Description of the attraction
The Church of St. Nicholas on Podozerie was built on the site of a previously existing old wooden church at the end of 1745 at the expense of parishioners - this circumstance served as a new stage in the stone construction of the city of Rostov after a long ban. It is known that in 1744 Peter the Great issued a decree prohibiting stone construction outside St. Petersburg. For many years, there were wooden churches at this place, the first of which was built before Khan Edigei attacked the Russian lands.
The Church of St. Nicholas is made of stone, has one chapter, two thrones, one of which is consecrated in the name of St. Nicholas, and the second is in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” which is especially venerated together with the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Thanks to the preserved chronicle sources, the history of the temple in detail has come down to our time - thus, we know a lot not only about the construction process, but also about the repair and restoration work carried out in the temple.
At the end of 1744, one of the priests of the still wooden church named Andreev Peter, as well as Nikitin Gregory, the deacon, united with the parish people, decided to appeal to the Yaroslavl and Rostov Metropolitan Arseny with a request for permission to build a wooden stone church in honor of Nicholas the Wonderworker on the site. It was assumed that the church would have a side-altar, consecrated in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos; they wanted to give the old wooden church to the peasants from the village of Shugori, belonging to the Rostov district. The consecration of the newly built church took place in 1751; the consecration process was carried out by Metropolitan Arseny.
The temple was built of bricks, although the roof was made of wood. The church iconostasis is very beautiful, gilded and carved in shape, while it is made in the Baroque style. Today, there is an inventory dating back to 1853 and telling about the events of that time: the pre-altar iconostasis of St. Nicholas Cathedral was built according to the traditions of baroque fashion, namely in elegant taste. It was displayed on pedestals, which divided it into several tiers, equipped with grooved cornices and openwork carvings. The surface of the iconostasis is gilded with pure gold. In addition, the iconostasis is approved on an equal footing with the altar at a supporting wall.
Initially, there was not a single mural in the stone church, but after a while it took a lot of time and labor to carry out the murals according to the stipulated themes.
Over time, many changes were made to the interior design of the Nikolsky Church, about which there is relevant information. For example, in 1768, a dilapidated wooden roof was replaced by a roof made of tinned iron, which has survived to this day. It is also known that the old roof was replaced exclusively with the money of the parishioners.
At the end of 1832, a new porch was added to the Nikolsky Church. Three years later, a large-scale inventory of all church property was made, and a completely new iconostasis is also mentioned here. At the end of 1845, a high wooden fence was erected around the temple. In 1853, the wall paintings were re-finished.
In 1853, a new inventory was held, which stated that the designated church in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was cold; it has a warm side-altar, consecrated in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos - Joys of All Who Sorrow. The division was carried out into the altar part, the temple itself, the porch and the refectory room. The church is one-story, the roof is made with sheet iron and painted with copper paint. There is a large cross on the dome, made of iron and gilded with red gold over golfabra. There is an apple on the head, attached to the head through iron chains. In the refectory room - the roof covering is sheet and painted with copperhead. On the outside of the temple, the walls are whitewashed with lime, but without plaster.
In 1920, the church of Nikola was closed. In the 1930s, the head and the bell tower were dismantled, the fence and interior decoration were lost. Today the temple is active.
