“The village of Antushkovo was previously called Nikolsky Pogost, since it was there on May 29/June 11, 1423 that local shepherds saw the appearance of the Life-giving Cross with St. Nicholas the Wonderworker standing in front of it.
On the site of the Nikolsky churchyard before the appearance of the Cross of the Lord there was a large swamp called Sakhotsky, which after the appearance of the Cross miraculously dried up overnight, forming a place for the construction of a church.
In memory of the miraculous phenomenon, the newly built church was consecrated in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker with a chapel in honor of the origin of the venerable tree of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord. It was built of oak and stood for many years, but “by God’s permission, and ours for the sake of sin, the church of God burned down during a fire.” It burned down, but was rebuilt in the tree the same year.
In 1776, on the site of a dilapidated wooden one, a stone church with three altars was built and consecrated: the main one - in honor of the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord and the side chapels - in the name of St. Nicholas and in honor of the Intercession of the Mother of God.
In 1824, at the Nikolsky churchyard, it was decided to build a monastery around the temple so that services at the shrine - the Life-giving Cross of the Lord - would be performed daily, which was previously impossible due to the small number of the parish Church of the Exaltation of the Cross. We managed to build a small brick factory and a cell building especially for this purpose. However, this is where it all ended for an unknown reason. The cell building was later given over to the Zemstvo Public School. At the beginning of the 19th century, the parish of the St. Nicholas Church was quite large: thirteen villages with a population of about 1,500 people.
The Church of the Exaltation of the Cross in the Nikolsky Pogost operated until 1927, when it was completely plundered, and its rector, Father John Dobrotin, was arrested and exiled to a camp near the village of Derevyansk in Komi, where he died on November 25, 1931.
A proletarian “Red Commune” is formed at the Nikolsky churchyard, the cell building becomes a hostel for communards - Ivanovo workers. At this time, it was decided among the parishioners to move the Shrine to the closest located Church of St. John Chrysostom in the village of Godenovo, which operated until 1929, then was closed, but not looted and stood abandoned in the middle of the village.
No one can say the exact date of the transfer of the Cross. The most likely date is 1933. According to the stories of local residents, it was in this year that all participants in this religious procession were dispossessed and deported.
The Cross was carried at night by “the entire collective farm,” led by Chairman Vasily Fomin. The Cross stood in the abandoned Goden Church throughout the war. The Cross suffered a lot during this time from the new government - they burned it and sawed it and poured acid on it and chopped it with an ax. But the Cross never succumbed; only minor damage and scratches remained as a warning to posterity."
“In the godless years, the Nikolsky churchyard was completely ruined. After the communards’ hostel, there was an orphanage there, but in the 50s there was a strong fire, many village houses and a barnyard burned down, the fraternal building burned out inside, but the church remained intact. In the 60s near the empty Nikolsky churchyard they organized a machine and tractor station. For its construction, they once again organized “brick production according to Ilyich’s method” - they broke and dismantled the vaults and walls of the Holy Cross Church. For some reason, MTS did not work and the holy place was completely deserted. So Nikolsky graveyard after five hundred years of glorious history, it again turned into the Sahota swamp.
In the mid-1990s, through the efforts of abbot Boris Khramtsov, a monastery was founded at the site of the apparition of the Life-Giving Cross in the name of the Descent of the Cross of the Lord. In 2004, the Holy Cross Church was almost completely restored, and a small wooden St. Nicholas Church was built."
The monastery is located on a high hill with steep slopes, above a wide river valley. Jordanian. In the surrounding landscape and among the surviving buildings of the complex, the one built in the middle dominates. 19th century high bell tower. The five-domed Church of the Exaltation of the Cross itself, built in 1776 at the expense of parishioners, was dismantled in 1974; Only its northern aisle has survived. 19th century To the east stretches a long two-story almshouse building - it was built in the middle. 19th century as the body of cells of a supposed, but never established monastery. In con. 19th century The building was rebuilt in connection with adaptation to the zemstvo school. The buildings were surrounded by a stone fence, from which, to the west of the almshouse, only the chapel that was part of the fence survived (mid-19th century). The walls of all buildings are brick and plastered. Several old linden trees have been preserved on the territory of the churchyard. The bell tower of the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross has been preserved to the height of two tiers; only a fragment remains from the third. Part of the northern aisle, which was added to the temple at the same time as the bell tower, also survived.
