QR-35 - The Ensemble of the Churches at Dymkovo

Object	The Ensemble of the Churches at Dymkovo
Dating	the first half of the 18th century.
Type	An ensemble.
Status	a cultural heritage site of federal importance.
Address	1 Pervaya St., Dymkovo Sloboda, V. Ustiug, Russia.
Part of the ensemble	the Church of Saint Dmitry Solun, the Church of Saint Sergius Radonezh.
A brief description	The view of Dymkovo from the embankment of Veliky Ustiug is one of the landmarks of the town. The peculiar to the north ensemble consists of two temples: a bigger one - unheated and a smaller one – heated. It was formed on the principles established in the era of Ancient Rus’. From Dymkovo, in turn, there is a picturesque view of the town.
Condition	satisfactory.
Contemporary use	the ensemble is used by the Veliky Ustiug State Museum-Reserve.
History It is believed that the first wooden churches at Dymkovo were built in 1383 in memory of Ustiug people’s participation in the battle of Kulikovo, which took place on 8 (16) September 1380. The dedication of the churches to Saint Dmitry Solun and Saint Sergius Radonezh indicates that the parish could really have been established either under the reign of Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy (1350-1389) or his closest relatives and descendants. Saint Dmitry Solun was venerated as a patron saint of the Grand Prince. And social activities of Saint Sergius Radonezh (approx 1314-1392, revered as a saint since the mid-15^th century) were aimed at supporting the unification of Ancient Rus' around the princely house. Saint Sergius testified Prince Dmitry’s Testament, which set a new order of succession to the throne, with his signature. For a long time Dymkovo was part of the princely family’s property. Dymkovo was first mentioned in 1461 in the Testament of Grand Prince Vasily the Dark, Dmitry Donskoy’s grandson. The churches were built anew several times, after dilapidation or fires. According to the chronicles, in 1539, “the Kazan Tatars and the Cheremeses... burned those two churches in Dymkovo suburb, the Church of the Holy Martyr Dmitry, and also the warm Church of St. Sergius, Wonderworker». The oldest description of the Dymkovo churches is preserved in the census book of 1630: surrounded by a wooden fence and a cemetery there were “the Church of Saint Dmitry Solun, Wonderworker, a wooden summer one, and the warm Church of Staint Sergius Radonezh, Wonderworker, a wooden winter one» and a freestanding «chopped hipped bell tower, with 7 bells on it». The extant stone cold (unheated summer) church at Dymkovo was built in 1700-1708. In the middle of the 18^th century to the south of the cold church the warm (heated winter) Church of Saint Sergius Radonezh was erected. In 1859 on the donations of merchants Ilya Yakovlevich Gribanov and Pavel Maksimovich Zhilin a stone fence with gates on the south and east sides and two small towers on the south-east and north-east fence corners were built around the churches. In 1930 the churches were closed. At present the ensemble is assigned to Veliky Ustiug State Museum-Reserve and is used for the external display.
Description The ensemble of Dymkovo churches is located on the right bank of the Sukhona River in Dymkovo Sloboda. The cold Church of Saint Dmitry Solun, which is the main church of the parish, dominates the ensemble. Next to it (to the south) there is a warm Church of Saint Sergius Radonezh of a smaller size. On the east side of the Dymkovo churches there is a stone gate of the dismantled fence, which used to have a south-east corner tower, now partially extant.
Restoration In the 19^th century in both churches several openings were laid, and buttresses of the pylons of the bell tower emerged. In the twentieth century, when the churches were closed, the bells were removed from the bell tower. Many elements of the interiors were destroyed, including the iconostasis of the Church of Saint Sergius. The stone fence surrounding the ensemble was disassembled. There the eastern gate and the partially preserved south-east corner tower are only left. In 1983-1986 restoration works were carried out in the ensemble churches under the leadership of the architect Eduard Eduardovich Nasedkin. At the beginning of the 21^st century the right bank of the Sukhona River was strengthened with concrete structures. This prevented the erosion of the bank in the flood, but changed the traditional view of the architectural ensemble from the opposite bank of the river. Text by Marina Vasiliyeva. Translated by Olga Leonidova.
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