The Church of the Myrrh-Bearing Women is one of the oldest Orthodox churches in Nizhny Novgorod, located in the Upper Town of the city, on the Upper Posad. According to tradition, it dates back to the 13th century; the stone building was erected in the mid-17th century, and construction was completed in 1649.[1] The church is active and belongs to the Nizhny Novgorod Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.
History
Until 1649, a wooden church stood on the site of the stone building. The wooden predecessor of the stone church suffered especially badly in the fire of 1531 — it burned almost to the ground; four years later, a new two-story wooden church was erected on the ashes.[3] The Church of the Myrrh-Bearing Women is considered the first church in the history of Russian architecture built on the "ship" plan: the altar, the prayer hall, the refectory, and the bell tower are laid out in a single line from east to west; it is also the first Nizhny Novgorod church built outside the fortress walls, and the first stone church of the Upper Posad.[3] In the same year, 1649, two antimensia were obtained for the consecration of the altars of the new stone building.
A distinctive feature of the building is the combination of a summer church and a winter church under one roof: the altar in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "of the Sign" (the winter church) and the altar in honor of the holy Myrrh-Bearing Women (the summer, upper church) were housed in a single two-story structure, whereas most parishes built two separate log structures.[1]
Later, a two-story side chapel in honor of the foremost apostles Peter and Paul was added to the north side of the refectory; its upper room served both as the side chapel of Euthymius of Suzdal and as the porch of the unheated church. In 1805, the merchant Pyotr Perepletchikov provided funds for the addition of a two-story brick side chapel to the refectory.[3] Construction of the stone building was financed with funds raised in succession by the parish priests: Father Simeon bought a shop at the Nizhny Novgorod market and hayfields across the Oka, putting the proceeds toward construction, and his successor Father Mikhail laid the foundation and obtained a charter exempting parishioners from the duty on bringing bricks from Balakhna.[3] In the 1820s, Bishop Methodius consecrated one more side chapel in the lower church — in honor of the venerable Makary of Zheltovodsk and Unzha, the wonderworker. By 1897, the church had been enlarged with donations from Maria Bochkaryova, the widow of a church warden — 18,600 rubles — as well as from other parishioners.[1]
Connection with Local Saints
The Church of the Sign is notable because the venerable Euthymius of Suzdal and Makary of Zheltovodsk were born and baptized in its parish — both are venerated as saints of the Russian Orthodox Church.[1] Their memory is preserved in the dedications of the side chapels of the lower church.
Fate in the Soviet Era and Revival
In the twentieth century the church was closed, and the building housed a technical school of light industry. In 1931 the Soviet authorities closed the church: the bells were removed from the bell tower, the church domes were dismantled, and the bell tower was demolished to its foundations; the building successively housed a branch of a Moscow engineering school and technical schools specializing in construction and light industry.[3] In the 1990s the church was returned to the Nizhny Novgorod Diocese. In August 2005, a roughly 200-meter section of Dobrolyubov Street next to the church was fitted with special "noiseless" Czech rails: after additional tram routes (No. 24 and No.
27) were put into service along the street, the load on the tracks doubled, and ground vibration began to threaten the walls of the seventeenth-century church; the entire project, including the design work, cost 4 million rubles.[2][1] On September 10, 2004, Bishop George of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas consecrated the new domes, and on September 12 the crosses for them. On October 10, 2006, a large cross for the bell tower was consecrated and installed. On January 25, 2012, Archbishop George performed the rite of the Great Consecration of the lower church.[1]
Altars and shrines
The church has four altars: the main one, dedicated to the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women (upper church); one dedicated to the icon of the Mother of God "of the Sign" (lower church); one dedicated to the Chief Apostles Peter and Paul (upper church); and one dedicated to the Venerable Makary of Zheltovodsk and Euthymius of Suzdal (lower church).[1] Among the venerated shrines are a particle of the relics of the Venerable Makary of Zheltovodsk; an icon of the Venerable Euthymius of Suzdal with a particle of his relics; icons with particles of the relics of the Venerable Alexandra, Martha, and Helen of Diveevo and of the Blessed Pelagia, Maria, and Paraskeva of Diveevo; and an icon of St. Mitrofan of Voronezh, consecrated upon his relics.[1]
Pochainskaya Street, which climbs the slope of the Pochaina Ravine from the Lower Posad Market, historically led precisely to this church and until the early twentieth century was often called "the road to the Myrrh-Bearers' Church."
Sources
- putidorogi-nn.ru — The Church of the Myrrh-Bearing Women is considered the first church in the history of Russian architecture built on the "ship" plan: the altar, prayer hall, refectory, and bell tower are extended in a line (archive)