Description of the attraction
The Church of St. George the Victorious in Staraya Russa is a very ancient monument dating back to the early 15th century. The temple was originally erected in 1410 by Archimandrite Varlaam with the blessing of Archbishop John II of Veliky Novgorod. The church was built with one dome and was a four-pillar temple with only one small side-altar, consecrated in honor of the Annunciation.
The ancient city of Staraya Russa was mentioned in 1625 in chronicles; at this time, the church was still intact, despite the devastation of the cities by Lithuanian and Swedish troops from 1611 to 1617. From 1710 to 1740 St. George's Church fell into complete desolation, which is why in 1710 both church liturgies and services were stopped in it, which fully corresponds to the "Church-Historical Description of the Famous City of Staraya Russa" written in the 18th century by Archimandrite Macarius.
In 1740, the church in the name of St. George the Victorious was almost completely dismantled, leaving only the foundation of the church, on which a decision was made to build a new church. The new temple became much more spacious and roomy than the previous one, and was also distinguished by huge windows and richly executed platbands with small window niches. It was decided to paint the walls of the temple with cream paint, and all decorative elements, as well as stucco molding, in red.
In 1782, the church was significantly rebuilt and expanded due to the work with the chapel in honor of the Annunciation, while the narthex was built. During the indicated time, there was no painting on the church walls, and there were only a large number of images that were located not only on the walls, but also on the pillars of the temple; moreover, the icons were also located on the iconostasis.
In his works, Archimandrite Macarius clearly notes that during 1842 the iconostasis in the St. George Church was altered. The largest number of historians are inclined to believe that under the phrase "altered iconostasis" Macarius understood the erection of a new structure inherent in the iconostasis, which, subsequently, was beautifully decorated with decorative carvings and gilding. In those days, restoration work was carried out concerning a small restoration of old, so-called "Greek" icons.
The new church bell tower was built in 1884, was traditionally "Russian" and looked delightful, which was noted by Mikhail Polyansky in his own essay. It was decided to erect a bell tower on the site of the old belfry, which was completely destroyed during the war of 1812.
It was 1905 that became decisive for the Church of St. George, because during this year the temple underwent a complete restructuring and renovation. It is known that in 1910 in the church floors made in the form of a mosaic, as well as wall paintings, made strictly according to the sketches of the unique paintings by V. Vasnetsov, taken from the Vladimir Cathedral in Kiev, already appeared in the temple. There is an opinion that the St. George Church was painted by the hands of Palekh masters, which does not contradict the opinion of historians.
Unfortunately, none of the unique paintings has survived to this day, only on the church dome there are remnants of the mentioned "Vasnetsov style"; the rest, not preserved paintings, were copied more than once.
An unusual fact is associated with the Church of St. George the Victorious, because it is the only Orthodox church in the whole of Staraya Russa, which was operating at a time when all other churches were either closed, or adapted for vegetable storage, or simply mercilessly destroyed. The only time the temple did not work was in 1939, when it was closed “at the request of the workers”; also the temple did not work during the war.
In 1957, literally brick by brick, the church bell tower was dismantled, the height of which was 35 meters. To date, major repairs have been made in the church, the domes and iconostases have been restored, and the construction of a new bell tower has been completed.
