Description of the attraction
The famous Church of the Myrrh-Bearing Women is considered a wonderful architectural monument of Veliky Ustyug, which will forever remain in the memory of the people who saw it. Small domes and white walls give the church a unique look of modest grace, albeit discreet, but especially refined. Inside the outstanding temple is the Museum of New Year and Christmas Toys, because it is the city of Veliky Ustyug that is the patrimony of Father Frost.
The history of the Church of the Myrrhbearers has developed very interestingly. Its foundation was laid in the 16th century, it was then in 1566 that the so-called "summer" wooden church was founded, located on the site of the future stone church. The church acquired its modern appearance when the current stone church was built, namely in the first half of the 18th century. The name of a certain benefactor has come down to us, who allocated funds for the construction of the church - it was the local merchant Petr Rodionovich Khudyakov, a parishioner of the wooden church, who decided in this way to remain in the memory of his descendants and God for his kind and generous deed. The beginning of the construction of the temple was laid in 1710, as the inscription made on the western wall of the temple tells about. On July 12, 1724, a significant event took place - the consecration of the temple. The local parishioners were especially amazed by the iconostasis, which looked especially rich. In addition to the traditional images of the Mother of God and the Savior, images and icons of 46 Pechora saints were also presented in the iconostasis. In addition, the refectory iconostasis depicts the images of the Almighty with John the Baptist, as well as the image of Nicholas the Wonderworker and the face of the Holy Martyr Harlampy.
Historians have conducted research and found that the temple was especially rich. A list was found in which a list of liturgical utensils was presented, among which there were many silver and gold objects, as well as holy relics, especially valued in matters relating to the status of a particular church. Among them, one can note a pectoral cross with particles of the relics of twelve saints: Archdeacon Stephen, Apostle Andrew the First-Called, Basil the Great, Martyr Panteleimon, Theodore Stratilates, Martyr Lucian, Martyr Mercury and others.
The architecture of the Temple of the Myrrhbearers is unique. The temple building has two floors. "Podklet" - the first floor, which is decorated in a modest usual style, without any decorations and frills, because its purpose is only in terms of household facilities. The upper second floor is very richly decorated. An important feature of the architecture of Veliky Ustyug is the decorative decoration of the Church of the Myrrhbearers, embodied in the Baroque style. It is this feature that distinguishes the temple from other, even more ancient, strict churches.
If you look closely at the building of the church, then every time you can find more and more characteristic features and nuances. In all the beauty of the church building, one can clearly see the incredible desire of the Ustyug painters and craftsmen to create something that could be one of the best examples of that time. As already mentioned, the Baroque style was especially popular at that time, which is why the masters decided to apply it to the temple. You can be amazed for a long time by the pretentiousness and beauty of the combination of styles, mainly manifested in the porch of the temple. It has four pillars with sophisticated arches that are connected with baroque details. Not only the porch, but also the annex is decorated with tiles. You can see that the influence of the Baroque style is also visible in the window frames.
The work of the temple continued until February 1930. The closure of the temple took place due to the global struggle against religion - this fate befell many "brother temples". Today, services are not held in the temple, but the Church of the Myrrh-Bearing Women is not considered closed. The temple building perfectly houses the Museum of New Year and Christmas Toys, which began its work in 1998. The museum contains an unprecedented number of various Christmas tree decorations, stunning in their beauty and brightness.
