The Mgarski Monastery
The Mgarski monastery - the spiritual pearl of Lubensky land - for many centuries has been towering over the picturesque Sula River.
The appearance of the first monks - the legend of the hermits on The Mount Mgar - takes us back to the 10th - 11th centuries. These really are places of grace.
The Mgarski monastery was founded by an outstanding figure of Isaiya Kopinski in 1619 with the monetary aid of the Princess Raina Vishnevetskaya. The tradition tells as it is written in the story "Twins" by Shevchenko that the place of the monastery was shown to Raina by the angels.
In 1692 on the site where previously was a wooden church, the hetman I.Samoylovich and I.Mazepa financed the Spaso-Preobrajenski Cathedral made of stone (architect Johann Baptist).
In 1785, at the place where St. Athanasius spent time in solitude, the bell tower was constructed. This same year the monastery and the Church of the Annunciation were also founded.
The Mgarski Monastery got its followers mainly from the Zaporozhye Cossack population when they took their monastic vows. In 1663 Yuri - the son of Bogdan Khmelnitksky became here as a monk and adopted the new name Gideon.
