Church of St. Pantaleon in Solyanoi Lane (Saint Petersburg)
2A Pestelya Street, Saint Petersburg, Metro stations: "Chernyshevskaya", "Gostiny Dvor", "Nevsky Prospekt".
At the same time the civil shipyard on the banks of the Fontanka River was being built, a chapel was erected along the riverside. A wooden wattle church was built here in 1722. Its consecration took place on 2 September, 1722, in the absence of the Emperor Peter I. Having been in Astrakhan at that time, he sent an order to consecrate the church in the name of the Holy Great Martyr and Healer Pantaleon.
Special attention was drawn to this temple due to the fact that it was conceived by the Emperor as a memorial church for the military glory of the Russian fleet. It was given in gratitude for the two naval victories in the Great Northern War — Gangut on 27 July, 1714 and Grengam on 27 July, 1720. Both battles took place on the Memorial Day of St. Pantaleon.
In 1734, Empress Anna of Russia ordered a new foundation for a stone church next to the wooden one, which had become dilapidated. The wooden temple's original form had been somewhat preserved up until this time. The stone church was built from 1735–1739 by the City Police's architect N. Schumacher. However, at the stage of designing, the architect, who was inexperienced in temple building, may have been forced to make significant corrections proposed by Ivan Korobov. At that time, Korobov was rebuilding the civil shipyard's constructions in stone as well. The consecration of the church was held on 27 July, 1739. Erected on the Fontanka River, the one-dome church with a high cupola has become one of the most visited places in St. Petersburg.
The structure was built in a Baroque of Anna style, which features the complexities of high roofs and pediments' configurations, flatness of facades decorated with piers, fashioned window frames and two-tone coloration. Here you can see the facades are sparingly decorated with flat Doric piers and a fashioned baroque pediment above the semi-circular altar apsis. Also, there is baroque decoration of the octagonal tholobate which is covered with a lobed dome with a small onion cupola beneath the cross. Additionally there is the bell tower with a spire of original design. At the very beginning of 1764, the church of St. Catherine was set under the temple, and was consecrated on 25 January of the same year. However, in 1783, by order of Empress Catherine II, it was moved to the church of St. Pantaleon and made into the western side chapel.
From 1834–1835 the church was partially reconstructed by architect V. I. Beretti. At the same time the Catherine chapel was abolished. Wooden arches were built in the temple which were supported by 8 stone columns, coated with artificial marble. These arches had chapiters of composite order, in which figures of angels praying with folded hands were placed. The dome of the church was painted inside and the iconostasis of the classical style was installed in the space of the dome.
A small stone outbuilding was erected on the southern side of the church altar to house the aisle. A similar extension was made at the northern side of the altar, to include the vestry. Sculptor A. Loganovsky placed marble bas-reliefs on the facade. In 1872, a project of the diocesan architect G. I. Karpov enlarged the building by adding on a chapel and porch.
In 1895, the north side chapel of St. Theodosius of Chernigov was designed and built by the architect I. M. Golmdorf. From 1910–1912 a church wing was erected in the courtyard, and restorations were made under the guidance of architects A. P. Aplaksin, G. A. Kosyakov and G. I. Kotov.
The main shrines of the temple feature two icons of the Holy Great Martyr and Healer Pantaleon, with fractions of his relics. Each year, on the feast day of St. Pantaleon, the church holds services in gratitude for the Gangut victory.
At the beginning of the 20th century, a memorial plaques listing the military units that participated in the Battle of Gangut were set on the facade of the church. These inscriptions echo texts on the sidewall of the house that is opposite to Panteleymonovskaya Street. These writings tell of the heroic defence of Hanko Peninsula (the former name of Gangut) in the Great Patriotic War.
On 15 June, 1935 the church was closed, all the relics were removed, and most of the interior decoration was lost. The building of the church served as a grain warehouse and then later a textile shop.
In 1954, the plaques commemorating the victory at Gangut were restored and returned to the church's facade. Since 1981, the building has housed the "Gangut Glory" branch of the Leningrad Church History Museum.
On 15 March, 1994, the church was transferred to the St. Petersburg diocese. Since then, general overhaul and restoration of the church and surrounding buildings have been made.
The acres at the intersection of Narvsky and Staro-Petergofsky Avenues, where the Valaam Town House is situated today, were owned by the Old Ladoga Dormition Convent in the early 20th century. The age of the Monastery and the Town House is reckoned from July 1905. In 1910, the main altar was consecrated in honour of the Our Lady of Kazan Icon.
T...
According to the legend, working people were among the first who were buried on the banks of the Chornaya River (eng.: Black River), the Smolenka River now. Construction of a huge city demanded many hands. Those, who were called upon to St. Petersburg by the Monarch, settled in Vasilievsky Island. However, there were no houses for them to live in. ...
Emperor Alexander III and his family's miraculous escape from the Borki train accident, which happened near Kharkov on 17 October 1888 (Old Style), gave rise to construction of a great number of churches dedicated to this event. Custom officers, exchange contractors, and port officials, who lived in Gutuevsky Island and in the mouth of the Neva Riv...