CHUDOV MONASTERY

In the opinion of the researchers, the Chudov Monastery in the Kremlin was founded by Metropolitan Alexius in 1358 to commemorate the miracle he performed in healing the Tatar Queen Taidula. To judge from the date of the Metropolitan's departure for the Horde, this could have taken place on 6 September, the Feast of the Miracle of St Michael the Archangel at Chonae. The connection between these events can also be seen in the location of the monastery. Situated to the north-east of the present Ivanovskaya Square, it used to belong to the Embassy of the Golden Horde and, according to some sources, was partly presented to the Saint by Queen Taidula after her healing.

Originally a metropolitan monastery, after the establishment of the Holy Synod the Chudov Monastery received the status of a Stauropegial monastery, and with the establishment of the independent Moscow diocese in 1774 it became known as a cathedral monastery.

From the first years of its foundation, the monastery served as a breeding ground for spiritual and scientific enlightenment in Russia. Scholars, including foreign elders famous for their ascetic life and theological works, came and lived here for long periods. A Greek-Latin school was established in the monastery, educating the children of boyars and nobles. The monastery fulfilled this role throughout its history. Maximus the Greek and Epiphanius Slavinetsky worked here, correcting liturgical books.

The monastery also served as a penitentiary for clergymen who, according to church canons, had committed unworthy acts. Among others, Tsar Vasily Shuisky was tonsured in the monastery and stayed there for some time. In 1666 the trial of Patriarch Nikon took place there and he was deprived of his patriarchal dignity.

From the time of Ivan the Terrible it became customary to baptise the royal children in the monastery. The Tsar's own children were baptised there. The tradition continued under Tsar Mikhail. The future Emperor Peter the Great and his sister Tsarevna Natalia were baptised in the Chudov Monastery as well. In 1818 the tsar-martyr Alexander II was baptised in the Church of St Alexius.

The cemetery of the monastery was the burial place not only of the monastery's inhabitants, but also of representatives of the old boyar families, such as Morozovs, Obolenskys, Trubetskoys and others.

The most important and ancient churches of the monastery were the Cathedral of the Miracle of St Michael the Archangel in Chonae and the Church of St Alexius the Metropolitan, built as far back as the 14th and 15th centuries. In addition, there was a Church of the Annunciation, originally located by the old cathedral and rebuilt in the 17th century together with the Church of Alexius the Metropolitan. On the west side of the refectory, next to the two churches, a new church was consecrated at the same time – it was dedicated to St Andrew the First-Called and was meant only for monks. During the reign of Ivan the Terrible, in honour of his daughter Eudokia's birth, the over-the-gate church of St John Climacus with a side chapel of Martyr Eudokia was built on the northern side of the monastery above the back gate. This church changed its consecration several times and in the 1770s it was rebuilt as a bell tower.

After great fires in the Kremlin in 1493, 1547, 1626 and 1737, which caused considerable damage not only to the wooden but also to the stone buildings, the monastery was rebuilt and new buildings were added. By the 18th century, stone had completely replaced wood.

The perimeter structure of the monastery area included brethren' cells, offices, archbishop's and vicar's quarters, hospital wards and domestic services.According to the inventory of 1763, the cathedral was connected to the Church of the Annunciation and the bishop's quarters, which were covered with stone corridors, with a bell tower to the west of the cathedral.

During the 36 years of Metropolitan Platon’s administration – from 1775 to 1811 – the monastery underwent extensive renovations and improvements. On the site of the old archbishop's quarters in the south-western corner of the monastery, the Archbishop's Residence was built by architect M.F. Kazakov, and later it was rebuilt into the Minor Nicholas Palace. At the same time, the southern façade of the building with the metropolitan church and the refectory was decorated with a richly ornamented neo-Gothic portico by the same architect. In this form, with some modifications, the monastery ensemble existed throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Following the 1917 Revolution and the relocation of the Soviet government to the Kremlin in Moscow, the Chudov Monastery was closed in 1918 and all the monks and nuns were evicted from the Kremlin. However, the monastery buildings remained until 1929, when by the authorities' decision all the buildings of the monastery, together with the neighbouring Ascension Convent and the Minor Nicholas Palace, were completely demolished for the construction of the Military School named after the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.