Introduction. Orthodox female asceticism in the North Caucasus is a special page in the history of the region, about which little is known. The reason is that while the stavropegic women’s monasteries of Russia were included in all-Russian processes, and information about them has been preserved, on theoutskirtsofthecountrytheyledasolitaryChristianlifeandrarely became the centers of public attention. Appealing to fragmentary information from archival documents, the authors managed to trace the general trends of their development in the region, highlight the specific features of the situation of some of them. Materials and methods. Using the example of the situation of women’s monasteries in the North Caucasus, the authors analyze their activities, determine the specifics of their position and status depending on the region of their location. Particular attention is paid to the role of the founders of the monastery and the personalities of their abbesses, which determined the fate of the monastery itself and influenced the nature of monastic everyday life. Analysis. Despite the apparent isolation of the monasteries, their alienation from the secular world, the events taking place in our country at the beginning of the 20th century also influenced their monastic way of life. Problems of society, decline of morals, low public morality destroyed the established way of life for centuries, but many women’s monasteries were able to resist this merger, preserve traditions and, despite revolutionary events, revive Orthodoxy in society. The study follows the principles of an interdisciplinary approach, which allowed us to consider the problem in its entirety, combine data obtained in different areas of monastic life, look at the problem of the place of monasteries in Russian society of the 20th century. The method used allowed us to conduct a modern historical study from the standpoint of historical anthropology. Results. As a result, the authors come to the conclusion that the influence of the outside world on the inner life of women’s monasteries led to certain manifestations of deviation, but their original way of life and deep involvement in the system of social relations did not allow them to become a support for revolutionary sentiments.
Nemashkalov et al. (Wed,) studied this question.