The Kerzhenets Sketes

The Kerzhenets Sketes were many monasteries eatablished in the Kerzhenets forest of the Nizhny Novgorod region of Russia by Old Believers. They were home to many holy monks, priests, and laypeople, and their history spans hundreds of years.

Their history begins in the earlier 1700s, founded by Hieromonk Abraham and monk Euthymius Potemkin.

Most of the monasteries were Priested, but several were priestless. Thousands of Old Believers, monastic and otherwise, lived there.

First, we'll discuss the Komarovsky Skete, one of the larger ones existing in Kerzhenets.

The Komarovsky Skete was founded by an Old Believer called Komar. In it's heyday there were 48 monasteries, and many churches. These slowly decreased but at one point there were 2,000 people living there, in a profoundly prosperous monastery, both spiritually and literally. The Skete was beglopopovtsy for the most part, not priestless.

One of the famous monasteries there was the Ignatiev Monastery. Ignatius Potemkin, an Old Believer, was a relative of the famous Grigori Potemkin, and actually received official papers from Empress Catherine the Great that the Monastery (And Skete as a whole) is sanctioned by law.

Another was the Manethene convent, founded by Manetha the Old, who was a holy woman. She at first provided the convent with wealth due to her noble associates, but that dried up eventually, and the convent was impoverished. Eventually, Manetha the New came along and established relations with the surrounding residents, allowing the convent to flourish.

The tomb of Manetha the Old

The Last Manetha died in 1934.

The monastery continued to be occupied until 1927.

Another skete was the Olenevsky Skete, a skete that predated the Nikonian schism. Monks from Zheltodovsky Monastery founded it in the 15th century. When Nikon created his heretical church, the monks refused to join it and remained Orthodox. The skete was not priestless, either.

In 1834, it had approximately 400 monastics. To this day Old Believers live on the site, maintaining the ancient cemetery on the site.

Next: The Smolyany Skete. Founded by Ephraim Potemkin and Sergius Saltykov, both from noble families. It was the center of the non-priestless during the 17th century, and was established in 1656. It was captured and burned by Nikonians in 1694, and was later found in the 19th century.

There are 22 graves there today, still visible.

Old Believers in the Sharpan Skete

The last important skete was the Sharpan Skete. It was founded in 1657. Until 1737, 2,000 people lived there. When Catherine the Great rescinded the persecution of the Old Believers temporarily, 5,000+ people lived there.

After this, New Sharpan was founded in the 1860s as a convent. It remained until 1928. Old Believers still go there for pilgrimages.

Unfortunately, these monasteries no longer exist. Hopefully this was informative. Thanks for reading, Lord have mercy on us.