Description of the attraction
The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is located in the Pskov region, namely in the Sebezhsky district, in a village called Zarodishche. Nikolskaya Church is an architectural monument dating back to the 17th century.
In the 15-17 centuries, a large number of settlements were formed on the territory of the modern Sebezh district, one of which was the Zarodishche. The Zarodische got its unusual name around the 18th century, and until that moment the village was called Annutovo in honor of the only daughter of a local nobleman by the name of Oginsky.
The temple was originally built and consecrated as the Church of St. Anne. The church stood until the end of the 19th century and was thoroughly renovated in 1811, and after repair and restoration work, it was rededicated into the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, which happened in 1870. This event happened due to the fact that in the surrounding lands the number of the Russian population increased sharply.
The most significant and significant changes that could radically disrupt the architectural component of the building were successfully avoided. On the church roof, a "fake" made of wood octagon was erected, on which there was a dome and an attached brick bell tower, made in an eclectic style. Under the temple, spacious cellars have survived to this day, in which there are crypts with bodies, some of which were ravaged in the 1920s.
During Soviet times, the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was not closed and was the only one in the Sebezh village, as well as in the Pustoshkinsky district. In those days, full-fledged services were performed in the temple. In 1998, the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker celebrated its 400th anniversary. It is worth noting that this church is the oldest surviving stone building located in the area.
Not far from the church, at the crossroads, at the entrance to the village in 2005, a veneration cross made of oak was erected, which became a tribute to the memory of the 60th anniversary of the Great Victory. The veneration cross was consecrated by Dean Peter Netreba, who was the abbot of the Nevelsk district.
Throughout 2008, restoration work was carried out to restore the church bell tower. With the money of benefactors, new bells were purchased, which were cast at a factory in the city of Kamensk-Uralsky. The newly built belfry consisted of five bells, the largest of which was a bell weighing 360 kg. The consecration of the belfry was carried out by His Eminence Eusebius - Metropolitan of Velikiye Luki and Pskov on November 6, 2008, when the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was celebrated.
On the right side of the temple are the graves of the abbots who previously worked here, and on the left side - the grave of the abbess of the Verbil Monastery - nun Iuvenalia; on the opposite side of the temple, on an old churchyard, there was a tomb, represented by a chapel built in the twentieth century, which was the only building erected in the Art Nouveau style.
In the building of the church there are especially revered icons, represented by images of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, who was brought from Athos, as well as the Venerable Euphrosyne of Polotsk.
