Foros Church in Crimea: history and location

In the Crimean expanses near the village of Foros on the Red Rock above sea level (412 m), the majestic Church of the Resurrection of Christ rises. For more than 100 years, church services have been held in it, and people turn to God for help and glorify his strength and power.

The walls of the temple withstood the onslaught of the Nazis during the Great Patriotic War, "survived" the inglorious times when they were left with skeletons riddled with bullets. But thanks to the efforts of believers, the church is now an unsurpassed monument of architectural art: the domes shine with golden fire, and the saints lovingly gaze from the icons at the numerous parishioners.

The church is a cross-domed church built in the Byzantine style. For the construction of the walls, a special brick was used - plinth. These are small in height, but very dense in composition and strong rectangles.

Brick chips were added to the mortar that held the material together. Thanks to the alternation of yellow and red bricks and the lining of the walls with Inkerman marble, the temple looked very beautiful and solemn.

Byzantine craftsmen expanded the space under the dome, installing it not on the walls, but on the columns inside the building. The latter were arranged in the form of a ring, on which a drum was hoisted, and already a dome was placed on it. Thanks to this, the temple was a structure in the form of a pyramid, and sunlight freely penetrated the windows of the dome.

This place was a symbol of the heavenly vault - church services were held under it. This technique was also used in the construction of a church near the village of Foros in the Crimea.

The Italian Antonio Salviatti, originally from Vincenza, created amazing mosaic creations in his workshop - much of his experience was adopted by his students, who then were engaged in the design of the interior decoration of the Foros Church. The floor resembled a mosaic of ancient Chersonesos, and Carrara marble was used for window sills, columns and wall panels.

The icons that adorn the Church of the Resurrection of Christ were painted by the great Russian painters: K. E. Makovsky, N. Ye. Sverchkov. There is the Last Supper, the Annunciation, the Nativity of Christ, and the Mother of God.

Unfortunately, these masterpieces did not "survive" the revolution and the Second World War, and the wall compositions had to be restored again at the end of the twentieth century.

The luxurious interior decoration created a festive and very solemn atmosphere: multicolored marble, 28 large stained glass windows, decorative stone patterns, magnificent frescoes, mosaics on a golden background. The light from the burning candles played on the icons, and it seemed to people that living saints were looking at them.

The cornerstone, which laid the foundation for the amazing fate of the Foros temple, was laid thanks to the Moscow merchant A.G. Kuznetsov, who bought the then undeveloped land near Foros, which in 1842 was a settlement of no more than 5 households. In the early 1850s, after acquiring about 250 hectares, the merchant began to ennoble the territory: he laid vineyards, began the construction of a new estate, a park, and a mansion.

At the request of local Orthodox residents, A.G. Kuznetsov ordered an architectural project for the future Foros Church in the early 1890s to Academician N.M. Chagin. From that moment on, the amazing history of the temple began, which continues to this day. The consecration of the church took place on October 4, 1892. The ceremony was conducted by Bishop Martinian of Simferopol.

Until 1917, Father Pavel (Undolsky) was the rector of the church.

The revolution of 1917 did not pass by this magnificent building, although the Foros Church was located far from the big cities, which made it possible until 1921 to continue to hold church services in it. In 1920, the Revolutionary Committee was created in Crimea, which decided to close the temple in 1924, and exile Father Pavel to Siberia (he never returned from there).

The misadventures did not end there, after all, the church was not only a unique creation of architecture, but also a repository of valuable icons, details of decoration, and this was a "tasty jackpot" for the Bolsheviks. In 1927, the temple was plundered, taking away gilded candlesticks and vestments, icons, chandeliers, dropping crosses, melting the domes.

The walls of the "impersonal" temple played a historical role during the Great Patriotic War. Here the border guards under the command of A.S. Terpetsky found shelter.

From that time on the walls of the dilapidated temple there was an inscription: "Partisans, beat the fascists!" During the occupation, the Germans reached the walls of the sacred building, setting up a stable in it. The beautiful mosaic floor was battered by the hooves of horses, and the walls gaped like wounds from shell fragments.

In such an unsightly form, the Foros Church was bought out in the post-war years for the construction of a restaurant. The temple was turned into a catering building. This fact in the 1960s deeply resented the Shah of Iran, whom Nikita Khrushchev invited to dinner. In the hearts of Khrushchev, he ordered to demolish the restaurant (fortunately, that the church itself was not destroyed).

Until 1969 it was "destined" to be a warehouse. Ahead was a terrible event: a fire, during which not only did the little that remained in the church not survive, but even the plaster fell off the walls.

In the 1980s, the regional executive committee and the Yalta city executive committee did not come up with anything better than to give the Foros temple and the land nearby for the construction of the boarding house of the Yuzhmashzavod KB (Dnepropetrovsk).

It was a deplorable sight: the building had no windows, doors, or domes, and holes in the walls were "shining".

Restoration work began only in 1987 under the leadership of E.I.Bartan by the residents of Sevastopol. The temple was returned to the believers, and the second "wave" of restoration work fell on the difficult 1990s. In 1990, a young clergyman, Father Peter (Posadnev), was appointed rector of the church. Despite his 24 years, the rector was able to ensure that the active restoration and revival of the Foros church began.

Currently, the temple is a magnificent structure, where people from all over the world are eager to come. And, indeed, there is something to see: gilded domes and crosses played with bright colors, frescoes and mosaic patterns were restored, there are many icons of great masters on the walls, and a sonorous bell donated by the Black Sea Fleet (brought from the Sarych lighthouse, made in 1962, weighs 200 poods), carries measured, clear sounds for many kilometers around.

Due to the fact that the temple is located on a rock, it seems that it seems to be floating in the air. A special reverent feeling appears, involuntarily evoking thoughts about the eternal.

In mid-October 1888, a train followed from the Crimea to St. Petersburg along the Kursk-Kharkov railway, in which Tsar Alexander III and his relatives were traveling. It was a sabotage or a coincidence, but the train went off the rails.

The carriage, in which the royal family was located, fell to one side, but none of the couple was injured. The merchant A. Kuznetsov asked permission from the great sovereign to build a temple at Foros in honor of this wonderful event.

The writer A.P. Chekhov has also visited the walls of the Foros Church more than once. He was friends with the first abbot of the temple - Father Paul. There was a literacy school at the church, and the genius of Russian literature took an active part in its development, as well as in the construction of a parish school in Mukhalatka.

10 years after the train disaster, in which the royal family miraculously survived, Emperor Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna also visited the Foros Church. He came with the princesses.

At the end of the 20th century, Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev often visited this place. The first president of Russia decided to build a dacha not far from Foros.

L. D. Kuchma, the former president of Ukraine, donated a large sum for the restoration work and the purchase of the necessary materials, thanks to which the stained-glass windows were completely replaced, the walls, domes, gilded paintings were restored, the mosaic floor was put in order. Now the building looks different than in the 19th century, but the magnificent icons depicting the Mother of God, Jesus Christ and the great saints inspire no less a sense of awe and admiration than before.

It is more convenient to get to the Foros Church by car, following the road signs along the Sevastopol - Yalta highway.

You need to turn off at the sign "Baydarskiye Vorota". The path from the South Coast Highway to the temple is only 4 km.

A walk from the road to the church itself will take 1-1.5 hours. You can follow the Baydarskaya Valley through Eagle from Simferopol. Travelers will see a panorama of beautiful places that can be captured in photos.

You can learn more about the Foros Church by watching the following video.