Altai Territory, Barnaul, St. Nicholas Church: history, architecture, modernity

St. Nicholas Church is one of the oldest in Barnaul, the capital of the Altai Territory. Originally built for soldiers, it became the center of the spiritual life of the city and after a century it was again restored and accepted by the parishioners. Its central location embodies the whole of Christian Barnaul.

St. Nicholas Church: the history of construction

The construction of one of the oldest Barnaul churches is at the beginning of the 20th century. During this period, it was customary to build a regimental church for every military unit, if its strength was at least one battalion. Since a soldier's regiment was stationed in Barnaul, the construction of a temple for its soldiers was simply necessary.

For construction from the treasury was allocated a considerable amount - 36 thousand rubles, and the draft stone church was approved by the emperor himself. By the way, it was not a unique, but a standard project, according to which over 60 soldiers' churches were built throughout Russia. Construction in Barnaul was led by architect Ivan Nosovich, famous for having designed other chapels and churches, which Barnaul is proud of to this day.

St. Nicholas Church took its place in April 1903, when the city council allocated a plot of 290 fathoms in the heart of the city, on Moskovsky Prospekt, very close to the barracks of the regiment. A year later, at a solemn ceremony, the first stone was laid, from which the future St. Nicholas Church grew.

Barnaul worked diligently, and construction of it went at a record pace, largely due to the fact that it involved a large number of not only soldiers, but also ordinary people, because in those days it was an honor to participate in the construction of the temple, many wanted to take part in it. Only 2 years it took the city to build a church - in six months the builders had already erected walls and roof, and another half required for interior decoration.

In February 1906 the church was consecrated and began to take the soldiers of Barnaul on oath. In addition to the military, local residents also went to work there - the convenient location of the temple was facilitated. A large area around it allowed for solemn events for a large gathering of residents.

However, soon the sad fate befell the Nikolsky church, as well as many churches throughout Russia. In the 1930s the church was closed, the crosses were removed and destroyed, much looted and destroyed, for example, unique paintings, old icons and books.

Modernity

For a long time the church was empty, in the Soviet period there was a military club and a school for pilots, despite the central location, the building came to desolation.

However, in 1991 the Patriarch of All Russia Alexy II visited Altai on his visit, in honor of his arrival the building was solemnly given over to the Orthodox Diocese, and in 1992 the restoration was started in the St. Nicholas Church. In the early 2000s, she again met the parishioners.

Despite the fact that all the icons of the church were lost, today there are faces, which pray from all over the region. This is, for example, the icon of the Blessed Virgin, written in the 19th century. It was found in one of the villages of Toguchinsky district of the Altai Territory and was first transferred to the museum of local lore in the 80s, and 10 years later - to the St. Nicholas Church.

Another purchase of the church - the ancient bell of 1903 and new paintings, the author of which became the famous Altai artist V. Konkov. A new iconostasis with paintings by Palekh artists was also brought to Barnaul.

St. Nicholas Church found a new dome and crosses

In 2006-2007, the dome and crosses of the church were reconstructed. First came the turn of the dome - on June 3, 2006, he found his place under the watchful eyes of the bishop of Altai Maxim and parishioners of the church. The glazed titanium was made in Chelyabinsk, and a new three-ton glittering dome, resembling the one that crowned the church when it was built in the early 20th century, took its rightful place.

As for the crosses, they were made in Barnaul by local masters on their own sketches. Crosses only 5: two on each side of the church and one most central in the center.

Temple architecture

The temple was built by the architect Fyodor Verzhbitsky, which was approved in 1901 as a model for the construction of soldiers' and regimental churches throughout Russia. Performed in the style of eclecticism, which was very common in the late 19th century in Russia. There are elements of the Russian-Byzantine style in the project.

The type of church is one-nave basilic, that is, a rectangular form with one nave. The temple is built of red brick with a three-tier bell tower and a portal in the western part of the facade. At the time of construction, the building fits perfectly into the architectural ensemble of Moscow Avenue, the central street around which Barnaul grew. St. Nicholas Church today is located on the central avenue of the city between the building of the cooperative technical school and the educational buildings of the law institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.

The relics of Saint Matrona of Moscow

St. Nicholas Church meets crowds of parishioners not only on Christian holidays, but also on the days when you can touch the holy relics or icons brought from other regions of Russia within the walls of the church. This practice today is very common and allows believers to see with their own eyes the most important and namolennye shrines.

So, in March 2016 in the St. Nicholas Church you could pray to the relics of St. Matrona, who were brought to Barnaul from Kalmykia. By the way, this is not the first time the church receives the shrine. Bartaul power of Matrona already met in 2013. Then the parishioners could not only touch them, but also participate in a specially organized religious procession.

Contacts: St. Nicholas Church, Barnaul

The address of St. Nicholas Church is Barnaul, Lenin Avenue, 36. You can reach it from the bus station or the railway station by bus number 55 or by trolleybus number 5 to the Medinstitut stop. There is the St. Nicholas Church (Barnaul). The temple's telephone number is (3852) 35-49-75.

Divine services are held daily from Monday to Saturday. The Divine Liturgy begins at 8:30 in the morning, and the evening service at 5:00.