Description of the attraction
The Church of Nikita the Great Martyr in Vladimir is a provincial baroque monument. The temple was installed on Knyagininskaya street. It looks more like a palace than a church, thanks to the luxurious design of the facades.
The church was consecrated in honor of the Monk Nikita the Stylite, who was from the Pereslavl lands. In the world, Nikita acted as a collector of state taxes and for a long time mercilessly robbed the population, accumulating decent sums for himself. Once during the divine service, Nikita heard words from the Book of Isaiah, the meaning of which was to wash and cleanse himself from atrocities, learn to do good, protect orphans and widows, and so on. Nikita did not sleep all night, pondering his sinful life, and at dawn he left his home, family, a huge estate and took monastic vows.
Putting on a heavy stone hat and laying on iron chains, Nikita retired on a stone pillar, where he stayed in fasting and prayer all day long. For spiritual asceticism and repentance, Nikita sought the gift of miracles. He managed to cure many infirm, among whom was Prince Mikhail Vsevolodovich from Chernigov, who suffered from paralysis of the limbs.
Saint Nikita died a violent death. The robbers mistook the shine of iron chains for the shine of silver and killed Nikita. On June 6, the Orthodox celebrate the day of St. Nikita the Stylite. The death of the saint happened in 1186. And after almost 6 centuries, in the 1760s, a wealthy Vladimir merchant Semyon Lazarev built a temple in Vladimir, calling it Nikitsky. In 1849, with the help of the merchant P. V. Kozlov, two-storey side chapels were added to the church.
The Church of Nikita the Great Martyr in Vladimir differs sharply from other religious buildings of the 18th century. The basis of its composition is the refectory type of the temple, which was implemented in the traditions of palace architecture. The 3-storey white-green building is divided by 3 tiers of large windows, decorated with baroque platbands. The corners of the temple are decorated with pilasters with order capitals. Abundant decoration of facades, colorful plastic and a dynamic silhouette, emphasized by a high drum of the head and a slender bell tower, characterize the Nikita Church as a striking monument of the provincial baroque.
The light of the sun, coming through the side windows, illuminated the spacious rooms through puffs of incense, creating an atmosphere of spirituality and solemnity that encourages prayer. Initially, the main pride of the church was the luxurious iconostasis, made in the spirit of the times of Catherine II the Great, with carved royal gates resembling the iconostasis of the Vladimir Assumption Cathedral in shape.
In 1794-1801 Nikitsky Church served as a model for the Trinity-Tikhvin Church, built in the town of Dmitrov near Moscow. In the new building, the Dmitrovsky architect almost exactly repeated the composition and details of the Vladimir church.
Currently, the Church of Nikita the Great Martyr in Vladimir is not used for divine services. Restoration workshops are located here.
