Description of the attraction
On a hilly terrain, six versts from the border of the Pskov province, the village of Pava is located. In 1766, the Intercession Church was erected in Pavakh. Previously, there was a church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, built of wood. After the stone church was rebuilt, the wooden one was moved to Veleni. The church was built by Dmitry Ioakimovich Krekshin at his own expense.
In 1787, the benefactor was buried in the vestibule of the main church. The church is located in a lowland, under a mountain. At the foot of the mountain there is a gate with a small chapel built of stone, which is located next to it. A cemetery stretches along the entire slope, surrounding the church. The territory is fenced with a fence made of boulders.
A traditional octagon is located on the cubic quadrangle, which is covered with an octahedral closed vault. The church is completed by an onion dome with a cross resting on a small octahedral drum with eight elongated arched windows. The middle dome of the church is crowned by a head with a figured iron cross, which ends with a crown, the side chapters also have crosses, but they are not crowned with crowns. The apse, lowered in comparison with the main volume, has five faces. From the west there is a rectangular refectory and a square bell tower, consisting of three tiers. From the north and south, the side-altars are symmetrically located: Dmitry Rostovsky (northern) and Nikolsky (southern). On one line are the walls of the side-chapels and the refectory on the west side. The apses of the side-altars are similar to the shape of the main altar ledge.
The main church was consecrated on December 20, 1770. The church was consecrated by the Chermenets abbot Joel. A thick stone wall separates the temple from the chapels. There are two large windows in the lower part of the temple, in the middle part there are two small ones, and seven large windows in the dome. The walls and dome were painted by the painter Smirnov in 1870. In the temple there is an old iconostasis, consisting of five tiers, at the top - a crucifix. The side-altar of St. Nicholas with the main church is connected by a glass door located in the main wall. The two-tiered iconostasis is convex, without carving. The side-chapel has five windows. The side-altar and the main temple were consecrated on the same day. The chapel of St. Demetrius is arranged in the same way as Nikolsky; it was consecrated by Abbot Joel in December 1770, or rather on the 22nd.
The four-sided façade and the eight-sided façade are decorated with blades in the corners, however, the apses also have the same decor. The volumes are completed with cornices, loosened over the shoulder blades. The niche, as well as door and window openings, are decorated with platbands. The drum is decorated with arched threads. Also in the corners are decorated with shoulder blades and tiers of the bell tower. The bell tower is four-storey. The roof of the bell tower has the form of a four-sided dome and is topped with a spire with a cross. The vault and walls of the quadrangle are painted with oil paints on plaster, made in the nineteenth century.
To this day, the church has retained its original appearance. There is a silver cross in the church, donated to the church by Mrs. Tatishcheva, it is placed in the main altar; parishioners believing in its healing power ask to serve the Cross with a prayer service with blessing of water and to wash sick babies with blessed water. In addition, there are icons of the Dormition of the Mother of God in the church, the gospel has been preserved, which in 1831 was presented by the court archpriest Gerasim Pavsky, a native of these places. The gospel is overlaid in crimson velvet. An iconostasis is attached to the narthex wall on the east side. It contains portable icons, among which there is an ancient icon of St. Nicholas "with deeds", which was taken from the old church.
Today the church is active.
