The (Gethsemane) Chernigovsky Skete (1843-7) is the Lavra's eastern hermitage 3km. A famous Moscow holy fool Philippushka who had been drifting in European Russia for 10 years as a pariah came to the Lavra and moved to the place to dig an underground reclusory like that of the Kiev-Pechyory Lavra. The caves were dug till 1851 when they included a cave temple as a wooden dugout and underpasses with monastic cells. The central cave was for prayer to become the Archangel Michael Cave Temple.
In 1852 the cave temple was donated the Chernigov Icon of Godmother. By legend, in 1869 it healed a paralized peasant woman and later showed over 100 miracles and healings. The Skete's elder was Rev. Barnabas visited in 1905 by Tsar Nicolas II for advice and blessing. Barnabas used to console people even though predicting Bolshevic terror and Orthodox revival.
The architectural ensemble center is the 5-dome Chernigovky Cathedral (1886-97) with the cave church underneath. Its 5-tier belfry rises amid the neighborhood almost equally with the Lavra's one.
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