Description of the attraction
To the north of the Holy Spiritual Monastery there was a church built of wood, consecrated in the name of the holy Great Martyr Paraskeva Pyatnitsa, the ancient patroness of the vast Borovichi region. A birch alley, planted during the years 1868-1870, leads to the church from the cathedral church of St. James, on both sides of which there were spacious monastery fields.
The Church of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa became the main temple of the Borovichi Pyatnitsky churchyard. Not far from the temple there was a holy spring, also consecrated in the name of Paraskeva Friday, which since that time has always been revered as miraculous. In mid-1613, the temple was mercilessly burned down by Swedish troops, after which the churchyard was never reopened as an administrative center. For several years on the site of the previously existing church, there was a chapel built of wood in the name of St. Paraskeva.
Throughout 1796, a throne was adapted in the chapel, and it was consecrated as a temple in honor of St. Paraskeva Friday - this date became the date of the foundation of the temple, which has survived to modern times. Even today, the architectural component of the church has retained the elements of that ancient chapel. Divine services were rarely held here, but services were always carried out on the feast of St. Paraskeva, as well as on all Fridays, starting from the ninth Friday from Easter to Elias Friday. A monk always sat at the gate of the temple, because in order to get to the holy source, you had to get to the territory of the church.
In those days, the church stood on a high foundation, built of red brick. In the central part of the roof there is a light octahedral drum equipped with a hemispherical dome. On the west side above the temple there was a small belfry. The crosses above the belfry and the dome were erected on small domes. From the outside, the temple and the belfry were decorated with beautiful icons painted on boards.
In 1937, the church was closed, and a weaving artel was located in its building. The temple drum was completely dismantled, and the inherent interior decoration was destroyed. The existing paintings were burned with a blowtorch, the holy spring was filled with lime, the chapel was destroyed.
In 1960, the church of St. Paraskeva Pyatnitsa was returned to the Borovichi people due to the closure of the Assumption Church. For a long time, the church was in disrepair, its basement was flooded with water, the floors rotted and collapsed, and the roof was leaking heavily. The process of restoring the temple took place at a difficult time for the Orthodox Church, which was a feat of the community of John Bukotkin.
The walls were plastered on the outside of the temple and painted on the inside. Two altarpieces were made in the church, the main one of which was consecrated in the name of St. Paraskeva, and the other - in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God. The hemispherical church dome with a light drum was not immediately restored, even for some time the cross was simply placed on an onion. Then the well was restored, but in a different place, since the past could not be cleared of lime.
In 1981, Archimandrite Ephraim was appointed the rector of the temple, through whose efforts all the planned repairs were completed.
For a long period of time, the temple of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa was the only one functioning in the city of Borovichi and served as the main city cathedral, which is why it was often subjected to various reconstructions. Near the southern wall of the church there is a respected shrine of all Orthodox residents of the city - a cancer with particles of the relics of St. James the miracle worker Borovichsky. Another shrine of the church was the holy icon of the Great Martyr Paraskeva with particles of her relics, which was painted in the 19th century in an academic style. It is worth noting that there is also an ancient vestment in the church, in which, according to an old legend, St. John of Kronstadt conducted services in Borovichi.
Today the church has only one dome equipped with a metal cross. Divine services are held in the temple, as well as wedding ceremonies and the sacrament of baptism.
