Transfiguration Monastery

Valday Iversky Monastery | Valday, Russia

Valday Iversky Monastery is a Russian Orthodox monastery founded by Patriarch Nikon in 1653. The monastery is located on an island in Lake Valdayskoye in Valdaysky District of Novgorod Oblast, Russia, close to the town of Valday. In the 17th century, the Valday Iversky Monastery was one of the most influential monasteries in Russia and a significant cultural center.
The monastery derives its name from the Iviron Monastery on Mount Athos. In the Valday Iversky Monastery, a copy of the icon of Theotocos Iverskaya was kept until the 1920s, when it disappeared. The name of the Iveron Monastery, in its turn, originates from Iberia, an ancient Georgian kingdom.
The construction of the monastery started in the 1650s. The oldest stone church built in the monastery (1656), the Assumption Cathedral, remains intact. Much of the ensemble of the monastery was created in the 1670s by a local architect, Afanasy Fomin. From this period, the Cathedral of the Epiphany, the Church of Archangel Michael, the St. Michael Tower, and the hegumen's chamber remain. The walls and the remaining towers were built at later periods.