Description of the attraction
The Church of St. Cyril of Belozersky is a small side-chapel, which on the west side adjoins the Assumption Cathedral at the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. The temple occupies an important place not only in terms of its scale, but also due to its amazing preservation. Eleven temples were built in the 15-17 centuries - ten have survived to this day.
The first church of Kirill Belozersky was built in 1585-1587; by that time, seven temples had already been erected. Information about what exactly the monastery was can be obtained from the monastery inventories of the 17-18 centuries. The church was pillarless and one-headed; there were two doors for the entrance: one from the west, the other from the south, but in addition there was a small iron door. Judging by the contiguity of the vault to the wall, we can assume several variants of the vaulted system: the first - with a transversely oriented shell, with a system of stepped arches and a cross vault, which was quite rare; the second - the cross vaults - the heels should be very deeply stamped into the cathedral wall, but most likely this was not; the third - the orientation of the lower arches in the transverse direction, which was a particularly characteristic option.
The covering of the church was plank, and the head was covered with white iron; the apple and the cross were gilded. According to the inventory of 1601, there were about two hundred and fifty icons in the church, a small part of which was a five-tiered iconostasis, and the other part was located on the tabs of the northern wall. In the middle of the 17th century, the church was painted with funds from Sheremetyev Fyodor Ivanovich, and a chased gilded shrine was exhibited over the tomb of Cyril. The most recent inventory, dating from 1773, describes the main dimensions of the church. In those days, the church had a western porch. By 1773, the church building was very dilapidated, propped up with buttresses and had many cracks - all this served as a weight basis for the construction of a new stone church.
If we consider the external forms of the St. Cyril Monastery, then in this case one can only guess what kind of monastery it was. It is only known about the incredible stability of the decoration techniques, as well as the system of completion of the temple.
By 1782, the old church was completely dismantled, and the laying of new foundations began. During the construction of the stone church, cleaned stone bricks were used. The complete reconstruction of the church took place in 1825. Temple forms were characterized by the late Baroque era. It is worth noting that the new church of Kirill Belozersky was not just carefully, but professionally designed; its construction was carried out according to the sent drawing, on which the architect worked. In the entire appearance of the temple, order forms are clearly traced, and all proportions, in general, can be recognized as particularly successful. A small defect of the facades is their rather rough detailing. About the temple, as well as about its altar part, above which there is a small sacristy in the octagon, is quite beautiful, although a little ordinary for its time. Today, the church does not have a small vestibule, although it could still be seen in photographs dating back to 1972.
Unfortunately, the interior of the church was not preserved: the carved iconostasis of the St. Cyril Church was dismantled and transferred to the Church of St. John the Baptist, in which it is still located. The carved cover of Cyril's reliquary has also been lost, and its lid has found its place in the Armory as a valuable contribution. Patterned wall painting was carried out at the end of the 19th century.
It is also worth noting the pavement that leads from the vestibule of the Assumption Church to the entrance to the Church of Kirill Belozersky. Its disclosure took place in the process of carrying out work related to the preparation for the celebration of the six hundredth anniversary of the monastery in 1997. The gravestones, which were removed from the graves and laid on an ordinary stone, were an integral part of the pavement. Some of the above inscriptions can be read, while others have been erased, which was done on purpose.
