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Holy Dormition Monastery (Crimean Lavra)

The men's Holy Dormition rock-cut (cave) monastery near Bakhchysarai, in the Mariam-Dere gorge (St. Mary's Valley); one of the most venerated Orthodox shrines of Crimea, also known as the Crimean Lavra or Crimea's Athos — on the border between the Christian and Muslim worlds.

Overview

The monastery is located near Bakhchysarai in the Mariam-Dere gorge, amid the cliffs of the Inner Range. The time of the origin of the rock-cut church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos remains an open question. According to one version, the monastery was founded by Greek monks of the 8th–9th centuries, supporters of icon veneration who fled Byzantium during the iconoclasm; they hewed out the church and the cells in the rock. The monastery seemingly existed on the border of two worlds — Christian and pagan: in the nearby valleys archaeologists have discovered Christian burial grounds of the 6th century, while its neighbors were pagan Alano-Gothic tribes among whom the monks carried out missionary work.

Legends of the 8th–9th centuries link the appearance of the miracle-working icon of the Mother of God on the Dormition Rock with the shepherd Mykhailo of the Mangup prince (he twice moved the image — each time it returned) and with deliverance from a serpent; a rock-cut Dormition church was built for the icon.

The oldest documentary mention dates to the 16th century: in a charter of Tsar Feodor Ivanovich of 27 May 1596, the monastery is named the "Monastery of the Most Pure Mother of God at Salachik"; 15 rubles of alms were sent to the brotherhood. According to another version (11th–14th centuries, supported by O. Bertier-Delagard on the basis of manuscripts that have not survived), the monastery was originally in the caves near the southern gates of Chufut-Kale and, after the Turkish capture of 1475, was moved to its present location.

At the end of the 15th century, the monastery became the residence of the Metropolitans of Gothia and Caffa and the center of Orthodoxy on the peninsula. It was also venerated by Muslims (Mairim-Anay — "mother Mary"; the Mariam-Dere gorge); some Crimean khans, after their campaigns, made gifts to the image of the Mother of God.

At the beginning of the 20th century the monastery flourished: 5 churches (the rock-cut Dormition Church, the rock-cut Church of St. Mark, the Church of St. Innocent of Irkutsk, the Church of Sts. Constantine and Helen, and the cemetery Church of St. George the Victorious), cells, farm buildings, the abbot's house, a pilgrim house, and an orchard with a fountain; over 50 monks. After 1917 the monastery survived for a few more years; in 1921 it was closed as a "nest of the counter-revolutionary underground", its property was destroyed, and an Artem labor colony for invalids was set up on its territory. By 1929 the five churches and chapels were dismantled, and the interior decoration of the Dormition Church was desecrated. The Bakhchysarai Icon was taken away by the Greeks in 1778; until 1918 it was "near Mariupol… in the Dormition Church", after which all traces disappear.

During the Crimean War (1855–1856) and the Second World War, the monastery sheltered the wounded; on the military cemetery there are graves of Crimean War soldiers and of 1940s soldiers with red stars. In the 1970s–1980s it housed a psycho-neurological institution. Revival since 1993: the Dormition Church and its stairway were restored, together with the rock icon paintings and the golden dome; the bells can be heard on the road to Chufut-Kale; there are newly painted copies of the Bakhchysarai Icon, the icons of the Theotokos of the Three Hands and of the "All-Tsarina" (Vsetsarytsia), and two reliquaries with holy relics.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Location: Mariam-Dere gorge (St. Mary's) near Bakhchysarai; proximity to the Burunchak plateau / Chufut-Kale; the road to the fortress with the monastery bells.
  • 8th–9th century founding version: Greek icon-venerating monks from Byzantium; rock-cut church and cells; the "border" between the Christian and pagan worlds; 6th-century burial grounds as indirect confirmation; missionary work among the Alano-Goths.
  • Legends of the icon: the shepherd Mykhailo of the Mangup prince; the return of the image to the rock; deliverance from a serpent; the rock-cut Dormition church.
  • Documentary mention of 1596: the "Monastery of the Most Pure Mother of God at Salachik"; 15 rubles of alms from Feodor Ivanovich.
  • Version of the transfer from Chufut-Kale: caves near the southern gates (11th–14th centuries); after 1475 — moved to a new location; O. Bertier-Delagard (manuscripts not preserved).
  • Residence of the metropolitans: end of the 15th century — Metropolitans of Gothia and Caffa; center of Orthodoxy; veneration by Muslims (Mairim-Anay); gifts of the khans.
  • Flourishing at the beginning of the 20th century: 5 churches; pilgrim infrastructure; >50 monks.
  • Soviet closure: 1921 — closure, the Artem colony for invalids; by 1929 — dismantled churches, desecrated Dormition Church; 1970s–1980s — psycho-neurological institution.
  • Bakhchysarai Icon: taken away by the Greeks in 1778; until 1918 near Mariupol in the Dormition Church; traces disappear; since the 1990s — a newly painted copy in the main church.
  • Wars and the cemetery: shelter for the wounded in 1855–1856 and WWII; military cemetery (Crimean War + 1940s soldiers).
  • Revival since 1993: Dormition Church, stairway, rock icon paintings, golden dome; "Theotokos of the Three Hands", "All-Tsarina" (Vsetsarytsia); 2 reliquaries with holy relics.
  • Names: Crimean Lavra / Crimea's Athos; the border between the Christian and Muslim worlds.

Contradictions and Open Questions

  • Founding date: the time of origin of the rock-cut church of the Dormition and of the monastery itself remains open; the version of Greek monks of the 8th–9th centuries rests on legends and indirect archaeological data (6th-century burial grounds) rather than on direct written sources of that time.
  • Transfer from Chufut-Kale: the 11th–14th century version of a location near the southern gates of the fortress and a transfer after 1475 was supported by O. Bertier-Delagard on the basis of manuscripts that have not survived; the only documentally confirmed mention dates from the 16th century (1596).
  • Residence of the metropolitans: the source dates the transformation of the monastery into the residence of the Metropolitans of Gothia and Caffa to the end of the 15th century; on the page Metropolitanate of Gothia and Caffa, the center after the fall of Mangup (1475) is also associated with the Dormition (Panagia) skete — the chronology broadly agrees, but the details of "Goths and Caffa" vs. the gradual merger of the sees (1676) require careful reading of the sources.