20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

840 Florin Marinescuthat did not had direct access to the volume written by his hand, withfrontispieces and vienetes on every page, with a remarkable artistic quality,dedicated to the hermitage 6 and of the works that appeared at the end ofthe 19 th century 7 . With the two volumes published by the two archivists,any researcher who is interested can get a complex overview of the manyaspects of the history of the hermitage. Among them we mention a) detailsabout the founding of the hermitage. The first document in the volumeHermitages and cells is from April the 18 th , 1852. The entire history of thefounding of the hermitage by the ieromonks Nifon and Nectarie can beread, the support of the lord Grgore Al. Ghica the Fift, the first subventionsgiven by the lord and by the Mitropolit Sofronie Miclescu for building,the dissensions which started immediately after the setting up ( and theycontinued for many years) between the two founders and the monk Damian,who was seen by the Mitropolit as an usurper. b) based on the documentswe can make up a list of the abbots (or the superiors) of the hermitage, thefamous ones were Antipa Dinescu and Simeon Ciomandra, and we canalso make up a monahologhio comprising the names of many prodromitmonks, chronologically. c) the interfering of the great Lavra monastery inthe internal feuds of the monks in order to take control of the hermitage.d) the constant interest of the Romanian State in the hermitage and inthe monks, translated especially in subventions, and supplies shipments.Moreover the Romanian state and the church went to great lengths toobtain the independence of the hermitage from the great Lavra monastery.e) the conflict between the hermitage and the Romanian church regardingthe usage of the new calendar. f) abundant data regarding the succursalmonastery of the hermitage, especially the one in Potamia (Thassos Island)but also the ones in Romania.6The volume dedicated to the Prodromu hermitage, the materials published there,the documents published after the original, and the artistic quality should make the objectof a publishing, especially with the technological means we have today.7See only for your information the rare brochure with Cyrillic characters wit thetitle Deslusiri atingatoare despre inffintarea sfant Skitu romanesku din multele Atonului,“publikatu ku keltuiala skitului” which exists in 15,000 copies and published in 1857,that is when the preparations for the founding of the hermitage were taking place. Thecopy we read at the Library of the Academy belonged to the well known baron BarbuBellio. Also see Documente de la intemeierea schitului si pana astezi published by theRomanian hermitage from Santu Munte, in 1878, Bucharest. It consists of 60 documentsin extenso about the period between the years 1820 ( the first step towards founding thehermitage) and 1878 ( a petition of the “tiresome” ieromonk Nectarie addressed to thePrimat Mitropolit of Romania). At the end of the book: 95-100 the is a very useful andcomplete inventory of the hermitage (the description of the church, household things,annexes) also described by the father Nectarie.