New Athos Monastery of Saint Simon the Cananaean is the Spiritual Center in the South of the Russian Empire: the Circumstances of the Emergence and the Process of the Formation of the Monastery

Abstract

The article examines the circumstances of the foundation and the process of formation in the Caucasus of the New Athos Monastery of St. Simon the Cananaean — a branch of the Athos Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery. It is shown that the appearance of the Caucasian monastery was one of the results of the “Greek-Russian Panteleimon process” — a major conflict that arose in the first half of the 1870s. on Mount Athos due to the aggravation of contradictions between different ethnic communities in St. Panteleimon Monastery, the general rise in the Greek environment of anti-Slavic and anti-Russian sentiments caused by Russia's position in the Greek-Bulgarian church issue, as well as due to the actions of British diplomacy, which sought to weaken Russian influence in the Balkans and the Middle East. The role of the Russian ambassador to Constantinople N. P. Ignatiev in the settlement of the conflict and in the appearance of the New Athos Monastery in the Caucasus is considered. The origin and development of the Caucasian monastery, its situation during the Russian-Turkish War of 1877—1878, the spiritual life and missionary activity of the New Athonite monks are studied. It is emphasized that the New Athos Monastery, having emerged as a supposed “refuge” for Russian Athonians in the event of new troubles in the East, soon turned into a pearl of the Black Sea coast, a major spiritual and missionary center in the south of the Russian Empire.