Despite its poor state of preservation, it is an expressive monument in the style of mature classicism.
To the Sahota swamp and the Pogost Krest tract. Russia.
The Pogost Cross tract is located in the Ivanovo region, on the very border with Yaroslavl. We were interested in the monastery there, which is located in a swamp.
I’ve already been here in the summer, in August, but I still haven’t made a photo report - I confess. Now I’ll show you photos from the September trip.
The Monastery of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord on the Sakhota swamp, located near the village of Antushkovo, Ilyinsky district, Ivanovo region. We arrived there before dawn, expecting morning fog.
1.
The weather forecast did not disappoint and the fog was pleasant!
2.
3.
The sun also rose over the swamp in the fog, and we walked waist-deep in grass and reeds, completely wet with dew.
4.
5.
The sun rose higher and higher and the houses of the village of Lapnevo became visible through the fog.
6.
7.
Well, a little history:
The village of Antushkovo was previously called Nikolsky Pogost, since it was there on May 29/June 11, 1423 that local shepherds saw the appearance of the Life-giving Cross with St. Nicholas the Wonderworker standing in front of it. On the site of the Nikolsky churchyard before the appearance of the Cross of the Lord there was a large swamp called Sakhotsky, which after the appearance of the Cross miraculously dried up overnight, forming a place for the construction of a church. In memory of the miraculous phenomenon, the newly built church was consecrated in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker with a chapel in honor of the origin of the venerable tree of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord. It was built of oak and stood for many years, but “by God’s permission, and ours for the sake of sin, the church of God burned down during a fire.” It burned down, but was rebuilt in the tree the same year. In 1776, on the site of a dilapidated wooden one, a stone church with three altars was built and consecrated: the main one - in honor of the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord and the side chapels - in the name of St. Nicholas and in honor of the Intercession of the Mother of God. In 1824, at the Nikolsky churchyard, it was decided to build a monastery around the temple so that services at the shrine - the Life-giving Cross of the Lord - would be performed daily, which was previously impossible due to the small number of the parish Church of the Exaltation of the Cross. We managed to build a small brick factory and a cell building especially for this purpose. However, this is where it all ended for an unknown reason. The cell building was later given over to the Zemstvo Public School. At the beginning of the 19th century, the parish of the St. Nicholas Church was quite large: thirteen villages with a population of about 1,500 people.
The Church of the Exaltation of the Cross in the Nikolsky Pogost operated until 1927, when it was completely plundered, and its rector, Father John Dobrotin, was arrested and exiled to a camp near the village of Derevyansk in Komi, where he died on November 25, 1931. A proletarian “Red Commune” is formed at the Nikolsky churchyard, the cell building becomes a hostel for communards - Ivanovo workers. At this time, it was decided among the parishioners to move the Shrine away from the communards mocking it to the closest church of St. John Chrysostom in the village of Godenovo, which operated until 1929, then was closed, but not looted, and stood abandoned in the middle of the village. No one can say the exact date of the transfer of the Cross. The most likely date is 1933. According to the stories of local residents, it was in this year that all participants in this religious procession were dispossessed and deported. And they carried the Cross at night “by the entire collective farm,” led by chairman Vasily Fomin. The Cross stood in the abandoned Goden Church throughout the war. The Cross suffered a lot during this time from the new government - they burned it and sawed it and poured acid on it and chopped it with an ax. But the Cross never succumbed to the tormentors; only minor damage and scratches remained as a warning to posterity."
