To the east of the Vvedensky Cathedral, at the edge of the monastery cemetery, there is a neat blue church, where the relics of seven Optina elders rest in granite reliquaries. This is a former hospital church, which, like the entire Optina Hermitage, experienced periods of prosperity, destruction and revival.
Temple history
The Orthodox Church began to be erected in 1809 as a temple for the weak, and two years later it was consecrated by Bishop Evlampy of Kaluga and Borovsk. Then the building was equipped with six hospital cells, in which novices and monks improved their health.
Facade of the church
In 1854, the temple was supplemented with a western extension, and the Psalter began to be read in it around the clock, commemorating the dead novices, monks, abbots and benefactors of Optina Hermitage. Then three more cells appeared at the church for the weak.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the temple was built on. At this time, in one of the cells, the Monk Anatoly the Younger - Potapov (1855-1922), who was affectionately called Anatoly the Comforter, was constantly living and receiving believers.
With the advent of Soviet power, the Church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was closed, and after the Great Patriotic War, the building was dismantled to the ground. By 1989, when archaeological research was carried out in the monastery, only traces of a stone foundation remained from the once picturesque temple.
View of the church from the south
The restoration of the destroyed church began in 1995. The work was not easy, and the restorers used old photographs, descriptions and drawings. Three years later, Patriarch Alexy II specially came to the monastery to consecrate the revived church and serve the first church service in it.
Church architecture and interior decoration
The three-apse one-storey church was built in the best traditions of classicism. It is a brick, plastered building, painted blue and white. The entrance to it is decorated with an elegant porch. A small gilded dome rises above a faceted blue half-dome, on which large golden stars sparkle.
The interiors are decorated with wall paintings made in the 2000s by the masters of Optina Pustyn. The area around the temple has been improved. Beds with flower beds are laid out near the church building, and slender spruces and cypresses grow.
Cathedral dome view
The current state of the temple and the visiting regime
The Church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God is a functioning temple open to pilgrims and tourists. The revered Optina elders are buried in it - Lev (Nagolkin), Makariy (Ivanov), Illarion (Ponamarev), Anatoly (Zertsalov), Anatoly (Potapov), Joseph (Litovkin) and Varsonofy (Plikhankov). Church services are held here daily.
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