Pilgrimage to Holy Mountain p 36

36

A Russian Monastery:

There are fewer monasteries on the eastern shore of the Holy Mountain peninsula. I visit a couple, one of which is most interesting. I remember the name as “Stavronikita”, though that may not be correct. This monastery is BIG–built on a huge tract of land which was planned and developed all at once as a park and monastic community by Tsar Nicholas before he was murdered by revolutionaries.

Nicholas supported the Russian Orthodox Church but maybe spent too much money on this grandiose project in an Orthodox but foreign country. He funded this entire monastery–designed for perhaps a thousand or so residents–had it built and furnished down to the last detail and then: kaput. After he was killed, no more funds from Russia arrived and no Russian monks were allowed to come either so the place was never officially opened–a brand new derelict!

At the time of my visit, only six monks, all Russian Orthodox men from the United States and mostly from New York, were the only inhabitants of this town-sized property and, though all their time was spent in building maintenance, the place was literally falling apart.. They begged me to stay with them to help, but even though I love building restoration, this was too much of a good thing for me!

They told me about another serious (for them) problem. Other monastics had been removing whatever materials their monastery buildings needed from this almost abandoned hulk. Stavronikita has become a warehouse of free building supplies! So it happens on Holy Mountain as it does in secular society! But you can’t exactly call it theft–just rearranging assets!

These American Russian Orthodox monks gave me a quick tour of some of the most interesting features of their huge white elephant, such as a completely stocked surgery with medicines and medical tools from our great grandfather’s day–all lying unused in their original crates and cabinets.

Tomasito, 2009


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