“In the godless years, the Nikolsky churchyard was completely destroyed. After the communards’ hostel, there was an orphanage there, but in the 50s there was a strong fire: many village houses and a barnyard burned down, the fraternal building burned out inside, but the church remained intact. In the 60s near the empty Nikolsky churchyard they organized a machine and tractor station. For its construction, they once again organized “brick production according to Ilyich’s method” - they broke and dismantled the vaults and walls of the Holy Cross Church. For some reason, MTS did not work and the holy place was completely deserted. So Nikolsky graveyard after a five-hundred-year glorious history, it again turned into the Sakhota swamp. But not for long. In the mid-1990s, through the efforts of abbot Boris Khramtsov, a monastery in the name of the Descent of the Holy Cross was founded on the site of the appearance of the Life-giving Cross. In 2004, the Holy Cross Church was almost completely restored, a small wooden one was built St. Nicholas Church.
taken from the site
On December 23, 2017, with the blessing of the rector of the Church of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, Priest Igor Kraev, a pilgrimage trip was organized to the Church of St. John Chrysostom (the village of Godenovo), to the place of the Descent of the Life-Giving Cross on the St. Nicholas churchyard near the village of Antushkovo, to the Nikitsky Monastery and the Feodorovsky Convent (g. Pereslavl-Zalessky).
The trip was organized according to a tradition that has been established and successfully implemented over the past four years. Just as in the middle of the Lenten path there is a Week of Veneration of the Cross to strengthen believers in its passage, so this pious tradition has developed logically: at the end of the Nativity Fast and before entering the coming year, to make this pilgrimage to the Life-giving Cross of the Lord, the Godin miracle that appeared in these places in the Sahota swamp in the 15th century. People willingly respond to this invitation. This time our group was replenished with new members. R.B. Maria and her nine-year-old daughter Natalya, who are not our parishioners, went with us. They learned about the trip from the information posted on our website.
It is gratifying that their first pilgrimage in their lives took place precisely to the Life-Giving Cross, where Mary had been striving for so long, and in the parish community, and not organized by well-known Pilgrimage centers and services. For the “newcomers,” this trip was, to a certain extent, the first experience of participating in a pilgrimage that was far from an excursion-tourist format. Joint prayer, familiarization with the history of the places where pilgrims go, the biographies and exploits of the holy saints of God who labored in these places, the cathedral reading of the Akathist before the revered Shrine - all this undoubtedly left a good mark on the soul of Mary and her young daughter.
Also, according to established tradition, before the trip, Father Igor served a short prayer service, prayerfully admonished the pilgrims and sprinkled them with holy water.
On the way, the pilgrims were told the story of the Goden miracle - the appearance of the Cross in the Sakhota swamp on May 29/June 11, 1423, which is now located in the Church of St. John Chrysostom in the village. Godenovo. The care of the temple is currently carried out by the sisters of the St. Nicholas Convent.
This shrine, a two and a half meter high Crucifixion, the appearance of which cannot be rationally explained, is one of the few that have come down to us, preserved from ancient times. For a believer, the simplest and most convincing explanation is that the Cross was revealed miraculously.
In the Church of St. John Chrysostom, pilgrims venerated the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord and collectively read the Akathist before the greatest shrine of the Orthodox world.
Our further path lay to the place of the appearance of the Life-Giving Cross, the very same place where, according to the Legend, shepherds grazing cattle not far from the Sakhota swamp in a field near the Nikolsky churchyard saw in the east an indescribable light pouring from heaven to earth. Approaching the place of the miraculous phenomenon, they saw the Life-Giving Cross standing in the air in an indescribable light with the image of the Crucifixion of the Lord, and in front of it - the image of the wonderworker Nicholas with the Holy Gospel. That is why the area was called Nikolsky Pogost.
