The Church of the Holy and Righteous Fathers
Joachim and Anna (Церковь Святого Иоакима и Анны) is located on the
main square of the village of Bogolyubovo, Vladimir region, in close
proximity to the modern Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod highway. The church
is located in the historical part of the village near the
world-famous shrine, Bogolyubovsky Monastery, the former residence
of the holy Prince Andrei Yuryevich. Being founded in the middle of
the XII century. as a city, Bogolyubovo is famous in the history of
the Russian people and is rightfully considered one of the
significant centers of Orthodox Russia.
The time of
construction of the first temple at this place has not been
precisely established, but sources report the existence of a wooden
church in Bogolyubovo already in the XVII century.
The
construction of the stone church began in 1819, when the villagers
asked permission to erect a new stone church in the name of the
Nativity of Christ with the chapel of the Holy Fathers Joachim and
Anna. In 1823, stone and bricks were harvested at the expense of
local residents, a place was chosen and a church project was drawn
up. In July of the same year, the construction of the temple was
started.
In 1830, the construction of the lower tier was
completed, where the throne in the name of the Nativity of Christ
was located. The work on the construction of the upper tier with
porticos and a bell tower with a throne in the name of the Holy
Fathers Joachim and Anna, the external and internal structure in the
same year, according to historical sources, were "brought to an
end."
The exact date of completion is not known, but it is
established that in September 1857 an inventory of church property
was compiled and the entire church was consecrated. It is this date
that is considered the date of completion of construction.
The architectural image of the temple is made in the style of
classicism of the first half of the XIX century. It is noted in the
internal structure that "... the temple was painted with paintings."
In 1903, the temple was expanded by combining the bell tower and
the main building with a brick passage.
According to
historical documents, photographic documents and testimonies of
local residents, the temple had its own territory, bounded by a
stone fence with a southern stone gate, a northern gate, and an
outbuilding. Behind the fence on the side of the road there was a
metal chapel on a stone foundation to collect donations for the
temple (demolished in 1918). Behind the fence of the eastern altar,
in place of the wooden church, there was a stone chapel with a lamp
(demolished in the 40s of the twentieth century). From the east and
north, a meadow square for public events of the village adjoined the
fence, from the south a road adjoined the fence, and from the west -
the site of the zemstvo school.
In 1939, the church was
closed. The temple building was transferred to the ownership of a
local collective farm. The first floor was adapted for a grain
warehouse, and the youth club was located on the second floor.
During the war, the fence was dismantled, the heads of the main
volume and the bell towers were lost.
In 1947, the
architectural design workshop of Vladimir completed a project to
adapt the first floor of the temple for a cinema with 162 seats. In
1961-1965, the reconstruction of the temple building adapted for a
cinema was carried out, as a result of which a house of culture for
250 seats was attached to the church from the courtyard facade. The
temple itself began to be used as a foyer and as auxiliary rooms of
the house of culture. The reconstruction has changed the planning
situation in the center of the village of Bogolyubovo and the
structure of the temple itself. The light drum and the northern
portico of the quadrangle were lost, and the three upper tiers of
the bell tower were dismantled.
On 13.01.1995, by the
decision of the Legislative Assembly of the Vladimir region, the
temple was placed under local protection. In 1997, the church was
returned to the Orthodox Church.
In 1998, various
organizations were removed from the temple building: a grocery
store, an auto parts store and a barber shop located in the altar.
Alien structures and partitions have been dismantled, and temporary
Royal Gates have been installed in the altar barrier.
Since
the restoration of the temple, repair and restoration work has been
carried out in the building, which, however, is being held back due
to lack of funds.
Since 2006, the NPF "Tectonics" has been
involved in the reconstruction of the temple.
Based on the
results of the survey of the technical condition of the temple
building and structures located nearby, as well as based on the
prevailing hydrogeological conditions of the territory, NPF
Tectonics proposed a phased restoration work. At the first stage, it
was proposed to carry out emergency measures to strengthen the
existing structures of the temple, the building of the house of
culture and activities on the territory adjacent to the temple. At
the second stage, it was proposed to carry out engineering and
restoration measures: dismantling of the passage, reconstruction of
the underground part of the temple building, engineering and
restoration work on the above-ground preserved part of the temple.
The third stage is the reconstruction of the lost volumes of the
temple (the bell tower built into the temple building, the domed
part of the quadrangle and the northern portico).