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At the end of 1925, Sretensky Monastery was closed by the Bolsheviks and most of the churches and other buildings in the compound were destroyed. These included the Churches of St. [[Mary of Egypt]] and St. [[Nicholas of Myra|Nicholas]], the gate and bell tower, and the abbot's residence. In the buildings remaining, the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD) commanders established themselves. The grounds of the monastery became the execution area for the central "Cheka," the predecessor of the KGB, and the cemetery was turned into a school for studying advanced French.
Of all the major buildings of the old monastery only the Cathedral of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God (собор Сретения Владимирской иконы Богоматери) remained. The monastery was returned by the new government to the [[Church of Russia]] in 1991. However, for years the cathedral had been used by a group of Renovationists. A confrontation began when Patriarch [[Alexei II (Ridiger) of Moscow|Alexei II]] decreed that a representation ([[metochion]]) of the [[Pskov-Caves monasteryMonastery]] would be established at the site of the old Sretensky Monastery. After a battle of words and propaganda, the Bolshevik Renovationists were banished and the cathedral was reconsecrated. In 1993, [[Archimandrite]] Tikhon (Shevkunov) was designated as Father Superior with a population of some 40 monastics. In 1995, the patriarch issued a decree transforming the metochion into the Sretensky [[Stavropeghial]] Monastery. ("Stavropeghial" means being under the direct administrative authority of the patriarch.)
==Today==
