Description of the attraction
The temple in honor of the holy great martyr Paraskeva Pyatnitsa is located in the very center of Kazan, near the Kremlin. In 1566, at the very beginning of B. Krasnaya Street, a wooden church of St. Nicholas Zaraisky with the side-altar of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa was built. The wooden church burned down in a fire in 1579. In the form in which the temple exists now, it was founded in 1726. The construction was completed in 1728. Then the temple was consecrated. The construction of the temple was financed by the rich Kazan merchant I. A. Mikhlyaev.
The temple was built in the Russian Baroque style. The shape of the temple is a traditional octagon on a four. The height of the temple is 22 meters. The people called the temple Pyatnitsky in honor of the miraculous image of St. Paraskeva Pyatnitsa located in the temple. During the celebration of the memory of Paraskeva on November 10, pilgrims flocked to the temple. An ancient cross with particles of holy relics was kept in the chapel of the Epiphany. The right side-altar has not survived to this day. Throughout its history, the temple completely burned out several times. Only the walls remained. The temple has been remodeled many times.
In 1923, the temple was made like a museum. Shrines from destroyed and closed churches and monasteries were brought into it. In 1937, the temple was turned into a prison. Those who were sentenced to death were shot in it. Those who were shot were buried right inside the church and near it. In the 1950s, the temple was abandoned, the bell tower collapsed. A new story began in 1993, when the temple was handed over to the Ministry of Culture. Reconstruction work began. The ministry's plans were to create a museum of icons. In 1996, the church was transferred to the Kazan diocese.
During the restoration work, it was discovered that the entire territory of the temple was a cemetery. The human remains were carefully collected and buried. A marble cross was erected on a mass grave in the courtyard of the temple. In 2004, a tomb was built on this place, in which the remains of those killed are buried. The four-tiered iconostasis, with the blessing of the Archbishop of Kazan, was painted red in honor of the martyrs. The destroyed bell tower was restored in 2000.
Since 2004, a Sunday school has been operating at the church. In 2010, the parish library was opened.
