page_title: Monastery of the Tithes
section_title: The Church of the Nativity of Our Lady
hierarchical_section_title: Monastery of the Tithes / Monastery complex / The Church of the Nativity of Our Lady
caption_attribution_description: English: The Church of the Navitity in Desyatinny monastery
context_page_description: The Monastery of the Tithes is an inactive monastery or convent in Veliky Novgorod, one of eight ancient monasteries of Novgorod Republic.
  The Desyatinny Monastery now has a regular square-shaped perimeter. The monastery's complex was developed over a lengthy period and now includes objects constructed in periods from the 14th to the 20th centuries. It was finally completed at the beginning of the 20th century but was closed in 1918 by the Soviet government. Some buildings, including both churches and part of the monastery wall, were lost in the 20th century during World War II and the anti-religious campaign, with the result that the monastery is preserved fragmentarily.
  Never considered particularly important, it was subjected to rebuilding many times. Built to symbolize and immortalize the miracle of historical significance for the Novgorod Republic, until the present day, the monastery in fact has undertaken certain social functions affecting Novgorodian society. Its history is a story of ups and downs, of ruin and reconstruction. Almost nothing in the present monastery's exterior suggests how ancient the monastery really is.
context_section_description: The Church of the Nativity of Our Lady was the most ancient building in the monastery. According to Novgorod First Chronicle, it was erected in 1397 to replace an existing church (probably - of wood) built in 1327, but Novgorod Fourth Chronicle gives the year of founding as 1329 (not 1327):
  The archeological excavations aimed at discovering the original design of the 14th century church took place in 1960 and 1973. Stylistically, the original church was a typical one for Novgorod Republic: an ascetic church built in the cross-in-square tradition, square-shaped, with a dome, an apse and two aisles (the first was in honour of the nativity of St. John the Baptist, the second, in honour of St. Panteleimon). It was red. Like many other churches of the period, the church is built in honour of the Nativity of Mary, who was believed to be a patron of Novgorod.
  Russian archeologists Ninelle Kuzmina and Dmitry Petrov claim that in the 17th century the church's upper part was replaced. The reasons are that the church was destroyed by the Swedes during the Swedish occupation of Novgorod in 1611 - 1617. As a result, Euphrosyne the abbess visited Moscow in 1618 to ask Michael I of Russia for funding. The visit was positive, providing funding for substantial repairs. There is some evidences of the results:
  The reconstruction was continued by Oulita the abbess, who had important connections at the royal court. She undertook a serious reconstruction of the church in 1679. As a result, in 1740 the church was described as follows:
  The most thorough alteration of the church which distorted the ancient building completely was undertaken in 1889 – 1892 by Agnia the abbess. The rebuilding was aimed at enlarging the church. It was turned into a two-storey building, and the ancient part, now the first floor of the new construction, was encompassed by new outbuildings. All walls and columns of the ancient construction above the level of the first floor were disassembled and assembled. The second range of windows was built on above. The church was turned into a five-domed structure with the shape of domes being typical for the period. The abbess chamber was now joined to the church as an outbuilding.
  The church was seriously destroyed while Novgorod was under the occupation during World War II, but it maintained its central volume (the ancient part), roof and the central dome. After the partial cave-in occurred in 1946, the remains lost its roof and the central dome.  Afterwards, the church retained its central walls for a decade, but in the middle of 1950 it was disassembled into bricks by locals. In 1960, archeological excavations took place. Today only a few ruins remain. In 1997 plans for reconstruction were developed, but have not yet been carried out because the local government has not funded it.
caption: The church of the Nativity of Our lady: the transformations through its history
exif: {}