Description of the attraction
The Church of the Savior on the Sands, or the Transfiguration Church, was erected as the cathedral church of the Spaso-Pesotsky Princess of the Monastery.
The Spaso-Pesotsky Convent was founded in the 13th century by Princess Maria, the wife of the Rostov prince Vasilka. The princess herself was buried under the Spasskaya wooden church in 1271. Perhaps this church stood on the spot where the stone cathedral now stands. It was built in 1603, judging by the inscription created by the temple. In the middle of the 17th century, the building was rebuilt, but researchers still have not figured out how much the reconstruction affected it.
In 1764, the Knyagin's monastery was abolished, its churches were transferred to the Yakovlevsky monastery, which from that time began to be called the Spaso-Yakovlevsky. The monastery was unable to maintain such a large number of temples, and most of the buildings of the former nunnery were dismantled. Only the cathedral church of the Transfiguration of the Savior has survived.
The five-domed, large temple is erected on a high basement, its facades look somewhat strange, this indicates later changes. Most likely, only two lower tiers remained from the original cathedral, since it is noticeable that the blades dividing the facades somewhat do not coincide with the blades located in the upper part of the building. According to the description of the Yakovlevsky monastery, given at the beginning of the 20th century by A. A. Titov, in his book, next to the Transfiguration Church in the 13th century, another was added - in honor of the great martyr George. Both churches were located on the top floor and were connected by a porch; there was also a tent-roofed bell tower among them; there were tents on the lower floor. St. George's Church, bell tower and porch were broken in the 19th century. The remaining Transfiguration Church was covered with iron. A stone staircase led to the porch on the south side. The floor was lined with bream.
The interiors of the temple are not rich; icons - without frames, the stone iconostasis was decorated with alfresco painting of the 17th century. The temple was restored in 1890 under the rector of Amphilochius. The painting on the walls of the church and porch consists of images of the Apocalypse.
After restoration in 1879, a "warm" side-chapel was arranged in the lower part of the church in honor of Sergius of Radonezh, with the help of charitable funds allocated by the Rostov peasant Rulev. The Monk Amphilochius, the abbot of the Yakovlevsky monastery, is buried in this side-chapel. The tomb was built by Soldatenkov, Lyapin and Titov. It consisted of a white marble slab on which lay four marble books, symbolizing the works of the abbot.
The architecture of the Transfiguration Church has a lot in common with the churches of the Borisoglebsk Monastery in Borisoglebsk and the Rostov Kremlin. In this connection, researchers believe that it could have been built by the same craftsmen who erected Rostov and surrounding churches under the famous Metropolitan Ion Sysoevich and after his death.
The external design of the cathedral, despite certain discrepancies in the decor of different tiers, is beautiful and looks upward. Decorating the upper part of the main volume of the building, arcature-columnar belts, drums under the heads, apses give grace and lightness to a rather massive building. The central drum of light and two tiers of windows make the interior of the church festive and light, especially when combined with picturesque frescoes. The gallery has preserved ceramic inserts to this day, on which there are images of horsemen, battle scenes, flowers.
Today the Savior-Pesotskaya Church is located in some way on the outskirts of the Yakovlevsky Monastery. It is best seen from the observation tower, since the passage to the temple itself is closed.
