Church of Paraskeva Fridays (Volgograd)

The church in honor of the Holy Great Martyr Paraskeva Pyatnitsa was founded in 1914 and built at the expense of Tsaritsyn's merchant Vasily Fedorovich Lapshin in the name of the holy name of his dead wife, in memory of the firstborn Vasily who died in infancy and for the forgiveness of the sins of his son Alexander, who was shot dead on October 14, 1914 ( which coincided with the day of the death of the mother, in which funeral services were served annually) ^[2] . The construction of the temple was already completed in 1915, and despite the fact that the interior decoration of the church was not completed due to the outbreak of war , everyone was invited to the church ^[3] .

With the advent of Soviet power, the Lapshin family was persecuted, the church was also ruined, and the dome was shot down, the village council was located in the building. In 1936, the premises were transferred to the Coopins Union for a toy factory, at which time Maria Uskova worked there ^[4] . In addition, at different times in the building of the temple housed a shelter for street children, a working club, a nail workshop ^[5] . During the Battle of Stalingrad, the church cellar served as a bomb shelter. After the war, military warehouses were located in the building. According to press reports, in 1975 a Swedish military attache was detained while photographing them ^{[6] [5]} .

In 1991, the building was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church . The first rector of the newly opened church was Archpriest Alexander Troitsky, who began organizing the restoration of the church. At this time, a narthex , front door and porch were attached to the temple, a new dome was installed. The temple was visited by Patriarch Alexy II , who praised the activities for his revival ^[3] .

In the summer of 1994, a robbery was committed against the temple. The attackers shot at the abbot, but the cartridge misfired, after which father Alexander was beaten and the donations were taken. July 20, 1995 the priest was attacked by a man whom father Alexander made a remark because of an unrequited headgear. A fall from the porch and a sudden onset of asthma caused heart failure and the abbot's death. Archpriest Alexander Troitsky was buried in the churchyard, according to his will ^{[5] [3]} .

In subsequent years, the improvement of the temple continued, including the installation of domes, painted walls, and an iconostasis . Since 2002 and for almost ten years, the temple was a courtyard of the Ust-Medveditsky Holy Transfiguration Monastery , for several months of 2012 - the compound of the Holy Spirit Monastery ^[3] .

Today, the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Paraskeva Friday is a full-fledged existing church of the Russian Orthodox Church, in which services are held daily. The parish provides social assistance to the needy, a charity canteen operates. The temple also has a library, which contains one of the largest collections of church Orthodox literature in Volgograd ^[3] .

The walls of the temple are made of bricks. The corners are emphasized by the rusting pilasters enveloping them. Facade decoration is solved in a “ brick ” modification of the Russian style . The facades of the main two-volume volume of the temple are flanked by window openings (false ones on the eastern facade). Round windows of the upper light are bordered by solid platbands, and large semicircular windows of the lower light are decorated with archivolts and pilasters. The window openings of the cross sleeves are arched, decorated with pilasters and complex multi-stage sandrikas . A porch is arranged from the western facade, the entrance to the temple is accented by murals ^[2] .

Inside, in the eastern part of the temple, there is a gilded three-tier iconostasis. A large crucifix is installed on the left side of the salt , and on the right side, in a separate icon case , there is a large icon of the Holy Great Martyr Paraskeva. In total, the church can accommodate more than four hundred people ^[7] .

• Argastseva S.A., Gurenko L.V., Zhorova E.P. and other Code of historical and architectural heritage of Tsaritsyn — Stalingrad — Volgograd (1589-2004). - Volga. : Panorama, 2004 .-- S. 165. - 240 p. - ISBN 5-9666-0003-1 .

• Ivanov S. M., Suprun V. I. Orthodoxy on the Volgograd land: the churches of Tsaritsyn - Stalingrad - Volgograd. - Volga. : Publishing House of VGIPK RO, 2003 .-- S. 167-168. - 240 p. - ISBN 5-7087-0096-3 .

• The site of the Paraskevin parish (neopr.) .
• VKontakte Parish Group (Neopr.) .
• Paraskeva Fridays Temple - Arkhigrad broadcast on October 13, 2016 on the Volgograd 24 channel on YouTube