St. Varlaam Convent of the Transfiguration of Our Savior in the village of Khoutyn, 12th c.
- Hours: 9am - 8pm
- Hours of temple: 6.30am - 8pm
- Housing for the pilgrims.
- Entrance and photography: free.
- 7.30am - morning divine service (9.30am - on weekends)
- 6pm - evening divine service
According to the folk legend, the place where the monastery is located today used to be possessed by evil spirits and was called Khoutyn, which means "accursed place." The hermit Varlaam, who became famous for many miracles, isolated himself here for prayer. In 1192 the holy man founded a stone Church of Our Savior in Khoutyn here. The church was consecrated on August 6 of the same year by Archbishop Gregory.
After Novgorod's annexation to the Moscow State, the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Our Savior was built here.
It was told that in 1462 czar Ivan the Third (the Great) came here ho pay homage to the holy relics. The czar began to pester the monastery's abbot why the sarcophagi are never opened and the visitors are never given a chance to touch the holy relics. Finally, according to the legend, when on the czar's orders the tomb of St. Varlaam was opened, a column of fire burst from it and seared a wall and the southern door of the iconostasis. The czar dropped his staff and ran away in terrible fear. This staff and the burnt altar door are still kept in the cathedral's sacristy.
The norther аnnex of the Cathedral of Transfiguration of Our Savoir contains the tomb of Gavriila Derzhavin, the teacher of Russia's greatest poet Alexander Pushkin.
At this time the convent is again functioning as a religious center.