Church of the Epiphany at Gutuevsky Island

Νice church

The miraculous rescue of Emperor Alexander III with his family on October 17, 1888 during a train crash in Borki near Kharkov caused the construction of many churches in the country dedicated to this event. The customs officers, stock exchange workers and port officials who inhabited Gutuyevsky Island and the mouth of the Neva River, where after the opening of the Sea Canal, moved the trading port, decided to celebrate this miracle. The idea of ​​building a holy temple on this island was not immediately conceived. Initially, it was planned to build a stone chapel with the collected donations. To build on the island not a chapel, but a temple was proposed for the first time in 1891. rector of the nearby Alexander Nevsky Church of the St. Petersburg Marine Hospital, Father Vasily Evdokimovich Albitsky. It seemed more expedient to build a large wooden church, since the parish church was far away. Civil engineer S.I. Andreev had already drawn up his project when the owner of paper-spinning and cotton-printing factories, Ivan Agapovich Voronin, known for his charity, donated a large sum for a stone building, stipulating the placement of a family tomb in it. The Ministry of Finance also supported the construction of the new church with significant sums. The land required for the construction of the church, with a place for a garden around it, was donated by the city in the amount of 1000 square fathoms at the corner of Dinaburgskaya (now Dvinskaya) street and the embankment of the Yekateringofka river, near the Gutuevsky bridge. Thanks to the well-chosen location on the highest part of the island, the temple was visible from the side of the Gulf of Finland, and from Vasilievsky Island, and from the Obvodny Canal from Moskovsky Prospekt. The almost circular view of the church at a great distance has already been reduced in our days with the advent of numerous high-rise buildings. A new project of a temple for 1400 people with a large dome was created by a civil engineer (later director of the Institute of Civil Engineers) Vasily Antonovich Kosyakov and engineer B. K. Pravdzik, who took the church being built in Borki as a model. However, at this time, on April 29, 1891, Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich (the future holy passion-bearer Emperor Nicholas II) happily escaped from an attempt on the life of a Japanese fanatic in the city of Otsu, and therefore the temple was laid on the first anniversary of the memory of this event. The foundation stone of the church took place with the blessing of the Metropolitan of Novgorod and St. Petersburg Isidor (Nikolsky). Before the commencement of the ceremony, the manager of the Ministry of Finance - it took a lively and active part in the financing and construction of the Church of the Epiphany - FG Turner read out a telegram sent by the heir to the Tsarevich: “With deep reverence for the merciful Providence of God, I rejoice that on the anniversary of my deliverance, by the goodness of the Lord, from danger, the laying of the foundation of the temple in the name of the Epiphany of the Lord is made. I sincerely thank the donor for the construction of the temple and all those who contribute to the fulfillment of this work. Nikolay ". The construction (contractor R.S. Grabov) was roughly completed by the spring of 1893. But the final construction of the temple was delayed, all the work cost 300 thousand rubles. And only seven years later, on January 31, 1899, V.A.Kosyakov arranged an inspection of the finished church for the members of the construction commission, engineers and students. 2 On April 29 (May 12, n.s.) 1899, Metropolitan Anthony (Vadkovsky) consecrated the main chapel in the name of the Epiphany. By the beginning of the consecration in the church gathered: the rector of the Kronstadt St. Andrew's Cathedral, Archpriest John Sergiev (St. John of Kronstadt), sv. right. John of Kronstadt Dean Archpriest of the Kazan Cathedral Nikolai Golovin, Archimandrites Vladimir, Gedeon and Feognost, rector of the Gutuev Church Father Evtikhiy Balanovich and the second priest of the church, Father Pavel Lebedinsky, as well as two choristers: the Alexander Nevsky Lavra under the direction of I.Ya. Ternov and the choir of deacons of St. Isaac's Cathedral, headed by the court protodeacon Gromov. Upon arrival at the temple of the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga Anthony (Vadkovsky), the clergy completed the construction of the throne, after which it was washed and anointed at four corners with myrrh. After the vestment of the throne, all four walls of the temple were anointed with peace,

A beautiful temple, it's a pity it's not highlighted.

The Epiphany Church. Pseudorussian Style. Architect: Vasily Antonovich Kosyakov. "Faith, Hope and Love are the Foundations of Life of the Human Soul. There is no Future for a Man Without a Soul and a Light Mind! God is within us! I am glad that the Temple of the Epiphany has been restored! History and the Culture of Russia - These are the Signs of our Fatherland! 💖

A magnificent temple made of unplastered red brick in the pseudo-Russian style of the famous architect Vasily Kosyakov, the creator of the Naval Cathedral in Kronstadt. Some of the city’s churches were lost due to the designs of this architect, such magnificent as the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and Tsaritsa Alexandra (Putilovsky), which was rebuilt beyond recognition. The Church of the Epiphany on Gutuevsky Island was built since 1889. to 1899 The golden onion dome has recently become what it was originally - with patterns in yellow and white gold. The temple building with this beautiful dome, with tented cupolas and a tent bell with domes of rare blue-violet color and a scaly design, with a vaulted portal, decorated with tiles and majolica impresses with its majesty and harmony of beauty and sharpness of lines. The temple is clearly visible from the Yekaterinhof Park, from the part of it that faces the Yekaterinhofka River, from the embankments of the Obvodny Canal. The faience iconostasis with bronze Royal Gates received a gold medal at an exhibition in Paris in 1900. All walls and dome space were painted by famous masters. In Soviet times, in the decapitated building of the temple were warehouses, production, interior decoration was completely lost. The wrought iron grate was transferred to the school on Industrial Street, and later turned into scrap metal. Now the richest interior of the temple, including murals, is quickly being restored.