Description of the attraction
One of the first stone buildings erected in the city of Pavlovsk is the Orthodox Church of St. Mary Magdalene, belonging to the St. Petersburg diocese, built with money allocated by Empress Maria Feodorovna.
The laying of the first stone of the church took place in 1781 in the presence of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich. The author of the building project is the architect Giacomo Quarenghi. The consecration of the temple took place in September 1784.
In 1797, Empress Maria Feodorovna founded an almshouse in the wings of the church. According to archival data, in 1811, 5 widows, 15 old people, 1 disabled person lived in the almshouse. Later, children were sent to the poorhouse. In 1809, over the outbuildings, premises were built for a hospital (it worked until 1922) and a pharmacy, from which medicines were given free of charge. Hospital doctors were required to treat the poor residents of the city. In 1914, the hospital was replenished with an infirmary for 30 people.
The temple has long been a court church. In 1861, by personal order of Emperor Alexander II, she was assigned to the court department. Initially, money was allocated by the palace department for the maintenance of the church and clergy, and when the population of Pavlovsk increased, the church was kept on the money of the parishioners.
In 1932, the church was closed. Until the outbreak of World War II, the building housed a shoe factory. During the years of occupation, workshops worked here. In the post-war years, the former church housed the Tochmeh factory, and later the Metal Toy factory. The building housed production equipment, which caused serious damage to the structure. The church building was taken under state protection in 1960. In 1995 it was included in the register of architectural monuments.
The return of the church to the believers took place in 1995. However, services did not go here, since the building was in disrepair. The renovation was carried out from 1999 to 2000. In 2002, an iconostasis was installed in the church.
The church building is 21 meters long and over 10 meters wide. The church building is rectangular in plan, has two floors with an elongated facade. The central cubic part is higher than the lateral ones and is crowned with a bell tower. The facades have 6 windows each. The bell tower is semicircular with 4 arched spans. Between them there are 2 columns with capitals. The top of the bell tower is a low dome. Above the central part of the church building, the roof is 4-pitched, above the side parts - 3-pitched. The walls of the building are plastered and painted in a dull yellow color, while the bell tower, columns and cornices are white.
Next to the right choir was the image of St. Nicholas, on the left - the icon "Joy of All Who Sorrow". The painting of the walls was done by the artist Danilov. The church utensils contained a chandelier carved from ivory - a gift from Empress Maria Feodorovna. There were also military relics in the church: French naval standards captured by Russian sailors in 1798-99, banners captured in Holland in 1799, the banner of the Turin Guard, captured by troops under the command of A. Suvorov in 1799.
In the church of St. Mary Magdalene there are cenotaph monuments to Prince A. Burakin (to the right of the entrance - a pyramid with a medallion), to the mentor of Paul I, Count N. Panin (to the left of the entrance, to a pyramid with a bas-relief), to the tutor of Alexander I N. Zagryazhsky (a mausoleum made of white marble with a bas-relief - a crying woman), the author of which is I. Martos. In 1955, this tombstone was transferred to the exposition of the Pavlovsk Palace.
The rector of the Pavlovsk Church of Mary Magdalene from June 1999 to the present is Archpriest Daniel Ioannovich Ranne.
