Church of Our Merciful Saviour, Eastern Orthodox church in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
The Church of Our Merciful Saviour is a three-altar Orthodox church in Nizhny Novgorod built in the 17th-century Russian style after a design by academician Alexander Kochetov, modeled on the Trinity Church in Ostankino near Moscow. It seats 1,700 people. The central altar is dedicated to the Image of Christ Not Made by Hand, the right to St James, St Nicholas and St Seraphim of Sarov, the left to SS Peter and Alexis of Moscow, St Sergius of Radonezh and the prophet Hosea.
Fundraising for a memorial church began in 1888 among Nizhny Novgorod merchants, and a construction committee led by Yakov Bashkirov was formed in 1897. Of 18 competition entries, Aleksandr Kochetov's won first prize; Bishop Vladimir of Nizhny Novgorod laid the foundation stone on 7 June 1899. The church was consecrated on 12 October 1903, and its painting was finished in 1912. Closed in 1937, it housed a sewing enterprise and later a city air-defence post in its bell tower, and was returned to believers in 1992.
The church serves the local Orthodox community as a place for regular worship and preserves traditional Russian religious practices. It functions as an active gathering place where believers come to pray and observe religious celebrations throughout the year.
The church stands on Poltavskaya Street in the Nagornaya part of the city, near the former city prison site. It is an active parish, so visits are best timed outside service hours; a Sunday school has operated here since 1997. The building is a federal cultural heritage site, and the high bell tower, once fitted with an anti-aircraft position, is visible from the surrounding streets.
The wall paintings were completed in 1912 by Nizhny Novgorod masters under the direction of A. O. Karelin, working from cartoons made for the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow and the Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv. The ornaments follow Byzantine designs drawn by Aleksandr Kochetov himself. The church holds 1,700 people.
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