St Cornelius of Komel Monastery

The St Cornelius of Komel Monastery is believed to have been founded in 1497, when St Cornelius first moved to the Vologda countryside. In 1551, he and a group of monks built the first wooden church, consecrated with the blessing of Metropolitan Simon of Moscow in the name of the Presentation of the Virgin. St Cornelius compiled a set of rules to govern the brotherhood and organised its daily life.

The monastery flourished in the first half of the sixteenth century thanks to the generous donations of tsars and other influential patrons. St Cornelius died on 19 May 1537. In 1600, Patriarch Job established a liturgy in his memory.

After a fire in 1552, stone construction began at the monastery. The Cathedral of the Presentation of the Virgin was rebuilt, while a small church in honour of St Cornelius of Komel was constructed along the southern wall (only consecrated in 1856). The saint’s relics were kept in the northern wall of the Church of St Cornelius.