Peter and Paul Church (Karlovy Vary)

The first (temporary) temples

A subscription to donations for the construction of an Orthodox church in Carlsbad ( Austrian Empire ) was opened on June 29 ( July 11 ), 1862 . It was conducted under the auspices of the Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna . Among the donors were Count A. P. Shuvalov , Count A. I. Musin-Pushkin ^[1] , A. I. Koshelev , Prince S. M. Vorontsov , Count M. Yu. Vielgorsky and P. A. Dubovitsky .

Land on Schlossberg Street (now Peter the Great Street) was provided free of charge by the Carlsbad City Council. The project was compiled by the architect K. A. Ukhtomsky . Despite this, the funds for the construction were not enough, in 1877 the Anglican Church of St. Luke was built on the site provided for the Orthodox Church ^[2] .

In 1862, as it became known that the temple could not be built, the Russian community decided to purchase a house in which it was possible to build a house church. On August 30 ( September 11 ), 1863, the temporary church of Saints Peter and Paul was consecrated in the Bohemian Hall of the Pupp Hotel. The temple was "marching", with the end of the season, he understood. In the same year, collection of donations for the construction of a new church began.

After the acquisition of the small Washington building, opposite the Pupp Hotel, a house church was built in it, which was consecrated on May 25 ( June 6 ), 1867 . The oak iconostasis, designed by architect P.A. Zarutsky and painted by I.A. Tyurin , was donated by Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna.

Over time, the house church has become cramped for all Orthodox visitors to Carlsbad.

Modern Temple

In celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Peter I in Carlsbad, in 1872, a large amount of donations for the construction of the temple was collected. The churchwarden of the house church of A. A. Abaza constantly cared for the collection. At the same time, negotiations were ongoing with local authorities on the acquisition of a land plot, ending with its provision.

June 29 ( July 11 ), 1893 the laying of the temple took place. The church was built under the supervision of the architect Gustav Wiederman, who took as a basis the previously prepared project of K. A. Ukhtomsky. Carlsbad Magistrate provided a 20 percent discount on building materials; paths near the temple were paved for free.

The temple was consecrated on May 28 ( June 9 ), 1897 in the name of the holy supreme apostles Peter and Paul. The consecration was performed by Archpriest Alexander Alekseevich Lebedev in the service of 12 priests.

In 1903, four small domes were blocked with copper on collected donations, and repairs were carried out. In 1908, the roof of the temple was re-closed with galvanized iron.

In connection with the 25th anniversary of the death of I. S. Turgenev on August 22 ( September 4 ), 1908, the Turgenev Foundation was established at the church "to perpetuate the memory of Russian writers Turgenev and Gogol."

For the convenience of visitors from Russia, it was decided to build a multi-storey “Russian House” with inexpensive premises and Russian-speaking staff. Donations for its construction began in 1902; by 1914, the necessary amount was collected, but the outbreak of World War I prevented the implementation of plans.

With the outbreak of war, the rector of the church, Archpriest Nikolai Ryzhkov, was arrested by the Austrian authorities. Subsequently, he was sentenced to death, but, thanks to the request of the Spanish king Alfonso XIII , was pardoned, followed by an exchange for the Uniate Metropolitan Andrei Sheptitsky . The temple was closed until the end of the war. In 1916, gilded copper from the domes and bells were removed.

After the war, the temple operated in the summer, divine services were performed by the clergy of the Prague Church. At the end of the season, the temple closed.

Since 1918, the bishops who emigrated from Russia lived in the parish house.

In 1920-1930, the temple was under the jurisdiction of Metropolitan Evlogy (George) , then the de facto independent administrator of Russian churches in Western Europe; since 1931 - in the West European Exarchate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople .

Soon after the creation of the protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia , by order of the Reich Minister of Church Affairs Hans Kerrl of May 5, 1939, the parish with all its property was transferred to the Berlin and German Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and assigned to the Marienbad Church ^[3] .

In 1945, the church entered the newly established West European Exarchate of the Moscow Patriarchate; since 1946 - to the Czechoslovak Exarchate.

In 1948-1950, the Orthodox Theological Seminary operated in Karlovy Vary, the rector of which was the rector of the church, Archpriest Alexy Vitvitsky.

With the receipt of autocephaly in 1951, the Czechoslovak Orthodox Church, the temple passed into its jurisdiction.

In the 1970s, an external repair of the temple was carried out. The restoration of the temple was also carried out in 1980, 1983-1987.

On April 1, 1979, the church became the seat of the then-backyard of the Moscow Patriarchate within the Czechoslovak Orthodox Church ^[4] .

In 2009, an Orthodox cemetery began to function on the plot of the city cemetery transferred to the Compound in Karlovy Vary ^[5] .

On October 11, 2015, the head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Office for Foreign Institutions, Archbishop Mark Yegoryevsky (Golovkov) , consecrated the renovated church. ^[four]

The church is located in one of the most beautiful places of the city, at the foot of the mountains, between the streets of Peter the Great and Sadovaya.

The temple was built in the style of Moscow and Yaroslavl churches of the 17th century , with a canopy and porch, a covered gallery around it, converging at the bell tower. The central dome and the dome of the bell tower, the crosses crowning the domes are gilded. The length of the temple is 41 meters, the width is 14 meters, the height of the temple under the dome is 21 meters, the height of the bell tower is 40 meters.

Four bells were acquired after World War II in Czechoslovakia. Previously, there were six bells, transfused from old cannons, donated by Emperor Nicholas II .

In the lower part of the eastern wall of the temple is a bronze high relief “Peter and the Masons”, built in 1912 , when the 200th anniversary of Peter the Great 's stay in Carlsbad was celebrated.

In the church there are stained glass windows with images of the Savior, Saints John Chrysostom , Basil the Great - in the altar; Holy Prince Vyacheslav and Holy Princess Lyudmila of Bohemia - in the temple itself - were made in Innsbruck (Tyrol). The icons of Czech saints are a gift from Orthodox Czechs living in Volhynia .

The oak iconostasis was moved from the old house church. A chandelier made of crystal for 132 candles was purchased in 1982 .

• The image of the Savior and the list of the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God , on cypress boards, presented to the day of consecration by Emperor Nicholas II . The inscription is engraved on the back of the icons, on a silver plaque: " This image was most highly granted by His Imperial Majesty the Sovereign Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich to the Carlsbad Orthodox Church, on the day of its consecration, May 28, 1897. "
• Icons of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker of the Holy Right Prince Alexander Nevsky , on cypress boards, sent in 1899 by the emperor as well.
• Icon of Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene , sent to the day of consecration by Empress Maria Fedorovna .

Initially, a library with a reading room was created in the room under the temple. Currently, there is a reception room and a small library.

On the territory of the church, surrounded by a fence, there is a parish house.

• Burega V.V. Russian temple on Czech soil. From the history of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Karlovy Vary // Church and Time . 2006. - No. 2 (35). - S. 90-108
• Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Karlovy Vary: [on the centenary of the consecration]. - M .. - Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate: Publishing House Literary Newspaper, 2007. - P. 170, [3]. - (Publishing program of the Government of Moscow). - ISBN 5-8121-0046-2 .

• Peter and Paul Church in Karlovy Vary - official site
• Orthodox catalog of folk architecture