Not far from the Summer Garden, on the bend of Pestel Street, there is a small but very beautiful Orthodox church. This is the Panteleimon Church in St. Petersburg (pictured below). The shrine is considered one of the oldest in the city. Her rich history will be discussed in this essay.
Monument to the glory of Russian sailors
During the reign of Peter I, on the banks of the Fontanka, there was a Particular shipyard, where they were engaged in repairing and building new ships for the needs of the Navy. The naval battle at Gangut took place on July 27, 1714. Then the Russian sailors managed to defeat the Swedes. In honor of this event, on the orders of Peter the Great, a small wooden chapel was built at the shipyard. It was consecrated in honor of the great martyr and healer Panteleimon, because the victory at Gangut was won on the very day when the Orthodox honor his memory.
The second victory of the Russian fleet was won on the same day as the first, but six years later - in 1720. This time, Tsar Peter ordered the construction of the Panteleimon Church on the site of the chapel. In St. Petersburg, this shrine was almost the first monument to the glorious victories of the Russian fleet. Its architect was Nikolai Gerbel . At the beginning of September 1722, the temple was consecrated and open for worship.
Description
The Panteleimon Church in St. Petersburg in 1735, it was decided to demolish, since it was a dilapidated shabby building. The development of a new project, now a stone church, was entrusted to the architect I. Korobov. He decided to refresh the appearance of the church by decorating it with Tuscan pilasters. The rest of the building is designed in the Baroque style of the times of Peter I. The church was covered with a large tented dome made of wood. The authors of the interior decoration of the Panteleimon Church in St. Petersburg were the artists G. Ipatov and A. Kvashnin. In addition, a bell tower was built near the temple.
In 1739, during the feast of St. Panteleimon, this church was consecrated by Bishop Ambrose of Vologda. In the cold and dank Petersburg climate, listening to the liturgy was, to say the least, uncomfortable. However, only after a quarter century in the temple, finally, a warm chapel was arranged in honor of St. Catherine.
After a hundred years, the appearance of the church was again transformed: it was given the style of a late Empire style. The architect V.I. Beretti was engaged in this. Thanks to him, the facades of the temple were decorated with beautiful bas-reliefs made of marble. Soon , or rather in 1852, the Panteleimon Church in St. Petersburg was somewhat expanded, and twenty years later , a chapel was also added to it. In 1896, another chapel was organized in it, dedicated to the princes Fedor and Mikhail Chernigov. In this form, the shrine has survived to this day.
Recent past and present
A few years after the October Revolution, the parish was given into the hands of the "renovationist" structures that Alexander Vvedensky was in charge of, and in the spring of 1936 it was completely closed. The further fate of the temple at that time was similar to the fate of hundreds of other Russian shrines when their buildings were used as factory shops or storage rooms.
In 1980, in the building of the Panteleimon Church in St. Petersburg, the Historical Museum placed an exhibition entitled "Gangut Memorial." The temple was returned to the diocese only in 1991. Three years later, the first Epiphany service was celebrated here. In 2002, the restoration of domes and facades began, and in 2007 - the unique murals of the temple.
How to get there
Arriving in the city on the Neva and inspecting numerous architectural monuments, it is impossible to pass by a relatively small and neat building, which is the Panteleimon Church (address: St. Petersburg, Pestelya Street, 2 A , at the intersection with Solyaniy Lane). The temple cannot be overlooked, as it is located in the Central region of the Northern capital. You can easily get here by metro, leaving at one of the stations: Nevsky Prospekt, Gostinichny Dvor or Chernyshevskaya and walk a bit.
If the time of stay in St. Petersburg is limited, and all the attractions located in the central part of the city must be examined within one day, then the temple can be approached from the side of the Summer Garden and the Admiralty, as well as from Mikhailovsky Castle and the Cathedral of the Savior on Spilled Blood. In addition, to the street where the Panteleimon Church is located, you can go out and just walk along the embankment of the Fontanka River.