Ensembles inside the city ramparts. Temples of the Yaroslavl region, Pereslavl district, Cathedral of the Great Martyr Nikita
Cathedral of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God and the Church of the Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky
His student, Lydia Vladimirovna Elkhovskaya (Mirek), left memories of him: “Singing at school was led by an excellent teacher, Arkady Arkadyevich Kozlov. He was a very handsome man with bright blue eyes and an absolutely silver head. Previously, he led a large choir in the cathedral, but since the cathedral was closed by that time, A.A. and ended up at school. I must say that he was a very talented person in his field. At that time, the Olympics were in fashion, and everywhere Arkady Arkadyevich’s choirs won first places, and they had to sing both in Yaroslavl (regional city) and in Moscow.”
In 1929 the churches were closed. The Church of Alexander Nevsky and the Vladimir Cathedral are adapted for a library and a House of Sportsmen. The iconostases of the temples were destroyed. A physical training ground was installed within the cathedral fence. Later, the interior of the cathedral was rebuilt as a bakery. A bread store was set up in the altar of the Church of Alexander Nevsky, and a garage in the rest of the building. In the 1990s. temples were returned to believers.
"and became widely known thanks to numerous monuments of ancient architecture. Pereslavl-Zalessky is one of the oldest cities in Central Russia. The city was founded by Prince Yuri Dolgoruky in 1152. For a number of years, Pereslavl was the capital of a vast principality. The outstanding statesman and commander Alexander Nevsky was born, lived and reigned here. At the beginning of the 14th century, the Pereslavl principality became part of the Moscow principality. The further fate of Pereslavl is closely connected with the fate of Moscow.
The city was repeatedly ravaged by enemy troops, burned, but was rebuilt and strengthened again. The Great Dukes and Tsars Ivan III, Vasily III, and Ivan the Terrible visited Pereslavl more than once, and at times even lived. According to their decrees, fortifications and temples were erected in the city and its environs. In 1612, a militia under the leadership of Kozma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky stopped in Pereslavl. At the end of the 17th century, near Pereslavl on the shore of Lake Pleshcheevo, the young Tsar Peter I began building the so-called “amusing flotilla”, which laid the foundation for the Russian navy.
Pereslavl-Zalessky history.
In 1283, on the high left bank of the Volga, a fortress city was founded, named by Romanov. According to one version, its founder was the Uglich prince Roman Vladimirovich, who reigned from 1261 to 1285. Opposite the Borisoglebskaya Sloboda, he noticed the advantageous position of one of the hills, near which there were transports across the Volga and roads leading to the Trans-Volga north, rich in sables, flax, and honey, converged.
Pereslavl-Zalessky in the XVIII-XIX centuries.
In the 18th century, the first manufactories appeared in the city, and stone residential, commercial and industrial buildings were built. The last century has changed Pereslavl little. Situated off the road, the city grew slowly and hardly developed. At the end of the 19th century, the first strikes took place in Pereslavl factories - the revolutionary struggle of workers began. Today's Pereslavl-Zalessky is the regional center of the Yaroslavl region, a city of chemists and textile workers. On the outskirts of the city, blocks of new multi-storey buildings grew, schools, kindergartens, hospitals, and nurseries were built.
Attractions. Transfiguration Cathedral.
The Transfiguration Cathedral is the oldest temple in Pereslavl-Zalessky. It was founded by Yuri Dolgoruky in 1152, approximately at the same time as other cathedrals founded by the Grand Duke in Kideksha and Yuryev-Polsky.
Of all the buildings of Yuri Dolgoruky, the Transfiguration Cathedral in Pereslavl has retained the closest appearance to its original appearance. The white-stone cathedral is small in area; it was built for a small number of worshipers: the prince’s associates, warriors, and city nobility. The cathedral was not erected in the city center, but near the ramparts, near the Spasskaya passage tower, which has not survived to this day. The Cathedral of the Transfiguration is built of white stone blocks; between the outer and inner walls there is a rubble layer - crushed stone and construction waste filled with mortar. Thanks to this method of construction, the cathedral still stands today. During Soviet times, services in the cathedral were stopped. To this day, the ancient building of the Transfiguration Cathedral remains a museum, although services are held in it from time to time. (Address: Red Square)
St. Vladimir's Cathedral.
The Vladimir Cathedral (1740s) was built in the Bogoroditsko-Sretensky nunnery at the expense of the merchant Philip Fadeevich Ugryumov. After the abolition of this monastery in 1764, the church became a parish. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the spacious and rebuilt Vladimir Cathedral was turned into the main city church, and therefore received the nickname New among the townspeople (in contrast to the Old - this was the name of the ancient Transfiguration Cathedral). The appearance of the Vladimir Cathedral is quite unusual - a tall building with very closely spaced domes on high drums, one triangular apse with two tiers of windows, a narrow and high dome under the central drum. The latter is very large compared to the side ones, which also gives the appearance of the temple originality.
