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Kazan Icon of the Mother of God Church in Berdy, Orenburg

Фото 1
The stone church, built in 1824, was a single-altar and very cramped. With the increase in the number of parishioners, it became evident that it needed to be expanded. In 1855, thanks to the efforts of priest Alexander Kalikinsky and the parishioners, the Berdy church was expanded, and two chapels were added: the southern in the name of Archangel Michael and the northern in the name of Saint Nicholas. The right chapel was equipped with funds donated by official Matvey Stepanovich Lobov and was consecrated by the archpriest A.K. Shilnov. In 1859, the Mother of God Church of the Berdy stanitsa became part of the new Orenburg diocese. In 1900, Cossack Ivan Egorovich Dolinin bequeathed 500 rubles for the purchase of necessary items for the consecration of the altar in the name of Saint Nicholas. In the autumn of 1907, a report on the consecration of the Nicholas chapel of the Kazan-Mother of God Church in the Berdy settlement was published in the 'Orenburg Diocesan Gazette.'

In December 1929, demands began in Orenburg to prohibit the ringing of church bells, as it disturbed the rest of the workers, and the bells were proposed to be melted down for machines and tractors. However, not everyone rushed to implement these decisions. In the autumn of 1931, a note appeared in the 'Orenburg Commune' expressing outrage: 'The Berdy settlement of the Orenburg district is 97 percent collectivized, but the church bells are still heard. The collective farm 'Lenin's Ray' needs a grain storage, and the church can be used for this. Berdy also needs a cultural center, and a cinema can be organized in the church building.' The authorities repeatedly attempted to close the church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in the village of Berdy, and on April 5, 1935, this was done by the decree of the presidium of the Orenburg regional executive committee. After a complaint from the believers to Moscow, the decision was overturned by the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on September 10, 1937, with the wording: 'The church is to remain in use for the believers due to insufficient mass work around the closure of the church and the lack of precise data on the use of the building after closure.' However, local authorities, correcting the shortcomings, closed the church again, finding a use for it. In the 1930s, the church was converted into a grain storage for the collective farm 'Lenin's Ray,' and during the war, it housed factory No. 404. After the war, German prisoners were kept in the former church. According to the memories of the locals, the church was surrounded by barbed wire, and watchtowers with searchlights stood at the corners. Later, the building was turned into workshops for vocational schools. In the 1960s, when the premises became unnecessary, it was decided to blow it up. After several explosions that silenced the lamentations of the old women, the church was destroyed. A school and a monument to Pushkin now stand on its site.

On June 4, 2005, the first stone of a new sixteen-meter church in the name of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God was laid near the former site. Only the name and a few icons remained from the old church, which the residents of Berd began to bring when they decided to revive the traditions. The icons were temporarily stored in a small trailer on the church grounds. Among them was a fragment from the altar of the royal gates, the image 'Joy of All Who Sorrow,' 'Joseph the Hymnographer and Alexander Nevsky.' These icons are over a century old. On December 21, 2006, the consecration and installation of the dome on the newly built church took place. Former vice-governor of the Orenburg region Mikhail Konnov participated in the painting of the church, acting not only as a patron of the reconstruction but also taking part in the painting. A group of young talented artists selected by Konnov also worked on the frescoes. The consecration of the church's foundation was performed by Metropolitan Valentin of Orenburg and Buzuluk, with the assistance of the secretary of the diocese, priest Evgeny Sirotkin.

Geo point

Церковь Казанской иконы Божией Матери в Бёрдах в Оренбурге

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