Many churches and monasteries in Russia are dedicated to the feast of the Ascension of the Lord. It is celebrated on the 40th day after Easter, since, according to Christian doctrine, 40 days after the resurrection, Jesus Christ ascended to heaven.
Short story
For believing Christians, the Ascension of Christ to heaven opens the way to eternal life, to the Kingdom of God, just as the death and Resurrection of the Lord symbolize the victory over the sin of all mankind. One of the churches in honor of the miraculous Ascension of I. Christ is located in the ancient city of Murom, at the intersection of Moskovskaya and Lev Tolstoy streets.
View of the church from Moskovskaya street
The first documentary mention of this temple dates back to 1574: in the hundredth record for the Murom posad, the Church of the Ascension is also named among the city churches.... In 1729, by the "diligence and diligence" of the commissar OI Nazvanov, the burgomaster V. Smolyaninov and the former clerk A. Gerasimov, a stone church was erected on the site of the wooden church. Following this, the Entry of Jerusalem chapel was added to it, but it was not heated, so services were held here only in the summer. In 1771, a "warm" wooden church was erected for winter services in honor of the Vladimir Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos.
View of the church bell tower and the main entrance to the temple
The architecture of the Church of the Ascension
Currently, the Church of the Ascension of the Lord has two side-altars (throne), attached to the facade of the main building. On the south side, there is a chapel in honor of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, dating from the 18th century, and on the north side - the temple of St. Sergius of Radonezh, consecrated in 1892.
View of the eastern facade of the church
The architecture of the main temple of the Ascension of the Lord has remained unchanged. It belongs to the so-called Yaroslavl-type churches: a five-domed church with an extensive refectory and a high hipped bell tower, modest in decor, stands out among other buildings of the city for its harmony and sophistication of proportions.
The facade of the temple is decorated with windows with terem frames, a cornice made of a three-step curb and columns with graceful capitals at the corners.
Church of the Ascension of the Lord - view from the rear
The hipped belfry is the same age as the Church of the Ascension. In 1840, 10 bells were installed in it. One of them weighing 200 pounds (equivalent to 3276 kg) casted with funds donated by honorary citizens of Murom - Peter and Andrian Myazdrikov.
Relics of the Church of the Ascension of the Lord
The interior of the Church of the Ascension of the Lord is decorated with several old icons. Their silver salaries are instructed in precious stones. On the icons of the Theotokos "Assumption" and "Life-giving source" there are silver crosses containing particles of imperishable relics.
View of the north facade of the church
The church archive contains historical documents: a blessed letter for the construction of a church (1729) and a letter for the consecration of the Vladimir wooden church, issued by the Vladimir bishop Jerome in 1771. Initially, the temple stood on Voznesenskaya Square, and today a city square has been laid out in its place.