Church of Hodegetria, Pskov, Eastern Orthodox church building in Pskov, Russia.
The Church of Hodegetria is a stone building with the characteristic architecture of Eastern Christianity in Pskov and shapes the religious appearance of the city. The structure displays typical features of Russian church construction with its geometric forms and spiritual proportions.
A stone church was built here in 1537 on the metochion of the Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery. After a fire in 1682 it was rebuilt in 1685 and reconsecrated to the Presentation of the Virgin. In 1866 it was re-dedicated to the Hodegetria icon. Closed in 1922 for the Chudskaya flotilla, it lost its wooden roofs in 1944 and its drum collapsed in 1953.
The church is inactive as a place of worship; since 1975 the monastery buildings have housed the Pskov Regional Oncology Dispensary. In 2016 the complex was returned to the Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery, and the first moleben was served there on 31 August 2016 in honour of the icon of the Mother of God "Vsetsaritsa". The name Hodegetria refers to the icon of the Mother of God "the Guide".
The church stands in the corner of the Middle Town by the Mstislavskaya Tower, on the grounds of the former Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery metochion. Since 1975 the metochion buildings have housed the Pskov Regional Oncology Dispensary, so access to the interior is limited. The building is a federal cultural heritage site.
The church's original roof was laid over 24 slopes, a covering the sources call the only one of its kind. It was built of limestone slab with some brick details, then plastered and whitewashed. At 25 m long and 18 m wide, it is Pskov's second-largest church.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,705 contributors worldwide.