The St. Nicholas Church in Voronezh and its history

Among Orthodox churches that during the years of atheistic ill-health successfully avoided the misfortunes that befell most of the Orthodox holy places of our country, and continued to operate during the most difficult periods of the history of the 20th century, there is one which will be discussed in our article. This is a Voronezh temple, consecrated in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

Wooden precursor of the stone church

Even before the stone Nikolsky church was erected in Voronezh, and this event happened, judging by the surviving documents, in 1720, in its place stood a wooden church. It was consecrated in honor of St. Demetrius Uglitsky ─ the innocent murdered young son of Ivan the Terrible. Its main shrines were the ancient altar cross, as well as the icon of St. Nicholas, created not later than the middle of the XVII century.

In 1703, the church where they were kept burned, and only two of these ancient relics were saved from the fire. Fires in that era were frequent visitors to Russian cities, built mainly from the most accessible material - forests. At the same time, the pious inhabitants of the city were filled with the desire to erect a stone church on the site of the burnt church, and the next 9 years were devoted to the collection of voluntary donations.

Creation of a stone temple

Its construction began in 1712 (evidenced by the preserved archival documents), and was completed in 8 years. In its architecture, he was close to the well-known Moscow church of John the Warrior. In the new church, the altar cross, once saved from the fire, was placed, as well as the icon of St. Nicholas, which became the reason for the consecration of the building in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. These values were kept there until the rebellious events of the early XX century, after which they were lost, and, apparently, irrevocably.

In 1748, the Nikolsky church in Voronezh suffered considerable damage as a result of a fire that burst from the lightning striking it. The roof of the refectory and most of the dome were destroyed by fire. Internal premises were also damaged. To restore the building required significant funds, but this time they were collected thanks to the generosity of voluntary donors.

The prosperity of the temple in the 18th and 19th centuries

A year later, the work was completed, and the previous construction was supplemented with the limit of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica, consecrated Bishop Theophylactus (Gubanov). Over the following years, the temple was repeatedly renovated and decorated.

In 1768, a stone fence was erected around it, and a little later, modifications were made to the iconostasis and painting of the interior. During the following XIX century, Nikolsky Church in Voronezh was one of the most famous religious centers in Russia.

This was largely due to the miracles revealed through the miraculous Tolga icon of the Mother of God preserved in it, which, it is believed, saved the city from the terrible plague epidemic of 1831. To the exterior of the same splendor, the temple was largely due to the bounties of the local merchants, among which two families, Meshcheryakovs and Lyapins, stood out.

Years of Atheistic Ill-Reach

Unlike many Orthodox shrines in Russia, closed or destroyed by the Bolsheviks, such a bitter fate, fortunately, passed the Nicholas Church. In Voronezh, at times, he remained the only acting, and his history of those years knows many bitter pages.

In the twenties, the authorities transferred the temple to the disposal of the so-called Renovationists, representatives of the schismatic movement in the Russian Orthodox Church, who declared his support for the new regime and tried to change the course of the services. A year before the war began, the authorities generally closed it, but in 1942, forced to partially re-examine their attitude to Orthodoxy, reopened.

At the same time, the decision of the diocesan authorities to the St. Nicholas Church in Voronezh was given the status of a cathedral. In the subsequent period it was closed only for a short time, when in 1943 on the opposite bank of the Voronezh River, which gave the name to the city itself, fierce battles with fascists were going on, and the temple was in the zone of shelling of enemy artillery.

New life of the ancient temple

In the postwar years, as well as the entire period of communist rule, the church remained active and periodically refreshed. But large-scale restoration work was carried out only in 1988, when in the country the trends of the future perestroika were already in full swing. His new decoration he received for the celebration of the Millennium of the Baptism of Russia.

In it, a significant part of the interior painting was re-executed, but at the same time, the frescoes painted by the masters of the past centuries were restored and preserved. A bright decoration of the facade of the church were two mosaic icons, made in 1966 and 2005. Artist KD Yasin and his colleague AS Cheryumov.

Today, the St. Nicholas Church (address in Voronezh - Taranchenko Street, 19 а), as in previous years, is visited not only by the residents of the city, but also a pilgrimage site for believers from many parts of Russia. They strive there to worship the holy icons and relics of such pillars of Orthodoxy as St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Theophanes the Recluse, the Monk Euphrosyne of Suzdal, and many other saints of God who intercede at the Throne of the Most High about the well-being of the people he keeps.