Yeniseysk

The churches of Yeniseysk

Svyato-Spassky monastery

The Yeniseysk Svyato-Spassky monastery was built in the middle of a marshy area in 1642 on the place of praying deeds of Timofey Ivanov. The monastery owned patrimonial estates, a salt-making factory, mills and a seminary. The building was erected under the supervision of the monk Feodosiy. The chronicle of the monastery began in 1804, the library counted 300 books. In 1920ies Spassky monastery was closed and plundered, in 1937-38 it was a place for a mass execution. Only in the end of XX century it was opened again.

The Svyato-Spassky monastery still keeps a lot of secrets. One of them is connected with a lake near Yeniseysk, which was called Monastyrskoe (The Monastery lake) by local people. A lot of cells and church constructions were found on the territory of the lake. More than 100 monks were killed here by the soviet government representatives and then thrown into the lake. After that the lake didn't freeze during several years.

The church of Preobrazheniye

The church of Preobrazheniye (Transfiguration) was built in the end of the temple construction development period in Yeniseysk in XVIII century. Every guest of Yeniseysk should definitely see a picturesque view of the river Yeniseysk front, where Preobrazhensky cathedral stands surrounded by Bogoyavlensky cathedral and the church of Voskreseniye.

On September 19 in 1703 several dozens of houses, a wooden Bogoyavlenskaya church and a guest house were burnt during the big fire. An experienced constructor Fedot Merkuriey Chiyka from Tobolsk was invited to Yeniseysk to build a new stone guest house. But instead he began to build a stone Bogoyavlensky cathedral according to the requests of parishioners. He finished building it in 1712.

The unique view of the upper part of a two-storied Preobrazhenskaya church is connected with usage of colorful ornaments made of bricks for decoration front parts. They are similar to totem figures, but their main function is to decorate doors and windows. Cartouches with complicated temple elements illustrate the local variant of XVIII century "Siberian baroque". The European baroque style and its Tobolsky variant become the new source of ideas. Preobrazhenskaya church in Yeniseysk is the vivid example of that.

Uspensky cathedral

The gallery of beautiful stone constructions under the open sky in Yeniseysk enlarged after building of the Moscow - Siberian tract through Krasnoyarsk. Uspenskaya church (1763) has crowned the highest point of the historical Yeniseysk part. The surrounding buildings near the church haven't changed much - it is still one-storied wooden houses.

The amazing composition of the temple reflects the style of Tobolsk Zaharyevskaya church. The originality of the cathedral is its spatial construction. You can come to the upper south temple of Peter and Pavel or to the north temple of Alexander Nevsky stepping on cast-iron plates with large ornaments of XIX century on the ground floor. The temple managed to preserve the old interior and icons.

Uspenskaya church was built with the help of the Yeniseysk citizens and merchants from other cities.

The church was never destroyed and has been working since the moment it was opened. In 1990 it became a cathedral.

Voskresenskaya church

This church is the second oldest cult construction in Yeniseysk. The stone church is an example of cult Russian architecture of XVIII century's second half. The temple which stands in the eastern part of the historical Yeniseysk is a working church now.

Voskresenskaya church was founded in 1736 and built in 1750. The belfry of the church was built in the 60ies of XVIII century. The famous Yeniseysk merchant Ivan Shukin became the constructor. At that time there was a lack of skilled constructors in the city.

Voskresenskaya church is a temple without columns with a longitudinal structure. On the east-west axis there were a temple with a half sphere altar apse, a kitchen and a tiered belfry.

The major part of the church is a traditional octahedron standing on a tetrahedron, covered by a high arch. The temple is one of the earliest examples of the Yeniseysk school of "Siberian" baroque. The bright view is formed by the brick ornaments.