Monastery of the Descent of the Cross on St. Nicholas Churchyard
In this remote, inaccessible place on the border of the Yaroslavl and Ivanovo regions, among forests and swamps, abbot Boris (Khramtsov) in the 90s began to restore the temple destroyed during the Soviet years and founded a monastery in honor of the Descent of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord
The first wooden buildings appeared here in the fall of 1998, a chapel was built and a prayer service was served on September 27, on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. And in the spring of 2001, construction began on the stone Church of the Exaltation of the Cross with chapels in honor of St. Nicholas, the holy noble princes Boris and Gleb and in honor of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos.
Church of the Exaltation of the Cross with the chapel of the holy noble princes Boris and Gleb.
Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Healing gifts of the Sahota swamp.
Then the group visited the Nikitsky Monastery.
On the way, the pilgrims also learned about the history of the Monastery, one of the oldest on the territory of our fatherland (11th century), its founders, and the holy Great Martyr Nikita of Gotha, in whose name the monastery was consecrated. The participants of the trip were told the life of St. Nikita the Stylite.
In the Nikitsky Cathedral, pilgrims venerated the holy relics and honorable chains of the saint, and visited the pillar chapel of St. Nikita Stylite - a place of prayerful feat - many years of standing.
Our guide Tatyana told us more about the Abode.
Unfortunately, deep twilight did not allow us to take photographs that convey the beauty and harmony of the monastery ensemble.
The Andronikovskaya Icon of the Mother of God, according to legend, is one of three painted by the Evangelist Luke. It once belonged to the home shrines of the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos and in honor of him the icon was named “Andronikova”. The first mention of the Greek Andronicus icon dates back to To 1347.
The Queen of Heaven is depicted on it without the Infant God.
On the right side of the neck of the Most Holy Theotokos there was a wound with dried blood, miraculously flowing out from the blow of the icon-hater Turk.
In the Vvedensky Church of the Feodorovsky Monastery in Pereslavl-Zalessky there is one of the first copies of the Andronikov Icon, which was brought by a parishioner to the monastery re-opened in 1998.
In January 2005, many people testified to the wonderful fragrance that emanated from the image and filled the entire temple. At the same time, believers received help and healing from serious illnesses after turning to this particular image of the Mother of God.
In the winter of 2006, the Andronikov Icon streamed myrrh for about two months, and the face of the Mother of God began to brighten.
In the case of the miraculous icon, many leave notes with a prayerful appeal to the Intercessor of all who love Her Divine Son. No one left unconsoled, and many again return to this wonderful image to give thanks to the Queen of Heaven for Her great love for people.
Our pilgrims also resorted to the Queen of Heaven with their petitions.
The final highlight before returning to Moscow was a short rest in the refectory with tea, where travelers were treated to monastery pies and apple jam.
We thank our Lord Jesus Christ, the Most Holy Theotokos and the saints of God who traveled with us - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and the blessed Elder Matrona for the successful fulfillment of our good intentions for the glory of God!
At the beginning of 2016, a decision was made to transfer the Life-giving Cross of the Lord from Godenov to the place of its appearance in the village of Pogost Cross.
From now on, according to the resolution of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, the shrine will be located for six months in the Monastery of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord in the village of Pogost Krest (Ilyinsky district, Ivanovo region), and for another six months - in the Church of St. John Chrysostom in the village of Godenovo. To move the shrine, the Patriarch blessed to carry out religious processions twice a year.
In the middle of the swamp
The life-giving Cross of the Lord appeared to the shepherds on June 11, 1423. Then, on the site of the village of Pogost Krest, there was a Sakhota swamp, next to which they grazed their cattle. The shepherds saw an indescribable light “from the Greek side” and at first they were very frightened. But soon they decided to go see what miracle God was showing them. They left the cattle and went to the swamp. The path was not easy, the places were impassable, but we still managed to get to the amazing light.
And the shepherds saw in the middle of this light in the air the Life-Giving Cross with the Crucified Savior, and in front of him St. Nicholas the Wonderworker with the Gospel in his hands. Out of fear, the shepherds lost consciousness, and when they came to their senses, they heard a voice coming from the Crucifixion: “The grace of God and the house of God will be in this place; If anyone comes to pray with faith, there will be many healings and miracles from the Life-Giving Cross of prayers for the sake of the miracle worker St. Nicholas. Go and preach this to all people, so that in this place people will build my church.”
