Description of the attraction
The Church of the Exaltation of the Cross is one of the cult sights of Tobolsk. It is located in the south-west of the city, not far from the banks of the Irtysh.
The merchants brothers Medvedev poured a hill on the banks of Pokrovka to build their own house, but they decided to donate this land for the construction of a temple. The construction of the stone church began in 1754 at the expense of local parishioners. In September 1761, the lower warm church was consecrated in the name of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, and in September 1771 - the upper cold one in honor of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Due to a lack of funds, the bell tower was originally wooden and only in 1784 was the construction of a stone bell tower completed. In 1789, the upper church was decorated with alabaster images and paintings. In 1790, a two-storey vestibule with a large and elegant staircase was built here.
At the request of the parishioners, in October 1790, construction began on the northern side-chapel in honor of the Monk Simeon the Divnogorets the Stylite and his mother, the Monk Martha. The chapel was consecrated in May 1798.
Four neighboring villages on the left bank and the chapel of St. Alexander Nevsky belonged to the parish of the Holy Cross Church.
In April 1887, a one-class mixed literacy school began to operate, which in 1888 was renamed a parish school, and then a two-class one. In 1899 and 1905, two one-story wooden houses for the clergy were erected.
Like most churches in the city of Tobolsk, by the end of 1930 the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross was closed, and church property and valuables were confiscated. Until 1961, the temple was used only for household needs. Then it became part of the Tobolsk Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve. Since the 1990s. the crumbling Cross Exaltation Church was in an ownerless state. And only in 2013, restoration work began here.
