Large icon of the crucified Christ, Mary the Mother of Jesus, and the Apostle John. This icon was installed in the northeast corner of the nave.
Worshippers light candles before the icons of significance for mourners.
Tray of votive candles burning before an icon.
Large bronze bell awaiting installation in Belogorsky monastery during the summer of 2006.
An icon leaning against a pillar and awaiting attachment.
A newly painted icon of the Romanoff family showing Czar Nicholas, his wife and children.
Icon of the Madonna and child, four gospel writers, and angels.
Icon celebrating the consecration of a large monastic church.
Vase if fresh cut flowers brought as an offering to the monastery.
Monastery brothers, next to the iconostasis, within the Cathedral. Photograph taken on the day of consecration, 7 June 1917. The Cathedral was built to honor the Czar Cross monument.
Monks painting icons in the monastery before the Russian Revolution.
Two monks in the monastery library before the Russian Revolution.
Large cross erected in 1901 to celebrate the escape of Prince Nicholas (later Czar Nicholas II) from the attack of an assassin attack against him in Japan on 29 April 1891.
Large cross that replaced the original one destroyed after the Russian Revolution.
Monastery with restored gilded domes during summer of 2006.
Father Igoumen Varlaam was the builder and first abbot of the Belogorsky St. Nicholas Orthodox Missionary Monastery Cathedral. It was construction as a missionary church by the Russian Orthodox Church within an area where many Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church congregations were located.
Construction of the monastery church began in 1902 and it was consecrated in June of 1917. Four hundred (400) monks lived at the monastery in 1917. Their daily schedule was prayers from 3 to 6 AM, then work. Lunch was 11:30 to noon, then 2 hours of rest. Return to work from 2 to 5. Last service was the day was from 6 to 10 PM.
The monastery was captured during the Russian Revolution by the Red Army in October 1917. Fighting left some monks dead and others were deported. The Abbot of the monastery was tortured to death in 1918 and the monastery was converted into a mental hospital. The great bells of the monastery were broken into pieces with sledge hammers and the artwork of the monastery was largely destroyed.
The monastery was used as a hospital for shell shocked soldiers and civilians during and after the Second World War. A mental patient burnt off the roof of the monastery church in 1979 and the building was abandoned. A dedicated group of eight monks rushed to stablize the building in 1993 and it has been undergoing restoration ever since that year.
North 57 degrees 23.542' and East 56 degrees 13.787' at an elevation of 465 meters.
Black-and-white photographs from:
Fedorouscshenko, O.
2004 Belogorsky St. Nicholas Orthodox Missionary Monastery Cathedral. Published by the monastery.
Webpage constructed 25 October 2006
Revised 11 November 2006