The Shepherd, December 2004
ORTHODOX CRIMEA, 3
THE BAKHCHISARAY ICON
The Bakhchisaray Dormition Caves Monastery is built high up in a cliff, overlooking a deep gorge. It is very beautiful and has more the appearance of a monastery in coastal Montenegro, than Russia or Ukraine. The churches are linked by stone steps, and the floors and ceilings are of natural rock.
The monastery claims to date from the 8th century, but its recorded history begins with its Icon, which was found in the 15th century, after the Tatar conquest. As the Tatar capital was established at Bakhchisaray (they had destroyed Chersonesus), it was impossible to hide the existence of the monastery, but the Khans made an exception of this place and they and their people held the Icon in great reverence.
Some Greek monastic life seems to have continued until 1778, when the Khans, alarmed by Russian advances, expelled the entire Orthodox population. Led by their Bishop, Ignatius, now locally glorified, and the miraculous Icon, they are said to have walked all the way to Mariupol on the north shore of the Sea of Azov. Here the ancient Icon became known as the Mariupol Icon and it is famous throughout Russia. Crimea was never able to secure its return, but the Bakhchisaray monastery venerates an 18th century copy in its main church, which is itself miracle-working. Its feastday is 15th August.
The monastery was re-founded as a Russian one in the middle of the 19th century, but was closed in the 1920s, when the caves were used as a prison. It was re-established in 1993 and its churches are a model of how Orthodox monastic churches should look. The monastery is probably the largest in Crimea, and is a very popular place of pilgrimage.
Pilgrims often combine their visit with a steep and dangerous climb to a holy spring high in the mountains, which is dedicated to the holy Martyr Anastasia. Although the chapel has gone, it is the custom to sing the akathist to the martyr, and then wash in the water of the spring.
BALAKLAVA SAINT GEORGE MONASTERY
This monastery is near Sebastopol on a beautiful site high on the coast. Balaklava, of course, is the same as the famous battle site of the Crimean War. In 891, some sailors in danger of shipwreck prayed to the Great Martyr George, who appeared to them from the land. On safely landing, they found an icon of the saint in the exact spot where they had seen him. A church was established there in a nearby rock cave. There must have been some monastic life, because it is related that the Venerable Metropolitan Ignatius, the last Greek bishop of Crimea, held services in this monastery in 1771.
After the defeat of the Tatars, a Russian monastery was established on the same site in 1794. Because it claimed to be the oldest monastery in Crimea (and perhaps Russia!) and because the monks supplied chaplains for the Southern Fleet, it became very large and an important centre for pilgrimage. By 1914, there were four churches and a holy spring of Saint George. The local ruling bishops were often also abbots of the Balaklava monastery.
In 1929 it was closed and the ancient Byzantine miracle-working icon of Saint George set to the Kiev Museum of Fine Art, where it still is. In 1993 the monastery was reopened but is still small, though very strict and secluded, and casual visitors are discouraged.
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