The Armoury of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Monastery: The Fate of the Collection

Abstract

The Armoury of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra is a unique phenomenon in the history of Russia. It used to be the largest repository of military equipment for an Orthodox monastery. There were ceremonial and military weapons of the 15th to the 18th centuries, which would come to the monastery in various ways, representing Russia, Western Europe and the East. The Armoury also contained weapons produced by the monastery’s blacksmiths, armors and samopalniks. The production of weapons was carried out in a stone forge located next to the Armoury. The construction of a stone building for the Armoury in the first third of the 18th century marked its special status. The Trinity Arsenal was housed in admirable premises built even much earlier than the sacristy building, as the storage of weapons was of great importance: the Armoury was the place of glory for the warriors of the Holy Trinity monastery. Nowadays that collection of weapons has been virtually destroyed, with the items transferred to various assemblies, and the Armoury chamber dismantled for «better aspect and more space in the monastery». Only a small
part of the once powerful arsenal is now present within the assemblies of different Russian museums. This article reveals the basic facts on the history of the withdrawal of weapons from the Lavra, and also touches on where they are stored today (namely, in the Sergiev Posad Museum-Preserve, in the Central Administrative Commission of the Moscow Theological Academy, in the Moscow
Armoury Chamber, in the Museum of Artillery, in the State Hermitage Museum, in the Museum of the History of Russia, in the New Jerusalem Museum, in the State Historical Museum, in Vladimir city museums, in the Vologda Regional Museum of Local Lore, and in a number of other places).