Description of the attraction
The temple, erected in honor of the Alexandrian archbishop Athanasius the Great, is one of the oldest temples in the city of Kerch, its location is on the slope of Mount Mithridates. At that time, many Orthodox Greeks lived in Kerch. Afanasy Stavrovich Marinaki left a will, according to which funds in the amount of 15,000 rubles were allocated, for which a church was erected near the city cemetery, consecrated in honor of his heavenly patron. And today his descendants sometimes visit this temple.
The city cemetery occupied the northern slope of Mithridates, it was surrounded by a stone fence, the tombstones were expensive, made of marble. The cemetery was carefully looked after, it was planted with various trees and lilac bushes. There was a monument to F. S. Thomasini and Archpriest John Cumpan. The highest place was occupied by the graves of teachers, where memorial services were performed every year in the presence of teachers and students of local gymnasiums. From a large archway, an alley led directly to the temple. Along the alley, not far from the church, were the graves of the participants in the Crimean War, where the hero of the defense of Sevastopol, Lieutenant General A. O. Sabashinsky. Today, on the site of this cemetery, there is a wasteland.
The facade of the church was decorated with a memorial plaque made of marble, on which a Greek inscription was engraved with basic information about the temple: the date of construction and consecration, the name of the donor and the name of the patron saint.
The cemetery church was closed in 1923 on October 31 due to the demolition of the cemetery, then it was reopened as a parish church and again closed in 1937 by the decision of local authorities. It was opened only during the German occupation for soldiers from Romania, and since then it has been operating continuously.
As a result of the fighting, the church building was damaged by shell fragments, after which it was restored. Now in the courtyard of the church there is a small garden, there are old graves, among which there are many nameless, there is a Sunday school gatehouse and a church shop. The inside of the temple is relatively small and can accommodate about 350 people. There are a lot of icons in the church, most of which are old icons brought by parishioners in the post-war period. Especially amazing are the mosaics of the Savior Not Made by Hands and the icon of the Mother of God of Byzantine writing. Among the modern shrines, beautiful and richly decorated icons of the Holy Wonderworker of the Crimean Luke with a particle of his relics and the Pochaev Mother of God are interesting.
