Description of the attraction
The Roman Catholic Church of John the Baptist is located on Palace Street in the city of Pushkin. The first wooden Tsarskoye Selo Catholic Church was built in 1811 in the house of the Master of Ceremonies of the Court of Commander Mezonyaev on Gospitalnaya Street. But over time, the premises of the temple turned out to be small. For this reason, Emperor Alexander I provided a land plot and allocated funds for the construction of a new stone church. The plan of the church was developed between 1823 and 1825 by architects Domenico and Leone Adamini. The architect Vasily Petrovich Stasov also took part in the construction of the temple.
The solemn ceremony of laying the foundation of the temple took place in the summer of 1825 with the participation of the Minister of Public Education. The church was consecrated in the fall of 1826 by the Minsk bishop Matvey Lipsky. In 1906-1908, the building of St. John's Church, designed by S. A. Danini together with the engineer I. F. Pentkovsky was expanded.
In 1923, some of the church valuables were confiscated. In the spring of 1938, the church was closed. The building was used as a sports hall. Those buried in the temple crypt were reburied at the Kazan cemetery. The church suffered during the Great Patriotic War. In the post-war period, it was restored and transferred to the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum-Reserve for a concert hall. In modern times, the first divine service took place in the spring of 1991. In a solemn atmosphere, 7 local Catholics were present at the service. Services began to be held on Sundays and holidays. In early October 1997, the parish signed an agreement with the administration of the Tsarskoye Selo Museum-Reserve on the joint use of the building.
The building was erected in the classicism style. The portico of the central facade is made in the form of a colonnade. The temple is crowned with a high dome. There were three thrones in the church: the main one - in honor of St. John the Baptist; lateral - to the Mother of God the Queen of the Holy Rosary and the Prayer for the Chalice. Earlier, above the main altar, there was an engraved bronze image of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist - a gift from Princess Jeanette Lowicz. In addition, a metal cross with particles of the Lord's Cross was kept in the temple.
In the temple crypt there were graves in which they were buried: Prince E. N. Meshchersky (1842-1877), commander of the Order of Malta I.-A. I. Ilinsky (1760-1844), Count J.-R. Litta (1763-1839), rector of the church, prelate K. L. Matsulevich (… -1906), Count K. F. Ozharovsky (1823-1893) and his wife (1761-1831), Princess J. Lowicz (1795-1831). By the time the Church of St. John was closed, 38 people had already been buried in the crypt.
