The church, built of oak and clad in wood, stands on a foundation of local phosphorites. Its construction was financed by parishioners and wealthy landowners around 1843. Although the exact date of construction is unknown, it is based on some facts. Poplars grew around the church fence, one of which has survived to this day. In 1952, many trees were cut down for firewood, and one local resident counted over 100 annual rings on the stump. If the poplars were planted after the church was built, this confirms the date of 1843.
The fence around the church consisted of brick pillars connected by rods with spikes. Inside, there was a garden with burials: earthen mounds, five granite slabs with inscriptions, and one brick monument. To the right of the west entrance was the parish school, and to the left, the watchman's lodge. The parish included three villages: Vinnikovo, later Otryeshkovo, Lipovets, and Malinovy. The altar was consecrated in honor of the Holy Trinity.
After the 1917 revolution, the church was repeatedly closed. In the early 1930s, Komsomol members tore down icons and burned church books. From the 1930s until the beginning of the occupation in 1941, the church housed a storage facility for the local collective farm, where grain, harness, and agricultural tools were kept. During the occupation, the church was not opened immediately: in the winter of 1942, it was used as a stable, and in the summer of the same year, it was reopened for services. In the early 1960s, the church was closed again under pressure from the authorities, and its property was transferred to the church in the village of Nozdračevo. The Vinnikovo church was turned into a fertilizer storage, then a grain storage, and later the building was given to the gym of Vinnikovo Secondary School. The cross was removed, and the bell tower was destroyed with the help of a tractor.
In the late 1980s, when the building became dilapidated, sports activities ceased. In the early 1990s, the church was again placed under the management of the Kursk Diocese. In the mid-1990s, it was fenced with the support of sponsors, and services resumed.
Comments
No comments yet. Be the first.
To leave a comment, sign in with Google.