Diveevo — a selo (village), the administrative center of a district in Nizhny Novgorod Region, 175 km from Nizhny Novgorod. Known since the 14th century. In 1558, according to tradition, Ivan the Terrible granted these lands to Divey, son of Butakov, whose name the village has preserved.
Today it is impossible to find a single Orthodox Christian who does not know of the Holy Trinity Serafimo-Diveevsky Convent, who has not wished at least once to visit this holy land, to pray before Father Serafim, to walk the Theotokos Kanavka (the Virgin's Ditch), to carry home a prayerful spirit, and to receive renewal of soul and body through bathing in the holy springs. The village of Diveevo is part of the pilgrimage and tourism cluster "Arzamas — Diveevo — Sarov," the development of which is supported by the regional authorities.[1]
The year 2006 was especially significant for the monastery for three reasons: it marked 15 years since the revival of the Serafimo-Diveevsky Monastery, 180 years of the Diveevo Mill Community, and 300 years of the Sarov Pustyn).
The prophecies of Father Serafim are coming true: the Diveevo monastery, which has become one of the largest in our country, is being actively revived — as we see every day. The flow of people never ceases. Houses and comfortable hotels are being built for visitors; a fine, well-appointed hotel complex, "Diveevskaya Sloboda," with 126 beds and a range of services, has been constructed. A spiritual and educational center named after Serafim of Sarov has been built in Diveevo; construction of the Holy Gates continues, along with landscaping of the surrounding grounds and the construction of a road and a monastery wall.[1]
Everything here has been arranged with guests in mind: rest, attendance at monastery services, visits to all the holy springs of the Diveevo land, and several tourist and Orthodox routes — including the Sanaksar Nativity of the Theotokos Men's Monastery, the town of Temnikov (former capital of Mordovia), the village of Vyezdnoye, the village of Nuche (in Diveevsky District), City of Arzamas, the town of Murom, and others.
Three hundred years ago, in the impenetrable forests of Sarov, a monastery was founded that entered Russian history as one of the most significant, distinguished by its special way of life and strict monastic rule. Monastic life at the Sarov hermitage reached great heights. The community was renowned for its traditions of eldership (starchestvo), and the names of many of its spiritual ascetics are well known. It was the Sarov hermitage that gave the world the great luminary — the Venerable and God-bearing Father Serafim. Father Serafim began his ministry to the people when, by the command of the Mother of God, he emerged from seclusion — that is, seven years before his death. News of him spread throughout all Russia. While living in City of Sarov, Father Serafim cared for the sisters of the Diveevo Community, which had been founded at the end of the 18th century by A.S. Melgunova, known in monastic life as Mother Alexandra.
The history of the monastery began with the construction of the Church of the Kazan Mother of God (1767–1775), with side chapels dedicated to St. Nicholas and the Holy Archdeacon Stephen. Together with four novices, Melgunova established a community here, governing it under the guidance of the elders of the Sarov Monastery (in 1940 the church was closed and converted into a pedagogical college, then used as a warehouse; it was returned to the revived community in 1992). In the young monk Serafim, Mother Alexandra perceived the future ascetic and the continuator of her work.
After the death of A.S. Melgunova (1789), the community continued to live according to the strict rule of the Sarov Monastery. The foundress of the monastery was canonized in 2001.
Diveevo is considered the fourth and only estate (udel) of the Mother of God in Russia. Particular veneration is given to the "Kanavka of the Theotokos" (the Virgin's Ditch), along which all visitors to Diveevo walk, reciting the prayer to the Mother of God as instructed by Serafim of Sarov. In 1830, a Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos was built adjoining the porch of the Kazan Church (the relics of the Venerable Schema-Nun Alexandra and the first Diveevo ascetics are kept here).
Serafim foretold the special significance of the monastery, which was to become the first women's Lavra in history, and was confident that many years after his death he himself would be present in it. As is well known, the relics of Serafim of Sarov, lost in the 1920s, were rediscovered and in 1991 brought to Diveevo.
In 1861 the community was transformed into the Serafimo-Diveevsky Monastery. Its abbess became Elizaveta Ushakova, known in monastic life as Mother Maria. She headed the monastery for more than forty years. In 1875 the construction of the great Trinity Cathedral, built to a standard design by K.A. Ton, was completed (after the church was closed in 1927 its building was used as a warehouse; it was returned to the faithful in 1989 and today houses the relics of the Venerable Serafim of Sarov). By the early 20th century the monastery numbered more than 1,000 sisters, and construction had begun on another large cathedral that was never consecrated before the Revolution. At that time the monastery represented an extraordinarily rich architectural complex, with cells, a refectory, a hospital, a school, and — outside the enclosure — two guesthouses, a mill, and a water pump.
In 1927 the monastery was closed; ten years later the last of its sisters were expelled from Diveevo. Only in 1989 was the Trinity Cathedral reconsecrated, and a year later the Serafimo-Diveevsky Monastery resumed its activities. In 2026 the Serafimo-Diveevsky Monastery marks two important anniversaries: the 123rd anniversary of the discovery of the relics and the glorification of the Venerable Serafim of Sarov, and the 200th anniversary of the monastery itself.[1] Every year on 1 August, the feast day of the Venerable Serafim of Sarov, festive outdoor services are held at the Holy Trinity Serafimo-Diveevsky Monastery in the square before the Transfiguration Cathedral, at the shrine containing the saint's relics.[1] Every year on 1 August, the day of the discovery of the relics of the Venerable Serafim of Sarov, the Holy Trinity Serafimo-Diveevsky Monastery becomes the center of Orthodox celebrations: the Divine Liturgy in the open air in the square before the Transfiguration Cathedral is celebrated by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, and the number of pilgrims gathering in the monastery square reaches several thousand — according to law-enforcement authorities, in 2026 there were approximately 7,500.[2] Representatives of federal and regional authorities traditionally take part in the solemn services in Diveevo: the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Volga Federal District, the Governor of Nizhny Novgorod Region, and the Chairman of the Regional Legislative Assembly.[2] At the conclusion of the festive service, Patriarch Kirill presented the monastery with an icon of the chief Apostles Peter and Paul, and conferred ecclesiastical awards upon Metropolitan George of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas, Abbess Sergia (Konkova), and the nuns of the community.[2]
Besides the monastery, pilgrims in Diveevo usually visit the holy spring of Mother Alexandra (A.S. Melgunova). It is located on the opposite side of Oktyabrskaya Street, behind the row of houses, at the back of the pharmacy. The spring in honor of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God is situated a little further downstream along the Vichkinza River. A third spring — the Kazan spring, and beside it the spring of Panteleimon the Healer — is in the northern part of the settlement. Near them stands the wooden Kazan Church, the first church to appear in the village after the monastery was closed.
There is also a spring of Serafim of Sarov (15 km from Diveevo, in the direction of Sarov). It rises at the foot of a pine-covered hill, and a skete (hermitage) is located nearby.
See also
Sources
- NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — Celebrations in honor of the Venerable Serafim of Sarov held in Diveevo
- NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — Thousands of pilgrims in Diveevo: how the feast of the discovery of the relics of Serafim of Sarov was celebrated (archive)