Stolbensky Monastery

St. Nilus Monastery on Stolbnyi Island (Russian: Нило-Столобенская пустынь) is a Russian Orthodox monastery on Stolbnyi Island in Lake Seliger near Ostashkov, Tversky District, Russia. Founded by Saint Nilus in 1594. As a young man, Nil was a pupil of St. Sabbas of Pskov and spent ten years in the Krypetsk Monastery, later founding a hermitage on the bank of Cheremkha river where for the next twelve years he devoted his life entirely to prayer. His reputation as a holy man attracted crowds of pilgrims and so to avoid unwanted attention he moved to Stolbny Island where he lived for the last 26 years of his life in total silence. He is reputed to have slept standing upright supported by crutches. In a rare break with Orthodox tradition, he is remembered not only in icons but also in small carvings.The monastery welcomed up to 40,000 pilgrims each year. Today the monastery complex remains as one of the most impressive ensembles of Neoclassical architecture in Eastern Europe. Some of its churches date back to the 17th century, a graceful embankment was completed by 1812, and a large cathedral was built in 1821-1825.