Description of the attraction
The end of the 18th century became a bright period of prosperity for Riga Old Believers. By the beginning of the 19th century, the Old Believers had 3 prayer houses, the most important of which was the "Moscow prayer house on the bank of the Daugava" (now the Grebenshchikov house). Initially, the prayer house was indeed located on the banks of the Daugava (Western Dvina), although now it is quite far from it.
1760 is considered to be the year of the foundation of the temple. Initially, the temple was located in a wooden shed. The owner of this building was at first the merchant of the first guild Savva Dyakonov, and then the merchant of the second guild Gavrila Panin. In 1793, the parish of Riga Old Believers bought the church building from Panin. Later, the building was rebuilt, in 1798 a brick structure appeared. In honor of the merchant Grebenshchikov, the temple was named in 1826.
The Grebenshchikov Temple is a historical and cultural monument. It has a large hall with an iconostasis for prayers, ceremonial halls, administration rooms, apartments for priests and church ministers. The prayer house owns the richest collection of books, icons and manuscripts of the 15-19 centuries.
The parish operates in the frame of the Grebenshchikov Old Believers. Already in the sixties of the 18th century, the parish supported a shelter for the poor. In 2000, the capital of Latvia hosted a conference dedicated to the 240th anniversary of the existence of the Prayer House of the Riga Grebenshchikov Old Believer Community. After this conference, a new tradition of holding meetings on the occasion of the anniversaries of the church and parish appeared. In honor of the 250th anniversary of the foundation of the Grebenshchikov community, a wonderful book and photo album was published in 4 languages.
In Soviet times, in the building of the Grebenshchikov prayer house there were apartments for local residents. Currently, the Grebenshchikov parish is the largest Old Believer parish in the world. The membership includes about 25 thousand believers. Divine services in the temple are held according to ancient traditions, old songs are sung.
