The original temples and necropolis of the Puhtitsa assumption convent

The article is devoted to the insufficiently studied prehistory of one of the most famous monasteries of the Russian Orthodox Church - the Pühtitsa Assumption Convent and its necropolis. The problems of the formation of a parish in a non-Orthodox (Lutheran) environment in Estonia, the history of construction, architecture and interior decoration of the original wooden churches of Pühtitsa in the context of the formation of a parish during the reign of Emperor Alexander III, and then a monastery, as well as the development of Russian wooden church architecture are considered. The monastery cemetery surrounding the oldest church is described. The cemetery is one of the best preserved in the monasteries of the Russian Orthodox Church, where a unique monument associated with the White movement is preserved, the burials of abbesses, sisters and benefactors of the monastery (a number of biographies are given), of Archbishop Eusebius (Grozdov) and the wanderer Stephen Krylov. The extensive bibliography on the topic was used as well as archival sources from the depositories of Moscow, Riga, St. Petersburg, Tallinn and, mainly, from the State Archives of Estonia - the Estonian Historical Archives, Tartu.