Church’s

Znamensky Church

            The church owes   the icon of the Holy Blessed Virgin its name. It was painted in the XII century and for a long time was kept in one of the side-altars of Znamensky Church.

         The church was erected in 1794 – 1804 by architect F. I. Demertsov, who had constructed Saint Sergius’ Cathedral on Liteiny Avenue before. The building was carried out in classicism style.

         The elegant outline of the building, situated on Znamensky Square             (Nevsky Avenue), was crowned with five helmet-shaped domes. The central dome was a little bit more thin and tall. The facades were incrustrated with dummy joints.

         Interior was especially successful Demertsov’s job. The space under the domes was surrounded by the Corinthian order colonnade. It outlined the central nave. The colonnade flew together with the very rich icon stand. Thus, Demertsov did not break one of the main rules of the orthodox church building, ran risks by increasing the size of the side domes, almost till the size of the central one. The attempt was successful.

         In 1809 the cast-iron fence was installed round the church. After that, two small chapels were built nearby the church. They were located on the line of Nevsky Avenue.

         The fortune of this church is even more tragical then many of other temples. That goes without saying, it was closed after revolution. In 1940 it was destroyed. After the World War II, on its former place the new pavilion of Ploshad’ Vosstaniya metro station was erected. Now days it is still functioning.    

 The Greek Church of Saint Demetrius Salon

The Greek Church was built on the embankment of Ligovsky Canal (that was covered up with earth later) between the 4th and the 5th Christmas Streets (now -  4th  and 5th Sovetskaya Streets).

Most of funds for the building were endowed by the Greek community in Saint-Petersburg. But it was not enough, and then  Greek merchant Dmitri-us Benardaki decided to build the church of his patron Saint with his own money. Money, that were wrapped-round by the community were gifted to the Russian mission in Athens.

The church was founded on the 25th of May, 1861. The architect was R.I. Kuz’min. He represented the samples of early Byzantines architectural motifs.

The Building was cross-shaped. The vast dome towered it. Nearby the Eastern facade there were two additional buildings – for deacon and vestry. There was also a thick vestibule . A flat pavilion of bell tower, that was built over it was crowned with the pediment with the Cross.

Forty windows make the inside space well-enlightened. The walls were faced with shining ornaments – golden tracery on the silver background, or silver tracery on high-coloured background. The nut wood icon stand consist of two stages. The icons were created with oily paints on the golden-coloured background. They were delivered from Greece. Many of them were very old. The wooden axises were fenced in metal balustrade. The floor was paved with white marble.

    The church was consecrated in 1866. The services were held only in Greek language. The first parishioners were Greek businessmen, emigrants. Many of them were successful during the New Economic Policy.

In January 1939 the church was closed and delivered to local functionaries. It was destroyed in 1961. Several years later Large Concert October Hall was erected here. Now days only poem of Josef Brod-sky and Greek avenue remind about the Greek church and those Greeks who lived in this area.