The Church of the Prophet Elijah is an Orthodox church on Ilyinskaya Street (house 9), one of the oldest in Nizhny Novgorod, founded in 1506. It gave its name to Ilyinskaya Street and Ilyinskaya Hill. After its closure in 1932 the building was used as an industrial facility; services resumed in 1995, and restoration work has continued since then.[2]
Founding and historical significance
The church was erected in 1506 in memory of the repulse of an attack on Nizhny Novgorod in 1505 by Mahmet-Amin, khan of Kazan. Mahmet-Amin, seeking to free himself from vassalage to the Moscow Grand Prince Ivan III, was repelled by the Nizhny Novgorod voivode Khabar-Simsky, aided by captive Lithuanians skilled in firing cannon. A cannon shot by Fedya the Lithuanian struck Mahmet-Amin's brother-in-law, a Nogai mirza, after which the Tatars withdrew. A wooden church was built on the spot where the mirza fell, near Mahmet-Amin's camp, and dedicated to the Prophet Elijah as the heavenly patron of thunder and lightning — which contemporaries associated with cannon fire.[2]
A description of the wooden church survives in the Nizhny Novgorod Cadastral Charter of 1621: a klet-type church with porches and a bell tower carrying three bells. It was not notably wealthy.[2]
Construction and rebuildings
The wooden building stood until 1655, when, "through the efforts of Father Stephen," a new stone church was built on its site — single-domed, with a stone bell tower. According to the architectural description, the prayer hall formed a square; to the east it adjoined an altar, and to the west a refectory of the same size. Above the main entrance to the refectory rose a tented bell tower, ascending as a rectangular volume and topped by an octagonal belfry tier with a tent roof and a single row of sound openings.[3]
In 1715 the church suffered from a major fire. It was restored and reconsecrated in 1717; at that time a refectory side-chapel was added on the north side, dedicated to the holy great martyr Menas of Egypt and the Seven Youths of Ephesus (consecrated in 1722). In 1762 the church was again damaged by fire, after which another restoration followed.[2]
A radical rebuilding took place in 1875–1877 to a design by the Nizhny Novgorod architect N. Kostryukov, funded by the merchants A. L. Bochkarev and M. N. Smirnov. In 1875–1876 the main quadrangle received four small domes on blind drums at its corners, a new refectory was built along the transverse axis, and a narthex with an adjoining chapel on the south side was added. In 1877 the single-apse altar was replaced with a new three-apse one. As a result, only the quadrangle and the bell tower survived from the 17th-century building; the church went from single-domed to five-domed.[2][3]
Soviet period and revival
Services in the church ceased in 1932. The building was converted first into a dried-fruit workshop, then it housed the cracker shop of Bakery No. 6. By the time the bakery closed — in February–March 1995 — the building had fallen into disrepair and was effectively abandoned.[2]
In 1995 the building was placed on the books of the Committee for the Protection of Monuments of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast and transferred to the Orthodox parish community. Since October 1995, restoration work has been carried out with parish funds and voluntary donations. A significant contribution to the restoration and adornment of the church was made by Felix Gennadyevich Verkhovodov. The central quadrangle has now been fully repaired and repainted with murals; a major overhaul of the annex and landscaping of the grounds are planned. The rector is Archpriest Vladimir Tsybyshev, and the clergyman is Priest Alexy Nesterenko.[2]
Sources
- nne.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Metropolis
- nizh-nne.ru — Official website of the Nizhny Novgorod city deanery — Church in Honor of the Holy Prophet of God Elijah — Nizhny Novgorod… (archive)
- mapy.com
- kostelsvatehomikulase.cz — Church of St. Nicholas (archive)