Description of the attraction
Feofilova Pustyn is a small village located in the northeastern region of the Strugokrasnensky district of the Pskov region; it is one of the holy places of the entire Pskov land. The date of the founding of Saint Theophilus Hermitage dates back to 1396 - it was at this time on the banks of the swampy river Omuga that the Monk Theophilus, as well as his fellow man Jacob, laid the foundation for the future small Dormition Hermitage. The very first printed document mentioning this event is found in the book "History of the Russian Hierarchy", in which it is noted that the Assumption Theophilus Hermitage was exclusively male; in 1764, it was abolished and was located at the Novgorod diocese in the Shelonskaya pyatina at the Porkhovsky district of the Demyanovsky churchyard on the banks of the Omuga.
At that time, the church had a very strong spiritual influence, while performing administrative functions. Bargaining was held along the perimeter of the entire church, and measures of weight and length were kept at the temple itself. The church rector confirmed the property status of church parishioners when taxed. The peasants living on this land were obliged to give a third of their harvest to the Metropolitan or Vladyka of Novgorod and to keep it during his stay in the area of the churchyard. But all the peasants did not belong to either monasteries or bishops, but were tenants of their lands.
Theophilov Hermitage existed for almost three and a half centuries. Initially, it was assigned to the Posolodinsky, and later to the Rozvazhsky monasteries. During 1577-1589, it was called the Assumption and Epiphany Theophilus Hermitage.
According to the records of the 1628 census, there was a church built of wood in Theophilus Hermitage without any sacred service - services were not held in this temple. There were six peasant souls who came from churchmen. At the beginning of the 18th century, the church was overtaken by a terrible fire, after which a new wooden church with the same name was erected on this very place.
During the reign of the great Empress Catherine II, namely in 1764, due to the large number of church brethren, the monastery was abolished, while the Assumption Church became a parish one, which existed until the church was closed in the late 1930s. The built wooden church was built at the very beginning of the 18th century and existed for 111 years, and in 1823, due to dilapidation, it was dismantled. After that, not far from the dismantled church, a temporary wooden church was erected, only of a much smaller size, without a bell tower; they named it in the name of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. The wooden church itself, the refectory room and the gate were cut down from the wood. After a while, the entire adjacent territory was surrounded by a red brick fence.
In 1824, in the parish of the former Theophilus Hermitage, a stone church was erected, which had three aisles and a bell tower. The main chapel was consecrated in honor of the Dormition of the Theotokos, the right chapel was consecrated in the name of the Monk Theophilos, and the left chapel was consecrated in honor of the holy Prince Alexander Nevsky. The antimisses of the three side thrones were consecrated by Bishop Postnikov Gregory on November 22, 1823 and were signed by the St. Petersburg Metropolitan Seraphim Glagolevsky. After 50 years, the new anti-misconception of the main throne was consecrated by Bishop Pallady of Ladoga. The wedding ceremony of the temple is made in the form of a drum, painted in sky-blue paint and decorated with gold stars.
In the pre-revolutionary years, Feofilova Pustyn became a zone of many charitable institutions, which housed a medical zemstvo room, a rural community of sisters of mercy, a permanent place of residence for orphans from a religious school near St. Petersburg. In 1923 the vacant lot was renamed into the village of Nikolaevo. The closure of the temple took place in 1931, and a club was opened in its place, although during the occupation services were resumed again. In 1944, the temple was badly damaged. After the Great Patriotic War, local villagers continued the work of destroying the temple - the bricks of the temple building were pulled apart to fulfill their needs.
