Свято-Успенский Одесский Патриарший монастырь
Holy Dormition Patriarchal Monastery
Монастырский пер., 6., Одесса, 65038

46°22′43  30°44′46

In 1814, with the permission of the Holy Synod, Metropolitan Gabriel founded a bishop's residence on the land donated by the Moldavian nobleman Alexander Teutul, which later became known as the "Big Fountain". In 1824 the farmstead was turned into a monastery in honor of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

On June 1, 1824, the monastery was approved as a second-class monastery.

At first, a small wooden temple was built, and later, in 1825, a stone double-altar cathedral was erected in its place. The main throne of the cathedral was dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In 1834, donated funds from the Odessa merchant Daria Kharlambu built a second monastery church with a bell tower in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "The Life-Giving Spring" (now the Assumption Spring).

After 1834, the monastery brethren built at their own expense a small, third, church in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. And in the 1890s it was rebuilt and renovated.

In 1880, under Archbishop Platon (Gorodetsky) of Kherson and Odessa, a vicariate was opened to help the Odessa archpastors. The vicar bishop bore the title of "Elisavetgradsky" and his seat was in the Odessa Assumption Monastery.

Approximately in 1920, a fraternal building was added to the eastern side of St. Nicholas Church.

In 1922, the monastery property, all valuables and shrines were completely confiscated by the state, and the monastery churches were closed. In 1926, the temples of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" and the Assumption of the former monastery were transferred to the renovationists and consecrated by Metropolitan Yuvenaly (Mashkovsky).

After 1936, they blew up the main shrine of the monastery - the temple in honor of the Assumption of the Mother of God. In its place, in 1953, a consecrated chapel with a monastery spring was built.

During the Nazi occupation in 1942, the Romanian occupation authorities allowed one of the temples of the monastery to be opened, and in 1944 the monastery was completely restored. Since the main cathedral of the monastery was destroyed, the temple of the Life-Giving Spring became the main church of the monastery, consecrated in the name of the Assumption of the Mother of God during its revival.

Since 1946, the summer residence of the Patriarchs of Moscow and All Rus' has been arranged here, in connection with which the monastery began to be called the Patriarchal. Only this saved the monastery from being closed again in 1961, at the height of new persecution of the Church in the USSR.

On the territory of the Patriarchal residence in 1951, a bishop's hotel was built.

Since 1960, the Monk Kuksha of Odessa labored in the monastery, and Metropolitan John (Kukhtin), Archbishops Onesiphorus (Ponomarev), Alipiy (Khotovitsky), Pallady (Kaminsky) lived in it. Since 1961, the Odessa Theological Seminary was evicted to the monastery from the city center. The seminary has a temple in honor of the holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called, the heavenly patron of the seminary.

In 1965, the residence of the ruling bishop of the Odessa diocese, who is its hieroarchimandrite - rector of the monastery, was transferred to the monastery.

In 1967, in the chambers of the summer residence of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', a small cross church was built, sacred in honor of St. Sergius and Nikon, Abbots of Radonezh, miracle workers of All Rus'.

In 1988, in the year of the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus', a dome and a bell tower were built over the St. Nicholas Church.