Syrkov Monastery

The monastery was founded by Fyodor Dmitrievich Syrkov in 1548. Several churches in Veliky Novgorod are linked with the wealthy Syrkov merchant family. The elder Ivan Syrkov built the Church of the Myrrh-Bearing Women at Yaroslav's Court in 1510; his son Dmitry built the Church of Varlaam at Khutyn Monastery. Fyodor, a Moscow clerk who carried out diplomatic missions, was the most active builder. Before leading a dangerous embassy to the Baltic region, he vowed that if he survived he would found a monastery at Syrkovo with a church dedicated to the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. Through his efforts, the stone votive cathedral was built in 1552–1554. It is a monumental cubic four-pier, three-apse structure with a lower western porch. Descriptions from the early 20th century say the floor in the altar and before the iconostasis was made of old bricks set in lime and laid on small pots filled with sand. Near the walls of the Vladimir Cathedral, a memorial plaque and cenotaph have been restored for Vera the Silent, an Orthodox ascetic and recluse of the Syrkov Women’s Monastery who kept a vow of silence for 23 years.