Description of the attraction
In the objects of Pskov architecture of the 17th century, the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker occupies an important place due to the unique combination of local traditions that have developed over the centuries, carrying new construction techniques and unusual forms. The church is located on a high hill of the Truvorov settlement and can be seen from afar in the vast area of the Izborsk depression.
Very little information has come down to us about the origin and history of the St. Nicholas Church. The exact time of the erection of the temple has not been established, which is also not reflected in the chronicle sources. There is no information about the architect who built the St. Nicholas Church. It is believed that the temple was built in the 17th century on an even more ancient basis; most likely, it was a wooden church, which played a very significant role in the life of the city of Izborsk in the 12-13th centuries.
The estimated date is based on a detailed analysis of all architectural forms. According to some materials on the site of the modern church there was a monastery, the date of foundation of which is unknown. The first description of the Nikolsky temple dates back to 1682, when it was already made of stone.
The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is a very small, one-apse, one-domed and pillarless church, slightly elongated towards the east. The temple was laid out of a limestone slab, which was plastered and whitewashed. Church floors are made of stone. The interior has not survived to our time.
The foundation of the church is a high quadrangle, covered and closed with an iron hipped roof, which has a small deaf drum and a cupola in the form of a large iron cross and a bell. The decorative drum is equipped with false windows and profiled cornices. On both sides, the main quadrangle is adjoined by a pair of volumes of various sizes, although equal in height: a slightly lowered apse half-cylinder adjoins from the east side, and from the west part there is a slightly oblong refectory room with a vestibule. The overlap of the refectory is formed with a cylindrical vault equipped with stripping over the window openings. In addition, the refectory has a spacious porch overlooking the northern facade, covered with an iron gable roof. Above it there is a two-tier belfry, and its first tier has rounded pillars, and the second is made as a single-span belfry with the end in the form of a pediment. Directly under the belfry there is an open vaulted porch with steps.
It is the elevated quadrangle equipped with a slender drum, as well as the high belfry that play the main role in creating the volumetric-spatial composition of the church, imparting an unusual kind of verticality and upward aspiration.
It is impossible not to pay attention to the slight similarity of this kind of composition with the structure of Moscow churches of the 17th century, which have an elongated volume of refectory rooms, above the entrance to which a vertical array of a bell tower is crowned. But nevertheless, the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker retains its inherent features of the traditional Pskov temple architecture, because everything in it is done logically, constructively and simply, which makes the look monolithic and integral.
The decoration of the facades is very simple and straightforward. The facade on the north side faces the hollow, villages and villages and is listed as the main one, which is why it is decorated a little more than all the other facades. The wall of the quadrangle located on the north side has medium-sized rectangular and upwardly elongated niches, which is especially characteristic of the medieval temples of the city of Pskov. Three crosses, made of stone, are located on the sides and under the second light, just above the vertical niches, which are painted black and decorated with stucco frames. The northern facade of the church building is also decorated with crosses.
The Nikolskaya belfry, which plays a decisive role in the formation of the entire appearance of the temple, as well as its artistic appearance, especially attracts the eye. The church cannot be imagined without a plastic belfry, just as it is impossible to imagine Truvorovo settlement without the St. Nicholas Church, which is reflected in a bright and bright spot against the background of the surrounding nature.
