Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Rozhdestveno description and photos - Russia - Leningrad region: Gatchinsky district (Topic)

Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Rozhdestveno description and photos - Russia - Leningrad region: Gatchinsky district. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photos and a map showing the nearest significant objects.

Photo and description

The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Rozhdestveno is the third temple built on this site on the banks of the Oredezh.

The first mention of settlements in these places refers to 1499 At that time the Nikolsko-Greznevsky pogost and the church "Velika Nikola" were located here. This temple was destroyed in 1583-1590 during the first Swedish occupation. But, according to legend, this church went underground overnight, when the Swedes approached the shores of Oredezh in the Time of Troubles. This legend has a certain basis, since there are actually karst voids in Rozhdestveno, and the temple could easily have gone underground.

After the victory in the Northern War, Peter I presented these lands to the heir to the royal throne, Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich. By order of Tsarevich Alexei in 1713 in the bend of Oredezh, the construction of a wooden church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary began where the old cemetery is now located. On September 24, 1713, the temple was consecrated.

On the belfry of the temple was installed a bell casting in 1588. Services in this church were held until 1785, when a new church was built in the center of the village in the name of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos. Since then, the temple has served as a chapel.

After the death of Tsarevich Alexei, the village passed to the nieces of Peter I, and then in 1733 these lands were transferred to the Palace Order. In the period from 1780 to 1797. by the decree of Catherine II, the village of Rozhdestveno was a district town. It was at that time that stone buildings appeared here, such as a gostiny dvor, a district school, public offices, and a new church. But the city of Rozhdestveno was abolished by Emperor Paul I, and the village of Rozhdestveno with all the lands was granted to the hereditary possession of N.Ye. Efremov, court counselor. During his reign, the manor complex of the village was formed.

A new Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was erected in the middle of the village on the site of the present temple, it was consecrated in 1785. But the elegant green church with a red roof did not last long. In September 1837, a large fire began in the center of the village, which destroyed the temple.

The construction of a new, third stone church, began only in 1867 during the reign of Alexander III, who was `` sensitive belonged to everything Russian. ” The outward appearance of the temple was dominated by features of the Byzantine style. The construction of the temple was supervised by the synodal architect Ivan Iudovich Bulanov. September 9, 1883 the newly built church was consecrated. Finishing work was carried out until 1886

In the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos there are three thrones: the main one - the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos - in the corners with columns, made of white marble; the southern side-altar - in honor of the holy prince Alexander Nevsky; the north side-altar is in honor of Nicholas the Wonderworker. The church has a three-tiered iconostasis. Next to the temple is the marble tomb of the family of the benefactor of the temple I.V. Rukavishnikov.

From the moment of construction, the temple functioned until 1936. Then the temple was closed. During the German occupation in 1941, at the request of local residents, the Germans who were in the village of Rozhdestveno allowed the church to be opened. Divine services began in the Church of the Nativity. Since that time, parish life here no longer stopped, despite the fact that that in the "Khrushchev" times, in the 1960s, there was a quite tangible threat of closing the temple.

In 1988, on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus, the Nativity Church underwent a major overhaul. And to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the village of Rozhdestveno, new crosses were installed on the church.

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Topic: Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Rozhdestveno description and photos - Russia - Leningrad region: Gatchinsky district.