The history of appearing of the Church of St. Nicholas in Mogilev

This temple was erected in the second half of the 17^thcentury in the original architectural style of Baroque. Initially, here was a monastery which was built at the same place where once had been located an old wooden Church at the monastery of St. Nicholas. A century after the opening of the Church, the monastery was abolished, and the Church became open to parishioners.

In 1934, when the priest M.Pleshchensky died, the Church was closed.  A couple years later the local authorities decided to open a prison in the walls of the temple. And after the completion of the Great Patriotic War the Church was used as a store for books.

In the second half of the 20^th century, the Church ridiculous way suffered at the hands of inept and inexperienced builders. During the repairing works, they somehow covered the walls, which were painted with paintings of the amazing beauty, with cement. 15 years later restorers tried to restore the old paintings and frescoes. For many years they had been trying to bring the Church in its original form, but it began to look even worse.

A new life for the Church and a new stage in the history of its existence fell at the 90-ies of the 20^th century, at the time when the temple was returned to the Orthodox.

Today the Church of St. Nicholas appears before visitors in the form of a basilica built in the shape of a cross. The temple has two identical between each other towers. Visually, the Church has architectural features typical for Mogilev region. Like in many other buildings of that time, the floral design is traced in decorative elements of the façade of the temple.

Inside the Church the space is divided into three naves with large columns.  Two of three naves seem to be one due to the round shape of the dome. Thanks to experienced crackerjacks today we can see in the temple amazing pictures of the emerald, gold and ruby shades. Among these works 19 paintings belong to the 17-19^th centuries. They are located between windows on two tiers. The most ancient fresco of the Church is “Trinity of the New Testament” that was created in the 17^th century. It is located right on the arches of the dome of the temple.  Wall paintings are really impressive and amazing.

The Church of St. Nicholas is not only a valuable architectural monument of Belarus, but also it is a very interesting building with its unique history, which is open to visitors inside the temple.