Description of the attraction
The Church of St. and Wonderworker Nicholas from Usohi was built on the edge of the former large swamp in the city of Pskov, earlier this place was called "dried out". The building of a single-domed four-pillar stone church was erected in 1536 on the site of a former wooden church, built in 1371 and later destroyed by fire. An extension was made to the main building in 1865, where a throne was placed in the name of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian. There are three thrones in the church.
Since 1786, the Church of St. Basil the Great on Gorka and the Holy Righteous Joachim and Anna were assigned to the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. A chapel was added to the corner of the church, which received the name "Inextinguishable Candle" due to the fact that lamps and candles were constantly burning in front of the image of Nicholas the Wonderworker located in it. According to legend, in 1570, Tsar Ivan the Terrible was passing by the temple, at that time the bell rang, the king's horse was frightened of the ringing, and the Tsar ordered to cut off the big bell "ears". During the execution of the tsar's decree, blood poured from the "ears" of the bell.
Synchronously with the church, a belfry was erected on the wall on the north side. Later it was rebuilt into a bell tower, it had seven bells. The 17th century polyeleos bell weighed about 70 pounds, the weight of other bells remained unknown.
In the 17th century, the temple was in a very neglected state. The water washed away the upper parts of the church, moreover, they crumbled heavily, the vaults were overgrown with bushes. Renovations at the end of this century changed the appearance of the building. The windows were widened, the wooden floors of the gallery were replaced with vaults, the galleries were separated from the narthex by partitions, the chapel was made closed, and a low porch was added to the narthex on the west side. The building has lost its slenderness and grace, becoming overweight and stocky.
By the end of the 18th century, the Nikolskaya Church was even more "overgrown" with earth. During the next major repairs carried out in the 80s of the 18th century, the belfry was broken, and a bell tower and a new chapel were built on the southeast side of the temple, completely hiding the ancient one. The temple was finally deprived of its former proportionality. Giving the head a new shape, as well as painting it in white and yellow, further changed its appearance. The distortion of the appearance and restructuring of the 19th century continued, during which the southern vestibule, gallery and tent were dismantled, minor changes were introduced. The building itself was painted in a typical blue-gray color for that time. Later, in the 20th century, the iconostasis with ancient icons and the interior decoration of the temple were lost, and during the Great Patriotic War the temple suffered from artillery shells and burned.
In 1946-1974. work is underway to restore the temple. Architects B. S. Skobeltsyn, V. A. Lebedeva, Yu. P. Spegalsky returned the ancient forms to the temple. During the restoration work, the chapel of St. John the Theologian, as well as the late bell tower, were dismantled.
In 2005, in November, the church was transferred to the Pskov diocese. There was nothing left of the interior decoration in the temple. The services were started in sync with the restoration work.
The priests of the churches of Pskov rendered considerable help. The parishioners, with their own resources and resources, carried out repair work on the church, both inside and outside. The territory of the church was tidied up, lawns were laid out, flower beds were maintained, paths were laid and benches were installed for rest. One of the parishioners, with the blessing of the priest, inserted glass into the window frames. Later, he straightened the cross on the church, and he also performed other works.
