Church of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God

The Church of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God is one of the oldest Orthodox churches in St. Petersburg, located on the territory of the Smolensk Cemetery. According to legend, Xenia of Petersburg, revered by the faithful, took part in the construction of the church.

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Highlights

The ornate blue-and-white church was built in 1790 according to the project of the famous architect Alexei Alekseevich Ivanov and was executed in the traditions of early Russian classicism. Its entrance is decorated with a strict columned portico with a triangular pediment, and the dome of the bell tower is crowned by a tall spire with a cross.

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You can get to the Smolensk Church on any day. Liturgy here begins at 10.00 on weekdays and at 7.00 and 10.00 on Sundays and holidays. Evening service is held from November to March at 17.00, and from April to October at 18.00. Believers celebrate the Throne Feast on August 10. For children of parishioners at the Smolensk church there is a free Sunday school, which is taught for three years. For adults there are classes on the basics of icon painting.

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Not far from the Smolensk Church stands the stone chapel of Xenia of Petersburg, built over the burial place of the saint. Its doors are open every day from 10.00 to 17.00. Inside the chapel with intervals of 5-10 minutes serve memorial prayers.

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History of the Smolensk Church

The cemetery near the Smolenka River was arranged in the first half of the 18th century. At first it did not have its own temple, as there was a prescription to conduct church rites of repose and commemoration of the dead in the house and parish churches.

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Then the local clergy decided that the cemetery should have its own church. Since the parishioners had no funds for construction, the Russian Empress Elizabeth Petrovna issued a special decree that the church on Vasilyevsky Island was erected at the expense of the province, that is, with state money. The first wooden Smolensk church was put in the center of the cemetery plot and opened in 1760. Since the funds for it were allocated by the secular authorities, the income from the church went to them.

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After 30 years in the northern part of the cemetery erected a new stone Smolensk church, and the wooden church was reconstructed and re-consecrated in honor of Michael the Archistratigus. In 1824 there was a great flood in the city. The old building fell into disrepair, it had to be dismantled, and on the vacated place in 1831 built a new Trinity Church. Unfortunately, it has not survived to this day, as it was destroyed in 1932.

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Before the coming of Soviet power, the Smolensk Church had five parishes. In 1938 the Kazan icon of the Mother of God was transferred here for safekeeping, which until then had been in the Kazan Cathedral. A year before the Great Patriotic War the church was closed to parishioners, and its interior decoration was destroyed.

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Services in the Smolensk Church were not held for 7 years, but then it was reopened to the faithful. In 1989 there was a new side chapel dedicated to Xenia of St. Petersburg.

Features of the architecture

The rectangular single-domed church is adjoined by a refectory. Smolensk church has a two-tiered bell tower, on both floors of which there are belfries. The dome drum is framed by expressive arched windows. The same form of window apertures were built in the old Byzantine temples. The lowered dome is completed by a lantern with a small onion chapter.

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Inside the Smolensk Church there is a necropolis where the clergy of this temple are buried. Several dozen burials are in the basement, and commemorative plaques with the names of the buried can be seen on the north wall of the church.

St. Petersburg saint

No documentary information about the life of Ksenia Grigorievna Petrova has survived. According to popular legend it is known that she was born in St. Petersburg and was married to a court singer. At the age of 26 Xenia became a widow and chose the path of foolishness. She began to wear her husband’s clothes, called herself by his name, and said to herself that Xenia no longer existed, as she had died. Everyone became so accustomed to the unusual fool that they began to call the street where Xenia’s house stood Andrei Petrov Street. It is believed that Xenia of Petersburg died in the early 19th century and was buried in the Smolensk cemetery.

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In 1988, the Church consecrated her as a saint. On icons Blessed is drawn with a beak in her hand, and next to her depict the Smolensk Church. In different parts of the country Orthodox monasteries and temples are dedicated to the St. Petersburg saint.

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Chapel

The burial place of Xenia of Petersburg has become a place of mass pilgrimage from the very beginning. The earth, poured over the grave hill, was constantly dismantled by believers. Then a stone slab was put here, but it too was broken to pieces. It was not an act of vandalism, because people who came to the cemetery threw money into the grave in return. Then the authorities of St. Petersburg decided to put a mug over the grave to raise funds for the construction of a new church. In the second half of the XIX century, a small chapel with a carved iconostasis appeared over the grave. And in 1902 it was replaced by another chapel, erected in pseudo-Russian style by architect Alexander Alexandrovich Vseslavin.

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Since 1940, services in the chapel, as well as in the nearby Smolensk Church, ceased. At first they even wanted to destroy the chapel, but it was never done. During the years of the Leningrad blockade, the building was used to store containers for fuel oil, and the most valuable items of the church were lost.

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In 1947, services in the chapel resumed. The temple over the grave of Xenia of Petersburg was active for 15 years, but then it was closed again, giving the premises to a workshop for sculptors.

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The chapel was returned to the faithful only in 1983, and after the restoration, memorial prayers were held here again. Nowadays the brick one-domed temple is crowned with a scaly tent, and inside the chapel one can see a marble iconostasis with a crucifix.

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Smolensk Cemetery

The old St. Petersburg necropolis is planted with tall trees and has a unique flavor. Many pre-revolutionary graves and tombstones have been preserved in the Smolensk cemetery. It is believed that this is where Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin’s nanny Arina Rodionovna rests. This is written on the memorial plaque, but the exact location of her grave has not yet been determined.

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Here is the first grave where Taras Shevchenko lay. Then the ashes of the poet were transferred to the Ukrainian city of Kanev. Nowadays, the place of the first burial is marked by a light brown granite boulder with a memorial inscription. The poet Alexander Blok is buried in the Smolensk cemetery, and the path that leads to his grave is called Blokovskaya.

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Not far from the Smolensk Church, many famous personalities in Russia found their last shelter. Here are the burial places of the poet V. K. Trediakovsky, sculptor I. P. Martos, polar explorer A. I. Vilkitsky, composers D. S. Bortnyansky and K. N. Lyadov, as well as painters V. L. Borovikovsky, P. A. Fedotov, I. N. Kramsky and I. I. Shishkin.

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How to get there

Smolenskaya Church is located on Vasilyevsky Island, in the western part of St. Petersburg. The temple stands at 24 Kamskaya Street. Many visitors get here on foot from the metro stations “Vasileostrovskaya” or “Sportivnaya” (2 km). In addition, the entrance to the Smolensk cemetery is also approached by buses № 41, 42 and route № K 249a.

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