Oblong large Octavo album (ca. 16,4x24 cm). 8 card stock leaves. With 8 mounted original albumen photographs ca. 10,6x16 cm (4 ¼ x 6 ¼ in). All photos with period captions on the mounts (in Russian). Period brown velvet album with gilt-lettered title “Vidy Uspenskoy Svyatogorskoy Pustyni” (in Russian) on the front board; marbled endpapers; all edges gilt. Binding age-toned, crack on the spine, light soiling, but overall a very good album with strong interesting photos.

Historically important collection of albumen photographs taken by a professional photographer in the early 1900s, capturing the main Orthodox shrine of Donbass in its early, pre-damaged state. The album is dated based on the Svyatohirsk Lavra archive, which contains at least two identical photographs (both dated the early 1900s) from our collection. Another identical album with the same binding is preserved in the photo archive of the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia.

The Svyatohirsk Lavra was founded on the right bank of the Siverskyi Donets River in eastern Ukraine in the early 16th century. By the 1890s, it had become an important religious center with numerous workshops, mills, stores, and other premises. In 1922, the Bolsheviks abolished the monastery, converting it into a hospital and executing hundreds of local monks. The monastery was restored in 1992 but was significantly damaged during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The collection features eight albumen photos of the monastery, with five well-executed early general views showing the recently damaged Cathedral of the Assumption of Virgin Mary, the Church of the Intercession, St. Nicholas Church, entrances to the cave churches of John the Baptist and Alexius of Rome, the brethren’s building, a hotel, and a horse tram. Especially interesting is an excellent photo of the now-demolished Arsenius Skete, documenting its internal view and the church of the Venerable Arsenius the Great. Another vibrant scene shows two monks solemnly guarding the ornate entrance of the Skete, with clearly visible angel statues, religious paintings, and Church Slavonic inscriptions. The album closes with an interesting photo of a tomb and monuments of benefactors at the Church of St. Anthony and Theodosius of Pechersk. Overall, historically important collection of albumen photographs documenting Svyatohirsk Lavra in its early, pre-damaged state.