On August 30, a stamp dedicated to the Resurrection New Jerusalem Monastery was put into postal circulation in the Monasteries of the Russian Orthodox Church series

The Resurrection New Jerusalem Stavropigial Monastery was founded by His Holiness Patriarch Nikon. In 1656, the Patriarch bought the village of Voskresenskoye on the Istra River with surrounding villages and wastelands from cup-bearer Roman Boborykin; a wooden church in honor of the Resurrection of Christ was erected, a moat was dug and a wall with eight towers was built. The monastery near Moscow was to become the embodiment of the Patriarch's cherished wish to create in Russia a likeliness of the Holy Land - Russian New Palestine with the Resurrection Cathedral predominating over everything, which would reconstitute in detail the Jerusalem sacred place - the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre. The construction of the Resurrection Cathedral was completed after the death of Patriarch Nikon in 1681. On January 18 of 1685, the Cathedral was consecrated by Patriarch Joachim.

The territory surrounding the monastery stretched for several tens of kilometers. Its place names as well as all the church buildings created an image of the Holy Land: in the center there was a hill called Zion; the hills around the monastery were named Eleon and Fabor; the villages were named Preobrazhenskoye, Nazareth, and Capernaum; the Istra River was named Jordan and the creek flowing around the monastery hill was named Kedron Stream. In the 18th and 19th centuries, outstanding architects - B. Rastrelli, K. Blank, M. Kazakov, A. Voronikhin and A. Vitberg - worked on the creation of the architectural ensemble.

The monastery was a famous pilgrimage center. In 1913, it was visited by about 35 thousand people. In July of 1919, it was closed and its property was nationalized. In the 1920s, the most valuable items from the sacristy of the Resurrection Cathedral were passed over to the Armory Chamber. A museum was opened on the territory of the Monastery; the holy places were partially destroyed or changed beyond recognition. New Jerusalem was badly damaged at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Since 1947, the state began to carry out restoration works, which resulted in raising the Monastery from ruins and beginning of restoration of the interior of the Resurrection Cathedral.

The process of giving back the Monastery to the Russian Orthodox Church began in 1994. Divine service was resumed. In 2014, the bell tower was restored. On May 8 of 2016, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia performed the rite of the great consecration of the Resurrection Cathedral of the New Jerusalem Monastery.

The postage stamp presents a general view of the Resurrection New Jerusalem Stavropigial Monastery.

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


Design Artist: S. Ulyanovsky.
Face value: 72 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: 72 thousand stamps (8 thousand sheets).

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