Marfo-Mariinsky Monastery in Belgorod, Orthodox monastery in Belgorod, Russia.
Marfo-Mariinsky Monastery is a women's Orthodox monastery in Belgorod, opened in 1999 at the Intercession Church. Its grounds hold two churches: the Intercession Cathedral, built in 1791 in early classicism style with side chapels added in 1837 and 1865, and the Dormition and St Nicholas Cathedral, built in 1701 with funds donated by Peter I.
The Pokrovsky Cathedral, built in 1791 in early classicism style, was closed in the late 1920s and later held a prison and mechanical workshops. Restoration began in 1991, and the first liturgy in the restored cathedral was served in 1995. On 28 December 1999 the Holy Synod blessed the opening of the Martha and Mary Convent at the church. The Uspensko-Nikolayevsky Cathedral, built in 1701 with money donated by Peter I, was returned to the church in 1998 and restored in 2005.
The monastery's south side altar in the Pokrovsky church is consecrated to Saints Martha and Mary, the north one to Saints Tikhon and Mitrofan of Voronezh. Since 1997 an uninterrupted reading of the Psalter is sung in the cathedral. A sisterhood of mercy founded in 1995 runs a children's school of mercy opened on 1 September 1998.
The monastery stands by the Pokrovsky Cathedral in central Belgorod, and the two churches on the grounds are the Pokrovsky and Uspensko-Nikolayevsky cathedrals. The sisters also serve at the regional hospital and visit prisoners in the strict-regime colony at Sosnovka, so access to some buildings depends on services and monastic routine.
The monastery's churches had secular afterlives: the Intercession Church, closed in the late 1920s, held a prison and later mechanical workshops once Belgorod became a regional centre, while a bread factory operated on the grounds of the Dormition and St Nicholas Cathedral from the early 1930s. The cathedral, built in 1701 with money donated by Peter I, was returned to the church in 1998 and restored in 2005.
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