Description of the attraction
The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was erected in 1916 for the sanatorium of the Russian Imperial Navy, where officers and lower ranks were treated for tuberculosis. The author of the project was the architect V. N. Maksimov, who is the author of a number of buildings in Tsarskoe Selo. A plot of land in Lower Massandra was allocated for the construction of the temple.
After the sanatorium was built, it came under the patronage of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. The sanatorium was named after Emperor Alexander III, and all buildings of the health resort were named after the children of the royal family. The sanatorium was built in simple, modest forms, and therefore the empress decided that the sanatorium temple should be made more elegant and expressive.
In 1914, the first building of the naval department's sanatorium in honor of Grand Duchess Olga was consecrated in Nizhnyaya Massandra. The ceremony was attended by Emperor Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna. In the summer of 1916, construction began on a temple in the Old Russian style, designed by the architect V. Maksimov. In December of the same year, a small church was consecrated in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Due to the steepness of the relief, the building of the temple was located on an artificial terrace. Since it was a sanatorium church, a warm porch was made in it, and a dead room was equipped in the crypt. The Empress wanted the temple to be made in the style of ancient Russian churches inside too. To do this, she invited the most prominent specialists, among them was the famous restorer and artist-jeweler F. Ya. Mishukov. For the temple, only ancient icons were purchased, no later than the 17th century.
In the 1939s. Nikolskaya church was closed and used for economic purposes. The restoration of the temple began in the 90s, it was repaired, and a cross was installed on the dome. In 1992, the temple was re-consecrated in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and the Martyr Tsarina Alexandra. Its parishioners were people who were being treated here. In 2002, the cave temple-crypt was consecrated in honor of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.
