescue from the storm on the Volga. The monastery became widely known in the 16th century, when it was rebuilt by Tsar Vasily III, under whom the Holy Gate - a tower with arches and a gateway Annunciation Church – appeared. The tsar’s interest in the monastery was explained by the fact that after 20 years of unfruitful marriage he forced his wife Solomonia Saburova to take the veil and sent her to the Intercession Monastery, after which he married Yelena Glinskaya. Later, Solomonia was recognized a saint, and her relics were famed as wonder-working. For several centuries the monastery was a place of imprisonment for unwanted imperial and princely wives. The first wife of Tsar Peter the Great, Eudokia Lopukhina, was also a famous nun here.

At the very beginning of the 16th century the Intercession Monastery was adorned with a three-headed white-stone Intercession Cathedral. The floor of the temple was laid out with dark ceramic tiles and the walls were left without paintings. Later, a tented bell tower was attached to it. A government office of the early XVIII century with a restored interior has been preserved in the south-western part of the monastery. It is known that guilty nuns were kept in its cellar, living only on bread and kvass. In 1923 the monastery was abolished. Restoration work in the monastery began in the mid-XX century. Several museum exhibits were arranged here with magnificent icons and works of artistic sewing. The monastic life of the Intercession Monastery resumed in 1992.

The Intercession Monastery: a Dungeon for Unwanted Wives

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