Two Springs of St. Sergius

Abstract

This article examines the location of two springs of St. Sergius: a spring miracu­lously produced by his prayer at the foot of Makovets Hill, and a natural spring that originally existed at some distance from the saint’s hermit cell in the Trinity Monastery. Only the natu­ral spring, known as the «The Saint Sergius of Radonezh Well with the Pyatnitskaya Chapel», has survived to this day. The work notes that this well can be considered the original source of drinking water near Makovets Hill. Several versions of the location of the miraculously pro­duced spring are also considered. The study is based on historical evidence from the «Life» of the Reverend Hegumen, compiled by St. Epiphanius the Wise, and the work of Professor of the Moscow Theological Academy E. E. Golubinsky «St. Sergius of Radonezh and the Trinity Lavra founded by him». By comparing the paleorelief of the Makovets hill area with facts from the history of the formation of the architectural ensemble of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery in the 14th–17th centuries and with its functional planning structure that had developed by the middle of the 17th century, the author substantiated his version of the location of the lost holy spring.