Chesme Church - a unique architectural structure

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

Among the huge number of churches in St. Petersburg, and perhaps even the whole of Russia, there is one special, whose architecture is striking in its uniqueness - this is the Chesme Church. In appearance, it resembles a toy house made of cardboard, painted in white and red stripes. Today it is a functioning Orthodox church, which is a magnificent architectural monument built in pseudo-Gothic style. It rises on Lensoviet Street, between Moskovsky Prospekt and Yury Gagarin Prospekt.

The Chesme Church itself, more precisely, the whole complex of buildings, is an equilateral triangle, at the corners of which round towers are attached. In the center is a large round hall. Massive walls are decorated with lancet window and door openings. The building can be compared to a medieval knight's castle.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the building was slightly rebuilt. He had extensions - three outbuildings, which simplified the palace a little with their appearance. The facade of the building is decorated with openwork white stone ornaments. Five drums end with domes on which miniature spiers are fixed. Each of them carries an apple with an openwork cross. In one of the drums there is a large bell weighing a little less than 100,000 kg, 7 small bells are located in another chapter. A marble plaque with a special inscription is installed at the entrance to the structure.

Chesme Church has its own legend. According to her, the place on which this building was erected was not chosen by chance. Here, on the seventh verst of the road that led from the capital to Tsarskoye Selo, a messenger told the empress the joyful news of a glorious victory. It is for this reason that this temple was founded in 1977 at the place where such news was received. The construction of the church was completed by the 10th anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Chesma. The solemn illumination was performed by Metropolitan Gabriel. The Empress herself attended this event.

In 1919 the Chesme Church was closed. And five years later, the bells were removed and sent for remelting. The crosses were removed from the domes and a sculptural image was placed, consisting of pincers, a hammer and an anvil. Until 1930, the Glavnauka archive was located here, and then the carpentry workshop of the Automobile Institute was opened. In addition, in the same year, a fire broke out in the building, as a result of which the interior of the church was completely destroyed, including the iconostasis. No less hurtbuilding during the war. Only in the 1960s did the restoration of the temple as an architectural monument begin.

Chesme Church (St. Petersburg) has a strict and at the same time simple interior decoration. An exact copy of the iconostasis was restored, which was made according to the drawing by Yu. M. Felten. The main attraction of the church is a collection of ancient Italian icons. The most famous of them: "The Crucifixion of the Savior", "Saint Tsarevich Dmitry", "John the Baptist". They are the most popular among numerous tourists.

This St. Petersburg church is currently an architectural monument of federal significance. Among residential buildings, sports and educational institutions, office buildings, a cult object rises, which has a rather unusual appearance. Near the church is the Chesme cemetery, where not only the soldiers who participated in the Suvorov campaigns are buried, but also those who took part in all the military battles that took place on this territory.