| Object |
The Church of the Virgin of Kazan |
| Dating |
1760. |
| Type |
A monument of architecture. |
| Status |
a cultural heritage site of federal importance. |
| Address |
6 Torgovaya Sq., Vologda, Russia. |
| Thrones |
the altars are consecrated in honour of Andrew the First-Called, St Adrian of Poshekhony, apostles Jason and Sosipater. |
| A brief description |
The Church of the Virgin of Kazan, designed in the old Russian style, was built in 1760. The church was built in place of the wooden one and consecrated in honour of apostles Jason and Sosipater, as the foundation stone of the fortress was laid on those saints’ day. The consecration of one of the altars of the church reminds us of that event associated with the name of Ivan IV the Terrible. The archaic features and provincial modesty are peculiar to the church.
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| Condition |
restoring. |
| Contemporary use |
The Church belongs to the Archbishop’s Residence – the Church of the Intercession on the Torg.
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History
The first temple, situated on the site of the present church, appeared in the middle of the 16th century. Its building was connected with the large-scale construction works of the new Vologda Kremlin. To commemorate the foundation stone laying of the town fortress by Tsar Ivan the Terrible on April 28, 1566, the wooden Church of Apostles Jason and Sosipater was built here. The Veneration Day of those two saints is on the same date. Later, according to the folk tradition, the buildings of the Vologda Kremlin were called in the name of Jason – Nason-gorod (Jason in other words - Nason). The present stone church, built in 1760, has still the altar in honour of SS Jason and Sosipater. In different times the church had the names of «near the Fish Row», «on the Marsh», «on the Torg (Marketplace)».
Built with the help of its parishioners the church remained parish till 1820, then it was attached to the Church of the Intercession, situated next to it. In 1926 the church was closed and housed an archive and other organisations. In 1992 it was returned to the restored congregation of the Church of the Intercession.
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Architectural description
The architecture of the Church is rather simple. It is a massive single-domed temple with no pillars built in the old Russian traditions. The laconic decorations of the facades and the steepled bell tower («octagon placed on quadrangle») bear the features peculiar to the Baroque style of Peter the Great’s times. Over the large low – ceilinged refectory to the west of the double-height quadrangle of the church two small onion-shaped domes rise. Inside the temple under the whitewashing and later paintings the frescoes of the 18th century survived.
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Restoration
In the 20th century the church lost its bell tower and domes. In 2000s the restoration of the church upon architect G.P. Belov’s project started: the domes and some damaged parts of the masonry were rehabilitated; the reconstruction of the bell tower began.
Text by Roman Bilanchuk, Alexander Suvorov.
Translated by Olga Leonidova, Dariya Solovtsova.
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Information about the partner of the project
In 2013, through the funding of our project partner, the communications and mobile operator Tele2, an information plate containing a QR-code was installed on the church.
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