The Forge
At the entrance to Skete in the name of Holy and Righteous Zechariah and Elizabeth can see the main forged gates, decorated with the royal coat of arms and a crown to commemorate the memory of the Holy Royal Martyrs. Imperial crown on the gate in the crown of thorns is a symbol of martyr's death of the royal family. Forging craft immediately attracts attention and one can safely call these gate real work of art.
Even in ancient times the monasteries attracted the best artists, the most skillful architects and talented artists for the construction and decoration of temples and churches.
In the monastery of St. John this tradition is also followed. For about three years the monastery forge works and we meet the harvest of these labors everywhere: they are crosses, crowning domes, wrought-iron grilles with floral ornaments, decorated with birds and flowers, and these are also twisted aerial ladders, which have become a real gem of fraternal buildings; and the new front gate, and many other products created with imagination and love for work.
We make our way to the forge here to meet with our head master - Vitaliy Sokolov: "I started blacksmithing since youth, in 1976 I graduated from industrial school in Mogilev, I thought blacksmithing is temporary, but it was for life. After the army I worked in Kiev at the plant "Lenin's forge", then production was gradually destroyed, I had to work with private offices, they do not always calculated in good faith for work. I was tired of wandering, from friends I learned about the monastery, spoke to the Lord Aleksey and decided to work here. In the monastery here we had all the conditions for working, I think I will continue to work here. A lot of interesting pans are ahead."
And really, now a new art project is developed ― the Lord Aleksey planned to decorate the recreation area in the manufacturing workshop and offered smiths to produce a forged tree with paradise apples as a reminder to us of the lost paradise.
Products of the artistic forging of our smiths have a high level of craftsmanship and unique forging technology, they are characterized by the attention to the surfaces, the clarity of the compounds, the presence of a large number of elements, different textures, interesting and complex compositional approaches.
In the monastery forge one can order any products for the home and garden: these are fireplace grilles, barbecues and grills, stairs and balconies, pergolas, fences, lattice, furniture and more.
