Description of the attraction
One of the oldest Orthodox churches in the city of Kostroma is the Church of the Evangelist and Saint Apostle John the Theologian, which belongs to the Galich and Kostroma dioceses. The temple is considered the true cultural heritage of the Russian Federation and belongs to the cultural sites.
The construction of the Church of St. John the Evangelist took place in 1687. Today it is located not far from the large Ipatiev Monastery, which is located on the street dedicated to the writer Yevgeny Osetrov in Ipatievskaya Sloboda.
The first wooden church was a small temple, built in 1562, but in 1680 it was completely destroyed by a devastating fire. The next year after the tragic event, namely in 1681, construction work began on the construction of a new church, for which the blessing of Patriarch Joachim was received. It is worth noting that the dimensions of the planned building of the church were much larger, therefore, not only the former, but also a nearby place was allocated for construction, where at one time there was a church in the name of Nicholas the Wonderworker, which burned down in 1680. The end of construction work came in 1687, and on December 11 of the same year, the newly built church was consecrated by Archimandrite Theodosius, the abbot of the Ipatiev Monastery.
From the point of view of the architectural component, the temple of the Evangelist and Saint Apostle John the Theologian is of great interest. Looking at the temple, you can immediately determine that it is made in the Baroque style with some elements of traditional classicism. The wedding of the temple was carried out with the help of five chapters. On the western side, the refectory room adjoins the main building of the temple, to which, in turn, the hipped-roof bell tower belongs. In appearance, the temple is very similar to the Trinity Cathedral, which operates at the Ipatiev Monastery and is located nearby. For example, at the Church of St. John the Evangelist, the chapters are somewhat flattened, which is very similar to the domes of the Trinity Cathedral.
One of the main attractions of the Church of St. John the Theologian is the murals that adorn the interior and occupy most of its space. The painting of the temple was carried out by local residents from the Ipatievskaya Sloboda; it is important that all the names of the artists are written in a list on the stamp, which has survived to this day on the north wall.
In the 18th century, the temple was rebuilt, while two side-chapels were built, one of which was consecrated in honor of Nicholas the Wonderworker, and the second - in the name of Theodorovskaya icon of the Mother of God. A stone fence was built along the perimeter of the temple, which runs along the church cemetery. In 1811, three gates were erected.
In the first years of the 20th century, the Church of St. John the Evangelist was somewhat rebuilt again: two former side-altars were dismantled and a new refectory room with several new side-altars was made in their place. During the construction work, the chief manager was engineer I. V. Bruchanov. The completion of the work took place in 1903.
For a long period of time, up to 1949, divine services were constantly performed in the temple. In mid-1949, the church of St. John the Evangelist was closed. Soon, restoration and construction work began to be carried out in the building of the temple, which was carried out by a specialized Kostroma scientific restoration large industrial workshop; the completion of all work took place at the end of 1960.
After some time, an exposition related to the Kostroma Architectural and Historical Museum appeared in the temple. Throughout the 1970s, under the leadership of the architect K. G. All the gates and fences were restored in Toropa. Later, when the Kostroma Museum in the Ipatiev Monastery was located on most of its territory, the community at the Ipatiev Monastery conducted its work in the Church of the Evangelist and Apostle John the Theologian.
To date, since 2005, the church is wholly owned by the Galich and Kostroma dioceses. The church still has two side-chapels: Fedorovsky and Nikolsky. The temple is in good condition, but small renovations are planned soon.
