Fedor Nikitich Romanov, father of Mikhail Fedorovich, the founder of the Romanov dynasty, was exiled here for the period of 1599-1605. He was forcibly professed, got the name Filaret, and later became the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus’ (since 1619).
In the 16th-18th centuries the Antoniev-Siyskiy Fratry was the biggest spiritual and cultural centre of Podvinye.
In the monastery the huge archive was collected. It consisted of more than 20 thousand of items, most of which were different types of church books. In the monastery sacristy there were the wonderful works of the Russian jewellery art, such as, for example, the holy-water basin (1583), the panhagia (1608) (which belonged to the siyskiy Father Superior Pheodosiy), the present from the Patriarch Filaret, made in 1628, - the precious chandelier.
The outstanding monument of the ancient Russian culture – the Siyskiy exemplum having 500 picture tracings from the icons of the West-European engravings - was created in the monastery.
The recreation of the Antoniev-Siyskiy monastery started from its giving to the Russian Orthodox church, made by the Father Superior Trifon (1992).
Currently the monastery is housing 13 members of the community, about 60 labourers are now living here. The church services, spiritual and educational, socio-charitable and missionary activity recreate. The monks of the Antoniev-Siyskiy monastery participated in the church archeological expedition around the Kozhezerskiy (1997) and the Krasnogorskiy (1998) monasteries.
According to the ancient tradition, the monastery library, the icon-painting workshop and the candlemaking are re-established.
The household includes haymaking, arables, small forests, a cattle farm, a stables, greenhouses, a garage, a bakery, as well as mechanical carpentry, skinner and boot workshops.
The churches are being restored. The Antoniev-Siyskiy monastery exerts guidance of several parishes of the episcopate, which do not have any priests. The monastery is annually visitd by 5 thousand of Russian and foreign pilgrims.
Morning weekday services in the Siyskiy monastery start at 7 am. On holidays or weekends services start at 9 am. Evening services take place at 4.30 pm and at 6 pm on Saturdays.
Как добраться
By bus # 503 (Arkhangelsk-Yemetsk), # 411 (Arkhangelsk-Kotlas), # 505 (Arkhangelsk-Velsk), # 520 (Arkhangelsk-Kargopol) from the bus station to the bus stop at the 152nd km, then on foot along the road for 8 km.
By car along the road M-8 Arkhangelsk-Moscow to the 152nd km, the pointer “The Antoniev-Siyskiy monastery” will be on your right.