In 1933, the cathedral bell tower, which was a round tower, was demolished along with the stone fence surrounding the temple. It stood between the Vladimir and Alexander Nevsky churches, approximately at the place where the expanded Yaroslavl highway now passes. After 1929, the Vladimir Cathedral was given over to the city House of Sports, later converted into a bakery, and a bread store was opened in the altar. Nowadays, the cathedral has been almost completely restored and is functioning again. (Address: Sovetskaya st., 12)
Church of Alexander Nevsky.
The Church of the Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky (1740s) was built at the expense of the Pereslavl merchant Philip Fadeevich Ugryumov (Ugrimov) in conjunction with the neighboring Vladimir Church. Both churches belonged to the Bogoroditsko-Sretensky (Sretensko-Vladimir Novodevichy) Monastery, located on the Red Square of the city, near the Transfiguration Cathedral. Soon after the construction of new churches, the monastery was abolished, and the churches were made parish.
All that remains of the monastery is a part of the wall with a gatehouse. Until the 1930s, there was a high bell tower between the churches; it was dismantled during the reconstruction of the Yaroslavl highway. The Alexander Nevsky Church has many common architectural features with the Vladimir Cathedral; They were probably built not only at the same time, but also by the same masters. The temple has large onion domes set on narrow, tall drums, making the temple appear squat than it actually is. Tall and beautiful carved crosses are placed on the bulbs. The semicircular vault of the main volume of the temple is raised high, the facades are practically devoid of decoration. The main quadrangle of the temple has two rows of windows; the building was planned to be light, but later part of the window openings of the lower tier was blocked up. The apse also has wide and tall windows with semicircular endings. The refectory windows are rectangular, but their upper part is decorated with small semicircles.
During Soviet times, the temple continued to operate for some time, remaining under the jurisdiction of the church community. In November 1925, the temple was robbed; thieves stole valuables from the 17th-18th centuries. Since the 1930s, the central city library was established in the temple. Later, the situation worsened - a bread store was made in the altar (the neighboring Vladimir Cathedral was used as a bakery), and in the rest of the building there was a garage of Lespromkhoz. The interior decoration of the church was almost completely lost. A commission that visited Pereslavl-Zalessky in 1936 decided to preserve both churches as part of the interesting architectural ensemble of Red Square. In the early 1990s, the Alexander Nevsky Church was returned to believers, and now services are held there. (Sovetskaya st., 12)
Goritsky Assumption Monastery was founded in the first half of the 14th century under Ivan Kalita. It received its most famous name from its location on a hill - “goritsa”. Nothing has survived from the ancient wooden buildings. In 1382, Tokhtamysh’s army destroyed Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, and with it the Goritsky Monastery. Since the 16th century, the monastery has had stone buildings, which indicates its wealth.
In the second half of the 17th century, the monastery was surrounded from the south and southwest by a new stone fence with towers, Holy and Passage Gates, and a gatekeeper's chamber. The Holy Gates with the gateway St. Nicholas Church are an example of the combination of two styles adjacent in time: patterned and Moscow Baroque.
Goritsky Assumption Monastery.
The passage gate of the monastery in the eastern wall is considered a true masterpiece of architecture of the 17th century. They are not tall and served more of a household function, but their elegant decoration certainly attracts attention and makes them stand out against the backdrop of almost smooth, decor-free walls. The walls were completed in the 18th century. At that time, the new wall no longer had any defensive significance, so its height was much less than is usually the case in ancient fortresses. In the 19th century, a low belfry was built in the northern wall, from which a magnificent view of Lake Pleshcheyevo opens.
Assumption Cathedral.
The Assumption Cathedral, the main building of the Goritsky Monastery, began to be built in the mid-1750s. The cathedral is crowned with a five-domed church with widely spaced domes. The interior of the cathedral is striking in its scope. It is richly decorated with stucco and Baroque paintings; The best craftsmen from New Jerusalem worked on its decoration. The unique multi-tiered gilded iconostasis was made under the direction of the famous Moscow master Yakov Zhukov and decorated with Baroque columns, figures and floral patterns. Icons for him were painted by masters from New Jerusalem. The interiors of the temple suffered greatly due to the fact that the room was “summer”, that is, it was not heated, and the winter cold annually caused considerable damage to the stucco moldings and wall paintings. And yet the cathedral was maintained in the greatest order compared to other buildings of the monastery.
