Description of the attraction
On the bank of the Cherma River, among ancient trees, on a high hill, there is a small church with a bell tower, built in 1789 at the expense of Count and Adjutant General Konovnitsyn Petr Petrovich. It was conceived as the tomb and home church of the Konovnitsyn family. After some time, a water mill was built just downstream of the river; the manor house was surrounded by a beautiful park, which was the creation of Pyotr Petrovich and his wife, Anna Ivanovna. It featured a vibrant variety of trees: linden, ash, oak, maple, spruce and poplar.
The Church of the Intercession can be attributed to the monuments of early classicism, because its compositional component is very simple and developed in the direction of the longitudinal axis. A double-height rectangular "hall" -type building is strung on the axis, which ends in the form of a semicircular apse with a flat dome shifted to the eastern part, as well as a powerful three-tiered bell tower, topped with a spire, contrasting to the main volume. This uniaxiality is broken, since there are two lowered rhizolites on the northern and southern facades of the temple. In the whole appearance of the temple, which is characteristic of the transition period from the baroque style to traditional classicism, baroque motifs in the form of horizontally elongated, oval lucarnes, profile sandriks are especially interesting, which do not violate the general impression of architectural rigor, as well as restraint of the decorative design of the facades.
The church building, along with the bell tower, is accompanied by a profile cornice along the perimeter. All windows are decorated with profile sandriks separating the lucarne directly from the window. The church doors are decorated with gable sandriks. At the base of the bell tower, namely above the main entrance, there is a small molded detail or a round sculpture dedicated to the Cherubim. The tiers of the temple are riveted. The overlapping of the lower tier of the bell tower is made with the help of a cross vault; the overlap of the temple was carried out with the help of a chute vault equipped with a mirror. There are strikers above the hatchways, as well as above the door leading to small choirs. The apse is closed in the same way. The edges of the vault and stripping are supported by relief panels. Risolite tents are covered in a flat way. The church choir is a balcony standing on consoles and having a prominent semicircular blade. The choir is fenced with a carved baluster.
The temple has absolutely no murals. According to A. Popov's conclusion, the icons in the Intercession Church located in the iconostasis originate from Anichkov's yard, after which they were presented by Prince Nikolai Pavlovich. At the moment, the church iconostasis has been updated and slightly altered. Of the old details, only the skeleton of the lower tier and the royal gates remained; several icons are hung on the walls of the church. These icons were painted on canvas and have survived to this day in their original framework. The icons located on the lower tier of the iconostasis are equipped with an upper blade and cutouts made in the lower corners, while the icons of the second and third tiers are framed in oval frames.
Konovnitsyn Petr Petrovich was buried in the church basement. His grave is located in the altar of the Intercession Church, near which is the family cemetery of his family. On the left side of the Church of the Intercession, on a dais, there are two slabs made of black marble. One plate contains an inscription in which the name of Pyotr Petrovich Konovnitsyn is mentioned, as well as the date of his birth and the date of death. Next to it there is a plate of his wife, Anna Ivanovna, with an indication of the date of birth and death.
The adjutant general had four sons: Gregory, Alexei, Ivan and Peter, and a daughter, Elizabeth. Ivan and Pyotr Konovnitsyn were participants in the Decembrist uprising. Elizaveta Petrovna became the wife of the exiled Prince Naryshkin, following him into exile. The children of Peter Petrovich are buried next to the Intercession Church, the only exception is Elizaveta Petrovna, who of her own free will ordered her to be buried in Moscow, namely in the Donskoy Monastery, next to her daughter and husband.
