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The Ferapontov convent (Russian: Ферапонтов монастырь)
in the Vologda region of Russia
is considered one of the purest examples of Russian medieval art
a reason given by UNESCO for its inscription on the World Heritage List. The monastery was founded by Saint Ferapont in 1398 in the inhospitable Russian North
to the east from the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery
named after his fellow monk
Saint Kirill of Beloozero. The fame of the monastery started to spread under Kirill's disciple
Saint Martinian
who was to become a father superior of the Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra in 1447. Even after Martinian's death
his monastery was protected and favoured by members of Ivan III's family. The most ancient structure
the Cathedral of Nativity of the Virgin (1490)
was built in brick by the masters of Rostov. This edifice is the best preserved of three sister cathedrals erected in the 1490s in the Russian North. All the interior walls are covered with invaluable frescoes by the great medieval painter Dionisius. This
they added a treasury
a refectory
and the unique Annunciation church surmounted by a belfry. At that time the monastery enjoyed special privileges conferred upon it by Ivan the Terrible
and possessed some 60 villages in the vicinity. The tsar himself frequently visited the monastery as a pilgrim. In the Time of Troubles
the monastery was ravaged by the Poles. During its recovery the last buildings — the tent-like church of Saint Martinian (1641)
a two-tented barbican church (1650)
and a bell-tower (1680) — were added to the complex. The belfry clocks (1638) are said to be the oldest in Russia. As the monastery gradually lost its religious importance
it was being turned into a place of exile for distinguished clerics
such as the Patriarch Nikon. It was abolished by Emperor Paul in 1798
reinstituted as a convent in 1904
closed by the Bolsheviks twenty years later
and turned into a museum in 1975. The museum constitutes a part of the Russky Sever (Russian North) National Park since 1991. As of January 2013
images of the monastery and grounds were available via Google Street View.| Link to this photo view: | |
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