In 1929, a large-scale campaign against religious organizations began in the USSR, which led to the mass closure, destruction and re-profiling of religious buildings that, according to local executive committees, did not have historical value. The Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary was no exception. Shortly after the adoption of a simplified procedure for the closure of religious buildings by the Commission on Cults, the Church of the Annunciation ceased its activities, repeating the fate of most churches of that time.
The beginning, like the end for this church, was trite enough. Having collected enough money from local parishioners, the wooden church standing on this site, as in computer games, “upgraded” to a brick one by 1776. But this is far from the final renovation of the temple. Between 1781 and 1803, the neighboring wooden church of St. Sergei of Radonezh, apparently, was dismantled and added as a new chapel to the Church of the Annunciation. The bell tower also appeared in this period of time. In 1804, another chapel was arranged in the refectory – the prophet Elijah.
In 1881, a large-scale reconstruction began, which lasted about 10 years, according to the project of the architect Karl Ivanovich Gelbig, which left little of the original temple. The church grew in three directions, the bell tower and the refectory were completely rebuilt.
But the most interesting thing was not outside, although the church has a rich construction history, but inside. The entire ceiling and walls were painted with bright adhesive paintings, mostly based on engravings by the German Romantic artist Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld.
In 1883, painting was made in the aisles of the temple, and in 1893 in the refectory and the altar by the Krasnokholmsky tradesman painter – Alexei Emelyanovich Suvorov.
Considering that the temple has been abandoned for more than 80 years, such a preservation of the ceiling painting is quite surprising.
