Description of the attraction
The Church of St. John the Evangelist is one of the attractions of the city of Mirgorod, Poltava region. It is located in the suburb of Lychanka, on Lychanskaya street, 33.
At the beginning of the twentieth century. there were four Orthodox communities in the city. All churches were located in the central part of Mirgorod. Since the settlement of Lychanka did not have its own church, in 1912 one of its residents, a wealthy bourgeois I. Kupenko (nicknamed Shapar), decided to fulfill his dream - to found a church, making significant donations of money and building materials. Icons for the church iconostasis were painted by I. Khitko.
On October 9, 1912, on the day of commemoration of the holy Apostle John the Theologian, the first stone of the future church was laid. It is not known exactly how long the construction of the temple took, but the first liturgy in the newly erected shrine took place the following year.
In 1937 the church was closed. Its dome and bell tower were destroyed much earlier, back in 1928 or 1929. Some of the church things were taken apart by people, some were burned, and the iconostasis was dismantled. The shrine could have experienced complete destruction in the 30s, if not for the chairman of the collective farm P. Kovalenko, who submitted the idea to arrange a granary in the premises of the church. This is what saved the original church building from complete destruction during the anti-religious campaign.
During the Holodomor, the church housed an orphanage for children from the surrounding villages. A memorial sign to those who died of hunger was unveiled near the shrine.
The Church of St. John the Evangelist received its second life in 1943, during the German occupation. Then the service was resumed, the locals returned the icons, and cosmetic repairs were carried out in the temple. Since that time, the church has been constantly open to parishioners.
A small but very beautiful wooden church of St. John the Evangelist stands on a hill near a quiet river, so the sound of its bells can be heard far enough.
