Description of the attraction
The Orthodox Repninskaya chapel was built in the Vilnius suburb of Zakrete in 1797. In the 18th century, people who died from epidemic diseases were buried here. The wife of Field Marshal Prince N. V. Repnin, the first governor-general of Vilnius, Princess Natalia Aleksandrovna Repnina, nee Kurakina, was also buried here. The chapel was erected in memory of her, at the place of her burial.
The building was built in the neoclassical style, under the direction and design of architects Pietro Rossi and Karl Schildhaus. It is not known for certain whether the project of the chapel was their joint creation, or whether its author is only one of them, namely Karl Schildhaus, who later was engaged in the project of the restoration of the chapel.
In 1809, the chapel was restored. A one and a half meter fence was built around it. Prince Repnin bequeathed 2,500 rubles to the Holy Spirit Monastery, which was in charge of the chapel. The money was intended for the maintenance of the church and for the performance of memorial services for the deceased members of the Repnin family. To decorate the chapel, Francis Smuglevich, a famous artist, founder of the Lithuanian school of painting, was involved. He is famous for his 1785 watercolor cycle - "Architectural Views of Old Vilnius" and wonderful frescoes on biblical subjects that adorn the interior and ceilings of the Vilnius University library to this day. Unfortunately, the icon of the Resurrection of Christ, which he painted for the chapel, was stolen in 1812, during the French occupation.
In 1817 the chapel was renovated again. In 1847, an iron cross weighing 1 pound was erected on the chapel, cast specifically for this purpose. At the beginning of the 20th century, in order to reduce the pressure on the chapel and, at the same time, improve the acoustics of the room, four voices were installed in the dome of the chapel.
After the First World War, a cemetery was formed near the chapel. Russian, Hungarian, German, Austrian, Turkish, and Polish soldiers were buried on it. After World War II, Jewish graves also appeared in the cemetery near the chapel. All these burials at the cemetery of the Repninskaya chapel from the Vingis city park continue to be kept in proper order.
The chapel is a neoclassical stone structure. It is a square structure, with a gable, symmetrical, tiled roof, on which an openwork four-pointed cross is erected. The façades from the west and east are decorated with triangular pediments and white-painted semi-columns that imitate Tuscan porticoes. The walls of the building are plastered and painted in pastel peach color. The corners of the southern and northern facades are decorated with paired pilasters.
The front door of the chapel is framed by a rectangular opening with a white border, like the columns. On both sides of the door are arched windows with white edging. The interior of the chapel is modest, kept in the same style as the structure as a whole. In the very center of the chapel there is a coffin-shaped crypt with the ashes of Princess Repnina. On the right side of the entrance there is a grave, a cast-iron slab of which indicates that Colonel Pavel Gavrilovich Bibikov was buried there, heroically killed in 1812 in the battles for Vilna. Opposite the entrance, on the far wall of the chapel, there is an icon of the Savior.
The chapel, as it should be for structures of this kind, is located in a quiet, calm place. Around the chapel there is a park with large, old trees. It seems that the chapel protects the peace and solitude of all souls who have found their last refuge near it.
The historical monument "Repninskaya chapel" is protected by the state. Access to the chapel is currently closed.
