The beauty of the Nizhny Novgorod churches touches even the inexorable atheistic heart. All religious sites in the Nizhny Novgorod region are built to last for centuries, very thoroughly. They have been invested with the blood and sweat of a huge number of people who believe piously in the truth of their church. Everything was built conscientiously, with the fear of God. That is why many temples and monasteries built in the past millennia have been preserved in their original form. There are those that have undergone some destruction, but have been restored and now serve us for inspiration and rebirth of the soul. The article will discuss the Nizhny Novgorod church in honor of Sergius of Radonezh.
Start of construction
The history of the construction of the temple dates back to 1865. The project was personally approved by Emperor Alexander II. The construction was completed in 1869. In 1872, the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh (Nizhny Novgorod) was equipped with two bell towers, which were designed by the architect Kileveyn. They areare located on the sides. For holding church services, the area in them is increased, thanks to the oval shape in plan. The temple was built with five domes. A thirty-meter four-tier bell tower adjoins it from the west.
Renaissance after the atheistic era during the Soviet era
During the time of Soviet rule, when the Orthodox faith was persecuted, the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh (Nizhny Novgorod) became the location of the Union of Artists. And only in 2003 the temple was transferred to the Nizhny Novgorod diocese. 2006 was a significant year for the Radonezh Church. In October, the bell tower with 12 bells was fully equipped. The largest bell weighs 4 tons.
In November of the same year, on the 4th, the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh (Nizhny Novgorod) was re-consecrated. The rite was made by George - Archbishop of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas. Bishops Theognost of Sergiev Posad and Theophylact of Bryansk and Sevsky served with him. After the consecration, the first Divine Liturgy was served. A representative of the government, First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev came to the first service.
Missionary work
Since December 2006, the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh (Nizhny Novgorod) has become a center for Orthodox people with hearing impairments. On Sundays, they began to serve liturgies with the use of sign language translation. The creators of the center relied on the experience of the Simonov Monastery, where they have been working with such people for a long time.
At the temple are held on Saturdays andSundays meetings of the youth Orthodox center and the family club. Thus, the Radonezh Church participates in social missionary work, which is carried out by almost all churches in Russia, preaching the Orthodox values of raising children and home building. In 2010, on January 27, a prayer service was held in the Georgian language to Nina Equal to the Apostles.
Shrine and location
In the Radonezh church there is an icon that has a particle of the relics of Sergius of Radonezh, the great saint, reverend and ascetic of Orthodox Russia. It was written in 2006 by monks from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Prayer services are performed before the icon on Sundays. The tradition of having icons and pieces of the relics of saints, in honor of which church buildings were erected, is also preserved by all Russian churches classified as Orthodoxy. The religious cult of veneration of the relics of the saints and the righteous, the veneration of icons are inherent not only to the Russian Orthodox, but to the entire Catholic Orthodox Church.
The Nizhny Novgorod Radonezh Church is located on Sergievskaya Street. There are many objects worthy of attention here. Therefore, Sergievskaya Street is very popular with tourists.
Ancient history
There is an opinion that the history of the church is more ancient. Perhaps it begins with the monastery of the same name, built in the XIV century (the territory of Repentance). A charter dated 1621 testifies to the existence of such a monastery. Then in the monastery church of Radonezh there was a chapel, consecrated in honor of the Solovetsky Zosima and Savvaty the miracle workers. The founder of the monastery is unknown. Afanasy Firsovich Olisov, who lived not far from the monastery, decided to build a new temple. The temple became a parish. It contained the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands. The parishioners revered this icon as miraculous.
Unfortunately, the monastery burned out from a terrible fire in 1701. And the type of churches that prevailed then (multi-hipped chopped architecture), which many Nizhny Novgorod churches had, almost completely disappeared in the 17th century.
After a new temple was erected on this site, in honor of the Savior Not Made by Hands and Sergius the Wonderworker. When the church was restored, it was consecrated in honor of Sergius of Radonezh. But the temple needed a major overhaul. In 1838 it was repaired, but this did not completely save the church building. Therefore, it was revived already in 1865. In terms of architecture, its forms strongly resembled traditional ancient Russian churches. They were deliberately embossed. And only in 1872 did the church clerk turn to Kilevane with a request to complete the construction of additional areas for the service. Then they designed and completed the oval bell towers on the sides, which violated the integrity of the temple's artistic image, but gave additional space.
