Description of the attraction
On the right bank of the Vorozha River there is one of the most beautiful churches in the city of Ustyuzhna - the famous Annunciation Church. Before the stone building of the temple was built, several churches were located on this site. The very first church, made of wood, was built with the money of the townspeople's parishioners - this event happened during the reign of Ivan IV on the throne. The hundredth tells that in 1567 the "Annunciation Monastery" appeared across the Vorozheya River. It was in it that the warm Church of the Annunciation was located with the side-altar of the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem and the refectory. As for other church buildings, they include a bell tower with four bells, several brotherly cells and a bread house. We can say that the number of monastics was small. Soon the monastery for inexplicable reasons became a nunnery, and by the end of the 16th century it was completely gone. The inventory of 1597 again mentions the Annunciation wooden church on the edge, located on the outskirts of the city, past which the ramparts passed, and the church could be entered through the Annunciation gate.
After the Assumption Shapochsky monastery was destroyed in 1612, the abbot of the Vassian monastery asked for a place in Ustyuzhna, to which the monastery could be moved. This given by the famous voivode Ivan Urusov, dating back to 1614, mentions that the monastery was moved to Zhelezopolskaya Street along with a bell tower, cells and a fence. The lands on the posad were assigned to the new monastery. The place to which the Annunciation Church was subsequently moved was previously completely empty, since in 1609, during the military siege of Ustyuzhna by Polish troops, the temple was almost completely dismantled due to the fact that it was very close to the nearby fortress wall and at any moment could break out from fire. All church property was transferred to the elective townspeople for safekeeping. The main voivode Ivan Urusov gave permission to take all the property of the church to Abbot Vassian for the needs of storage. The date when the little monks returned back to the Little Man has not been set until today. We can only say that the new, stone-built Church of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos was completed only in 1694 with the money of numerous parishioners and with the gratuitous donation of kind people. In addition to the main altar, consecrated in honor of the Annunciation in the cold part of the church, there were two more in the warm church: one in the name of St. Dmitry of Rostov and the second in the name of the Archangel Michael.
As for the architectural appearance of the Annunciation Church, it is a bit unusual. According to the plan, it is something like a "ship", and this is its symbolic meaning. The vault of the church has been brought together, and on it are placed five octahedral two-tier drums, which are solemnly crowned with crosses. The warm lower church is adjoined by a small bell tower of the "octagon on a quadruple" type, which stands on four pillars made of stone. Her tent carries a fairly traditional set of rumors in three tiers. Church window openings in the leading volume of the temple and the refectory room are framed with brick platbands and are crowned with gable sandriks. The entire temple is bordered by a cornice with a particularly intricate profile. During the restoration in 1978, the original multi-colored decoration of the church was completely restored.
The Church of the Annunciation operated until 1935. During 1936-1937, a flour warehouse was arranged in its premises. After that, the temple was occupied in turn: during 1940 - a warehouse for linen products, in 1944 - a room for storing berries and mushrooms, in 1945 - a warehouse for grain products. In 1958, the Annunciation Church was transferred to the disposal of the museum. Restoration work related to the external and internal decoration of the temple was carried out in the period of the 70s, although to this day the restoration of the Church of the Annunciation has not been completed due to an acute lack of funds.
