Holy Trinity church, Kostinino, Orthodox church in Kstinino, Kirov Oblast, Russia
The Holy Trinity Church in Kstinino is a stone complex whose three parts differ sharply in decoration: the cold church, the bell tower and the refectory. The facades draw on Naryshkin baroque, with paired half-columns divided by a dentil on the second tier, corner pilasters on the first, and window surrounds topped by kokoshniks. The bell tower has colonnades and porticoes, an octagonal bell tier and a spire on a faceted drum.
A wooden church at the Archangel churchyard "on Kstinino" is first recorded in 1615. Archbishop Jonah granted a charter for a stone church in 1680, and the first white-stone church was completed by 1693. A Nicholas chapel in its refectory was authorised in 1728 and built in 1750; the wooden church was dismantled in 1754. In 1856–1860 the old refectory was replaced by the warm Trinity church, probably funded by the Kstinino merchant Gavriil Petrovich Mashkovtsev.
The Trinity church was built in 1856–1860 as the warm church of the parish, funded probably by the Kstinino merchant Gavriil Petrovich Mashkovtsev, a provincial customs head. For a century and a half its priests came from the Vasnetsov family. The church never closed under Soviet rule, and Patriarch Alexy II visited it in 1994.
The site is located in a small village and is easy to find as it serves as a landmark in the area. The church is accessible year-round and works best for visits during religious festivals when the community is actively gathering.
For a century and a half the church's priests came from the Vasnetsov family, the kin of the painter Viktor Vasnetsov. It is also the only church in Kirovo-Chepetsky District that was never closed under Soviet rule, and Patriarch Alexy II visited it in 1994.
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