On the history of the descriptions of Pskov monasteries by metropolitan Eugene (Bolkhovitinov)

An important period in activities of Metropolitan Eugene (Bolkhovitinov), an ecclesiastical hierarch and historian of the 19th century in the Pskov province, was preparation and publication of a number of descriptions of Pskov monastic cloisters. Preparing these publications, the church historian engaged several father superiors and residents of the diocesan monastic cloisters in this scholarly work. The correspondence between the ruling bishop and his subordinates was essentially a brief educational course of training specialists in Church history, which was appreciated by some of the monastics, Hieromonk Israel, a resident of the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery, being among them. The work undertaken yielded results, some of which are known to us from the descriptions published. In addition, some previously unknown data and descriptions of monastic institutions were found out in the materials of the State Archive of the Pskov Region. The article studies the ecclesiastical historical works by Metropolitan Eugene (Bolkhovitinov) on the history of Pskov diocese and its monasteries, which he written during 1820-1821 in close collaboration with the diocesan monastic community.