Ukrainian Orthodox nuns request president Poroshenko to delimit their monastery from neighbouring prison
August 18, 2015. The Orthodox nuns of St. Haralampius Convent in Hamaliyivka are collecting signatures to petition Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko to demarcate between the convent and the Shostka Correctional Facility № 66 for men, as reports pravoslavie.ru.
St. Haralampius Convent, which is situated near the village of Hamaliyivka in the Shostka district during the years 1713-1924 could have been an important centre of pilgrimage today if it had not become part of the prison. The monastery complex is an architectural monument of national importance and historic value—there is the family tomb of the Skoropadskys, including one of the last Hetmans Ivan Skoropadsky and his wife Anastasia.
Nowadays the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a prison church where a priest comes to officiate on a regular basis. Next to the Cathedral, there are former monastery cells, and now there are bathhouses for prisoners, workshops and administrative offices.
During his presidency, Viktor Yushchenko signed decree №4/2010, which states that the men’s correctional facility should vacate the premises and buildings of the former monastery. This decree required considerable funds to transfer the facility to another space.
Foto documents from Sergi Klymenko