Bell tower with Epiphany Church.
The main vertical of the monastery - the bell tower with the Church of the Epiphany - began to be built in the 1760s, then construction stalled and was completed in the 1780s. It is an imposing and majestic four-tiered building with a small church in the lower tier. Now there is a spacious observation deck on the bell tower, which offers, perhaps, the best and most complete view of the entire city.
In Soviet times, a local history museum was created in the Goritsky Monastery, one of the first in the republic - it was founded in 1919. Nowadays there is still a museum in the Goritsky Monastery of Pereslavl. In winter, the Assumption Cathedral is closed for inspection in order to preserve the interiors; There is no entry to the bell tower in winter. (Address: Museum Lane, 4)
Nikitsky Monastery.
Nikitsky Monastery is located on the outskirts of the city, in its northern part, on the shore of Lake Pleshcheevo. This is the most ancient monastery of Pereslavl-Zalessky, according to some sources, founded earlier than 1186. Tradition says that it was founded by Prince Boris, the son of Vladimir the Red Sun. All monastery buildings earlier than the 16th century were wooden and have not survived to this day. The Nikitsky Monastery flourished in the 16th century, when these places attracted the attention of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. On his orders, new buildings and walls with towers began to be erected: the tsar was preparing a reserve fortress for himself in case of betrayal by the guardsmen stationed in nearby Aleksandrov. In 1611, the walls of the monastery withstood the siege of the Polish-Lithuanian troops of Jan Sapieha for two weeks, but in the end the defense fell and the monastery was ravaged and burned. In the 1640s, the damaged walls were restored, and the top of the towers was added in the 19th century.
Cathedral of the Great Martyr Nikita.
The main cathedral of the Great Martyr Nikita (1561-1564) was built in the center of the monastery territory at the behest of Ivan the Terrible. Its southern aisle is a temple built by Vasily III in 1520, in fact, the first stone building of the monastery. Its top was built on during the construction of a new large cathedral. In subsequent centuries, the cathedral underwent numerous reconstructions. The middle dome is unusually large, so that next to it, the side domes that are far from being small seem quite small. At the end of the 1980s. The central dome unexpectedly collapsed and has now been restored.
Refectory chamber with the Church of the Annunciation.
Next to the main cathedral there is a large refectory with the Annunciation Church (XVI-XVII centuries). The refectory with the church was extensively rebuilt in the 17th century. The exterior decoration of the church and refectory dates back to this time; in the first and second tier the decor of the building differs. Particularly interesting are the window casings of the second tier of the apses, which differ from each other in small details.
Tent bell tower.
The tented bell tower (1668), adjacent to the refectory, is located between the Nikitsky Cathedral and the Church of the Annunciation. The pillar is octagonal, decorated with horizontal belts. The area for bells and ringing, covered with a tent containing “rumours”, is surrounded by wide arched openings.
The second, newer bell tower - the gate tower, in three tiers, was built in the first decades of the 19th century. The temple of the Archangel Gabriel was built in it. The bell tower is much higher than the old one and is consistent with the traditions of its time, which makes it sharply different from the rest of the ensemble, with the exception of the completion of the towers, erected on the site of the previous tents in the same 19th century.
The walls of the Nikti Monastery.
The walls of the Nikti Monastery in Pereslavl The walls and towers of the monastery, like many other buildings, were erected by order and with the help of Ivan the Terrible. There were three battles within the walls: upper, middle and lower. The walls were made of bricks held together with a special mortar, and large boulders were placed in the foundation. The towers protruding forward from the walls made it possible to freely shoot from one tower to another from their loopholes. (Address: Pereslavl district, Nikitskaya Sloboda village, Zaprudnaya st., 20)
City ramparts of Pereslavl.
The ring of defensive earthen ramparts of Pereslavl-Zalessky was erected in the 12th century; it covers the area of the ancient city and reaches 2.5 km in length, up to 6 meters in width; in ancient times the height of the embankments reached 10-16 meters. Under Prince Vsevolod the Big Nest in 1195, high wooden fortifications were erected on top of the ramparts - tyn, or “city”, with towers and a sharp jagged top. In one of the towers - Tainitskaya - a secret passage to Trubezh was hidden in case of a siege. Outside the fortress, deep ditches with water were dug along the ramparts. Three gates led to the fortress - Spassky, Dukhovsky and Nikolsky, with the same-named road towers leading towards Lake Pleshcheevo.
City ramparts of Pereslavl.