The shepherds went home and told their fellow villagers about the miraculous phenomenon and what the voice from the Crucifixion told them. Soon word of this reached the Rostov Bishop Dionysius, who, having learned about the miracle, thanked God and ordered to build a church in that place in the name of St. Nicholas with a chapel of the Origin of the Honest Trees of the Life-Giving Cross. With the blessing of the bishop, the builders went to the swamp to lay the foundation for the temple. But they failed to do this, because the place was impassable, and the architects decided to build the church next to the swamp.
On the very first day they worked hard - they laid three crowns of the church and, tired of their work, fell asleep. The next morning we went to work, but there was no building! The builders were very surprised. Suddenly a light shone over the swamp - in the very place where the appearance to the shepherds took place. The workers went there and saw the foundation of the church standing right in the swamp, and in the middle of the foundation was the Life-Giving Cross, from which a voice came: “In this place you will build my church, and the mountain will be great and many miracles will happen to those who come to pray with faith, and there will be many healings.” " At night, a stream formed in the middle of the swamp, which carried all the swamp water from the indicated place, and a hill rose on it. Here they were able to easily erect a temple of God. And the revealed Life-Giving Cross remained standing in the middle of the church.
Doesn't burn in fire
The fame of miracles and healings occurring at the Cross spread to many cities. Cases of grace-filled help were recorded in a special book.
In 1506 there was a fire in the temple. Parishioners and clergy rushed to save the icons and carried them all out of the burning building. But when they tried to save the Cross, they could not move it from its place - the holy Crucifix did not want to leave the temple. People barely had time to run out of the church engulfed in flames. The grief was great - everything burned: holy books, church vestments, and the book recording miracles from the Life-Giving Cross did not survive. When the fire subsided, many people came to the ashes and began to look for surviving iron and copper items in the ashes. And suddenly, while raking out the ashes, they discovered a completely intact Cross of the Lord! All the bells rang, there was no end to the joy. They began to serve a prayer service to thank God for such a glorious miracle. On this day, many sick people gathered around the Cross, and the Lord granted healing to everyone.
And they sawed and chopped
A new stone temple was erected in the same place. Miracles occurring from the Life-Giving Cross were learned outside the Yaroslavl province. Many people began to flock to the shrine. For several centuries, people came and went here in the hope of getting help.
But the year 1917 came. The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was destroyed. The atheists tried to take the Life-Giving Cross out of the temple in order to burn it in the street. But the Holy Crucifix seemed to be filled with lead, it was impossible to move it (although these days two fragile nuns can easily lift it). Enraged atheists rushed to saw the Crucifixion, intending to take it out piece by piece, but the teeth of the saw broke, as if it were not wood, but stone. On the hand of the Savior you can still see a shallow mark from a saw as an edification to all who doubt the miracles of God. Having achieved nothing, the atheists left the Cross alone.
However, there was another god-fighter watching what was happening. Outraged that two healthy men could not handle a piece of wood, he grabbed an ax and in anger struck the foot of the image of the Savior. A piece of the little finger from the shrine fell to the floor. The God-fighter triumphed - he “won.” According to the stories of fellow villagers, this man lived a difficult life and in the 70s died from blood poisoning, which occurred from a wound on his little toe.
In 1933, believing peasants bought the Life-Giving Cross from the atheists and secretly moved it at night to the Chrysostom Church in the village of Godenovo. The temple was closed, but not looted.
Holy Crucifixion - fragment
All-Russian shrine
The five-domed stone church with a hipped bell tower in the village of Godenovo was built in 1794. The Zlatoust parish was quite large; at the end of the 19th century it included six villages. At different times of the year, twelve religious processions were held here in memory of God's help in various disasters.
