Church - 1790 (Russia, Tver region, Krasnoye)

Camera: Nikon F 80;

Lens: Sigma 12-24mm F4.5-5.6 EX DG ASP HSM;

Film: Kodak ProImage100;

Filter: No filter;

Exposure: as ISO 100;

Scanned: by Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400 by Dimage Scan

 

In 1785, in the village of Krasnoye, Staritsky District, Tver Governorate, Mark Poltoratsky, an Actual State Councilor, decided to build a church—an exact replica of the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist in St. Petersburg, better known as the Chesme Church. To better understand the owner's unusual design, it's worth returning to that distant era and first recalling the original—the Chesme Church itself, built ten years earlier on the Tsarskoye Selo Highway next to the Imperial Travel Palace. The church in St. Petersburg was ceremoniously laid in June 1777 not only to commemorate the resounding victory of the Russian fleet over the Turks in Chesme Bay in 1770 but also in the very spot where Catherine the Great first received news of it. After the completion of the Chesme Church, Catherine II loved to visit here, and a special royal seat was designated for her. A short time passes... and Mark Fyodorovich Poltoratsky, the founder of the Poltoratsky noble family, a renowned Russian singer and director of the Court Chapel, decided to build a similar church on his estate for the 20th anniversary of the Battle of Chesma. Without knowing the background to its construction, any traveler would inevitably ask, "Where did such beauty come from in this rural backwater?!"

 

The details of the construction of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior in Krasnoye are known thanks to the research work of writer and restorer Vladimir Ivanovich Sysoev (1947-2010), the author of several books on the history of the Tver region. So, thanks to old documents, it becomes clear that the main driving force in the family of Actual State Councilor Mark Poltoratsky was his wife, "the general's wife," Agafokleya Alexandrovna (née Shishkova) (1732-1822), born into a family of Tver landowners. Her husband, Mark Fyodorovich, was afraid to cross her. According to one legend, the young Alexander I heard of her alleged "tyrannies" and ordered her flogging at the execution site. Be that as it may, she was a remarkable individual. Agafokleya multiplied the dowry she inherited from her father many times over, and by the end of her life, she owned four thousand serfs. Therefore, she was able to donate considerable sums both to the needy and to the construction of churches, and, most importantly, she was generous and eager to take advantage of this opportunity. In addition to building the church in Krasnoye, she financed the restoration of the Borisoglebsky Cathedral in Staritsa. After the Poltoratskys became owners of the estate in Krasnoye, the couple's first decision was to build a new stone church to replace the old wooden one. At his wife's insistence, Mark Fyodorovich wrote a letter in 1783 blessing the construction, stating that he wished "to build it at my own expense, according to the affordability of the location, without, however, moving away from my residence." The bishop asked for details: how many parishioners and households were on the estate? The prepared report informed him that, according to the deanery records of the Startsky district from 1782, the village of Krasnoye had a "wooden church, named the Resurrection of Christ, without chapels," built in 1720. Although dilapidated, it "contains ample furnishings," and is served by a priest, deacon, sexton, and sexton. There are 287 parish households. The blessing was given that same year, but there was a delay in obtaining the so-called charter for the construction of the church, without which construction could not begin. Only in the summer of 1785, after Mark Fyodorovich appealed a second time to the new Archbishop of Tver, Joasaph, was the charter received.

 

Unfortunately, archival documents provide no explanation as to why the owners of Krasnoye decided to build a replica of the Chesme Church. There are several theories. One of the most probable is that Agathoclea Poltoratskaya literally idolized Catherine II and reasonably believed that the very act of building an exact replica of the Chesme Church, so beloved by the Empress, would earn her favor. At another Agathoclea estate, the village of Gruzini near Torzhok, the only objects hanging on the walls of the mistress's bedroom were an image of the Savior and a portrait of Catherine II. After the empress's death, the landowner purchased her clothes and bedding as best she could.

