Holy Trinity ensemble in Vilnius. History

From the transfer in 1795 of Vilnius to Russian jurisdiction until the liquidation of the Union in 1839, Holy Trinity Monastery remained the most populated and wealthy center of the Lithuanian Province of the Order of St. Basil the Great. Nevertheless, it did not manage to avoid the gradual but certain tendency to a reduction in the number of monks: if in 1795 it housed 35 religious, in 1819 there were 27, and in 1837 only 17¹LVIA, f. 515, ap. 15, b. 5, l. 26–26r; НМЛ, Ркл–702, арк. 39–39 зв.; Иосиф Семашко, Записки митрополита Литовского, Санкт-Петербург: Императорская Академия наук, 1883, т. 2, с. 6.. By the 1840s, the average age of a monk rose from 36 to 44 years²LVIA, f. 515, ap. 15, b. 5, l. 29; Иосиф Семашко, Записки митрополита Литовского, т. 2, с. 6.. The monks continued to come from an elite background: the majority of them were sons of nobles of the Commonwealth, with a significant enlistment of children of Uniate priests and the privileged categories “citizens” in the cities and “free people” in rural locations. The geography of monastic vocations covered the Mitavsk, Bilostotsk, Vilnius, Grodnensk, Minsk, and Volyn provinces of Russia, and also Austrian Galicia³LVIA, f. 1178, ap. 1, b. 91, l. 35–116.. Today this territory is part of five different countries – Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, Poland, and Ukraine. The Basilian Order was traditionally formed by representatives of various ethnic groups, generally Ruthenians (today’s Belarusians and Ukrainians), though the significant presence of members from Roman Catholic families led to accusations by government functionaries of the Latinization of the faithful and dilution of the Greek rite. And so, in 1829 a ban against such transfers without the permission of the bishop was introduced, to limit the influx of candidates to the novitiate⁴Иосиф Семашко, Записки митрополита Литовского, т. 1, с. 61..

Among the Basilian monasteries of the Lithuanian Province, Holy Trinity was the most profitable. This was influenced by the location of the monastery in the very center of Vilnius and also by the significant growth of prices for agricultural products in the years of the continental blockade and its status as an agricultural producer. An increase in the price of rents from real estate renters in the city, where between 1807 and 1812 a short-term flowering of demand for expensive goods (for example, fashionable clothes and carriages) was observed, brought a good income. Popular among visitors were restaurants and jewelry stores, and palaces and townhouses were actively being built⁵Daniel Beauvois, Wilno – polska stolica kulturalna zaboru rosyjskiego 1803–1832, tłum. z francuzkiego, Wrocław: Uniwersytet Wrocławski, 2012, s. 27.. The monastery’s capital funds consisted of 321 thalers, 796 gold coins, and 37162 Polish złoty. The monastery’s annual profit as of 1804 was 4588 silver rubles; in 1819 it was 6333 rubles and 45 silver kopecks⁶Marian Radwan, «Bazylianie w zaborze Rosyjskim w latach 1795– 1839», in: Nasza Przeszłość, t. 93, 2000, s. 170–171.. The structure of the revenue side of the monastery’s budget was as follows:

1. the sale of agricultural products of the monastery’s Swirany grange brought 2898 rubles, 45 kopecks;
2. the annual rent from rental buildings and land plots in Vilnius brought 2685 rubles;
3. profit from taverns in the mentioned grange brought 590 rubles;
4. interest from loans brought 160 rubles⁷НГАБ Мінск, ф. 136, воп. 1, адз. зах. 41257, л. 140v–141.. The monastery was also a significant site of agricultural and financial activities, the character of which correlated with declared sources of income.

