Description of the attraction
The Church of St. Basil the Great (on Gorka) in Pskov is one of the most famous architectural monuments of the 15th – 16th centuries. The hill on which the church rises, surrounded by trees, in ancient times was an islet in the middle of a large swamp. At the very base of Gorka, the Zrachka stream flowed, now it is Pushkinskaya Street. In 1375, the wall of the Middle City was erected near the stream, passing just near the temple. There and then a tower towered, from which one could see what was happening at a distant distance. The tower was equipped with a siege bell, which in 1581 alerted the locals about the offensive of the troops of Stephen Batory.
The first church of St. Basil the Great was built in 1337. The founder of the church is the merchant Christopher Karel Dol, by birth - German, the founder of the Pskov clans of the Svechins, Yakhontovs, Levshins. The annals contain information according to which Dol came to Pskov, was baptized, acquired the name of Vasily and built a stone temple in the name of Basil the Great here. At the church, Vasily Dol erected the southern border in the name of the holy Orthodox Alexei the Man of God, in honor of his wife and daughter he built in 1377 a temple in the name of the martyr Anastasia the Roman. The northern limit of the church in the name of the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian was built much later - in 1585-1587 and had an extension - a chapel-burial vault, in shape reminiscent of the chapel of the Church of St. Nicholas from Usohi, which has not survived to our time. At the same time, the lower floor of the temple (basement) was built.
One of the main events of the first half of the 16th century was the painting of the church icon of the Tikhvin Mother of God with an akathist in 24 stamps - small rectangles on the icon, which illustrate the life of the Most Holy Theotokos. This icon was located in one of the upper tiers of the old iconostasis. Now it can be seen in the Pskov Museum-Reserve. Nothing is known about the fate of other temple icons - St. Basil the Great and Nicholas the Wonderworker, the Kazan Mother of God and others.
In 1533, the first bells were cast for the church for the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the location of which, as well as the bells that replaced them in 1920, is also unknown. In contrast to the 16th century, characterized by the flourishing and acquisitions in the history of the Church of Vasily on Gorka, the 17th and 19th centuries are a period of hardships and hardships. There were attempts to destroy the church, the loss of the most ancient utensils and, finally, its closure. At first, due to the small number of the parish, the temple was ranked among the Nikolskaya church (from Usohi), and since 1875 it was bought by the abbot of the Krypetsk monastery and was his courtyard until the closure of the monastery. Once a year, a procession of the cross came from the monastery to the Vasilievsky church, the rest of the time it was empty.
Since 1921, the temple was closed. In 1941-1945, he almost did not suffer, only touched the northern limit. In 2003, by the 1100th anniversary of the first mention of Pskov in the annals, services in the church were resumed. There is a parish Sunday school at the church, which was opened in 2005. The school is engaged in the upbringing of children and adolescents in the best traditions of Orthodox pedagogy. Orthodox holidays are traditionally held, especially the children like Christmas and Easter. Children prepare costumes together, learn roles and chants. Of course, parents also help in preparing for the holidays.
In the right border of the church, there is a church shop where you can buy Orthodox literature, including children's books, various souvenirs (mugs and decanters for holy water, caskets, angels, Christmas tree decorations, and so on), DVDs and CDs with church chants, musical works, films and fairy tales for children, covering various aspects of Orthodox life, and much more.
