The Epiphany Church in Voronezh is a legacy of Pushkarskaya Sloboda

In the article we will consider the history of the appearance of the Epiphany Church in Voronezh. This is an amazing place to visit everyone who came to the city.

Feast of the Epiphany

Epiphany Church of Voronezh is dedicated to the event of Epiphany, which is celebrated on January 19. This feast is also called the Epiphany, for the Lord revealed Himself to the world in three ways: God the Son was baptized in the Jordan, God the Holy Spirit descended on Him in the form of a dove, God the Father showed His voice from heaven, testifying that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son His Beloved. In honor of this holiday the Epiphany Church of Voronezh was consecrated.

Pushkarskaya Sloboda

The location of the temple was called the Pushkarskaya Sloboda, which was named so because the artillery gunners lived here.

The very notion of "settlement" means that the residents were free from feudal dependence and were listed in the civil service.

Pushkars were all those who were somehow involved in gunsmithing. The gunners' service was lifelong and was inherited from father to son. Free people of all classes could join it. For their service, the gunners received their salary and had their own houses. In peacetime, engaged in crafts and trade.

Probably the church was built on their means.

History of the Epiphany Church in Voronezh

Originally the church was built in 1647.

In 1703 the church burned down and was rebuilt in 1705. The new church was also wooden, but already in 1713 the construction of a refectory made of stone with a side-chapel in honor of St. Sergius of Radonezh began.

And again the fire in 1748 destroyed the wooden church, leaving only a stone refectory with the temple. In 1763 a new stone church was built and consecrated.

In 1841 another merchant M. Klochkov was equipped with another chapel in the church in honor of the holy martyr Pelagia, the patron saint of the wife of the merchant.

By 1854, the cracks and walls of the temple formed cracks, it was decided to destroy the existing walls and expand the building. After these works, before the revolution, the church was not changed.

After the revolution, when the Soviet authorities tried to plant Renovationism in the Church, this disaster and the Epiphany Church did not escape. For several years, the priest-revivalist father Sergiy Sobolev served here. However, in 1928 parishioners, the clergy and Father Sergius decided to break with Renovationism and returned to the bosom of the Patriarchal Orthodox Church.

In 1930, the Soviet government closed the Epiphany Church in Voronezh and set up a sewing workshop here.

In 1980 the church was transferred to the Voronezh diocese. Deteriorated and abandoned for another 20 years, the church stood until 2000, when it was possible to restore and restore it.

Photo of the Epiphany Church in Voronezh before the commencement of restoration works is presented below.

At present, the temple is functioning, but still needs funds for restoration work.

The chapel of the holy martyr Pelagia

One of the chapels of the church is consecrated in honor of the martyr Pelagia. Interesting is the life of the saint, who became a martyr in the third century in Asia Minor under Emperor Diocletian, pagan and persecutor of Christians.

Pelagia was unusually beautiful, noble family and well educated. After believing in Christ and receiving holy baptism, the girl devoted herself to God, deciding to become the bride of Christ.

Accidentally meeting her, Emperor Diocletian's son wanted to marry her, but when she learned that she had become a Christian, she realized that all his hopes were meaningless. He knew from experience that Christians go to any sacrifice, to death for their faith. I knew that his father, Diocletian, betrayed them for merciless torment, but they did not renounce their God. Realizing that Pelagia would never be his wife, the Emperor's son committed suicide, slaughtered himself with a sword.

The mother of the girl, frightened that they would be accused of the death of the Emperor's son, was led by her daughter Diocletian herself. The emperor, seeing the beauty of Pelagia, and he himself desired to marry her. But the saint did not agree to give up her faith and from Christ.

Like all Christians at the time, she was brutally tortured. Death was prepared for her from the burning copper ox. Pelagia itself entered into it, and its body was melted. The holy remains (bones) were buried outside the city on the mountain by Bishop Klinon, who baptized Pelagia. Later, during the reign of the holy emperor Constantine the Great, when the persecution of Christians ceased, the church was established at the burial site of St. Pelagius.

Today the Church of the Epiphany is open to all believers, residents and visitors of the city. Address of the Epiphany Church in Voronezh: st. October 25, 17A. Knowing the history of the rise of the temple, its builders and decorators, it can be assumed that artillery troops should especially honor it.

The phone of the Epiphany Church in Voronezh can be found on the Voronezh Metropolitan's website.