Alexander Nevsky Lavra
Alexander Nevsky Lavra, a functioning monastery in St. Petersburg, currently is a state preserve that houses the Museum of Urban Sculpture and the 18th-century Necropolis.
Peter the Great founded Alexander Nevsky Lavra in 1710. A grand monastery complex slowly developed here with the main church in the center. The monastery complex includes the Church of the Annunciation (1717-22), the Church of Trinity (1778-90), etc. In 1797, it was transformed into a Lavra. Notable figures like M. Lomonosov, A. Suvorov, D. Fonvizin, N. Karamzin, I. Krylov, M. Glinka, M. Mussorgsky, P. Tchaikovsky, T. Dostoevsky are buried here. Georgians had close connections with the Lavra. In 1717, the Lavra was visited by Lavrentiy (Gabashvili), the superior of the Moscow Donskoy Monastery. Later, King Vakhtang IV’s retinue visited it numerous times. Members of a Georgian settlement in St. Petersburg took special care of Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Here, they were preoccupied with writing and other cultural activities. In 1813, Archbishop Dositheus (Pitskhelauri) completed translating synaxarion from Russian into Georgian. Afterward, it was rewritten by P. Laradze. In 1814, Bagrat Batonishvili rewrote "Shvideultani Samocikulo da Sakharebani” (septuple of prophets and gospels), while Archimandrite E. Buchkiashvili rewrote "The Book of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection." Illustrations in the manuscript were made by Ioane Batonishvili. In the following period, the involvement of Georgians in the Lavra increased. In the Church of the Annunciation, there is a necropolis of the royal family. It includes the sons of Simon Batonishvili, Queen Darejan Dadiani, David, Teimuraz, Ioane, and Mirian Batonishvilis, the writer Ioane (Khelashvili), Queen Mariam Dadiani - the wife of Solomon II, and others. In 1934, academician N. Marr was buried there.
Literature: დ ო ნ დ უ ა ვ., ვახტანგ VI-ის დროინდელი საქართველოს პოლიტიკური ისტორიიდან (1712 – 1745). «მიმომხილველი», 1953 ტ. 3; Памятники архитектуры Ленинграда, Л., 1958.
F. Sikharulidze
