On Georgievskaya Street in the city of Vladimir, there is a church
named after George the Victorious and is an ancient building.
Initially, the temple was built in 1157 by order of Yuri Dolgorukov
- at that time it was located on the territory of the princely
court. It was not in vain that the church was consecrated in honor
of George the Victorious, because it was this saint who was
especially revered in Rus', and was also the heavenly patron of Yuri
Dolgoruky.
In the middle of 1778, the church was almost
completely destroyed due to a fire, after which it was rebuilt in
the provincial baroque style. The former temple left behind only
free-standing stone blocks located in the plinths. At the end of
1847, a chapel was added to the south side of the temple,
consecrated in the name of the holy prince Vladimir.
The
current church of St. George the Victorious is radically different
from its original appearance. As you know, the Baroque style is
characterized by elegance, harmony and grace of forms, which is why
it was rarely used in the Vladimir region as a style for church
objects in the second half of the 18th century.
The main
volume of the temple is a double-height equilateral quadrangle,
which has a completion in the form of two octals. The church was
crowned with a small onion dome located on a cylindrical drum. On
the east side, a small one-part apse, overlapping with a conch,
adjoins the quadrangle, and on the west side there is a refectory
room and a hipped bell tower. The vaults and walls of the temple
were painted in the first half of the 19th century by a talented
craftsman who perfectly mastered the artistic techniques
characteristic of the era of classicism.
In the early 1930s,
the St. George's Church was closed. During this period of time, the
temple was somewhat damaged - the church dome was badly destroyed by
machine gun shots.
After some time, the temple began to be
used as an outbuilding for the needs of Soviet institutions. During
the 1960s and 1970s, an oil and fat plant operated here, and sausage
was also produced. In the 1980s, an inspection of the temple was
carried out, as a result of which a layer of black greasy soot,
reaching 1 cm, was revealed. It is worth noting that at that time
there was a medical sobering-up station equipped with preliminary
detention cells of the pre-trial detention center not far from St.
George's Church. The economic facilities operating in the building
and on the territory of the church caused great damage, the workers
of which dug a hole designed to accommodate a huge metal container
in which fuel oil was stored. This container was kept near the
foundation of the refectory room, the load-bearing wall of which was
badly damaged. The last of the existing institutions in the area of
the temple was the ensemble of music and choreography called
"Cherry".
One of the grandiose ideas of that time was the
creation of the Theater of Choral Music, the main feature of which
was that choirs rarely had premises intended for these purposes.
According to the trends of those times, the project was bold and
promising, because it provoked the rapid growth of the cultural
public outlook among the urban population. In 1985-1986, in the
building of the St. George's Church, for the purpose of
accommodating the theater, proper design and research work was
carried out under the guidance of architect S.L. Meleshenko and
engineer O.O. Shchelokov. Minor restoration work has also been
carried out.
An unexpected event for a small town was a new
architectural solution regarding the organization of a microdistrict
in the cultural and historical center, as a result of which not only
the Church of St. George the Victorious, but the entire
Georgievskaya Street fell under the restoration project. Apart from
the temple, the house of 1805, where the City Pharmacy worked, was
restored.
After 20 years, the temple became very dilapidated,
and the musical theater practically ceased to function. In early
2006, the Church of St. George the Victorious was returned to the
Vladimir-Suzdal diocese, which belongs to the Moscow Patriarchate.
Today the church is a monument of federal significance.