Saint Nicholas Women’s Orthodox Monastery is the main sacral attraction of Mukachevo. This holy monastery was founded about a thousand years ago and since then it has remained the spiritual home of the town’s inhabitants, a place where pilgrims come from all over the country to see its beauty and pray to its shrines.
The picturesque bank of the Latorica River, above which rises the Černecka Mountain, covered with a centuries-old oak forest, seems even more beautiful because of the ancient monastery. Even for non-religious people its visit will be a fascinating, impressive event, will give pleasure from contemplating the magnificent landscape — natural and architectural harmony, will please with the opportunity to visit one of the ancient buildings of Transcarpathia, to touch the history and feel the incredible atmosphere that always accompanies it. St. Nicholas Monastery is a must-see for all guests of Mukachevo, and even more — it is worth coming to the city especially to visit it.
The history of the foundation of the monastery goes back to ancient times. According to legend, on the place where the monastery is located now, during the hunt on Prince Fedor Koryatovich was attacked by a huge snake. The prince prayed to Saint Nicholas and was saved — after that he decided to build a church in his honor here. The construction of the church by Koryatovich is attributed to the middle of the XIV century, but the monastery was founded here much earlier. In the 10th century, together with the Hungarian King Andrew I and his wife — the daughter of Yaroslav the Wise Anastasia — monks from the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra arrived from Kiev and founded a cave monastery on the opposite side of the mountain. For three centuries services were conducted in the cave hermitage, and in the XIV century the monastery was moved to the buildings erected by Koryatovich.
The first stone church of the monastery was built in 1661, it existed until 1826, when it was dismantled due to dilapidation. In its present form, the monastery complex has survived since the end of the 18th century, when new buildings were erected in place of the old ones according to the project of local architect D. Ratz. The dwelling building with cells was built in 1766-1772, and the St. Nicholas Church in 1789-1804, at the same time the preserved distillery and the fence with towers were erected. The buildings, erected of brick and stone in the Baroque style, are located at different heights — the church, when viewed from the mountain side, is located just above the residential complex. Later, a third building, the Holy Dormition Church, was built a little higher up.
The architecture of the monastery is characterized by monumentality — the walls of the monastery in the war times had to protect not only the monks, but also the inhabitants of the surrounding lands. The complex is considered a classic example of European monastery architecture.
The monastery from 1491 to 1772 was the residence of bishops and the center of cultural and religious life of Transcarpathia: here they copied instructive and liturgical books, kept chronology. By the XVII century in the monastery was collected the richest library, which contained more than 6 thousand manuscripts and rare books, some of them are kept here to this day, the rest were moved to the library Uzhgorod. Other treasures of the monastery, its shrines are the icon of the Mother of God «Skoroposlushnitsa» and the miracle-working image of the Iveron Mother of God, as well as parts of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, St. Moses of Ugrin, St. Sergius of Radonezh and other revered church figures.
Svyato-Nikolayevsky Monastery is the oldest, one of the largest Orthodox centers of Transcarpathia, to visit this attraction in Ukraine means to see one of the oldest holy places in the country. In Mukachevo sights are numerous and diverse, and St. Nicholas Monastery among them is one of the most impressive, the atmosphere of this place leaves the most pleasant memories.