The Church of Saints Equal to the Apostles Constantine and Helena, located in Vologda, is a federal monument of culture and history, built in the seventeenth century. This is one of the most beautiful Orthodox buildings.
Temple history
Vologda also boasts interesting monuments . The Church of Konstantin and Elena was originally built of wood and was dedicated to Dmitry Prilutsky. In the seventeenth century, he was even called by his name.
Then, in place of his tombstone, in 1503 a new temple was erected. In the sixteenth century, according to one version, the road to Moscow and Kostroma originated in this place. In another, the icon of Dmitry Prilutsky was taken on campaigns by Ivan the Terrible from the Prilutsky monastery.
Around 1690, instead of a wooden church, a stone church was built, which has survived to this day. The construction was consecrated in honor of Saints Constantine and Helena. And already the chapel of the lower part of the building - in honor of D. Prilutsky.
In memory of the event, due to which the church was founded, a liturgy was held annually on June 3, and then a procession to the Savior-Prilutsky Monastery. From 1989 to 1911 Father Sergius served as a priest. At the same time he was a writer and a local historian.
Temple restoration
One of the ancient Russian cities is Vologda. The church of Konstantin and Elena is now adorned by the regional center and is open for its intended purpose. But for this it had to be restored for a long time.
Until the beginning of the twentieth century, the church stood on the outskirts of the city. The temple was closed in 1930. And its premises were used for cultural institutions and a knitting factory. The interior was not preserved, was plundered. In one of the premises was a warehouse.
In 1997, after the temple was returned to the church, its restoration began. And already in 1998 divine services resumed. First in the lower church, and since 2008, the upper one has been working. Religious passages were revived. And the bell tower acquired 8 new bells that were brought from Tutaev.
Temple architecture
One of the famous Russian cities is Vologda. Temple of Constantine and Helena, restored and already working, made in the style of patterned. This is evidenced by the general composition, the painted upper church, a porch with barrel columns, weights and a creeping arch.
The external decor is also impressive - half-columns, kokoshniks, dormers in the bell tower. Above the porch there is a peace dome. The facades of the temple have no analogues. The church was originally built by visiting masters. And in those days it attracted foreigners of Vologda.
Temple of Constantine and Helena is on the basement. It has three-part facades, pilasters in the form of half-pipe horns. The windows are framed by pediment platbands in the form of kokoshniks. From the west there is a small outbuilding-porch with a porch-shoot. The bell tower adjoins from the northwest corner.
Bell tower of the temple
The marquee tent is adjacent to the porch. Three-tier, of equal octagons. They are brought to the ground. Upper - an open tier of ringing. It is formed by arches having keeled ends and piers with triple half-columns. The tent with a small cupola and dormer windows completes the bell tower.
Iconostasis and icons
The Orthodox Church of Constantine and Helena (Vologda), whose address is 85 Victory Avenue, is built in two parts. In the upper church is the iconostasis, which has five tiers. Made of thin carved planks. At the bottom of the temple there are baroque columns. The iconostasis initially, according to historians, included several ancient icons. For example, the image of the Savior. In the new iconostasis, he is in the local row.
In front of the entrance, in the narthex, was the icon of Zosima and Savvaty, which was written by the Vologda icon painter Ivan Grigorievich Markov. On it is a view of the Solovetsky monastery. The model for the icon was an engraving, which was executed in 1699 by Vasily Andreev.
Where is the Orthodox Church of Constantine and Helena (Vologda)? The address has already been indicated by us. The icon of Nicholas the Wonderworker, transferred from the lower church, is stored in the indicated church. It was written in the first half of the fifteenth century. According to experts, the local artist worked on the icon, who was influenced by the Novgorod icon painting. But he added to the icon and the techniques of Rostov masters.
Rector of the temple
Smirnov Andrey Veniaminovich - rector of the church of Konstantin and Elena in Vologda. Archpriest was born on July 25, 1972, received a secular education in 1989. In 1992, he became a clergyman at the St. Petersburg Seminary. Then, in 1996, he additionally graduated from the Orthodox St. Tikhon Seminary in the United States of America.
It has awards: a lapel, a mantle, a pectoral cross and a club. He was elevated to the rank of archpriest. Serves in the church of Saints Equal to the Apostles Constantine and Helena in the city of Vologda. Andrei Veniaminovich has several nurtured parishes. He is the rector of the Church of the Archangel Michael in the village of Novlensky, located in the Vologda region.