On Friday 10th August 2018, a fire completely destroyed one of the most beautiful churches of northern Russia, thought to be the tallest in the area.
The church, built in 1774, in memory of those who’d been killed during an uprising on the island of Kizhi, sat on the shores of Lake Onego in the town of Kondopoga. We may never have read the novel in verse by Alexander Pushkin, Eugene Onegin, (later an opera by Tchaikovsky) which could be translated as Eugene of Lake Onega. The church sat by itself, but it used to have a free-standing 18th century belfry close by which was destroyed in 1930 and a ‘winter church’ of the Nativity of the Virgin which disappeared in 1960.
I was lucky enough to visit the church in 2016 and 2017. It was a very elegant structure, with a single spire rising to 42metres. The north of Russia has a wonderful tradition of wooden churches, said to be built without nails. The church’s elegance was partly achieved by the fact that the structure had not been endlessly enlarged, and by the way that its main floor was about one storey above ground level. Despite appearing substantial outside it was relatively small within. The low ceiling of the first chamber opened into the wonderfully domed area in front of the screen carrying the icons. Perhaps this is where the greatest glory lay: the ceiling was painted a chalk blue, which no doubt the years since it was painted in the 18th century had softened. The dome is divided into 16 panels, each containing an angel, radiating out from the central roundel showing Christ standing behind an altar with the bread and the wine, and a Bible, his arms outstretched in the act of blessing.
The church is variously described as dedicated to The Dormition of the Virgin Mary or to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Church elders may want to discuss the differences between the implied theological differences, but as a church belonging to the Russian Orthodox tradition it would be correct to say it was dedicated to the Dormition.
The church was no longer been used for regular services: TASS reports that "The last priest, Father John Lyadinsky, was shot in 1937". Immediately after the fire a group of tourists were identified as the last to leave the church (implying blame) and a more recent report suggests a teenager may have set the church alight. Kondopoga was the scene of much fighting during the Second World War when the Soviet army in 1944 defeated the Finnish army which held the town. Most of the town was destroyed but mercifully the church survived.
Rufus Reade
Edinburgh, August 2018
The church, built in 1774, in memory of those who’d been killed during an uprising on the island of Kizhi, sat on the shores of Lake Onego in the town of Kondopoga. We may never have read the novel in verse by Alexander Pushkin, Eugene Onegin, (later an opera by Tchaikovsky) which could be translated as Eugene of Lake Onega. The church sat by itself, but it used to have a free-standing 18th century belfry close by which was destroyed in 1930 and a ‘winter church’ of the Nativity of the Virgin which disappeared in 1960.
I was lucky enough to visit the church in 2016 and 2017. It was a very elegant structure, with a single spire rising to 42metres. The north of Russia has a wonderful tradition of wooden churches, said to be built without nails. The church’s elegance was partly achieved by the fact that the structure had not been endlessly enlarged, and by the way that its main floor was about one storey above ground level. Despite appearing substantial outside it was relatively small within. The low ceiling of the first chamber opened into the wonderfully domed area in front of the screen carrying the icons. Perhaps this is where the greatest glory lay: the ceiling was painted a chalk blue, which no doubt the years since it was painted in the 18th century had softened. The dome is divided into 16 panels, each containing an angel, radiating out from the central roundel showing Christ standing behind an altar with the bread and the wine, and a Bible, his arms outstretched in the act of blessing.
The church is variously described as dedicated to The Dormition of the Virgin Mary or to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Church elders may want to discuss the differences between the implied theological differences, but as a church belonging to the Russian Orthodox tradition it would be correct to say it was dedicated to the Dormition.
The church was no longer been used for regular services: TASS reports that "The last priest, Father John Lyadinsky, was shot in 1937". Immediately after the fire a group of tourists were identified as the last to leave the church (implying blame) and a more recent report suggests a teenager may have set the church alight. Kondopoga was the scene of much fighting during the Second World War when the Soviet army in 1944 defeated the Finnish army which held the town. Most of the town was destroyed but mercifully the church survived.
Rufus Reade
Edinburgh, August 2018