Description of the attraction
The Church of Saints and Righteous Joachim and Anna is located on the central square of the village of Bogolyubovo in the Vladimir region, near the Nizhny Novgorod-Moscow highway. The temple is located in the historical part of the village, which is next to the world shrine - the Bogolyubsky monastery, which at one time was the residence of the blessed prince St. Andrei Yuryevich Bogolyubsky. Bogolyubovo was founded in the middle of the 12th century as a city. In the past, the village was famous as a historically significant center of the Orthodox faith and was especially revered by the Russian people.
The date of the construction of the church of Joachim and Anna is not exactly known, but numerous sources report the emergence of a wooden church in Bogolyubovo in the 17th century. The stone church began to be built in 1819, because it was at this time that the villagers began to ask for permission to build a stone church in the name of the Nativity of Christ with a chapel consecrated in honor of Saints Joachim and Anna. In 1823, using the funds of local residents, bricks and stones were prepared, a project for the temple was drawn up and a location was precisely chosen. Construction began in July this year.
In 1830, the construction of the lowest tier was completed, in which the throne was placed, consecrated in honor of the Nativity of Christ. The erection of the upper tier was accompanied by the construction of a bell tower and porticoes with the throne of Saints Joachim and Anna. All external and internal arrangement of the temple was completed at the end of the year, which is confirmed by reliable historical data.
To date, there is information that in the month of September 1857 a detailed inventory of the temple property was compiled. At the same time, the temple was completely consecrated, which is why this date is the date of completion of the construction of the Church of Joachim and Anna.
As for the architectural component of the temple, the appearance of the temple is made in the style of classicism inherent in the first half of the 19th century. The interior arrangement of the temple was especially rich in colorful wall paintings.
In 1903, work was carried out regarding the expansion of the church, which was carried out due to the unification of the main building and the bell tower with the help of a brick passage.
According to historical photographic documents, as well as testimonies of villagers, the church had its own territory, which was bounded by a stone fence with a gate located on the south side, as well as a northern gate and a small outbuilding. There used to be a metal chapel on the side of the road, located on a stone foundation for the purpose of collecting donations for a church, but the chapel was demolished back in 1918. On the side of the fence of the eastern altar, where the wooden church was located, there was a chapel built of stone and equipped with an icon lamp, which was also demolished in the 40s of the 20th century. On the north and east sides, a small square or meadow adjoined the fence, intended for public rural events; a road approached from the south, and a spacious section of the zemstvo school on the west side.
The church was closed in 1939. The church building was transferred to the hands of a rural collective farm. The lower floor was intended for grain storage, and the second floor was a youth club. During the war years, the fence was completely dismantled, and the heads of the bell tower and the main volume were lost.
In 1947, a project was drawn up in the city of Vladimir, according to which a cinema with 162 seats was to be located on the first floor of the church. Between 1961 and 1965, the cinema was reconstructed, after which the temple of Joachim and Anna was rebuilt as a House of Culture.
In early 1995, the church was placed under local protection, and in 1997 it was returned to the authority of the Orthodox Church. Throughout 1998, the temple building housed: a workshop, a grocery store, a hairdresser. But soon repair work began in the church, which continues to this day, because there is not enough money to restore the church.
In 2006, precise research work was carried out, according to which a plan was drawn up for the technical condition of the church building, according to which it was necessary to carry out repair work.
