Fyodorovskaya Church

For the church in Saint Petersburg, seeFeodorovskaya Church.

The church, as seen from Bolshaya Fyodorovskaya Street

TheFyodorovskaya Church(Фёдоровская церковь) is a penticupolarparishRussian Orthodoxchurchbuilt by ordinary parishioners on the right bank of theKotorosl RiverinYaroslavlbetween 1682 and 1687. It is dedicated toTheotokos Feodorovskaya,a miraculous icon from nearbyKostroma.

The building is notable as the first church in the region to be returned by theSovietsto theRussian Orthodox Church(in 1987). It served as the cathedral church of the ancientYaroslavl-Rostov eparchyuntil the restoredDormition Cathedralwas consecrated in 2010. During this period the relics of St.Theodore the Blackandother local saintswere kept there.

History

The interior of the church

Aparish chroniclefrom the 18th century survives. It indicates that it was theMother of Godwho appeared to a paralyzed parishioner, Ivan, and commanded the building of a church in Her name. Ivan was instructed to sail down theVolgato Kostroma and askGuriy Nikitin,a famous icon painter, to make a replica of the miraculous icon of the Theotokos. This new image eventually helped cure Ivan, among many others.

The parishioners decided to model the new church onthat of the Ascension of Christ.Its exterior ornamentation is basic but proportions are graceful.The elongateddrumsanddomesare considerably higher than the cuboid structure of the church that supports them.An enclosed gallery and aporchwere added to the main cube in the first third of the 18th century.

The interior is of traditional design. It has four piers and is entirely covered infrescoesdating from 1716. The intricately carvedicon screenwas made in 1705. Some of theiconsare noted for their complex calendar and cosmological codes.

The church compound is fenced and has a smaller church with abelfryon the north side. This single-domePenskaya churchis dedicated to St. Nicholas, a patron saint of merchants. There is also abaptisteryof recent construction on the grounds.

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  The main door
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  Wall paintings
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  The icon screen (as photographed byProkudin-Gorskyin the early 1900s)
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  Royal Gates
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  Amenaionshowing theTrinityin the center of the whole universe