Tobolsk, the Church of the Holy Trinity and its history

After in October 1831, the forces of the Russian army under the command of Count IF. Paskevich was suppressed by a mutiny that broke out on the territory of the Kingdom of Poland, Lithuania, Right-Bank Ukraine and partly Belarus, the Siberian population was replenished by exiles, an endless stream of arrivals from these areas. For many of them, Tobolsk became the place of residence for many years. The Church of the Holy Trinity, located on the street of Rosa Luxemburg (the former Epiphany), is a monument of those ancient events.

House of prayer for exiled settlers

Hardly settled in new places for them, the exiled settlers, the vast majority of whom were Catholics, created their own religious community. In 1843, its members appealed to the provincial authorities with a request to allow the construction of a house in which they could perform worship services in accordance with their confessional features.

After consideration of the issue and lengthy approvals with the metropolitan authorities, permission was obtained, and in 1848 the exiled Catholics had their own house of prayer. Since their numbers did not decrease, and in view of a number of political conflicts, even increased, in 1868 an independent parish was formed from them.

Wooden building - the precursor of the temple

Soon a small wooden house built for worship services received the status of a parish church. His abbot was a Polish priest, ordained in Warsaw, but, like most of his parishioners, who was not on his own will to live in Tobolsk.

The Church of the Holy Trinity - now called the home of the prayer of political exiles, in those years was a small wooden building, which differed from the homes of local inhabitants except by a cross on the roof. Over the years, he was decrepit and, besides, could not accommodate all the flocks that had grown over the years.

The temple is the creation of the Catholics of Russia

The need to build a new large and possibly stone structure became more evident with each passing year, and finally, in 1891, the newly appointed rector father Vincent Przemycki concerned himself with obtaining permission to build a stone church.

From the very beginning of the century the wheels of the bureaucratic machine were spinning extremely slowly in Russia, and the Tobolsk priest's petition for six years traveled from the cabinet to the office until finally, in 1897, a positive response was received.

Another three years was required to raise the necessary funds. It can be safely said that the temple of the Holy Trinity (Tobolsk) was the brainchild of all the Catholics of the empire. From everywhere, even from its most deaf ends, there were transfers to a far Siberian city. Of course, the main contributors were representatives of capital. It is known, for example, that the widow of a large Ural industrialist and merchant Alfons Poklevsky transferred to the construction fund 3 thousand rubles - huge for that time money.

The trial of the bishop and the closing of the temple

The Church of the Holy Trinity (Tobolsk) was built for seven years, and its solemn consecration was held in September 1907. To this end, the Catholic Bishop Jan Tseplak arrived in the city. Already after the October coup, this minister of the Church of Christ was arrested by the Bolsheviks, and in 1923 a Moscow court sentenced to be shot for allegedly counter-revolutionary activity. Only thanks to the intervention of the international community, to whose voice the country's rulers were still listening, the death sentence was replaced by ten years of camps.

In those days, when the trial was taking place in the capital over the disgraced bishop, a wave of anti-religious campaign was growing in Siberia. The Church of the Holy Trinity (Tobolsk) - a monument of architecture of the early XX century was closed, the towers were demolished. The same building was originally used as a dining room, and then - the office of film distribution.

Revival of the temple

In the early 90s, Tobolsk also took the baton of democratic reforms in the country. The Church of the Holy Trinity was again returned to the believers, and, after a number of restoration and restoration works, the first mass was performed in it. In 2004, with funds donated to one of the German charitable organizations, an organ was installed in its premises. Since then, classical music concerts are regularly held there, which are rightfully famous for Tobolsk.

The Church of the Holy Trinity, restored and restored, is a structure of red brick, built in the Gothic style. Above the central part of the facade stands a belfry, and its edges are framed by two side towers.

From the western part of the building there is a semicircular apse, inside which there is an altar. The Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity, the description of which is supplemented with photographs placed in the article, perfectly fits into the surrounding landscape and successfully blends in with the nearby Tobolsk Kremlin.