The Church of the Life-Giving Trinity on the Lower Posad (Troitskaya Nizhneposasdkaya) is an Orthodox church in the Historic Center, at the intersection of Rozhdestvenskaya Street and Vakhitov Lane (formerly Troitsky, or Maly Ilyinsky Descent). The original wooden church, which had existed since 1621, was demolished during the Soviet era; its reconstruction on the original site began in 2022–2023.[2]

History

The earliest written references to the Troitskaya Nizhneposasdkaya Church date to 1621, when it was a wooden structure. In 1663, a stone church was built on the same site at the expense of a Nizhny Novgorod posad (merchant-class townsman) resident; the 1914 clerical register names Ivan Grigoryevich Yazykov as the builder, while earlier sources point to a certain Obrezkov. In 1715 the building was severely damaged by a city fire and was restored by the parish clergy. In 1858 a new bell tower was erected beside the church, and in 1863, funded by the merchant Vasily Buyanov, a three-altar stone church with two side chapels — the Donskoy and the Feodorovsky — was built. At the same time a stone bell tower was erected in a single composition with the church. In 1868 a stone clergy house was built at the expense of the churchwarden Vasily Alekseyevich Buyanov. The parish also included stone service buildings with cellars, shops, and a chapel.[2]

Closure and Loss

Revolution, the church shared the fate of many Nizhny Novgorod churches. A surviving inspection report dated 14 December 1928 records that a commission of the construction control authority and the Nizhny Novgorod Provincial Finance Department documented progressive deterioration of the building and the detachment of a stone extension on the northern side (facing Kooperativnaya Street — the name by which Rozhdestvenskaya was known in those years) and ordered the church to be demolished. The bell tower was torn down, and the church building was stripped of its dome and all projecting elements and converted into housing. The church's bell tower was demolished in 1948; in its place a commercial pavilion was erected in the early 1950s, which survived until the early 2000s.[2] Of the original structure, only a fragment of one wall has partially survived to the present day.[2]

Reconstruction

On 28 July 2022, the laying of the foundation stone of the new church dedicated to the Most Holy Life-Giving Trinity took place on Rozhdestvenskaya; the rite was performed by Metropolitan George. On 3 November 2022, the Archbishop consecrated the crosses, domes, and bells for the belfry of the revived church. On 4 June 2023, on the feast of Pentecost (the church's patronal feast), the first Divine Liturgy since the church's revival was celebrated. In March 2024, the reconstructed church was opened to worshippers.[3] The exterior appearance of the building is being recreated from surviving photographs and drawings; the project was developed by Regional Engineering Center LLC under the direction of Yury Koval. The rector of the parish is Priest Aleksiy Korekhov.[2]

The Nizhny Novgorod Diocese began the preparatory stage of work on the restoration of the Trinity Church in September 2021; before construction commenced, archaeological work was carried out on the site of the future church. The inspection of the site was attended, in addition to diocesan leadership and the designers, by representatives of the state authority for the protection of cultural heritage sites of Nizhny Novgorod Region.[4][4]

Sources

  1. nne.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Metropolis
  2. veralubov.ru — Church of the Life-Giving Trinity, Nizhny Novgorod — Moscow Deanery — Nizhny Novgorod Diocese — The church's bell tower was demolished in 1948; in its place in the early 1950s…
  3. temples.ru — Church of the Life-Giving Trinity on the Lower Posad — In March 2024, the reconstructed church was opened to worshippers.
  4. nne.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Metropolis — The preparatory stage of work on the restoration of the Trinity Church was begun by the Nizhny Novgorod Diocese in September 2021; before construction commenced on the site… (archive)
  5. NN.RU — Church of the Life-Giving Trinity on Rozhdestvenskaya Street in Nizhny Novgorod: photos, renovation — 17 August… (archive)