Description of the attraction
The Church of St. Alexander Nevsky is located on the right bank of the Vologda River, not far from the Cathedral of the Resurrection Cathedral, southeast of the Bishops' House. Previously, the church was named in honor of Nicholas the Wonderworker, but in 1869 it was renamed the Church of the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky. The place for the construction of the temple was very well chosen - the temple perfectly complements the cathedral panorama from the side of the Vologda River. The territorial zone in which the church is located, in earlier times was called the "Famous Mountain" and was a lime mound.
According to some ancient legend, the foundation of the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky was laid in 1554. According to legend, it was in this year that the icon of St. Nicholas the Great Worker of Velikaya River was transported from the Vyatka region to Vologda. In honor of this event, a wooden church was built in Vologda in honor of the Holy Benefactor, in which in 1555 the holy icon was installed by the tsar's order. In addition, it is known that the original temple site of the church was located opposite the pre-existing Ilyinsky monastery for men. By the beginning of the 17th century, with the blessing of the bishop, the Nicholas Church was moved to its present place, closer to the Bishops' court and the Cathedral. In September 1612, a Polish-Lithuanian attack on the Vologda lands took place, and the image of Nicholas the Wonderworking was hidden in a lime mound, which preserved the holy icon.
In 1698, a fire broke out in the church, which affected the city embankment from the Ascension Church to the St. Sophia Cathedral. Already at the beginning of the 18th century, a stone cathedral was built on the site of the former church, which was a one-domed, one-story church with a bell tower. The main building served for the needs of the cold church, in which there was a throne, consecrated in the name of the Image of the Lord Not Made by Hands. On the west side, the second section in the form of a warm church with thrones adjoined the main part of the church: on the right - in honor of St. Nicholas the Pleasant, and on the left - in honor of St. Cyril Novoyezersky. Already in 1781, the parish consisted of 46 courtyards.
In 1806, the Church of St. Nicholas became non-parish, and soon it was assigned to the cathedral in Vologda. The holy image of Nicholas Velikoretsky was transferred to the meal of the Resurrection Cathedral, after which services in the Nikolskaya Church were performed only on holidays. In the 60s of the 19th century, with the help of the Vologda residents, the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was rebuilt, and in 1869 it was rededicated in honor of the Holy Blessed Alexander Nevsky.
Since the 1920s, the temple was closed, after which it began its work only in 1997, when the church building was transferred to the Orthodox community. Father Andrey Pylev was appointed the rector of the church, under whose leadership the community carried out large-scale renovations. They were faced with a difficult task, because the walls were made of bare brick, and there were no floors at all. It took three years to complete the proper work.
In the summer of 1997, during the restoration work, prayers began to be held. On November 20, on the feast day of St. Cyril of Novoyezersk, the first liturgy was held in the new, reviving church. Already on December 6, during the celebration of the temple feast, the throne of the church was consecrated. It was from this time that the services became regular.
Today the temple of Alexander Nevsky is perfectly preserved, and a new iconostasis was made in it. All the icons were painted by the famous Vologda icon painter A. Zubov, and the previously existing chapel of St. Cyril of Novoyezersky was also subject to restoration. In addition, a Sunday school has been organized at the church, a group from a cadet class, located in one of the city schools, comes to classes. In addition, the parish supports the orphan children of their children's homes. On holidays, children are visited, given gifts, invited to Easter performances and Christmas trees. With the participation of Olga Pyleva, a youth theater studio operates at the church, where performances are staged on themes from the gospel stories.
