Rdei monastery

The Rdei monastery is located on the eastern shore of Lake Rdeiskoe in the Kholmsky district of the Novgorod region. It seems to grow out of a thick forest thicket, surrounded on three sides by swamps. No information about the time of foundation of the monastery is not known, but in the XVII century the monastery is already mentioned, in addition, it is a bell cast in 1689.

The difficult times of the monastery began in 1764, when it was abolished in accordance with the decree of Catherine II on the secularization of church property. All the lands of the monastery were transferred to the treasury, and the property was distributed among the monasteries of the Novgorod diocese. Gradually, the monastery was finally impoverished and closed in 1873.

The heyday of the Rdei monastery was associated with the name of the merchant Alexander Nikolaevich Mamontov. Thanks to his generous donations, an active restoration of the monastery began using the most advanced technologies of the time. Nearby there was a brick factory, so there were no interruptions with raw materials, the project provided for steam heating with Demidov boilers. As for the interior decoration, it just amazed with its splendor. The main decoration was a luxurious iconostasis of Venetian marble. The floor was lined with marble slabs, the windows were decorated with stained glass windows and elegant forged grilles. Traces of former luxury in the form of a magnificent marble iconostasis have been preserved here to this day, but people are attracted here not by this, but by an absolutely amazing atmosphere of calm and peace.