Korennaya (Kursk Root) Hermitage of the Birth of the Holy Theotokos

History of the Monastery of the Birth of the Theotokos "The Wonderworking KURSK ROOT ICON of Our Lady of the SIGN"

There has been a Church on the Korennaya Hermitage site for 711 years (1295). The Korennaya (Kursk Root) Hermitage has been 409 years on this site (1597). It was started by the Tsar Theodore Ivanovich of Moscow.

The monastery was founded on the exact site of the first church chapel (1295). The Hermitage church was dedicated to the Life-bearing Spring and was built above the same spring that had appeared when the icon was first revealed. The Kursk Root Hermitage was named in the honor of the manifestation of the icon that was fond at the root of the tree in 1295 AD.

See: 2006 Summer Report & 2006 Photo Album
See: Notes and Reflections of a Pilgrim (1993 letter)

Most all of the Hermitage buildings were neglected for 70+ years during the communist regeim. Many repairs still need to be completed. A large building located straight across from the Main Monastery court yard is a solid building but is waiting for funds. During the soviet control of the Korennaya Hermitage, they tried to cover the Kursk Root Spring by filling the whole area with a cement cap but the Holy Spring Water would always find a way to escape and continue it's Holy Tradition since 1295. The communists also put guard dogs by the Holy Spring to keep all the people from using any of the Holy Spring Water and any of the monastery.

For the complete history of both the Kursk Root Hermitage and the Kursk Root Icon, please visit the Kursk Root Icon Page.

WWII Battle of Kursk

At the Battle of Kursk in 1943, Korennaya was an important head quarters of the Russian Army. There is a large WWII Memorial Museum located next to the Kursk Root Hermitage on land that used to be part of the monastery. It was used for the Generals underground bunkers. The Battle of Kursk is history's largest tank battle. The German army was defeated and their strategic initiative was lost forever. Shortly thereafter, the German South Army Group surrendered at Stalingrad. These defeats resulted in an eventual German retreat from Russia which was then closely pursued by the Red Army. The Red Army moved into Germany and captured Berlin on May 9, 1945. The Russian Military suffered an estimated 13,600,000 deaths in expelling the German invaders. See: Historical WWII Museum