Holy Dormition Monastery (Pustynki)

The Holy Dormition Monastery was founded in 1380 by the ancestor of the Mstislav princes, Prince Lugven Olgerdovich. The emergence of the monastery is associated with an interesting legend, according to which, when one day Prince Lugven fell ill and began to lose his sight, he had a dream about a source of water in the Pustynki. Waking up, the prince went to the spring, washed his eyes with this water and soon his vision returned. The first thing he saw was the image of the Mother of God. As a token of gratitude, Lugwen decided to build a monastery and chapel on this site.

In 1563, during the Livonian War, some of the novices were killed, while the other part was forced to flee. Then the temple was empty for a long time. Until 1601 it was Orthodox, and from 1605 it began to belong to the Uniate Church. In the period from 1801-1808. Renewed construction of the stone temple took place. In 1839 the temple was returned to the Orthodox Church and from that time the monastic community began to be restored. However, the condition of the temples and buildings of the monastery was depressing and it was necessary to raise funds for their revival, which began only in 1863. In 1864, the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built.

After the 1917 revolution, the complex was not damaged, and in 1925 a shelter for orphans was created in it. In the summer of 1942, German troops stopped here. During the Second World War, nothing was destroyed, and in the post-war period, the walls of the monastery again sheltered orphans.

The monastery complex suffered greatly during the time of propaganda of atheism by the Soviet government: walls and roofs were partially dismantled, windows were taken out, floors were blown up and stoves were destroyed.

It was only in 2003 that work began on restoring the buildings.

During renovation work carried out by the monks, in one of the buildings, under the plaster, the face of Christ was discovered, imprinted on the wall. Experts found that this was a miraculously appeared miraculous image of the Savior.

In 2005, a significant event took place - the first monastic tonsure took place in the Holy Dormition Monastery. From that time on, daily services began to be held here.

Today Pustynki is a quiet and magical place that pilgrims and believers love to visit, as well as all caring people who want to touch the shrine and inexhaustible grace of this area with beautiful nature.

The most majestic building of the monastery is the multi-tiered bell tower, erected in the second half of the 19th century, whose height is 58.6 meters.

Below in the ravine is the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin. Next to it is a font with healing water, the temperature of which is 4°C at any time of the year.

Be sure to come to this wonderful place!