Holy Trinity Monastery in Vilnius possessed eight two- and three-story buildings, and also three plots of land. The majority of buildings were gifts from secular benefactors in the monastery’s benefice, made between 1588 and 1702, under the condition that the profits be used to support the monks and their educational activities. As for the condition of these buildings, three of them, namely, Sawaniewska, Buchnerowska, and Piatnicka, in the first decades of the 19th century needed significant repair, the general cost of which was estimated at approximately 5000 silver rubles. As for the land plots, the one “at the end of the Sharp Gate, at the crossroad right of the garden” (received in 1727) and another, located in the suburb of Lukiškės (acquired in 1644), rented for a long time by Jewish businessmen, ceased bringing a profit⁸Ibid., л. 137, 142v.. The revenue side of the monastery’s budget was significantly reduced after the Russian government published an order forbidding that ecclesiastical property be rented by Jews. In 1837, total profits were 3327 rubles, 50 kopecks⁹LVIA, f. 1178, ap. 1, b. 91, l. 26..

After the War of 1812, the repair of residential premises was an urgent need. As a result of placing a French hospital in the monastery, cells, the refectory, classrooms, and the library were ruined, and wooden frames and doors, furniture and some of the books were burned¹⁰Virgilijus Pugačiauskas, The French Period in Vilnius, Vilnius: Ministry of National Defence, 2013, p. 25.. Even seven years after these events, “this monastery… is still not entirely finished, particular the fourth floor, library, and bell-tower.” In 1819 alone, 400 silver rubles were spent on the repair of the fourth floor of the monastery and the bell-tower¹¹НГАБ Мінск, ф. 136, воп. 1, адз. зах. 41257, л. 145v.. In addition to these exceptional expenses, there were also the daily ones:

1. taxes for the villagers to consume alcoholic drinks, 15 rubles, 45 kopecks;
2. for the office of the leader of the nobility, 16 rubles, 40 kopecks;
3. capitation for 812 villagers, 259 rubles, 50 kopecks;
4. excise duties for the preparation of alcoholic drinks, 421 rubles, 25 kopecks;
5. an obligation given by the government for the monastic community to house eight medical students (lodging, service, heating), 240 rubles;
6. for the monks’ clothing, 607 rubles, 50 kopecks;
7. ecclesiastical-liturgical needs, wine, oil, wax, 230 rubles, 20 kopecks;
8. for the annual upkeep of the monks, 1077 rubles, 20 kopecks;
9. payment for the services of a doctor, 165 rubles;
10. for craftsmen and materials for repair, 1045 rubles, 90 kopecks;
11. for food – fish, linseed oil, beef, vegetables, honey, etc., 2605 rubles, 32 kopecks.

The description of very old items in the cell of the hegumen and utensils and instruments in the kitchen indicate a certain degree of luxury in the consumption of food and drinks. Among items on the list: 2 coffee pots, 4 tin vessels with covers for making tea, 24 beer glasses, 20 larger and 2 smaller glasses for strong drinks, 3 beer pumps, a copper pot, and a spit for frying meat. The annual monetary cost to maintain a regular monk was 22 silver rubles, 50 kopecks, and for a local who taught in the school or carried out some administrative duties 30 rubles; for the hegumen, 45 rubles¹²LVIA, f. 1178, ap. 1, b. 91, l. 35–116..

In 1839 all the inhabitants transferred to the Greek-Russian Church¹³Marian Radwan, Bazylianie w zaborze Rosyjskim, s. 220–222.. Despite the conversion, the monks were considered undependable, and attempts to wean them from elements of the Latin rite during liturgical practices were ineffective¹⁴LVIA, f. 1178, ap. 1, b. 102, l. 1.. Among them was observed “a coldness and negligence towards liturgical services.” And so a special notebook was maintained to keep a record of those who were absent or came late to Liturgy. For each instance of a violation, 10 silver kopecks were taken from the monk’s allowance¹⁵Ibid., l. 5..

On 14 March 1845, an imperial decree lowered Holy Trinity Monastery from the 1st to the 3rd (lowest) class. The decree also ordered the transfer to Vilnius of Zyrowycka Seminary, which was to be located in the building of this monastery. Holy Trinity Monastery was formally closed in 1865. This became possible because the majority of the former Uniate monks returned to the world.

Vadym Adadurov