In 1759, the fortress walls of Pereslavl were dismantled. However, fortunately, there was not enough money in the Pereslavl treasury to completely demolish the earthen fortifications and build a boulevard in their place, as was done in many cities, and now we can see the ancient ramparts, noticeably rooted into the ground, almost completely volume, of course, are no longer so high, although in some places their height still reaches 10 meters. There is a climb up the ramparts in many places, and walking along them, you can see the whole of Pereslavl-Zalessky from a new angle. Today the earthworks of Pereslavl are included in the list of monuments of federal significance. (Address: Pereslavl-Zalessky, Valovoe Koltso St.)
Museum-estate "Boat of Peter I".
The museum-estate "Boat of Peter I", one of the first museums in Russia, was founded in 1803, although its history began more than a century before, when the young Tsar Peter arrived in Pereslavl in 1688. The sight of the spacious Lake Pleshcheevo gave him the idea of setting up his “amusing” flotilla here. Construction began immediately, in July-August 1688, under the leadership of the Dutch shipwright Carsten Brandt, at the mouth of Trubezh. By 1689, almost the entire flotilla, with the exception of the main ship, was ready. Peter personally took part in the construction of yachts and boats.
In a few months, an entire town was built near the village of Veskova: a wooden palace, outbuildings and a camp church. The construction of ships resumed - this time large ones, including the 30-gun frigate "Mars", named after the ancient god of war. Peter's first flotilla was a training one, both for Russian shipbuilders and future sailors. In 1693, Peter I left for Arkhangelsk to build a new flotilla, no longer “amusing”.
How to get to Pereslavl.
By train: There is no railway in Pereslavl. The nearest stations to Pereslavl are Berendeevo or Ryazantsevo (about 15 km) on the railway - . However, there is no point in going there, because it is almost impossible to get from these stations to Pereslavl. For transferring from train to bus, Petrovsk is much better suited, or, at worst, where buses go to Pereslavl every two hours. Although the best way is to go directly by bus from Moscow or Yaroslavl.
By bus: Many buses go from Moscow, a little less from Sergiev Posad.
By car: On the M8/E115 highway (Yaroslavskoe highway) 131 km from the MKAD (Moscow). Along the same road from Yaroslavl – 140 km.
Pereslavl-Zalessky is a city of the Golden Ring of Russia, rightfully considered one of the best places of concentration of historical and architectural monuments of Rus'. However, it is known not only for its historical and architectural monuments, but also for its absolutely innovative approach to the tourism industry. There is no such abundance of private museums in any other city. Just look at the museums of steam locomotives, a teapot, an iron and Russian flax. We recommend that you find time in your busy life and visit this wonderful city.
The Church of Alexander Nevsky is a functioning Orthodox church in the city of Pereslavl-Zalessky, Yaroslavl region. One of the two surviving churches of the abolished Sretensky Novodevichy Convent of the Pereslavl Kremlin.
Sretensky Novodevichy Convent was founded in 1659 on the territory of the city’s wooden Kremlin. In the 1740s. a church was built here in honor of the holy noble prince Alexander Nevsky, as well as the Vladimir Church. Erected at the expense of local merchant F.F. Ugryumov. Judging by the similarity of architectural forms of both temples, they were built by the same masters.
During Catherine's reforms in 1764, the monastery was abolished, and both churches became parish churches.
The Alexander Nevsky Temple was not closed immediately after the 1917 revolution, and was active for some time. In 1925, robbers took many art treasures of the 17th - 18th centuries from the church.
Both churches were closed in the 1930s. Initially, a library was placed in the Alexander Church. Later - a bread store, while in the Vladimir Church there was a bakery for this store.
Both churches were returned to believers in the 1990s.
Address: Russia, Yaroslavl region, Pereslavl-Zalessky, st. Sovetskaya, 12
Date of construction: 1740
Coordinates: 56°44"08.1"N 38°51"09.7"E
The temple dedicated to Alexander Nevsky, who was born in Pereslavl-Zalessky, appeared in the city more than 160 years ago on the territory of the Sretensko-Vladimir Novodevichy Convent. This monastery is long gone; the beautiful five-domed church also went through difficult times, but today it continues to delight residents and guests of the city with the beauty of its shapes and lines.
Temple at the monastery
At the end of the 50s of the 17th century, in the central part of ancient Pereslavl, next to Red Square, where the princely chambers were once located, the Sretensko-Vladimir Convent was founded.
It became the third monastery for women in the city after the monasteries of Fyodor Stratelates and Nikolsky. The new monastery was initially built from wood, and more than 90 years have passed since its foundation, when the first stone buildings appeared on the monastery territory.