During Soviet times, the Church of St. John Chrysostom was abandoned and by the 1990s stood dilapidated. The nuns of the Pereslavl St. Nicholas Monastery learned from pilgrims that a great shrine, the Life-Giving Cross, is kept here. They went to see what kind of place this was, especially since it was located not far from their monastery. The abbess of the Nikolsky Monastery, Abbess Evstolia, recalled: “We learned about the village of Godenovo, lost among the marshy swamps and lakes, by chance from pious pilgrims from Moscow who were heading there to venerate the Miraculous Unrevealed Cross... Entering the temple consecrated in honor of St. John Chrysostom, we were deeply souls are amazed by the majestic image of the Lord suffering on the Cross. Then it was difficult for us to imagine that many, many of our compatriots would learn about this shrine, so remote from populated areas and especially big cities, and the shrine would acquire All-Russian significance.”
The sisters of the St. Nicholas Monastery took upon themselves the care of the Church of St. John Chrysostom in Godenov, which became the metochion of the Pereslavl monastery.
And in the village of Pogost Cross (at the site of the appearance of the shrine), a monastic community was formed in 1998, transformed into a monastery. In 2004, the construction of the Holy Cross Church was completed here, and its consecration took place in the same year. For many years, the monastery celebrated the day of the discovery of the Life-Giving Cross, performing solemn services and religious processions.
More and more pilgrims come to both Godenovo and the Holy Cross Monastery every year, many of whom testify to the miracles that happened to them.
“Today’s veneration of the Godin Cross is actually its second acquisition. The cross, which came down from heaven back in the 15th century, is in demand in modern Russia today and is called upon to become a support for the salvation of many in our difficult times.”
Abbess Evstolia of the St. Nicholas Monastery in Pereyaslavl-Zalessky
I don't know how to thank God!
Here's one of them. Paraskeva Moroz, 60 years old, from the city of Khmelnitsky, was admitted to an oncology clinic in a hopeless condition. Chemotherapy, surgery, more chemotherapy, disability. There were metastases on all internal organs. Being a believer, Paraskeva prayed for recovery. And one day, from a friend whom I had not seen for 15 years, I received a letter inviting me to come and visit the city of Tutaev. Paraskeva set off on a long journey. On the very first day, a friend suggested going to Godenovo to the Life-Giving Cross. Despite feeling very bad, Paraskeva agreed. She stood at the Cross for a long time; she did not want to leave the temple. But my health worsened and my temperature rose. After returning home, she immediately went to the hospital and spent a month there, but to no avail. All this time she read a brochure about the Life-Giving Cross, asked God for help, and even slept with this book. Things didn’t get better at home; Paraskeva suffered from pain and could not walk more than 20 meters. But she had the Life-Giving Cross with her, which strengthened her. One morning she felt completely healthy. I thought it was an accident. But the next day, and the day after, and then this condition did not go away. In a letter to the sisters of the St. Nicholas Monastery, she wrote: “I am healthy! And I don’t know what words to find, how to thank the Lord God! For almost a month I have been living a normal life: without pain, doctors and medications. I go wherever I want, communicate with people, enjoy life. And I thank, thank, thank the Lord God, the Life-giving Cross of the Lord for my miraculous healing!”
Here's another story. After an injury received in the war in Afghanistan, the young man could only move with assistance and in a wheelchair. One day, Saint Nicholas appeared to him in a dream and said: “If you come to venerate the Life-Giving Cross in the village of Godenovo, you will receive healing.” Waking up, the young man began to ask his relatives to take him to the Cross. But the relatives did not know how to get to Godenov. The young man insisted and said that he himself would show how to get there, since the road was shown to him in a dream. Arriving safely in Godenovo, the young man received Holy Communion, ordered a prayer service, and for the first time stood up from his wheelchair on his own. After a few months, he became completely stronger and no longer needed outside help.
The Pogost Cross tract is located in the Ivanovo region, on the very border with Yaroslavl. We were interested in the monastery there, which is located in a swamp.
I’ve already been here in the summer, in August, but I still haven’t made a photo report - I confess. Now I’ll show you photos from the September trip.
