Zagorsk

Sergiyev Posad

Sergiyev Posad (syĕrˈgēyĭf pōsädˈ), formerly Zagorsk (zəgôrskˈ), city (1989 pop. 115,000), central European Russia. It is a rail terminus and a handicraft center known for wood carvings and toys. Manufactures include farm machinery, lacquers and paints, textiles, and furniture. The city developed from a settlement around the Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra, one of Russia's most famous monasteries (founded 1340). The original wooden church, built by the monk Sergius, was destroyed in a Tatar raid in 1391. The Lavra contains the Troitski Cathedral (15th cent.); the Uspenski Cathedral (16th cent.), with the tomb of Boris Godunov; and a treasure chamber with rich tapestries and many objects of liturgical art. The monastery, long a place of pilgrimage, was made into a museum in 1920, but since 1988 has been the scene of increasing religious activity.

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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Zagorsk

 

(until 1930, Sergiev), a city in Moscow Oblast, RSFSR. Zagorsk has a railroad station 70 km northeast of Moscow. Population, 94,000 in 1971 (45,000 in 1939).

Zagorsk had as its historical nucleus the St. Sergius Trinity Monastery (which now houses a historical art museum). Beginning in the 14th century, villages and slobody (taxexempt settlements) arose around it where trade and popular handicraft industry, mainly the carving of wooden art objects and the making of wooden toys, developed as a result of the influx of pilgrims. In 1782 the Sergiev posad (suburb) was formed from three neighboring slobody that were known collectively as Kukuev; in 1792 development according to a regular plan was begun, with buildings constructed in the classical style. In 1919, Sergiev posad became the city of Sergiev (officially confirmed in 1925); it was renamed in 1930 in honor of the revolutionary V. M. Zagorskii.

Factories in Zagorsk produce electromechanical equipment, lacquers and paints, optical equipment, building materials, knitted goods, and furniture. The town has livestock and film technicums, as well as an arts and crafts school for the production of toys, the Scientific Research Institute for Toys, and the Museum of Toys. In the Soviet era a new public administration center has been constructed. There is a monument to V. I. Lenin (bronze, 1925; S. D. Merkurov, sculptor; D. P. Osipov, architect). The Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary is located here.

REFERENCES

Baldin, V. I.Zagorsk. Moscow, 1958.
Baldin, V. I. Zagorskii istoriko-khudozhestvennyi muzei-zapovednik. Moscow, 1968.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.