Description of the attraction
The new Church of the Most Holy Theotokos was opened on the feast day of the Intercession, which is celebrated on October 14, 2001 in the village of Pryazha. The erection of the temple took place in an amazingly picturesque place of the village, not far from a small grove, decorated with golden fading foliage on the opening day. The temple can be seen from afar, because the beauty of its appearance cannot fail to attract attention even at a great distance. The temple is a small wooden building with snow-white walls, which are brightly emphasized by a dark brown corner edging, as well as a similar design of doors and windows. Surrounded by white-trunked slender birches, the church seems to be a real gift of nature.
The first mention of the temple dates back to 1762. The National Archives of the Karelian Republic has documents in which the names of many priests who served at the temple at different periods of time have been preserved. It is also known that the temple was originally a stone building, but during the godless times it was subject to complete destruction.
It took a long time after the temple was completely destroyed. But, despite all the obstacles and difficulties, a new large snow-white temple was built. The construction of a new sacred building was carried out at the expense of entrepreneurs: brothers Sergey and Alexander Zaitsev. In addition, the residents of Pryazha also took an active part in fundraising. The temple was built in the place where it is now located - not far from a small grove. The construction of the temple took two years of constant work. As for the funds spent on the erection of the temple, they amounted to 2.3 million rubles. To carry out the process of illuminating the church, the archbishop of Karelian and Petrozavodsk Manuil was invited to the regional center.
Absolutely everyone rendered help. The district administration assisted in the development of the construction project. The government of the Karelian Republic helped the Alvi company in the issue of forest allocation. The Avangard plant made the domes of the church free of charge, and the Essol plant for the production of reinforced concrete products, as well as the enterprise for communal issues of the economy, carried out the foundation work.
Invaluable assistance in the erection of the temple was provided by the regional administration of self-government, brothers in religion from Suomi and local residents. Archbishop John, known as a minister of the Finnish Orthodox Church, donated almost half a ton of paint for the exterior of the church, and several Finnish entrepreneurs made a gift to the church in the form of a bell weighing over 60 kg.
According to the decree of the ruling bishop in 2009, Priest Konstantin Kukushkin was appointed the rector of the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos, who is one of the most active residents of the village of Pryazh, because it was under him that the construction and repair work of the temple was laid, the manufacture of a new and durable forged fence, as well as laying street tiles.
According to Father Konstantin, the participation of not only the parishioners themselves, but also the invaluable charitable assistance of various organizations, was a great help in carrying out the construction work. It was the understanding of the importance of the spiritual and moral component of our life that was a powerful impetus to provide assistance to the best of our ability.
In the near future, it is planned to build a new church in honor of St. Nicholas with a baptistery, as well as a parish house, which will house a Sunday school and a library. In addition, there will be activities for planting shrubs and trees on the territory of the temple, this will require the efforts of not only parishioners, but also residents of Pryazha, as well as those who want to take part in the life of the temple of the Most Holy Theotokos.
There is a Sunday school at the church, where students can learn about the Word of God, learn to sculpt, draw and independently make not only theatrical puppets, but also learn to stage theatrical puppet numbers and performances.
