Pokrovskaya church (Krasnoyarsk): description, history, photo, address

Towering in the old part of Krasnoyarsk,near the bank of the great Siberian river Yenisei, the church, built and consecrated in honor of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is the oldest and most famous building of the city. Returned after many decades of mockery to the Orthodox community, nowadays it has taken a proper place among the leading spiritual centers of Siberia.

The disaster that befell the city

Located in Central Siberia, KrasnoyarskSince the beginning of the century it was built almost exclusively of wood - the blessing of this material was supplied by the taiga surrounding it in abundance. But the cheap and easy processing material had a significant drawback - it caught fire at the first negligence with fire. This is its natural property for centuries, was the cause of fires that destroyed entire cities in Russia.

Krasnoyarsk was no exception. The terrible fire that happened in it in late May 1773 destroyed most of the city's buildings, including a number of administrative buildings (also wooden ones), churches and townsmen's dwellings. In a pile of ashes, the voivode's house, wine and powder cellars were turned. Killed in the fire and built here in the middle of the XVII century, a small Pokrovskaya church.

Krasnoyarsk, barely recovering from the beastunhappiness, began to rebuild anew, and, in order to avoid the recurrence of the incident, the strictest instruction was received from the capital: henceforth, the administrative buildings should be erected exclusively from stone. As for the churches of God, they were also forbidden to build of wood - the Holy Synod informed the Krasnoyarsk people about this with a special circular.

Report of the city governor

It is easy to specify and prohibit, butWhat to do if there is not a single bricklayer in the whole city, and have not made bricks from the century since? On the metropolitan directive operatively, but very peculiarly reacted only to the city governor Semyon Polymsky. For public money, he hired in Yeniseysk masters, from there he wrote out all the necessary material and built a stone mansion, albeit one-story, but spacious and roomy. Having completed the case, the voevoda reported to the capital on the fulfillment of all the regulations, which made St. Petersburg officials very happy.

Unhappy undertaking

However, his initiative was not picked up by fellow countrymen. The imported brick was expensive, and even the new bricklayers broke prices at exorbitant prices. So the city was built in the old manner - there were pounding axes everywhere, and the smell of fresh pine resin dislodged the fires of the recent conflagration. The Church of the Intercession was also restored.

Krasnoyarsk, as is known, is far from the capital onthousands of versts, that's why the parishioners dared to appeal to the Bishop Vladika Archbishop Varlaam with a request to condescend to their wretchedness and allow again to cut down the wooden church. They promised to build the building with such a calculation that later, if it were God's Will (and money), lay a stone temple next to it.

The Tobolsk lord entered their position and inSeptember 1774 gave his permission. The new wooden church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin was laid in the same year, but its fate was sad. After the construction was completed, it was renamed twice, moved three times from place to place, until, finally, in 1792, it burned out, sharing the fate of its predecessor.

Stone temple - the whole world

But even before this regrettable thing happenedan event, pious Krasnoyarsk people were concerned about erecting the very same stone structure, which Archbishop Varlaam had written about in his time. The new, this time the stone Pokrovskaya church (Krasnoyarsk) was built in the same way as it was started in the old time - by the whole world.

From the archival materials that have come down to us it is clear thatVolunteer donors were residents of three hundred and twenty-two households located both in the city itself and in its environs. The post of the "church builder", that is, the leader of all the works, was entrusted to the retired official, the nobleman Mikhail Stepanovich Yushkov, who came from an ancient Cossack clan.

And again the Yenisei masters

Taking up his duties, MikhailStepanovich faced with traditional problems for Krasnoyarsk - the lack of specialists in the city-masons and the material necessary for their work. Again, as in the recent past, the Yenisei masters were invited, and the trains with bricks were again pulled to Krasnoyarsk. Arriving at the place, craftsmen brought with them a ready-made plan of construction, a model of which was the Trinity Church built in Yeniseysk in 1726.

The construction of a stone church began,that in the place where the office of the voevoda was formerly located (today the corner of Mira Avenue and Surikov Street) in February 1785 the military command cleared the necessary territory on which they began digging the foundation pit.

