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Church of Dmitry of Thessalonica in Pantyly

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One of the notable monuments of "Vyatka Baroque" was built in the traditions of Veliky Ustyug temple architecture of the tiered type in the first half and mid-18th century. This is the only surviving cult monument in the area, distinguished by the diversity of its plasticity and the elegance of its facade decoration, characteristic of churches of this stylistic group. The bell tower, executed in classical forms, constituted a diverse complex with the church until the early 20th century, and was later incorporated into its volume during reconstruction.

Today, the monument is in a ruined state. In the mid-1990s, due to violations of building operation rules, the vault, northern wall, and roof of the refectory collapsed. At that time, a large fragment of the western wall of the quadrangle, weakened by the central opening and altar niches of the warm church, fell off. The dome and roofing of the cold church, as well as the spire of the bell tower, have been lost.

The church is 63.6 m long and 15.2 m wide. Its construction began in 1773 under the guidance of A. M. Okulov. In one season, it was possible to erect the refectory with a warm chapel and raise the cold church to the lower windows. However, the vault of the refectory collapsed, and to continue the work, another contractor, P. Tupasov, was hired, who roughly completed the warm church in 1775. A year after the interior finishing and installation of the iconostasis, the warm church was consecrated. The masonry of the cold church continued for several more years and was completed in 1779. The delay was caused by a lack of funds and the need to borrow from other parishes. It is likely that the church was originally built without a bell tower, and the bells hung on a wooden belfry.

The stone bell tower was erected in the 1820s along the longitudinal axis of the church with a slight setback from the western facade of the refectory. Later, during reconstruction according to a project approved in 1897, the bell tower was connected to the warm church by a covered passage, linked with two tents. Under this insertion, a technical room with a heater was arranged in the basement. In the 1850s, the interior of the refectory was reconstructed, but it only concerned the updating of the interior decoration and the arrangement of a third chapel. The church has a rectangular shape, elongated along the longitudinal axis, with narrowed ends, a five-sided altar apse to the east, and a square bell tower to the west. The massive walls distinguish the church as the foundation of the entire composition. The apse, with finer masonry, creates a dissonance, which can be explained by economic considerations and possible reasons for the collapse of the vault of the warm church in 1774. The structure of the vaults is characteristic of churches of this type: light octagons support eight steeply placed smooth troughs, and in the altar, a box vault with three eastern troughs. The remnants of the vault of the refectory show that it had the shape of a box with a trough at the western wall. The walls are enlivened with niches for church utensils. The side sections of the narthex could be used for the office and the mortuary. The corridor between the bell tower and the refectory was illuminated through round windows. The pylons are connected by pilasters that close the transverse ends of the cross-shaped space of the bell tower. The window openings are highlighted by plastic inserts of formwork.

The facade divisions of the quadrangle have a three-part tiered character. The lower tier is characterized by the irregularity of the spacing of the pilasters, shifted relative to the axes of the half-columns of the upper level. The axes of the lower openings are also misaligned relative to the upper ones, illustrating the involvement of two contractors. The frames of the lower windows consist of smooth half-columns with capitals and a row of small dry bricks. The columns are united by a window sill cornice. The pilasters at the corners have pedestals with vertically placed strips. The cornice separating the tiers is highlighted by a row of small dry bricks-dentils. A similar decor is present on the altar facades, but here the decoration of the frames is more sophisticated. The sills are made in the form of "eyebrows", the half-columns are twisted with a braid, and under the windows, there are strips in frames with concave corners.

The upper tier is the most expressive and decorated. The central axis of the facades is marked by large half-domes with lucarnes. The field of the facades is divided by half-columns with brackets. In the corners, three columns are grouped. The capitals, made of "ram" bricks, imitate the "Corinthian" order. Above the capitals of the central columns, "sultans" are installed, extending onto the tympana of the half-domes. The panels with openings are recessed behind the contour of the wall and enclosed in profiled frames.

The high frames are a characteristic example of "Vyatka Baroque". Their half-columns, divided in the proportion of the "golden section", have decorative complications in the form of wedge-shaped inserts. The sills, raised in the form of a broken pediment, are filled with protective covers, strips, and rosettes. Balustrades are placed under the windows. The crowning cornice is complemented by brackets. The decorative treatment of the light octagons repeats the same motifs. Similar elements are also present on the southern facade of the refectory.

The bell tower has two high octagonal tiers of ringing, the lower of which has an intermediate half-tier. It is topped with a steep eight-sided roof with lucarnes. Crowned with a hollow octagon with windows and a cornice. This monument is a strict example of classicism, reflecting its provincial origin. The decoration of the facades includes pilasters with fine rustication, high arches of openings with abacuses, and half-columns. The relief of the facades is enriched by arched niches-exedras and pediments.

In the interior of the cold church, the frame of the multi-tiered iconostasis with carvings by Ya. G. Orlov has been preserved. The master's inscription is located on the board of the central kiot. The iconostasis had nine axes, divided into three large tiers and two half-tiers. Three axes were supported by risalits, which gave expressiveness to the composition. In the large tiers, the icons are grouped in two rows, with small oval-shaped icons on top. The composition included wooden sculptures: figures of archangels and seated angels. The master imitated the works of Zerkalnikov for the iconostasis of the Assumption Cathedral in Veliky Ustyug. All figures have been preserved and are located in the local history museum of Slobodskoy.

Geo point

Церковь Димитрия Солунского в Пантыле

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