Description of the attraction
The Church of the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands in the city of Irkutsk is an Orthodox church located in the historical center of the city along Sukhe Bator Street, on the territory of the Irkutsk Kremlin. The church is one of the first stone buildings in Irkutsk.
Unfortunately, the first wooden Church of the Savior has not survived to this day. It was erected in 1672 practically in the center of the Irkutsk Kremlin. In August 1716, the church burned down. The modern stone church of the Savior Image Not Made by Hands was founded in 1706. The main building was erected by 1710. As for the bell tower and the spire, they appeared in the 50s - early 60s.
Irkutsk Savior Church is the only one in Siberia, on the outer walls of which you can see paintings (first half of the 19th century). In the 70s. XX Art. the external paintings were restored, and the internal ones were lost, since they did not lend themselves to reconstruction. There are three multi-figured compositions on the eastern facade of the church. The central composition shows the plot of the baptism of Christ on the Jordan River, the left one tells about the baptism rites, most likely, of the local Buryat population, and the right composition depicts a group of persons who were present at the ceremony of communion with the saints. On the southern wall of the temple are depicted saints in whose honor the temple and its side-altars were consecrated. Immediately under the cornice of the quadrangle, you can see Nicholas of Mirlikisky, and below - St. Mitrofan of Voronezh.
In 1931 the church was closed. At various times it was used as a shoemaker, communal apartment and office for various organizations. In 1960, the question of demolishing the temple was raised. But instead of demolishing the church, the architect G. Oranskaya from Moscow set about its reconstruction. In the same year, the temple received the status of a monument of republican significance.
In 1982, the church was opened to visitors as an exhibition department of the Irkutsk Regional Museum of Local Lore. In 2006, on the eve of its 300th anniversary, another reconstruction began in the temple. The last reconstruction of the Church of the Savior Image Not Made by Hands was carried out in 2010.