True People's Democracy

Further, from the same archive sourcesa fairly interesting picture of the powers that the parish world possessed at that time, that is, ordinary people, with the means of which the church was built, is emerging. It turns out that they by the majority of votes approved the project of future construction, all the producers of works were obliged to report to them for each penny spent and provide them with an estimate of expenses. Through their trusted parishioners had the opportunity to monitor the overall course of work and make changes to it. That is, everything was extremely transparent.

It is curious that even at the beginning of constructionThe diocesan authorities wished that the Intercession Church (Krasnoyarsk), in spite of the original design, was renamed into the Epiphany Church. This issue was put to a popular vote (referendum), and, after the parish world insisted on the former name by a majority of votes, the Tobolsk bishops could not do anything. The explanation is simple - construction goes to people's money, and only the people have the right to decide how and what they will be spent on.

National construction

But the role of the townspeople was not limited to introducingdonations and participation in parish meetings. Everyone helped, than he could. Those who had their own cartage transported bricks and sand, brought barrels of water. Who had no horses, performed feasible auxiliary work or guarded building materials. In those years there was still no expression "national construction", but the Pokrovskaya church was built by all the people.

Construction was completed in 1795, at the same timesolemn consecration of the church took place. It stood for half a century before additional work was done, as a result of which the Intercession Church in Krasnoyarsk (the description of the building of those years was preserved in the archive) took its true form.

The result of general works

Today, as in those years, the basis of the compositionthe church is a longitudinal axis east-west, at the beginning of which there is a semicircular altar, and then - directly the four-storey building, the refectory and the bell tower. This layout is traditional for the temple buildings of Central Russia and the Urals, erected in the XVII-XVIII centuries, and is called the "boat". The original in the construction of the Intercession Church are only warm, heated side chapels.

Three-way, or, as they say,"Three-light" building of the temple is crowned with an octagonal multi-tiered tower, carrying an additional drum, completed with an onion-shaped tetrahedral head. In the corners of the temple, the same, but slightly reduced, drums rise, which is typical of the Moscow five-headed style. On the west side there is an octagonal two-tiered belltower, which ends with a small glade. The undoubted decoration of the temple is the decorative design of the facades, always integral and unusually rich.

The Troubles of the Soviet Era

Today the Intercession Church in Krasnoyarsk, historywhich has more than two centuries, is again open after a long break. In the twenties, despite the complexity of the situation in the country, the church remained operational until the early thirties, when, at last, it was closed and placed at the disposal of one of the military units. But in October 1945 the service in it resumed and continued up to the Khrushchev anti-religious campaign of the early sixties.

On the wave of perestroika

As you know, in the nineties, as a resultwhich came in the country of perestroika, an active process of returning the temple buildings to their former parish communities began. Among other was the Church of the Intercession. The temples of Krasnoyarsk needed urgent repair and restoration. As in previous years, the means to carry out these works were collected by the whole world. After their completion and solemn consecration the church received the status of a city cathedral.

Pokrovskaya church in Krasnoyarsk: address and telephone number

Gradually forcibly interrupted by religiouslife in it has entered its former course. Today, the Intercession Church (Krasnoyarsk), whose address: st. Surikova, 26, united around itself the largest number of parishioners in the diocese. It often performs hierarchical services, which are attended by residents not only of other regions, but also of numerous suburban settlements. You can find out about them in advance by calling +7 (391) 212 33 95. For those who wish to use the services of mail, we also indicate the postal code: 660049.

Universal veneration uses randomlydiscovered in 2008 during the restoration of the arch vault ancient fresco, dated, according to experts, the end of the XVIII century and containing an image of one of the patronal feasts. It has been restored and is now ranked among the other sights with which the Intercession Church (Krasnoyarsk) is famous.

Reviews of the many tourists who visited it,very eloquently testify that this temple, rebelled from oblivion, did not leave anyone indifferent. Many note that it was under his arches that they came to feel the connection with God, which is the main goal of religion. It is important only to direct your thoughts in the right direction. This will help all the Church of the Intercession who came to Krasnoyarsk. The address, telephone number and postal code are listed in the article.