Description of the attraction
The church, named after the Iberian Icon of the Mother of God, is an Orthodox parish church in Palanga. This is the only building in the entire city that was built according to the canons of Russian Orthodoxy, as well as the only temple built in Lithuania over the past 60 years. The abbot of the temple is hegumen Alexy.
The history of the Iberian Church began in Palanga, when in 1995 an independent Orthodox parish was formed. The premises in the converted foyer of the Russian secondary school were used for the implementation of the services. At that time, the parish priest was Hieromonk Alexy. The worshipers of the parish could only dream of their own prayer house.
In 1999, the Palanga Municipality would have allocated a free land plot of 2263 sq. meters for the construction of a new church. The architect of the temple was Dmitry Borunov from the city of Penza, who at one time created a project for the Church of the Intercession of St. Nicholas, built earlier in the city of Klapeida. In February 2000, the groundbreaking ceremony was held. The construction of the church was completed on December 28, 2001.
When building a church in the name of the Iberian Icon of the Mother of God, for the first time in Lithuania, advanced modern technologies were used. The temple was equipped and built with the funds allocated by the entrepreneur Alexander Popov. In addition, some part of the interior was equipped by order of Popov in Thessaloniki, and the other part - in Sofrino. Bells for the church were cast in Yaroslavl. The church complex fits perfectly into the seaside landscape, attracting the attention of numerous guests of Palanga.
Lighting of the built church took place in 2002. The ceremony was attended by a member of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Russian Church of Kolomna and Krutitsky Juvenalia, as well as the head of the Lithuanian diocese, Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Lithuania and Vilna.
The temple architecture, executed with a cross-domed plan, follows the laws of Orthodox architecture, which expresses the true Orthodox symbolism. The outline of the entire temple resembles a "ship of salvation", and the tiers rising up reflect the images of a "staircase" that leads directly to the sky. The main building of the complex stretches in height a narrow drum, which is successfully crowned with a dome, traditional for Orthodoxy, resembling an onion in shape.
The elongated proportions of the church, the multi-tiered composition of architecture, the outlines of the roofs that have triangular shapes, the entire volume of the bell tower with a spire-like hipped roof especially resemble Gothic architecture. It is this variety of architecture that helps the temple complex to blend harmoniously with the Palanga cityscape.
The temple complex is a choir, a vestibule and a bell tower. The interior decoration is covered with murals that were made by Russian monumentalists specializing in painting church walls. The interior of the church is hierarchically divided into three levels. The first level is a dome space and a dome dedicated to Jesus Christ, the Most Holy Theotokos, the apostles and angels. On the next level (on the north and south walls) scenes from the Gospel are depicted. On the third level, represented by spans of arches, pillars and a choir, images of saints are depicted, which are presented both separately and half-figured in medallions. In all of Lithuania, such a complete program of painting the Orthodoxy church in modern times is available only in the Iberian Church.
The church house of Palanga provides everything that is necessary for the diverse life of the community. In the refectory room, birthday people are congratulated, Easter, Christmas and other holidays are held. Theological conversations with adults and young people are held in the library, which is constantly expanding the book assortment of spiritual literature.
In the Palanga temple, which has become so popular in the region, many couples from Klapeida, as well as other cities and towns, get married, because the decoration of the Iberian temple and its internal atmosphere, the mysterious bell ringing make the wedding event remain in the memory of the newlyweds for a long time.
