Church of Mary Magdalene (Pavlovsk)

The temple was founded in May 1781 in the presence of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich with his family. The construction of the temple was carried out at the expense of Empress Maria Feodorovna .

The author of the project was J. Quarenghi . All stone works on the church were completed on September 12 (23), 1781 , but the consecration of the church by Metropolitan Gabriel (Petrov) in the name of St. Mary Magdalene took place only on September 6 (17) .

The church was considered a summer palace church, but was subordinated to the diocesan authorities. In 1861, at the behest of Alexander II, she was transferred to the court department while maintaining the former sources of the clerical content. Initially, the clergy and the temple were kept for the sums that the Pavlovsk city government released (that is, from the palace department), and then, when the population of the city increased significantly, with its own funds.

June 10, 1932 the temple was closed. In its premises (as well as throughout the building) before the Great Patriotic War, the shoe factory "Spartak" was located.

During the occupation, workshops were set up in the building.

After the war, the Tochmeh factory was located here, and since 1956, the Metal Toy factory. An overlap was made in the temple premises, machine tools were installed, the vibration of which caused damage to the room.

Since 1960, the building was under state protection, and on March 20, 1995 it was included in the list of architectural monuments of federal significance.

In 1995, the church was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church and assigned to the St. Nicholas Cathedral . However, due to the fact that the building was in disrepair (overlapping rotted, there was no floor, cracks in the arches), services were not performed.

The beginning of the restoration of the temple is in 1998 . On April 11, 1999, the temple, which received a separate chert, was consecrated.

The repair of the temple was completed by the end of 2000 . The painting of the beginning of the XIX century was opened on the arches, a stained glass window was installed in the altar window. In 2002, a new iconostasis was installed.

The length of the temple is 21 m, width - 10.5 m, height to the dome - 19 m.

On a bunk wooden iconostasis of a semicircular shape, icons were painted by the Italian artist D. Kades.

At the right choir there was an icon of St. Nicholas in a silver robe, at the left choir there was an icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow”. Wall painting was done by Russian artist Danilov.

A large chandelier of twelve candles, previously located behind the throne, was carved out of amber and ivory by Empress Maria Feodorovna.

Among the attractions in the temple were:

• Sacred vessels with a handle and a foot carved from ivory by Empress Maria Feodorovna.
• The icons of the holy Apostle Paul and Mary Magdalene, presented to the Holy Synod by Pavel Petrovich and Mary Fedorovna at their marriage on September 27 ( October 8 ), 1776 .

In the temple were military relics:

• 10 flags of the ships of the French Republic, taken from 1798 and 1799 , during the Mediterranean voyage , united by a Russian-Turkish fleet under the command of F. F. Ushakov ;
• two banners of the 7th semi-brigade of the Batavian troops, taken in Holland in 1799 ;
• the banner of the 4th battalion, the 2nd half-brigade of the Turin National Guard, from among those taken by the Russian army, under the command of A. V. Suvorov in 1799 .
• 6 standards served by His Majesty’s Lifeguard Cuirassier regiment at the beginning of the 19th century (transferred in 1899 to the Iulianovo Church in Tsarskoe Selo ).

Monuments

In the temple there are monuments- cenotaphs :

• Prince A. B. Kurakin . It is a pyramid with a medallion on which the bas-relief of the deceased is placed; in the lower part of the pedestal there is a bronze coat of arms and the inscription above it: “ To my spouse 's friend ”. Installed to the right of the entrance;
• the tutor of Paul I, Count N. I. Panin in the form of a marble pyramid built into the wall with a bas-relief and the inscription: “ Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin, was born on October 1718, October 15, died in March 1783, on the 31st ”; installed to the left of the entrance;
• tutor Alexander I - N. A. Zagryazskomu . It is a small mausoleum of white marble, decorated with a bas-relief depicting a crying woman. On it is the inscription: “ Here lies the body of His Imperial Majesty’s court, a real chamberlain and orders of St. Alexander Nevsky and sv. Anna Cavalier, Nikolai Alexandrovich Zagryazhsky, born on April 2, 1746, who died on July 25, 1821. A perishable monument to imperishable memories of meekness and love, in sorrow of separation, in the hope of eternal union, from the heart of the grateful, with a soul awe, put Countess M. Kochubei ". The monument is located next to the previous one. The author of the monument is I. P. Martos . In the spring of 1955, the tombstone (without the lower pedestal) was moved to the exhibition “The Art of Pavlovsk Palace”, where it remained.

The Church of St. Mary Magdalene attributed:

• Peter and Paul Church in Pavlovsk Palace ;
• The Church of the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon the Healer at a boarding house for children with mental disabilities;
• Chapel of the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon the Healer at Tuberculosis Hospital No. 8;
• Chapel of the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon the Healer at the House of War Veterans No. 1.

In 1797, Maria Fedorovna was founded by the almshouse called "Church invalid." It was located in the outbuildings attached to the temple. In 1811 there were in the Church invalid: 1 officer is disabled, 15 old men and 5 widows of Pavlovsk employees, who “served for a long time and without blame”. Their children lived with the glorified. Subsequently, children began to fit here: 10 boys and 10 girls.

In 1809, the outbuildings were built on the second floor where the hospital was located. In 1810, the number of beds in the hospital was 36 - 2 of them for women in labor and 6 for incurable patients. An outpatient admission was made at the hospital, and medicines were provided free of charge from the hospital pharmacy. In addition, doctors were required to visit the poor residents of the city at home, who were also supplied with medicines.

In separate buildings were placed kitchen, laundry, storerooms, apartments staff, barns, etc.

On August 25 ( September 7 ), 1914 an infirmary for 30 wounded soldiers was opened in the hospital.

The hospital operated until 1922 .

The temple with its annexes is a stone two-story building with a basement, rectangular in plan with a strongly elongated facade, with a semi-circular apse in the middle of the east side and a portico on the west. The central part in the shape of a cube considerably rises above the side and is surmounted by a small bell tower standing on the western wall.

On the facades of the side parts there are 6 rectangular windows with no frames, the lower ones being higher. In the apse part there are three windows in two tiers; lower high with semicircular forms. On the sides of the windows are four smooth Doric columns, slightly receding from the wall; at the junction of the apse with the wall of the semi-column with pilaster from the outside. Above the columns is the Doric order entablature with triglyphs and smooth metopes . The apse is covered with a hemispherical dome.

The bell tower is a circular construction with four arched spans, between which 2 columns with Corinthian capitals are attached to each pylon; over the belfry a low dome. The roof of the central part is hid; side hulls - triple. On the side roofs against the second window from the bell tower is located along the tower of illuminated lanterns. On the end walls of the central towering part of the building - wide semi-circular windows, separated by two risers. At the ends of the side wings - on the same window.

The wall of the building is plastered and painted yellow. Columns, cornice and bell tower - in white.

• Semevsky M.I. Pavlovsk: Essay on the history and description of 1777-1877. - SPb. , 1877. - pp. 23, 42, 242, 295.
• Historical and statistical information about the St. Petersburg Diocese. - SPb. , 1884. - T. VIII. - p. 367-373.
• Meshchaninov M. Yu. Temples of Tsarskoye Selo, Pavlovsk and their immediate surroundings: A brief historical reference. - 2nd, Corr. and add. - SPb. : Genio Loci, 2007. pp. 272–281. - ISBN 5-9900655-3-1 .

• Folk catalog of Orthodox architecture (inaccessible link)
• Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Pavlovsk on the website of the Globe of the St. Petersburg Diocese