Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God of the Vyshny Volochyok Kazan Convent of the Tver Diocese

Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God of the Vyshny Volochyok Kazan Women’s Monastery of the Tver Diocese

In 1872, a women’s community was formed in Vyshny Volochyok, which nine years later was transformed into a convent with communal living. In 1885, the revered icon of the Kazan Mother of God of ancient Greek painting was transferred to it from the Winter Palace church. After the closure of the monastery, this icon ended up in the only functioning church in the city, from where it was stolen in 1984.

For the metochion, M.F. Utkin, owner of the “Vienna” restaurant, donated a wooden house on the Petrograd side in 1907, to which A.P. Aplaksin, the diocesan architect, added a small chapel with a spire, consecrated on November 30, 1908, by Archimandrite Macarius of the Lavra. On November 20, 1910, it was replaced by a stone chapel in honor of the birth of Tsarevich Alexei.

At the same time, preparations began for the construction of a stone church in the Pskov style according to the project of the aforementioned architect. The head of the construction commission was Hofmeister B.V. Shturmer. In the spring of 1910, construction was in full swing; the laying of the foundation by Bishop Nikandr of Narva took place on September 19, 1910, when the four-story house for the sisters was already roofed, and the three-altar church was built up to the first floor.

The solemn consecration of the church was performed on September 30, 1912, by Bishop Nikandr of Narva. The white plastered church with a chapel on the lower floor and a bell tower was the first in the city to be decorated outside with fresco painting; it was executed by Vishnevetsky. The interior painting and the icons in the iconostasis were done by the sisters of the monastery. On November 11, 1912, the last altar was consecrated. Father Alexander Ioannovich Orlov began serving in the new church; he was later imprisoned in a concentration camp during Soviet times.

In 1919, the metochion housed 4 nuns and 32 novices.

The metochion was closed on June 6, 1923, converted into a student dormitory, and later rebuilt into a residential building by architect F.A. Lykhin.

Sources:

http://www.encspb.ru/object/2813694834