Description of the attraction
The Church of St. Onuphrius in Anapa is the center of spiritual culture and the oldest Orthodox church in the city. The temple is located near the Gorgippia Archaeological Museum-Reserve.
The construction of the church began in 1829. In 1828, after the capture of the Turkish fortress "Anapa" by the Russian troops, the city was completely destroyed. To raise the spirits of the local population and soldiers, Emperor Nicholas I gave the order to build a Greek-Russian church with an iconostasis in the Anapa fortress. For this, he ordered to allocate about 25 thousand rubles from the State Treasury. banknotes and to name the church after the saint, on whose feast day the fortress "Anapa" was taken by his troops. The construction of the temple was delayed and lasted 8 years. The erection of the church was completed in 1837. The temple was built on the site where the old Turkish mosque once stood, and received the name of St. Onuphrius. The consecration of the new church took place in 1837. Nicholas I, when visiting the fortress in September of the same year, first of all went to this church.
During the Crimean War, by order of Vice Admiral Serebryakov, all the fortress walls and buildings, including the church, were completely destroyed (May 1855). In July 1856, Russian troops again occupied Anapa. In 1874, on the site of the destroyed church, according to the plan approved in June 1871, a stone temple was erected, covered with iron, but with a wooden top. The temple was built at the expense of local residents. The main initiator, as well as the head of the construction, was Major General D. V. Pilenko. - Head of the Black Sea District. In 1888, a parish school was opened at the church. The consecration of the temple took place in June 1837 on the day of memory of the patron saint of Anapa, the Monk Onuphrius the Great.
After the revolution and until 1964, the Church of St. Onuphrius was closed. For a long time it was used as the Palace of Pioneers. The restoration of the church began in 1991. On December 1, the temple was consecrated by the Archbishop of Yekaterinodar and Kuban Isidor. Divine services in the Holy Onuphrius Church were resumed in 1995.
