On January 23, a stamp dedicated to the 650th Anniversary of the Vysotsky Stavropegial Monastery was put into postal circulation in the Monasteries of the Russian Orthodox Church series

The Vysotsky Stavropegial Monastery was founded with the blessing of Saint Sergius of Radonezh in 1374 by Prince Vladimir the Bold of Serpukhov, a cousin and associate of Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy. Monk Sergius of Radonezh placed his favorite disciple Afanasy as the first hegumen of the monastery. The monastery got its name from the location on a high beautiful hill, popularly referred to as Vysokoye.

In the 16th century, the monastery built the St. Nicholas and St. Sergius churches, a side chapel in honor of the Nativity of the Mother of God and a gallery around the cathedral. In the 1770s, stone walls with four corner towers were erected around the monastery instead of the old wooden fence.

Around 1840, a three-tiered bell tower was built, with the Church of Three Saints situated in the second tier. In 1896, the church in the name of All Saints was built at the expense of factory owner N. Konshin according to the project of famous Russian architect R. Klein. In 1931, the monastery completely ceased its activity.

On March 25 of 1991, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church took a decision to revive the Serpukhov Vysotsky Monastery. Reconstruction and restoration works began. Currently, there are six acting churches in the monastery: Pokrovsky, Nikolsky, Zachatievsky, Sergievsky, in the Name of the Three Saints and in Honor of the Icon of the Mother of God "Our Lady of Prompt Succor", in three others restoration works are in progress and two new ones are under construction.

The postage stamp features a panorama of the Vysotsky Stavropegial Monastery and especially revered saints – St. Sergius of Radonezh and St. Afanasy Vysotsky the Elder.

In addition to the issue of the postage stamp, JSC Marka produced First Day Covers and special cancels for Moscow and Serpukhov of the Moscow Region.


Design Artist: S. Ulyanovsky.
Face value: 67 rubles.
Stamp size: 65×32.5 mm, sheet size: 154×190 mm.
Emission form: a sheet with formatted margins (2×5) with 9 stamps and a coupon.
Quantity: 90 thousand stamps (10 thousand sheets).

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