Description of the attraction
One of the most significant and famous churches in the city of Luga is the Catholic Church of St. Nicholas. This temple was built in 1904. It is located on the street. Uritskogo, 44, - in the very center of the city and stands out sharply from city buildings with its characteristic red color.
In the last years of the 19th century, the city of Luga became one of the largest railway junctions. It was recorded that at that time 460 Catholics lived here, most of them represented by immigrants from the provinces and Poles who worked on the railway in various specialties.
In 1895, a petition was submitted to the city's Ministry of the Interior for the erection of a small wooden chapel on a plot of land generously donated by a wealthy merchant named Bouillon. But the authorities were in no hurry with a positive answer, which is why the construction of the chapel began only in the spring of 1902.
Initially, the foundation was thoroughly prepared, and then it came to the chapel itself. Construction work was never completed and continued after the approval of a completely different project. The foundation was left, but instead of the chapel, a small temple was built, lined with red brick in a pseudo-Gothic style. The author who developed this project was the architect G. Dietrich. In the then popular Collection of Russian Architectural Art, the existing drawings of a new Catholic church were presented. In the summer of June 20, 1904, the consecration of the church in honor of St. Nicholas took place; the procession was led by Metropolitan George.
The Church of St. Nicholas in Luga is a rectangular building with a high roof; from the side of the entrance, the pediment is crowned with a miniature tower without a spire. In photographs of that time, it is noticeable that the tower was equipped with four pediments on all sides, but today there is only one, located on the side of the facade. A small spire was placed in the central part of the tower, and on both sides of the facade there were even smaller towers, beautifully crowned with spiers (now there are crosses here). The wedding of the pediment was carried out with a small tower on the side of the rear facade of the church building. The main facade of the temple stood out with the help of a vestibule with a large lancet portal of the main entrance. The existing side walls were divided by six massive windows located on each side. The main part of the temple building, on the back side, is adjoined by a low rectangular presbytery with beautiful sacristy.
At the beginning, the Church of St. Nicholas was a branch of the parish of St. Catherine; in 1910, due to the significant increase in parishioners, the temple was converted into a parish.
In 1937, the temple was closed, and its abbots were arrested. A few months later, the detainees were shot and buried in mass graves not far from Leningrad. In 1997, a memorial plaque was opened in memory of the victims, and a memorial cross was erected near the entrance to the temple. From 1941 to 1943, the Church of St. Nicholas was reopened. But soon after the liberation of the city, he again ceased to operate.
In the early 90s of the last century, a gradual restoration of the Catholic community in Russia began. Soon the temple was again handed over to the Church, and in 1996 it was consecrated again in the name of St. Nicholas.
