Resurrection Church (Tomsk) and the Tsar Bell

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

The Resurrection Church is majestic and unusual. Tomsk, which in ancient times was located on the territory now owned by the Holy Assumption Monastery, one of the oldest and most unusual buildings in this city, is now adorned with this beautiful temple. The location of the church on the Resurrection Hill (according to legend, it got its name from the church) allows you to see the city at a glance. And the Resurrection Church itself (Tomsk), whose address is known to any Orthodox Tomsk citizen, is visible in all its strict beauty and harmony from afar, like the ruler of the entire urban space. And the name of the street Oktyabrsky Import before the revolution was different - Resurrection Import, after the name of the temple.

Church History

The history of the church begins with its construction at the end of the 18th century. The masters erected it in the baroque style, rare for that time, with some Gothic elements. Such an unusual project was proposed by the court architect of the school B. Rastrelli.

The Resurrection Church, Tomsk and the monastery are practicallypeers: the church is only 18 years younger than the city. The stone structure that we see today was built a little to the east of the wooden church that preceded it, which arose during the time of the founders of the city of Tomsk and was consecrated in 1622 in the name of the “Resurrection of Christ”. After the monastery was closed, the temple became a parish.

The stone two-storey church began to be built in 1789. The Resurrection Church (Tomsk and neighboring towns sent various craftsmen and materials) was built mainly by two craftsmen - Yegor Domonevsky and Pyotr Baranov - for 18 years at the expense of the parishioners. The lower chapel was consecrated in the fall of 1803 in honor of the feast of the Assumption of the Mother of God. The old wooden Sunday church was dismantled, transported to the banks of the Tom River, and there it was burned with all the utensils. The ashes, according to the old custom, were scattered over the river in the wind, so that no one's feet trampled on it. Four years later, the temple "rose from the ashes" in stone form. Its upper altar was consecrated in the summer of 1807 in connection with the feast of the renewal of the Jerusalem Church of the Resurrection of the Lord.

Tomsk Tsar Bell

A little later, on the edge of the cliff next to the temple, a small bell tower with stone supports was built. It contained a thousand-pound bell cast in Yaroslavl in 1896 in memory of the coronation of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra. The Tomsk merchant Vasiliev took the initiative in its creation and loaned 3,000 silver rubles. Bell with a diameter of more than four meters, decorated with high reliefs of the evangelists, weighingmore than 16 tons was the third largest among all Siberian bells after Irkutsk and Tobolsk. From the townspeople, he received the name "Tomsk Tsar Bell".

Soviet period

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Resurrection Church shared the fate of many places of worship. Tomsk in the spring of 1922 was covered by a wave of closure of churches and the description of property by the Bolsheviks. This did not bypass the Resurrection Church. A large number of silver church utensils were stolen from it - crosses, lamps, candlesticks, a censer and much more. In 1930, the Tsar Bell was thrown from the bell tower and, no matter how the parishioners prevented it, they split it into pieces. The pieces were sent for remelting along with the broken bells of other churches in Tomsk. The same year was the last for the bell tower - it was dismantled to the ground. When the Semiluzhenskaya Church was closed in 1935, the local authorities issued permission to transfer the miraculous Semiluzhenskaya Icon of St. Nicholas and other especially revered icons to the Resurrection Church.

In 1937, an attempt was made to destroy the temple, but by the grace of God, the Bolsheviks failed to do so. Twice the rope thrown over the main cross of the temple was torn in an incomprehensible way. Until now, the main cross of the temple stands slightly tilted, testifying to the miracle of that time. The angry Bolsheviks destroyed all the wooden buildings around the building. After that, a garage for cars, a grain warehouse were made on the ground floor, and a few years later the premises were occupied by materials from the archive of the Far East. The fact that the building has been occupied by the archive since 1945 helped to keep it from complete destruction, while other temples and churches were being destroyed.

Architecture

In terms of its architecture, of all the churches in the city, the Resurrection Church most of all corresponds to the spirit and mood of the local architecture of the 18th century. Tomsk, the photo of which can be seen in many brochures and books, is always one of its brightest distinguishing features for a tourist and a photo of this beautiful temple, which is considered one of the most interesting monuments of the cultural heritage of the Baroque era with a pronounced symbolism of the Siberian region. Designed according to the traditional three-part scheme, which includes a temple, a refectory and a bell tower, the church is complemented from the west by a porch and a vestibule. A tall two-story brick stucco building, like a beacon for Orthodox Christians, can be seen from afar, inviting everyone to worship with the loud bass of a massive bell. Decorated like Easter, it attracts not only parishioners, but also a large number of pilgrims and tourists.

New life of the temple

In 1978, a decision was made to restore the Church of the Resurrection. Moreover, the project concerned only the decoration of the building and the gilding of the crosses. The interiors kept valuable archival documents, so no work was planned there. By 1980, the restoration was completed, the area around the temple was ennobled.

A new era began in 1995, when the Church of the Resurrection of the Lordwas transferred to the Tomsk Deanery of the Novosibirsk diocese of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church for unlimited free use. Several tens of tons of archival documents were packed and sent to Vladivostok. Orthodox all over the world helped to restore the interior of the church, cleaned, laundered, repaired. In the spring of 1996, the inhabitants of the city heard the joyful chime of seven bells, which were cast in Voronezh at private expense and donated to the church. On each of the bells was written "from Lydia and Vasily." There is no more information about the donors. The largest of the bells weighs 160 kilograms.

In 1996, the church was re-consecrated and opened to the faithful. The parishioners of the temple gladly accepted the news that the Resurrection Church (Tomsk) was restored. The schedule of worship services again took its usual place on the gate at the entrance to the temple, and for residents of the suburbs and pilgrims it was registered on a specially created church website.

In 2013, the temple received 9 more bells from Kamensk-Uralsk. By weight, the most massive of them had a weight of 1200 kg. The belfry, built many years ago, can withstand their weight by a large margin.

Rebirth

The energetic and active rector of the church, Archpriest Peter, recalls the terrible state of the Resurrection Church before. Tomsk, the phone number of the temple and the rector in which not only every native citizen knows, but also his guests from the surrounding area, visited and helped in restoring the sights of the organizationand believers from almost all over Russia.

The abbot has grandiose plans that he believes can be realised. For example, organize a font in order to baptize adults. In a neighboring house, he plans to build a library and a refectory. A Sunday school and a youth church club have already been established at the church. There are plans to open a bell-ringing school. Those who wish to enroll in it can come to the address of the temple: Tomsk, Oktyabrsky import, 10. Or call 8 (382) 65-29-54.

Another of the grandiose plans is the arrangement of a park with a monument to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker on the Cape of Voskresenskaya Mountain, which will stand on the mountain and bless Tomsk. Archpriest Peter is offered assistance in this by the Moscow Foundation of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. It will be a good place to relax and socialize.