Metochions (entry)

Categories / Religion. Church/Monasteries and Convents
METOCHIONS of monasteries and eparchies of the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1715, by order of Tsar Peter the Great, the metochions of St. Sergius Trinity Monastery (from 1744, it was called Lavra) and Alexander-Svirsky Monastery (25 Razyezzhaya Street) and metochions of Novgorod, Vologda, Tver and other Eparchies were created in St. Petersburg. The majority of the metochions were situated on Vasilievsky Island, wooden or stone buildings, which usually had domestic churches attached to them. By the mid-18th century half of the 20 metochions had either been neglected or sold, by the late 18th century only five metochions survived, among them the Metochion of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius (44 Fontanka River Embankment). In the first half of the 19th century only metochions of monasteries within the St. Petersburg Eparchy were opened in St. Petersburg. In 1820, the Metochion of the Valaam Monastery was founded, and in 1821 – the metochion of Konevsky Monastery. The metochion of the Holy Assumption Monastery in Staraya Ladoga (48 Moskovsky Avenue, not preserved) with chapels associated to it was founded in 1827. From the 1860s, metochions of monasteries of other eparchies were opened. The metochion of Guslitsky Monastery (33-a Nevsky Prospect, not preserved) was opened in 1860, Zverin Monastery Metochion (9 Nadezhdinskaya Street, today Mayakovskogo Street) opened in 1863, and in 1865 the Metochion of Alexander-Svirsky Monastery was also opened. Buildings in these metochions were small in size, only several monks lived in each of them. For bishops coming to the Holy Synod there were four Synod metochions. The majority of metochions appeared in St. Petersburg in the late 19th - the early 20th centuries; they were built according to the projects of outstanding architects and included large stone churches and multi-storied wings for residents whose number sometimes reached several dozens. In that period the following metochions were built: New Athos (25 Moskovsky Avenue), Leushinskoe (31 Nekrasova Street), Shestakovskoe (8 Starorusskaya Street), Tvorozhkovskoe (12 Romenskaya Street), Vazheozerskoe (5 Krupskoi Street), Krasnogorskoe (5 Shepetovskaya Street), and others. Metochions were subordinated to the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg, did not have parishes and did not participate in eparchial life; their main function was to provide financial support for their monasteries, to which clergy in the city objected. Following the monastery regulations, monks served in metochions of monasteries, while local priests served in metochions of convents. After October 1917, all churches of Petrograd became parish churches and the number of monks diminished. A number of metochions were closed in 1923, while the majority of metochions were closed in 1930-32 (their inhabitants were subject to persecution). Since the 1990s, Valaamskoe, Konevskoe, Alexander-Svirskoe, Optinskoe (formerly Kiev Pechersk) metochions have been functioning again, metochions of diocesan Vvedeno-Oyatsky, Zelenetsky, Pokrovo-Tervenichsky and Cheremenetsky Monasteries have been reopened.

Reference: Антонов В. В., Кобак А. В. Святыни Санкт-Петербурга: Ист.-церков. энцикл. СПб., 1996. Т. 3. С. 107-161.

V. V. Antonov. Peter I, Emperor
Fontanka River Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 44
Krupskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 5
Mayakovsky St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 9
Moskovsky Ave/Saint Petersburg, city, house 25
Moskovsky Ave/Saint Petersburg, city, house 48
Nekrasova St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 31
Nevsky prospect/Saint Petersburg, city, litera у д. 33-а
Razyezzhaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 25
Romenskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 12
Shepetovskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 5
Starorusskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 8
Антонов В. В., Кобак А. В. Святыни Санкт-Петербурга: Ист.-церков. энцикл.: В 3 т. СПб., 1994-1996 Metochion of the Holy Assumption Monastery in Staraya Ladoga
Metochion of Konevets Monastery
Synod
Metochion of Kiev Pechersk Lavra
Metochion of Kiev Pechersk Lavra