Sightseeing temples of Kazan. Church of Yaroslavl Wonderworkers Church of Yaroslavl Wonderworkers

The Church of the Holy Blessed Princes Theodore, David and Constantine, the Yaroslavl Miracle Workers is the full name of the church.

The temple of the Yaroslavl Miracle Workers, which is very revered in Kazan, is an amazing page in the history of Orthodoxy in the city of Kazan and Tatarstan. At one time, a small church in the old Arsk cemetery was in fact the cathedral of the entire city, and the only open temple. At the same time, it was not named after the locally revered saints, but in honor of the princes from a completely different city.

Construction of the temple of the Yaroslavl wonderworkers

The year 1796 in Kazan was marked by the completion of the construction of a new church in the name of the Yaroslavl wonderworkers, the holy noble princes Theodore, David and Constantine. It is believed that the name of the church is directly related to the builders who built it. Apparently, the builders of the temple considered their patrons the faithful Yaroslavl princes Theodore and his children, David and Constantine; hence the name of the church.

Information about the predecessors of the present temple of the Yaroslavl Miracle Workers in Kazan is very fragmentary. It is believed that a chapel already existed at the Arsk cemetery before its construction, which is quite natural for such a large necropolis. According to some reports, in the city, where the circus building stands today, there was a church with the same name from 1737 to 1796, and Cemetery church, as the temple of the Yaroslavl Miracle Workers is often called in Kazan, became the successor to his name.

The structure of the temple is two-altar, another chapel, in the name, was built in 1801 with donations from benefactors. Until about 1819, the church that did not have a parish was assigned to the city of St. Barbara Church, and later - to Ph. It was in dire need of expanding the area and its own belfry, so by 1844 the left side-chapel was completed and the right one was reconstructed. By this time, the new church bell tower was also completed.

The last journey of many outstanding people of the Church ended in the temple of the Yaroslavl Wonderworkers of the Arsk cemetery. Their burials are preserved behind the altar to this day.

The February revolution of 1917 at first did not bring cardinal changes to the life of Kazan. Relative calm reigned in the city, the power structures and the police continued to work. Divine services continued in the temples.

With the advent of Soviet power, the situation changed dramatically, and persecution of the church began. In Kazan, the closure of churches was especially active since 1928. So the Matthew churches were gradually closed, and their communities at the beginning of 1931 were added to the parish of the Yaroslavl miracle workers.

Since the mid-30s, the temple was given to the renovationists, but in 1938 it was returned to the Orthodox community. According to some reports, during all these dramatic unrest, the doors of the church were closed to parishioners for only three days.

The church at the Arsk cemetery was practically not closed during the Great Patriotic War. An endless stream of "funerals" came from the front. Relatives received them and commemorated the dead. The Temple of Yaroslavl Miracle Workers, as a small and lonely island of Orthodoxy, in the hard times remained the only support and support for the believers of the townspeople.

Inside the temple of the Yaroslavl wonderworkers

When you get inside the church at the Arsk cemetery, you immediately feel the amazing atmosphere of silence, peace and detachment from everything worldly. This amazing property is largely due to the fact that the temple was never closed or subjected to desecration. That is why the old interiors have been preserved here, the church decoration has survived. The beautiful temple iconostasis of 1869, made by the hereditary carver and gilder Tyufilin, has survived.

The constant work of the temple for a long time objectively complicates the possibility of repairing and updating the interior interiors, although everything possible is being done. The inexorable time leaves its mark on everything. The image of the Savior Not Made by Hands, to whom miraculous help during the capture of Kazan in 1552 is attributed, has long since darkened. It is very symbolic that in this temple it is located above an old reliquary, in which the relics of the first archbishop of Kazan and Sviyazhsky, Guriy, reside. Near the tomb, his bishop's staff is still preserved, which, according to legend, the saint himself carved from wood.

Almost my entire adult life I have lived near the ancient capital of Tatarstan, but I have come to the Arsk cemetery, where the temple in the name of the holy princes Theodore, David and Constantine is located ... Even with blue winter snows, but already with a bright, almost spring, sun the domes of the temple glittered and attracted so much that one involuntarily thought: “Why haven't I come here yet? After all, even our shrine - the image of the Mother of God "Georgian" was kept here throughout the war ... How many times have I heard about it ... "

Nearby is the tomb of St. Guriy and the staff on which he leaned in last years my earthly life ...

The image of the Savior on a large dark tree - there is a version that Orthodox Christians brought it to Kazan together with the army of Ivan the Terrible ...

Based on materials by A. ZHURAVSKY AND E. LIPAKOV:

"The temple itself, being a cemetery, originally served only for the funeral service of Orthodox Christians and was assigned to the Cathedral of the Annunciation (" RV "No. 2 - ed.). It was built in 1796 as a two-altar (the chapel was consecrated in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker In 1843, the left side-altar was built in the name of Saint Nicephorus, Patriarch of Constantinople (Constantinople), and in 1844, the left side-altar was rebuilt, consecrated anew in the name of three saints: Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, Saint Leo of the Pope and Saint In the same years, a bell tower was built according to the project of the architect Foma Ivanovich Petondi. The construction and reconstruction of the temple was carried out at the expense of the city community. In 1925, after the closure of the Cathedral of the Annunciation, the cemetery church became a parish. In 1934, despite the protests of believers and the clergy, the temple was transferred to the Renovationist diocesan administration.It was at this time that the tomb with the relics of St. Gur was illegally appropriated by the Renovationists. Iya Kazansky. However, soon the Orthodox managed to defend their church, and it was returned to the Orthodox community.

