In Veliky Novgorod, on the left bank of the Volkhov River, among the picturesque area called Kolmovo, rises the ancient Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Founded in 1530 and becoming the same age as Ivan the Terrible, it has survived to this day, having survived, together with Russia, both the invasions of foreign invaders and the troubles generated by the madness of its own people. Today, this monument of past centuries is included in the routes of most excursions organized in Veliky Novgorod.
Abolished monastery
The Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God located in Kolmovo in ancient times was the main church of a large male monastery, abolished in 1764, shortly after the accession to the Russian throne of Empress Catherine II. It is known that the period of her reign was extremely unfavorable for many holy monasteries. In the Novgorod land during the first two years, more than seventy of them were abolished. Such a sad fate befell the ancient monastery, located in Kolmovo. Church of the AssumptionThe Mother of God, which was its main temple, received the status of a parish church and became the center of the religious community formed around it.
New parishioners of the temple
After two decades, Empress Catherine again remembered the monastery she had once abolished and ordered the opening of a former hospital and a “straight house” on the territory that belonged to him, in other words, a prison.
From now on, the bulk of the parishioners of the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin in Kolmovo (Veliky Novgorod) began to be made up of prisoners who were heading in stages to Siberia and making a short stop in the local transit prison. In addition, back in 1762, by order of the soon-to-be-slain Emperor Peter II, an asylum for the insane was set up in the monastery, which operated all subsequent years and also replenished the number of parishioners.
The onset of fertile times
After a century later, Emperor Alexander II carried out the Zemstvo reform of 1864, which laid the foundation for a new form of local self-government, many charitable institutions in Russia were transferred from the jurisdiction of the previously existing Orders of public contempt to the dependence of city and provincial authorities, which in many respects improved their condition.
This also affected the parish of the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin in Kolmovo. The hospital, the shelter for the homeless and the asylum for the mentally ill, which operated under him, received additional funding, which made it possible to carry out a number of previously inaccessible chores.
FromArchival documents of that period show that already in 1866, that is, shortly after the implementation of the Zemstvo reform, two new stone buildings were built there, one of which housed an almshouse, and the other set up a psychiatric hospital, equipped with all available at that time amenities. A ventilation system was installed for patients and staff, ovens were installed, plumbing was installed, and street cesspools were replaced with water closets. In addition, the zemstvos opened an elementary school for children from low-income families.
Statistics of past years
The premises of the former monastic cells, which had been empty for a long time, were used to house the city archive, which is still there today. It contains documents according to which, by the end of the 19th century, the inhabitants of the colony for the mentally ill, created at the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin in Kolmovo, were 406 (!) people of both sexes.
In addition, 40 patients were constantly treated in the parish hospital, more than a hundred old people lived out their lives in the almshouse, and two dozen orphans were kept in the orphanage located there. This shows how prominent the role played by the Assumption Church and its parishioners in the matter of public charity and assistance to low-income segments of the population.
The clinic created at the temple
The colony for the mentally ill, created at the Assumption Church, was such a unique phenomenon in the life of Russia of that era that it deserves special attention. The zemstvo doctor E. F. Andriolli, who founded it, establishedas fundamental principles of humane treatment of patients, providing them with the greatest possible freedom, as well as the use of feasible labor as a form of treatment.
In 1875, a major specialist in the field of psychiatry, B. A. Shpakovsky, who arrived from St. Petersburg, was appointed head of the hospital, or, as the documents say, a colony. He not only continued the traditions laid down by his predecessor, but also managed to use the most advanced, for that time, achievements of world medicine in the treatment of patients. The experience accumulated over the years of work was summarized by him and formed the basis of several scientific works, which were highly appreciated by specialists.
Troubles and trials of the 20th century
With the establishment of Soviet power in the country, the Assumption Church was closed and subsequently almost completely destroyed. A unique medical center, an orphanage and an almshouse ceased to exist. Only the school, founded at the beginning of the 20th century, remained active, but during the war years it was so seriously damaged that after the fascists were expelled from the Novgorod land, it had to be rebuilt.
As for the Assumption Church itself, located at Veliky Novgorod, Pavel Levitta Street, 9/18, it owes its revival to perestroika, which gave impetus to a radical change in state policy in matters related to religion. Rebuilt from ruins in the early 2000s, today it has once again become one of the leadingspiritual centers of the Novgorod land.
Modern Temple Life
Through the work of the rector of the church, Archpriest Nikolai (Ershov), the priest Father Timofey and the most active parishioners, the following were opened: a department of social service that provides assistance to the sick, elderly and indigent people, a sisterhood was organized, the members of which provide assistance in caring for patients of the city clinical hospital, as well as a service for organizing pilgrimage trips. In addition, every year the Sunday school opened at the temple improves its work.
Meanwhile, the leadership of the parish focuses on organizing a full-fledged spiritual life in it, and fulfilling the requirements imposed by the Charter of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate on religious communities. The order of holding all divine services included in the annual cycle is steadily observed. For those who, having visited Veliky Novgorod, wish to take part in them, we inform you about the opening hours of the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin in Kolmovo. On weekdays, its doors open at 8:00 for confession and the subsequent Divine Liturgy. The All-Night Vigil begins at 5:00 pm, and the church closes at 6:00 pm. On Sundays and holidays, the temple is open from 7:00 for the Early Liturgy, after which at 10:00 another one follows - the Late Liturgy. He finishes his work at 17:00, that is, an hour earlier than on weekdays.
The resurrected appearance of the shrine
The current view of the Assumption Church in Kolmovo largely corresponds to its original appearance, which can be obtained thanks tosurviving archival material. Its architectural design fully complies with the standards adopted in the 16th century.
The squat square building, according to its layout, is supplemented on the eastern side with an apse - a semicircular extension, inside which an altar is placed. Very characteristic details of this architectural style are the shoulder blades - vertical ledges dividing the walls into three parts and crowning them with semicircular zakomara arches. Noteworthy are the decorative window trims.
