The Gornalsky St. Nicholas Belogorsk Monastery was established in 1672. It is located near the town of Sudzha. Monks Feodosy, Lavrenty, and Elder Nektary relocated from the Ostrogozhsky Divnogorsky Monastery (Voronezh Province), which had been ruined by Tatars. They brought with them the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, and in 1688, a small wooden church was built in his honor. Under hegumen Nestor, the foundation of a church dedicated to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was laid in the monastery, and in later years, a house church dedicated to the Protection of the Theotokos was consecrated. The foundation of the third cathedral church, dedicated to the Transfiguration of the Lord, was laid in 1888. In 1905, the monastery housed 85 monks and several dozens novices. The Belogorsky Nikolaevsky Monastery was closed by the authorities in 1922, but the monks continued to live there, hiding in the caves and preserving the Pryazhevskaya icon of the Mother of God. Since 1996, Metropolitan Juvenal of Kursk and Rylsk had been raising the issue of transferring the monastery complex to the church. The first divine worship in the returned monastery was held by the bishop on December 19, 2001, the Day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. In 2008, the wall painting of the church was completely finished. The monastery's community consists of eight monks, as well as novices and laborers.
In 2024, during the hostilities in the Kursk Region, the monastery was severely damaged and was included in the state restoration program.
The postage stamp provides a general view of the Gornalsky St. Nicholas Belogorsk Monastery.
The Rylsky St. Nicholas Monastery is a monastery of the Kursk Eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church located on a hill in the suburb of the village of Prigorodnyaya Slobodka in the Kursk region, on the bank of the Rylo River opposite the town of Rylsk. The exact date of the monastery foundation is unknown, the first mention in official documents is the year of 1505. During the Time of Troubles, the monastery was devastated by the Polish-Lithuanian army.
In 1733, the first stone Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was laid, and in 1783, it was consecrated. The second stone Church of the Life-Giving Trinity was built in 1747, and the third church, the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, was constructed in 1757 and is now the cathedral church of the Monastery. In the 1740s, a five-tiered bell tower was built, and at the same time, a gate tower with a 2.5-ton bell was constructed, which was demolished in 1949. In 1784, a theological school was opened at the Monastery. In 1794, another church was built in honor of the Akhtyrskaya Icon of the Mother of God (which was demolished in the early 20th century). In 1820, the theological school became a four-year school, and in 1876, it was moved to Rylsk. In 1824, Emperor Alexander I was passing through the monastery.
On the wave of struggle against the church in the USSR, the Monastery was closed in 1925. From October 5, 1941 to August 30, 1943, it was occupied by Nazi invaders.
On June 17 of 1991, the Monastery was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church, and already on October 16 of 1991, divine services started in the St. Nicholas Church. The restoration was overseen by Elder Archimandrite Hippolitus (Khalin).
The postage stamp provides a general view of the Rylsky St. Nicholas Monastery.
In addition to the issue of the postage stamps, JSC Marka produced First Day Covers and special cancels for Moscow and Kursk.
Design Artist: S. Ulyanovsky.
Face value: 50 rubles.
Stamp size: 65×32.5 mm, sheet size: 154×190 mm.
Emission form: sheets with formatted margins with (2×5) 9 stamps and a coupon.
Quantity: 81 thousand each stamp (9 thousand each sheet).
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