Church of the Intercession of the Virgin in the village of Zhabory description and photos - Russia - North-West: Pskov region (Topic)

Church of the Intercession of the Virgin in the village of Zhabory description and photos - Russia - North-West: Pskov Region. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photos and a map showing the nearest significant objects.

Photo and description

At the entrance to the village called Zhabory on the plain, which is surrounded on all sides by forest, is the Church of the Intercession of the Virgin. There is a cemetery surrounded by a stone fence around the church. The Uza River flows near the village. Next to the church is the family tomb of the founder of this church. The church was erected in 1792 by Fyodor Mikhailovich Lavrov, the leader of the Porkhov district nobility. In October 1794, the church was consecrated.

The style of construction is early classicism. In the lower part the building is rectangular, elongated along the east-west line, in the upper part it is cruciform, completed with a decorative drum with eight faces.

The internal volume is divided into separate rooms. The walls on the north and south sides have two-light windows, placed in vertical niches with bridges in the form of arches. In the wall on the west side there is an arched doorway that leads to the vestibule, a niche and an arched doorway - on the sides, from the south and north of the vestibule - two tents. The tents and the narthex are covered with corrugated vaults with striking structures located above the doorways. In the wall of the main volume on the east side there is a high arched opening that leads to the pre-altar room. The main part of the pre-altar room is covered with a groin vault resting on supporting arches, of which there are four. There are a pair of window openings in the southern wall, and a window and a door in the northern one.

The central parts of the northern and southern facades are decorated with horizontal rustications, the second light tier is profiled with a traction, an entablature with a pediment crowns these parts. The windows of the first tier are processed with platbands, the openings of the second tier located in the center are semicircular, the side openings are rectangular. All windows have profiled platbands.

On the central apse there is a decorative drum crowned with a head and a cross. The antiblade with an octagonal dome, drum and shaped head ends with a decorative octagon with false windows. The facades of the vestibule are decorated with horizontal rustic materials, the windows are decorated with profiled platbands.

The facade of the first tier on the western side of the bell tower has paired pilasters, entablature and pediment on the sides, the next tier, which has four arched openings intended for ringing, is covered with iron. The octagonal domed roof of the bell tower is completed with an octagonal drum with a metal cross.

The church has preserved the interior decoration dating back to the 19th century, but in the iconostasis, which was renewed in 1836, there are several icons from the 15th century. These are icons of the festive cycle, very darkened from time to time: Baptism, Annunciation, Dormition of the Mother of God, Presentation, Introduction to the Temple. The professionally executed gilded carving of the iconostasis, carried out in high relief, as well as the carved twin heads of angels above the southern and northern doors, also attracts attention. In the altar there is a small carved statuette of Nil Stolbensky, which is only ten centimeters high, and was painted in the 18th century. icon of the Assumption of the Mother of God.

Cast in 1747, by order of Ivan Chirkin, a merchant from St. Petersburg, a large bell is located on the bell tower. This bell is decorated with a molded pattern of a curling acanthus stem.

In 1836, the church was thoroughly renovated. The renovation mainly affected the interior decoration. During the difficult war years, the church was active and served as protection for the local population. Father Mikhail served in it. All houses in the village were burned down by the Germans, but the church remained intact.

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Topic: Church of the Intercession of the Virgin in the village of Zhabory description and photos - Russia - North-West: Pskov region.