Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist (Uglich): history, architecture

Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist in Uglich - an old Russian Orthodox church. This is a monument of ancient Russian architecture of the XVII century. It is located near the great Russian river Volga in the Yaroslavl region. Next to it is the Resurrection Church.

How did the temple appear?

Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist in Uglich was built in two years. Work began in 1689. They were financed by a rich local Yaroslavl merchant named Nikifor Grigorievich Chepolosov. He dedicated it to his six-year-old son, who died at the hands of his father Rudak's servant.

Already in the XX century in the northern side-chapel of the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist in Uglich found a niche in which the son of Chepolosov was buried.

In the Soviet period, near this place, it was planned to build the Uglich hydroelectric power station. At first the church wanted to make out. However, it was decided that its artistic value is so great that even in Stalin's times the project of the power station had to be altered. For the sake of the church he was moved upstream along the Volga.

Death of Ivan

Ivan Chepolosov, in memory of which the Church of the Nativity of John the Forerunner appeared in Uglich, was born in 1657. All celebrated its natural beauty and ingenuity.

He was the son of a wealthy local merchant. But I lived only six years. Already at that age he studied literacy, but somehow he was gone on the way to the teacher. They searched him in vain for nothing, thinking that Ivan had drowned.

Later it turned out that he was stolen by the clerk Rudak, his father's servant, who was embittered by the merchant. Nearby, in the village of Jerusalem, he kept the child in the cellar for two weeks, releasing only at night, to unfasten the horse's lash. The clerk forced him to renounce his parents and recognize Rudak as the father. But Ivan did not agree. As a result, the villain stabbed the child with a knife, inflicting 25 wounds on him. The corpse was found in a swamp.

Later Ivan was considered a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church. If you believe the life, his body did not change a week after his death. He was found by shepherds. There was a knife in his head that no one could reach. And when the villain appeared, the knife seemed to fall out, pointing to the killer. In a dream Ivan appeared to his parents and asked to pardon the robber, they left him alive.

Temple architecture

The Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist in Uglich (pictured above) is a classic example of a five-domed church. It has a chapel, a gate bell tower and a refectory.

The church is located on the basement (this is the basement of the building). Everyone remembers the noticeable from afar bell-tower in the form of a tent and an unusual porch. Most likely, it was they who saved this cult structure from destruction in times of Soviet power.

Connoisseurs of Russian art remember this porch well. It was portrayed by artist Nikolai Roerich in his famous painting of 1904.

How to get to the church?

The church of the Nativity of John the Baptist in Uglich is located. Address: Yaroslavl Region, Uglich, Spasskaya Street, 14.

In order to get to this temple, if you do not have a personal car, you need to take the bus number 9. He rides through the streets of Proletarskaya, Narimanov and Yaroslavl. You need to leave at the stop "Narimanova Street".

In the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist in Uglich, the schedule of services corresponds to the schedule in the main Russian Orthodox churches. Local priests carefully observe all services, church holidays. The day is especially honored on June 25, when, according to legend, the six-year-old Ivan Chepolosov was killed.

The Might of Ivan

The main shrine of this temple is the relics of the Uglich martyr John the Infant, as he is called in the Orthodox tradition. The relics were first placed in a wooden church, and later in a stone church. It was alleged that neither the clothes nor the body of the child were harmed, even after the time after his death. Only a part of the child's little finger has survived. But the remains of his brother, who was later buried in the same church, nothing remained. This is one of the arguments that confirm the sanctity of Ivan.

Bishop of the Orthodox Church, named Iona Sysoevic, who lived in the 17th century, blessed the coverage of the relics of the Resurrection Monastery by monks in Uglich in the neighborhood. Soon there was the first information about the relics healed by the holy. But the Orthodox did not respect them for long. Metropolitan issued a decree to lay them under a spoon. The reason is the beginning struggle with the Old Believers. And Ivan was baptized just on old books.

The history of Ivan is known to the general public, thanks to the novel by Vasily Nesterov, "The Martyr, the Uglich Legend." Many famous painters made illustrations for this work, including Vasily Surikov among them.

The relics of the saint were found again in 1970, during the restoration of the temple. Forensic medical examination confirmed that the cause of death was a sharp wound in the head. Officially, the veneration of the saint was restored.

At present, the relics are transferred from the Church of St. John the Baptist to the Church of Korsun, located also in Uglich.