Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 August 1893 — A HOLY PLACE. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A HOLY PLACE.

fha Celebrated Houiterj of Troltsa, Near Moaoow, Russia. Foremost among the holy places of Russia is the monastery of Troltsa, dedicated to Its founder, St. Sergius. It Is forty-five miles from Moscow aud stands on a commanding elevation. Walls twenty feet thick, varying in height from thirty to fifty feet and extending 4,600 feet inclose tbe monastery, making It a very strong fortress. There are eight towers terminating In cupolas of brightly colored metal and within the walls is a jumble of metal roofs, above which rise the gilded domes of ten churches, while above all towers the graceful belfry of ' Ilastrelll. The main church contains the shrine of St. Sergius, which is visited by many thousand pilgrims yearly, and scattered about are several holy wells, the waters of which are said to effect miraculous cures. The foundation of the monastery was laid by St Sergius, a religious of noble birth, who, about the middle of the fourteenth century, established himself in this place with twelve disciples. The strictness of his life, his superior wisdom and the rigor with which he and his monks subjected themselves to manual labor, brought his establishment into high repute. His counsel was sought by the princes of his nation; and when in 1380 tho famous Dimitri of the Don set forth to meet the Tartar ho;des in the great and bloody victory of Kulikova, he first received the blessing of Abbot Sergius. Lands and wealth were showered upon the brotherhood of Troltsa, but its founder remained simple, laborious, and self-denying to the end. Ho died in 1392. Sad troubles were in store for his disciples. In 1408 the monastery was destroyed by the Tartars and was not rebuilt for nearly twenty years. From this rebuilding tho present Church of the Troltsa—Trinity—dates. In 1008 the monastery had to withstand a slxtceen months’ siege by a Polish army 20,000 strong, and

it omorged from the trial triumphantly. Again In the same century It repulsed the same enemy from its walls. Twice did the monastery afford an asylum for l’cter the Great when he was hard pressed by fate, aud in turn the monarch bccamo its liberal benefactor. Other rulers, too, heaped offerings on Troltsa, and it la rich In displays of gold, silver and gems that rival the magnificence of Solomon. But esteemed above It* merely barbaric wealth are the clothes and tho tools used by the good St. Sergius.

MONASTERY AT TROITSA.