The monastery was established on the lands owned by noble
Wiśniowiecki family during the early 17th century. According to a chronicle, it was founded by monks of
Mezhyhiria Monastery on an island in the middle of Udai river. The monastery was reportedly named after a nearby thick ()
forest. In 1614 a
wooden church of Holy Trinity was erected. The monastery was expanded through the work of
abbot Isaiah Kopynsky of
Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, who was granted a
charter securing the monastery's landholdings by prince
Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki and his wife
Regina Mohyla. After a conflict with
Polish authorities, Isaiah moved to Hustynia, and later served as metropolitan of
Chernihiv,
Smolensk and
Kyiv. In 1620 the monastery was visited by
patriarch Theophanes III of Jerusalem, who arrived under the guard of
Zaporozhian Cossacks led by
hetman Petro Konashevych Sahaidachny. In 1636 a fire destroyed the monastery's structures, and two years later it was moved to a new location. After the suppression of a
Cossack uprising in 1638 part of the monks who feared Polish repressions moved to the
Tsardom of Moscow. In 1639 the monastery was rebuilt under the patronage of metropolitan
Petro Mohyla, with financial support from
Moldavian ruler
Vasile Lupu. In 1641-1644 the new Trinity Church was erected. In 1648 the monastery was destroyed by
rebels, but soon thereafter
Bohdan Khmelnytsky took it under his protection. The monastery's land properties were confirmed by a
universal issued by the hetman's wife
Hanna Zolotarenko in 1655. In 1654 the monastery was visited by
Paul of Aleppo, who claimed its
iconostasis to be more opulent than that of
Kyiv's
St. Sophia Cathedral. After another fire, the monastery was rebuilt in stone by
hetman Ivan Samoilovych in 1674-1676. The new Church of Holy Trinity was consecrated by
archbishop Lazar Baranovych, who
ordained hieromonk Demetrius Tuptalo during his visit. Between the end of 17th and early 18th centuries the monastery was greatly expanded with buildings in the style of
Ukrainian Baroque. In 1693-1708 the churches of Saint Nicholas and St. Peter and Paul were erected under patronage of
Pryluky colonel Dmytro Horlenko, grandfather of
Joasaph of Belgorod. The monastery's Assumption Church was built by hetman
Ivan Mazepa. By the late 18th century Hustynia Monastery was one of the richest
convents in Ukraine, however in 1786 its properties were
secularized by
Russian authorities, and in 1793 it was closed. In 1843 the monastery was reopened. In 1845 it was visited by
Taras Shevchenko, who made a drawing of the convent's historical structures. During the same year
governor-general Nikolai Repnin was buried in the
crypt of the Assumption Church. The monastery's churches were later renovated by Repnin's widow Varvara, and the newly reconsecrated Church of the Resurrection became the family's
burial vault. In 1924 the monastery was dissolved and replaced with a
commune for homeless children. In 1927 its structures were studied by historian Mykola Makarenko, whose son was buried in the Repnin family vault. In 1943 the monastery was revived and functioned until 1959, when a psychoneurological clinic was opened in its place. By the early 1990s the buildings of the monastery were in a state of ruin, but in 1993 a new revival of the complex started, and since then its architectural ensemble has been restored in its initial
Baroque form. Currently it functions as a female monastery. ==Chronicles==