The Monastery of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord on the Sakhota swamp, located near the village of Antushkovo, Ilyinsky district, Ivanovo region. We arrived there before dawn, expecting morning fog.
1.
The weather forecast did not disappoint and the fog was pleasant!
2.
3.
The sun also rose over the swamp in the fog, and we walked waist-deep in grass and reeds, completely wet with dew.
4.
5.
The sun rose higher and higher and the houses of the village of Lapnevo became visible through the fog.
6.
7.
Well, a little history:
The village of Antushkovo was previously called Nikolsky Pogost, since it was there on May 29/June 11, 1423 that local shepherds saw the appearance of the Life-giving Cross with St. Nicholas the Wonderworker standing in front of it. On the site of the Nikolsky churchyard before the appearance of the Cross of the Lord there was a large swamp called Sakhotsky, which after the appearance of the Cross miraculously dried up overnight, forming a place for the construction of a church. In memory of the miraculous phenomenon, the newly built church was consecrated in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker with a chapel in honor of the origin of the venerable tree of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord. It was built of oak and stood for many years, but “by God’s permission, and ours for the sake of sin, the church of God burned down during a fire.” It burned down, but was rebuilt in the tree the same year. In 1776, on the site of a dilapidated wooden one, a stone church with three altars was built and consecrated: the main one - in honor of the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord and the side chapels - in the name of St. Nicholas and in honor of the Intercession of the Mother of God. In 1824, at the Nikolsky churchyard, it was decided to build a monastery around the temple so that services at the shrine - the Life-giving Cross of the Lord - would be performed daily, which was previously impossible due to the small number of the parish Church of the Exaltation of the Cross. We managed to build a small brick factory and a cell building especially for this purpose. However, this is where it all ended for an unknown reason. The cell building was later given over to the Zemstvo Public School. At the beginning of the 19th century, the parish of the St. Nicholas Church was quite large: thirteen villages with a population of about 1,500 people.
The Church of the Exaltation of the Cross in the Nikolsky Pogost operated until 1927, when it was completely plundered, and its rector, Father John Dobrotin, was arrested and exiled to a camp near the village of Derevyansk in Komi, where he died on November 25, 1931. A proletarian “Red Commune” is formed at the Nikolsky churchyard, the cell building becomes a hostel for communards - Ivanovo workers. At this time, it was decided among the parishioners to move the Shrine away from the communards mocking it to the closest church of St. John Chrysostom in the village of Godenovo, which operated until 1929, then was closed, but not looted, and stood abandoned in the middle of the village. No one can say the exact date of the transfer of the Cross. The most likely date is 1933. According to the stories of local residents, it was in this year that all participants in this religious procession were dispossessed and deported. And they carried the Cross at night “by the entire collective farm,” led by chairman Vasily Fomin. The Cross stood in the abandoned Goden Church throughout the war. The Cross suffered a lot during this time from the new government - they burned it and sawed it and poured acid on it and chopped it with an ax. But the Cross never succumbed to the tormentors; only minor damage and scratches remained as a warning to posterity."
“In the godless years, the Nikolsky churchyard was completely destroyed. After the communards’ hostel, there was an orphanage there, but in the 50s there was a strong fire: many village houses and a barnyard burned down, the fraternal building burned out inside, but the church remained intact. In the 60s near the empty Nikolsky churchyard they organized a machine and tractor station. For its construction, they once again organized “brick production according to Ilyich’s method” - they broke and dismantled the vaults and walls of the Holy Cross Church. For some reason, MTS did not work and the holy place was completely deserted. So Nikolsky graveyard after a five-hundred-year glorious history, it again turned into the Sakhota swamp. But not for long. In the mid-1990s, through the efforts of abbot Boris Khramtsov, a monastery in the name of the Descent of the Holy Cross was founded on the site of the appearance of the Life-giving Cross. In 2004, the Holy Cross Church was almost completely restored, a small wooden one was built St. Nicholas Church.
taken from the site