Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, city of Ostrov

“The Nikolskaya Church is located on a small island, washed on two sides by the Velikaya River. In ancient times, there was a fortress here, of which ruins of stone walls have partially survived. The church is oriented with its apses to the north, which was caused by the road passing through the island, connecting Pskov with Opochka, Vitebsk, Smolensk, and Kiev. The temple is situated parallel to the route. The connection with the city, which began to be built on the right bank of the Velikaya River from the late 18th century, was carried out by means of rafts and a ferry, and only in 1853 were suspension chain bridges constructed. The church consists of a single-domed quadrangle, to the west of which adjoins a vestibule and a three-tier bell tower of the 19th century; to the south — a side chapel with a vestibule and a baptismal room, added at the end of the 1960s. Pskov chronicles, reporting in the year 1543 about the construction of churches, mention the building of a church in the city of Ostrov: ‘…In the year 7051… in the same year they erected in the city of Ostrov the holy Nikola…’. On the church drum, fragments of a ceramic inscription band have been preserved, made simultaneously with the construction of the church and listing, besides the Grand Prince Ivan Vasilyevich, church elders and parish representatives who contributed to the construction.

This is ‘…Larivon Levontyev and Mikhail Kuzmin Kyurila Grigoryev son Ivan Ses…’ In the church metric book of 1887, based on data from an old church synodic written in 7061 (1553), the creators of the church are indicated as Zakhar, Nikolai, and Maria, without specifying their surnames and ranks. The same information is given in the church clerical registers of the 19th — early 20th centuries. The first known brief description of the Nikolskaya Church dates back to 1764: ‘…Suburb of Ostrov, the Cathedral Nikolayevskaya Church… stone, covered with shingles, on it a dome covered with tin anew, the cross on this dome is iron, forked, gilded.

The bell tower is stone, with four bells, two large and two small. The bell tower is completely dilapidated, which definitely requires repair on the city wall…’ The description mentions the vestibule and the side church of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Both churches at that time had rich interior decoration with carved gilded iconostases. In the 19th century, in the clerical registers, the church is briefly described as stone and solid, with the side chapel of the Transfiguration of the Lord. In 1801, a two-tier bell tower made of slabs was built over the vestibule, which still exists today. A description of the church from 1946 has been preserved, which gives the condition of the church at that time: ‘…As a result of the German occupation from 1941 to 1944, the monument suffered significant damage. The walls had many cracks, all windows were broken, the roof was mostly torn off, and in some places completely missing. The onion dome above the chapel drum is absent. The roofing and formwork of the central dome were damaged by 40%. In 1946-1947, priority repair work was carried out on the masonry of the walls, the formwork of the central dome with the addition of 20% new material, and a new dome was made above the chapel.

Sources:

https://nataturka.ru/muzey-usadba/ostrov-tserkov-nikolskaya.html

http://pskovgrad.ru/