By the end of the 30s, all monasteries and most of the city's churches were closed, so all the shrines were transferred to the cemetery temple. The miraculous icons were kept here: the Smolensk-Seven Lake icon of the Mother of God (from the Seven Lake desert), the Raif icon of the Mother of God (from the Raif desert), the icon saint Sergius Radonezhsky (from the Sviyazhsky John the Baptist Monastery), the icon of the Great Martyr Barbara (from the Varvara Church in Kazan), the Tikhvin icon of the Mother of God (from Tikhvin Church Kazan) and others.

The significance of the Church of the Yaroslavl Miracle Workers (which was not very famous in previous years) in the history of the Kazan diocese of the 20th century is extremely great. During the war years, Archbishop Andrei (Komarov) served here, known for blessing the collection of funds and clothing to help the Soviet army. The cemetery church in Kazan is the only one that was not closed during the Soviet years. In the minds of believers, this is one of the most prayerful places of the ancient city.

Even before the revolution, the Arsk cemetery was not exclusively Orthodox. It had a Catholic, Lutheran and Jewish section. After the revolution, this order was broken. Meanwhile, even after 80 years of constant and purposeful destruction, the Orthodox necropolis of the Arsk cemetery remains very representative.

Part of the Orthodox necropolis of the Arsk cemetery is located directly at the cemetery church. So, behind the altar are the burials of prominent church figures of the Kazan region: Archbishop of Kazan and Chistopol Sergius (Queen) (died 12/18/1952), the former Prague bishop, who was revered as a saint during his lifetime both abroad and in Russia; Bishop of Kazan and Chistopol, Justin (Maltsev), who arrived at the Kazan See after a concentration camp with a completely disordered health and soon died; Hieroskhimo-nakh Seraphim (Koshurin), the last of the brothers of the Seven Lake Hermitage, it was he who saved the relics of the Monk Elder Gabriel (Zyryanov) and the miraculous Smolensk-Seven Lake Icon of the Mother of God from desecration. Near the Nikolsky side-altar of the cemetery church there is a cross over the grave of the famous missionary, educator and scientist, director of the Kazan Teachers' Seminary Nikolai Ivanovich Ilminsky (1822-1891), who did a lot to translate Holy Scripture into the languages \u200b\u200bof the peoples inhabiting the Russian Empire. NI Ilminsky was already called "the apostle of Kazan foreigners" during his lifetime.

To the left of the church, at the northern side entrance, there is a tombstone in the form of a lectern with the gospel. This is the grave of the rector of the Kazan Theological Academy, Archimandrite Innokenty (Novgorodtsev) (1823-1968). There are many tombs of the Kazan clergy around the temple. The tradition of burying the deceased clergy near the church has been preserved until recently. Among other famous graves of the Orthodox necropolis are the graves of professors of the Kazan Theological Academy. So, on the alley, formerly called "academic" (since the deceased teachers of the Kazan Theological Academy were buried on it), the famous professor, doctor of theology, historian and Orthodox publicist Alexander Fedorovich Gusev (died 1914), author of the essay "Basic religious principles of Count Leo Tolstoy ".

Not far from the grave of A.F. Gusev, there is a monument over the grave of the famous philologist, researcher of the history of Russian literature, professor of the Kazan Theological Academy Ivan Yakovlevich Porfiryev (1823-1899), one of the most active participants in the scientific description of the library of the Solovetsky Monastery. Porfiriev is the author of works that have not lost their relevance to this day - "History of Russian Literature", "Apocryphal legends about Old Testament persons and events based on the manuscripts of the Solovetsky Library" ... Nearby is the grave of the scientist-historian, theologian Ivan Petrovich Gvozdev (died 1875). In another part of the Arsk cemetery, there is the grave of the outstanding Kazan philosopher and theologian, professor of the academy and university Viktor Ivanovich Nesmelov (1863-1937), the author of the famous study "Science of Man" devoted to Christian anthropology.

It is surprising that in the very center of Kazan, in the very center of modern Kazan, with its bustle and movement, it is quiet and peaceful here ... Gradually, more and more believers come to the cemetery church. They come not only to the Divine Liturgy (yes, now the church services are held daily - the temple has departed from its original purpose), they come not only to the graves of their loved ones, but also to worship ancient Russian shrines.

A young woman with a child stayed at the large icon of "Sergius of Radonezh", brought here during the years of theomachy. Putting a candle in front of the holy image, repainting, she helped her baby too. Next to the icon of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, they stopped again. The woman raised the baby in her arms, and he could tenderly touch the light image of the Mother of God - and from the sidelines the faces of the holy princes Theodore and his sons David and Constantine, whose military exploits were destined to be glorified by God, looked at them with love ...

Photo: Church of the Yaroslavl Miracle Workers