Description of the attraction
The temple of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God is located in the village of Vyritsa, Gatchina region. Its solemn laying took place on July 14, 1913, (according to the old style), on July 6, 1914, Bishop Benjamin of Gdov consecrated the temple.
The creation of a church in these places is due to the fact that in 1910 near the Vyritsa station a summer cottage settlement "Knyazheskaya Valley" was organized, the owner of which was Prince GF Wittgenstein. A summer cottage with an amazing pine forest and beautiful Devonian soils was quickly built up and populated. The new village needed a temple. In August 1912, a general meeting of residents on the organization of the church was held in the village. At the meeting, it was decided to time the construction of the church to the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. A subscription was started for the purchase of a land plot, which was allocated for construction by Prince Wittgenstein. To buy a plot for construction, an owner was needed who could purchase it at the public cost. There was no such person among the summer residents. Then it was decided to create a Brotherhood in honor of the icon of the Kazan Mother of God, the charter of which was approved in 1912 by the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg Vladimir.
The Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, consecrated at the very beginning of the First World War, in Vyritsa went through all the hardships and trials that befell the Russian Orthodox Church. Here in 1929, after the closure of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Father Seraphim, the Lavra's confessor, moved. Prayers about. Seraphim helped the church to survive in difficult times and supported the believers. On the eve of the Soviet-Finnish war in 1938, the church was closed. The company "OSOAVIAKHIM" is located in its premises. Fortunately, church decorations, icons, and other church utensils were saved by the ministers and parishioners. They also managed to save the iconostasis, which was made in 1898 by the firm of the Brusnitsyn brothers.
During the Great Patriotic War, Vyritsa was occupied by the Germans. Vyritsa was not a significant strategic target and was the rear for the Germans. It housed a regiment consisting of Romanian soldiers of the majority of the Orthodox faith. Taking advantage of this, the efforts of the priests of the Orthodox Church who remained in the occupied territory, local residents received permission from the German command to open a church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in Vyritsa. The temple was opened at the beginning of the war. It did not close even after the end of the war.
During the reign of N. S. Khrushchev again there was a threat of closing the temple in Vyritsa. The KGB commissioner for the Gatchina region ordered the closure of the church. Residents of the village and parishioners stood up to defend their church: they made a petition not to close the church in the village. The believers went with this document to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in Moscow. They managed to achieve the cancellation of the decision to close the church in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in Vyritsa.
Today, the temple contains photographs of all those who were engaged in a godly deed in those years. Among them: Orlov I., Cherny F., Rusakov I. Everything that concerns the history of the church is carefully preserved in it. The names of all the priests who served here are known. The list is opened by the first rector of the church, archpriest Fr. Porfiry Desnitsky. Also on this list is Archpriest Father Nikolai Fomichev, who later became Archbishop Nikon of Perm. In honor of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the church, a stand was organized here, which tells about the history and creators of the temple.
The current rector of the church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, Fr. Alexy with his wife and faithful assistant Matushka Lyudmila and all parishioners of the church constantly take care of their church. The temple has been restored, renovated and updated. There are many young people among the parishioners. Most of the choir is composed of young singers. This is clear evidence that, having gone through many sufferings, persecutions and calamities that befell her, the Russian Orthodox Church is being reborn like the Phoenix.