 

The Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist in St. Petersburg was built according to the designs of the renowned architect Yury Felten. However, the question of whether the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior in Krasnoye was a replica of this architect's design remains open. And did the architect ever visit Krasnoye to oversee the construction of the twin church? There are no reliable answers to these questions. It is only known that in 1776, Felten visited Tver and participated in the ceremony of laying the foundation stone for the monument to Catherine the Great (the monument was demolished in 1811). Therefore, it can be assumed that the architect did travel the distance from Tver to Krasnoye to discuss the construction of the future twin of the Chesme Church with the Poltoratskys. On the other hand, Mark Fyodorovich, who by then was already in charge of the Imperial Chapel, held a noble title, and had his own coat of arms depicting a harp in the center, could well have met the renowned architect in either Moscow or St. Petersburg. Incidentally, in addition to the original church in the village of Krasnoye, a third identical church was also built at the estate of A.D. Lansky in the village of Posadnikovo, Novorzhevsky District, Pskov Governorate. Unlike the first two, St. Nicholas Church had a freestanding four-tiered bell tower.

 

Unfortunately, neither the church itself nor the bell tower survives; they were demolished by the Bolsheviks in the 1920s. And the creation of three identical churches in different parts of Russia—isn't this a testament to the impeccability of the original architect's work? Even though it had all the hallmarks of Gothic architecture, which looked quite exotic in the Russian hinterland. Construction of the church in Krasnoye dragged on for eight years, although the Poltoratskys had planned to complete it in 1790, in time for the anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Chesma. Only in the summer of 1803, after the death of Mark Fyodorovich, was everything ready for Archbishop Pavel of Tver and Kashin to consecrate the new church in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Agathoclea Alexandrovna outlived her husband by more than three decades. Before her death in 1822, she bequeathed the estate to one of her sons, Alexander Markovich (1766-1839), who lived in Krasnoye for a time. After burying his mother, and apparently in her memory, he asked the church authorities for a blessing to surround the church grounds with a stone fence. In his petition, he not only recalled that "the stone church in the name of the Transfiguration of the Lord was built by my late mother," but also boasted that "its splendor and wealth are sufficient compared to other churches." The blessing was soon received, and the fence was erected. Unfortunately, it has not survived to this day. In 1839, after the death of Alexander Markovich, the village of Krasnoye and another neighboring village called Sloboda passed into the possession of his daughter, Praskovia. But she had already put down strong roots in Moscow and rarely visited the family estate. Without proper oversight, the estate began to deteriorate and fall into disrepair. Praskovia mortgaged it repeatedly to pay debts, until, in late 1859, she sold it to a certain retired collegiate councilor, Boris Vasilyevich Kostylev. The new owner's son, also named Boris, a physician by training, set up a medical office on the first floor of the estate and began treating peasants. During World War I, he converted the entire second floor into a hospital, accommodating about fifty beds. Kostylev treated wounded Russian soldiers and officers until the Bolsheviks came to power. They not only closed the hospital but also arrested Kostylev himself. The doctor's subsequent fate is unknown.

 

In 1931, the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior was closed by the Bolsheviks. The bells were melted down, the stone fence was dismantled, and transported to Staritsa, where they were placed around the city garden. For over sixty years, from 1931, when the godless authorities closed the church, the church building served the needs of a local collective farm and fell into serious disrepair. The Feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul (July 12, 1998) marks the rebirth of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in the village of Krasnoye. In 1999, Priest Dimitry Kasparov became the rector of the church, and thanks to his tireless efforts, repair and restoration work has been ongoing for nearly twenty years. Today, the main challenges are behind us: the roof has undergone major repairs, the domes have been covered, crosses have been installed, and bells have been installed. Inside, a wooden floor has been laid, the walls have been plastered and painted, and a new iconostasis has been erected.

 

From the magazine "Orthodox Churches. A Journey to Holy Places." Issue No. 278, 2018.

Done