Description of the attraction
At the very end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th centuries, the village of Rozhdestvenskoye was located on the banks of the famous Sheksna River. Not far from the river crossing, the church of St. Nicholas was erected, which was considered the patron saint of all travelers; the second chapel of the temple was the chapel of the Holy Trinity of the Life-Giving. The temple was built of wood. After a while, it became badly dilapidated, and then they decided to completely disassemble it. On the former site of the wooden church in the name of St. Nicholas, the construction of a new stone church began with the money collected from numerous local parishioners, as well as with the donations of the landowner Nikolai Diomidovich Panfilov.
In 1789, a new church was consecrated in honor of the Nativity of Christ. The beautiful snow-white temple had one chapter; it included a bell tower, unusually crowned with a spire, and a refectory room. The construction of the temple was carried out in the classical style; in appearance, it resembles a ship standing on the banks of the Sheksna River. In the distant past, a huge cemetery was located around the perimeter of the entire church. Since the 18th century, by order of Empress Catherine, the burial of the inhabitants of Cherepovets was carried out on the churchyard.
After the revolution took place, all land plots of the Church of the Nativity of Christ were nationalized, and in 1919 there was a complete confiscation of all church property, represented by precious metals. In 1930, the congregations drew up resolutions: "The City Council should pay attention to the complete closure of all churches, especially at Christmas." Thus, on April 14, 1931, the Church of the Nativity of Christ was closed. At the same time, the fence was dismantled, two bell tiers were broken, the decor of the facades was completely cut down, and all cast-iron crosses were removed from the nearby cemetery "for the needs of the industrial sector".
During the years of Soviet power, the building served as a club, a canteen, a garage, a driving school, a warehouse and a timber trade base. In 1989, a fire broke out in the building, and by the early 1990s, the church was a huge burnt ruin.
The project concerning the reconstruction of the temple was carried out on the basis of archival and historical materials, as well as preserved photographs provided by the Cherepovets Museum. The funds for the restoration of the temple were collected literally by the whole world, but suddenly there was a significant collapse of the ruble. In this situation, entrepreneurs from Cherepovets helped. Restoration work began in 1992 with the blessing of His Eminence Mikhail Mudyugin, Archbishop of Veliky Ustyug and Vologda. The construction of the temple was carried out by the joint-stock company "Sheksna" of the city of Moscow. Initially, there was an idea that the new temple should be erected on the old foundation, which went down almost six meters deep, although a huge number of microcracks were found on it - for this reason, it became necessary to completely demolish it and take it out. The final work on the construction of the temple was carried out by JSC Severstal. Design fixes were developed by Severstal engineers under the leadership of A. I Samus. The chief engineer was V. Koryakovsky, an employee of this department.
In the crypt, under the altar, a second altar was set up in honor of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, in which there was a large baptistery made of marble. The covering of the domes is decorated with red copper, which was purchased with the funds of the mayor's office. On September 22, 1995, the dome of the temple bell tower was erected, and on July 22, 1996, the raising of the crosses took place. The largest bell for the Church of the Nativity of Christ was cast in the city of Voronezh at the expense of Yu. V. Lipukhin, Director General of Severstal. the temple iconostasis was made by experienced craftsmen of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra according to the standard classical scheme. In the temple there are particles of the relics of the saints: Euphrosynus of Sinozersky, Panteleimon, Macarius, Anatoly, Joseph, Nektarios, Anthony. The consecration of the Church of the Nativity of Christ took place on July 18, 1997.
