Venerable (Monastic)15th century

Anthony of Krasny Kholm

15th century – 1481

A desert-dweller of the Tver region who founded a monastery by the River Mologa.

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Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father Anthony of Krasny Kholm

Life

Anthony of Krasny Kholm was a fifteenth-century Russian monastic and the founder of the monastery that bears his name in the Tver region. A hieromonk who had first lived as a wilderness-dweller, he settled by the River Mologa, where he built a chapel and cell and gathered a community that grew into the Krasny Kholm Nikolaevsky Antoniev Monastery.

His lay name is not recorded, and little is known of his early life. According to monastery tradition he came from the "White Lake country" — likely the area of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery — and arrived in the Bezhetsk (Tver) region around 1461. He is remembered as a desert-dweller, monastic priest, and elder who taught the brethren both by word and by his own example. He died in 1481 and is commemorated on January 17.

Troparion1 hymnReadHide

TroparionTone 8

By a flood of tears you made the desert fertile,
and your longing for God brought forth fruits in abundance.
By the radiance of miracles you illumined the whole universe!
O our holy father Anthony, pray to Christ our God to save our souls!

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

Timeline3 momentsReadHide

c. 1461Arrival in the Tver regionHaving earlier lived as a wilderness-dweller near White Lake, Anthony arrived in the Bezhetsk (Tver) region from the "White Lake country," likely the area of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. Monastery tradition relates that he chose to remain after recovering from illness on local lands.
After 1461Founding of the monasteryAnthony settled near a place called "Pretty Hillock" (Krasny Kholm) on the bank of the River Mologa, where he built a chapel and cell. After an icon of Saint Nicholas was discovered, a wooden church dedicated to Saint Nicholas was raised and a monastery established under his leadership, gradually gathering monks around him.
1481Stone cathedral and reposeIn 1481 Anthony laid the foundation for a stone cathedral but died before its completion. By tradition his relics rest near the Nicholas Cathedral; his burial place remains uncertain, and archaeological work in the 1990s and 2000s found fifteenth-century monastic graves but did not identify his remains.

Contributions & Legacy

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Foundation of the Krasny Kholm Monastery

The community Anthony founded became known as the Krasny Kholm Nikolaevsky Antoniev Monastery, situated in what is now Sloboda village in the Krasnokholmsky District of Tver Oblast, near the confluence of the Neledina and Mogcha rivers about a kilometre from the town of Krasny Kholm. Monastery records date its founding to 1461, after Anthony, described as a desert-dweller, monastic priest, and elder, settled in the region.

The monastery began with a wooden church dedicated to Saint Nicholas, built after an icon of the saint was discovered at the settlement. In 1481 Anthony laid the foundation for a stone cathedral, though he died before it was completed. The white-stone Nikolsky Cathedral, dated to 1481–1493, became one of the oldest surviving architectural monuments in Tver Oblast, though only three of its walls remain intact today.

Legacy

The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries marked the monastery's spiritual and material flourishing, supported by donations from noble families including the Tyutchevs and Sheremetevs. The community endured the devastation of the Time of Troubles and recovered, and the seventeenth century saw intensive construction of stone churches and defensive structures. Catherine II's secularization decree of 1764 substantially weakened the monastery's wealth and autonomy, and after the Revolution it was closed by 1930, with many buildings demolished in the following decades. It was granted state protection in 1960, and from 2013–2014 passed back to the administration of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Anthony received local veneration as a pious elder and came to be recognized as a venerable ascetic within his monastery, later gaining broader regional status. The OCA records no birth date and no formal glorification details.

Relics & Shrines

Anthony's burial location is uncertain. Monastery tradition holds that his relics rest "beneath the sod" near the Nicholas Cathedral. Archaeological expeditions in the 1990s and 2000s uncovered fifteenth-century monastic graves but did not identify his remains.

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Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Jan 17