In the 40s of the 18th century, two large churches began to be built here simultaneously. One of them was consecrated in honor of the Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky, and the other in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God of the Presentation (Vladimir Cathedral). Judging by the architectural design, the construction work was not carried out by local craftsmen. Both five-domed churches were built between 1740 and 1749 in the same style, and they stand next to each other.
The Great Vladimir Cathedral is distinguished by baroque splendor of details, and the Church of Alexander Nevsky is lower and simpler in form. This more modest appearance was meant to emphasize her secondary, dependent position.
Large at that time, the one-time construction of two stone churches required a lot of money. And they were found by a local resident, a wealthy merchant F.F. Ugrimova.
After some time, the monastery raised funds for the construction of a stone wall around its entire territory and for the construction of a high three-tier bell tower. It was placed right between the Vladimir Cathedral and the Church of Alexander Nevsky. However, prosperous times were coming to an end, and in 1764 the monastery, together with the abolished diocese, was closed. And the Alexander Nevsky Temple became an ordinary parish church in Pereslavl.
History of the Alexander Nevsky Church in the 20th century
By the beginning of the last century, the Alexander Nevsky Church was flourishing. It contained many precious liturgical utensils made of silver and old, perfectly preserved icons.
In 1918, the Pereslavl diocese was recreated. And in the Vladimir Cathedral adjacent to the church, an episcopal see was placed. But the new government’s struggle with religion gained momentum, churches were closed everywhere, and priests, for the most part, ended up in exile, or were even shot. The small religious community of Pereslavl tried to maintain at least some order in both churches. But in 1925 there was a robbery, and during it the main church valuables were stolen. And after 4 years, the church, like the large neighboring cathedral, was closed.
In the early 1930s, the authorities demolished the bell tower and almost the entire monastery wall. At this time, the altar part of the temple dedicated to Alexander Nevsky was converted into a bread store, and bread for it was baked in the neighboring Vladimir Cathedral.
The church was badly neglected and the area around it was littered. All liturgical utensils from the temple disappeared, and the building and interior were stripped. The 19th-century wall paintings have almost completely crumbled. And there was always the threat of demolition of the building itself. But no trouble happened. In the mid-30s of the last century, a special commission was assembled in Pereslavl, which decided to consider both adjacent churches as architectural monuments of Russian architecture in a single complex of the historical center of the city.
Church services here were resumed in 1998. Today only a fragment of a stone wall and a gatehouse remind of the old convent. And the base of the temple bell tower disappeared forever when the Yaroslavl highway was reconstructed.
Architecture of the Church of Alexander Nevsky
The Alexander Nevsky Temple is brick. It has much in common with the neighboring Vladimir Cathedral. The five domes, according to church canons, symbolize Christ and the four evangelists. And churches consecrated in honor of saints have green domes.
Outwardly, this church seems more squat than it actually is. This visual effect was conceived to emphasize the “subordination” of its “main” status to the Vladimir Cathedral. This impression is achieved due to the fact that the large onion domes of the church are supported by narrow and high drums.
The main volume of the temple has a highly raised vault. And the facades of the building are austere and have practically no decor. Very beautiful high and carved crosses are installed on the scaly bulbs.
Initially, it was planned to make the church building light, and for this purpose, two-tier windows were made on the main quadrangle. In the apse part of the temple there are also high and wide windows, which have a semicircular ending. However, later, for some reason, some of the window openings in the lower tier were blocked.
Adjacent to the main quadrangle is a squat refectory. Its large rectangular windows at the top are also decorated with small semicircles.
Current state of the Alexander Nevsky Church and visiting hours
Now the church has been restored and is a functioning Orthodox church. You can get here every day, except Tuesday, from 10.00 to 18.00. A special temple shrine is the ark and a piece of the relics of the Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky. The temple holidays celebrated here are dedicated to the Grand Duke and take place on September 12 and December 6.
On a small square in front of the church building and St. Vladimir Cathedral there is a parking lot for tourist buses, near which you can have a snack in a pancake house or cafe. In addition, local residents set up trade tents here with Pereslavl souvenirs and handicrafts of folk craftsmen.
In addition to the church, in the homeland of Grand Duke Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky there is a museum dedicated to him. He talks about the milestones of the prince’s biography and the time of his stay on Pereslavl land. In the exhibition you can see a model of the ancient city of the 12th century, as well as icons and medals depicting the Grand Duke. The museum is located at: Museum Lane, 9. It is approximately 1.5 km southwest of the Alexander Nevsky Church.
How to get there
The Church of Alexander Nevsky is located in Pereslavl-Zalessky at the address: st. Sovetskaya, 12. This is the historical center of the city, located within the ancient earthworks. You can get here by car from Moscow or Yaroslavl along the M8 federal highway.
