IPATIEV MONASTERY

Dating from 1275, it is one of the oldest monasteries in the North of Russia. A beautiful legend tells of its foundation at the time of the coexistence of Russians and Tatars. A converted Tatar named Tchet intended to enter the service of the Muscovite prince Ivan Kalita, the founder of the Great Muscovy. The principality of Kostroma, which was independent at the time, was to be incorporated into the Great Muscovy thanks to Chet. In order to reach Moscow, he sailed up the river on a galley, stopping in Kostroma, then one of the ten largest cities in Russia. On the night of this stopover, he fell ill and had a vision: the Blessed Virgin, accompanied by the apostle Philip and the holy martyr Hypati, promised to heal him and asked him to convert and found the monastery of St. Hypati. When he woke up, he found himself cured. He converted and paid a considerable amount of money for the construction of the monastery, on a kind of peninsula between the Volga and Kostroma rivers. The legend is pretty, but in reality, the monastery was probably built for defensive purposes. The inner courtyard is peaceful: churches, a bell tower with chimes, birch trees... Initially, this 13th century monastery was built of oak before being rebuilt in brick in the 16th century with the help of the great Godunov family, several of whom ended their lives in this place as monks. Of the 52 tombs of the family, only one crypt containing 7 of them remains.