Address: Russia, Kasimov, Oktyabrskaya st.
Start of construction: 1691 year
Completion of construction: 1700 year
Coordinates: 54 ° 55'29.4 "N 41 ° 24'14.7" E
Content:
2 km to the south of the famous Cathedral Square, you can see the old Epiphany Church. It stands on the high left bank of the Oka and is perfectly visible from different parts of the city. The Epiphany Church is active. Believers and tourists visiting the ancient city visit it every day.
View of the church from the Oka
Two legends
Two ancient legends are associated with the Epiphany Church. According to one of them, on the ground where the temple was built, Alexander Nevsky himself was buried. It is well known that the prince was buried in the Nativity monastery of Vladimir, and later, by order of Peter I, he was reburied in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra on the banks of the Neva. However, the residents of Kasimov continue to believe that the prince's ashes lie under the Epiphany Church.
The second legend dates back to 1702, when Tsar Peter I visited Kasimov. He sailed to the city along the Oka on a ship. Sailing past Kasimov, the tsar was amazed at the sight that opened up. From the river, the small town looked like a real provincial center, and the recently built Epiphany Church looked especially good.
Peter I joked that after the khans, there was no real ruler left in Kasimov, and this is bad for the city. Hearing these words, the court jester Ivan Alekseevich Balakirev asked the tsar for permission to be called the Kasimov khan. Without thinking twice, the king agreed.
Then there were events that played a cruel joke with Balakirev. He was guilty before the sovereign, was beaten with batogs and almost died. But during the time of Catherine I, the jester received a pardon, the rank of lieutenant of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky regiment and the city of Kasimov into personal possession. Here, on the banks of the Oka, Balakirev moved to live out his life.
View of the church bell tower
According to legend, the former jester died in 1763 at the age of 64 and was buried behind the altar of the Epiphany Church. There is indeed a large oblong stone without inscriptions behind the fence of the church altar. However, no one knows for sure if there is someone's grave underneath.
Temple history
On the site of the old church in the XIII century there was the Epiphany monastery of Gorodets Meshchersky. In 1376, when the Mongols attacked Russia, the Christian monastery and the city itself were destroyed and burned down in a fire. Since the 16th century, the Pushkarskaya Sloboda was located here, and it was decorated with the wooden church of St. George the Victorious.
Over time, the suburb church fell into disrepair, and a new stone church was built in its place between 1691 and 1700. In memory of the old church, it was called St. George-Epiphany for a long time. The Orthodox church was overhauled several times. In 1816, limits were added to it, and in 1871 the refectory was completely rebuilt.
With the advent of Soviet power, the fate of the temple changed dramatically. First, all church values were removed from it. In 1939, in the midst of an anti-religious campaign, the church was closed and turned into a raw material warehouse for a tannery. It remained in this form until 1994, and then was returned to the believers.
View of the church from the street. Oktyabrskaya
Church today
The Epiphany Church is the oldest of all the functioning churches in the city of Kasimov. Services are held here, and church holidays are held. In addition, the temple is visited by tourists who travel around the cities of the "Golden Ring" of Russia.
The stone church is well plastered and neatly painted white. It was built by a "ship" in the Russian Baroque traditions of the late 17th century. The temple itself rises to 36 m, and its bell tower - to 42 m. The quadruple with a low altar apse is completed by five neat chapters. The refectory is greatly expanded, and the slender three-tiered bell tower ends with a narrow long spire.
Outside, the church building is decorated with false kokoshniks in the form of shells, pediments and semi-columns. The windows are framed by elegant "Naryshkinsky" platbands, and the drum of the central head is decorated with an expressive arcature-columnar belt.
Inside the church there is a massive iconostasis with ancient icons. Especially revered shrines here are considered the Epiphany icon and sacred vessels, which were donated to the temple by the princes Golitsyn in the 18th century.
Church domes
How to get there
The church is located on Oktyabrskaya Street, 8a. People get from Moscow to Kasimov by private vehicles and regular buses. From the Kasimov bus station you can get to the temple by city buses, minibuses or taxis.
