Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –
Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –
On February 3, the Polytechnic University was visited by Metropolitan of Pskov and Porkhov, Abbot of the Holy Dormition Pskov-Pechersky Monastery Matfey (Kopylov). The visit was part of the events in honor of the 125th anniversary of the Polytechnic University. The guest got acquainted with the history of the university and its current activities, and discussed opportunities for cooperation.
The tour of the university began with the Main Academic Building, where Metropolitan Matfey of Pskov and Porkhov got acquainted with the gallery of outstanding polytechnic scientists. In the SPbPU History Museum, its director Valery Klimov spoke about the most important events in the history of the Polytechnic, presented interesting facts and showed key exhibits. In the Technopolis Polytechnic research building, the university’s scientific secretary Dmitry Karpov demonstrated a model of the SPbPU campus.
During the visit, the bishop met with the rector of SPbPU Andrey Rudskoy. The meeting was also attended by the vice-rector for youth policy and communication technologies Maxim Pasholikov and a member of the initiative group to save the church in Belskoye Ustye Valery Silin.
The Church of the Ascension of the Lord is located in the village of Belskoye Ustye in the Porkhov District, where the grave of Prince Andrei Gagarin, an outstanding Russian scientist and engineer, the first director of the Polytechnic University, is also located. The 18th-century church is the largest patrimonial church in the Pskov land, which has no analogues in the architectural heritage of the region. It is an integral part of the cultural and historical complex, which includes the estate of Prince A. G. Gagarin in Kholomki, the main building of which was restored by the Polytechnic University in 2013, as well as the outskirts of Porkhov with their unique fortresses, churches and temples.
The Church of the Ascension of the Lord is one of the pearls of the Pskov region for tourists, especially for pilgrims. It is important to develop tourist routes around Pskov. Together we contribute to the great cause of the revival of Russian history, Andrey Rudskoy emphasized.
The meeting participants considered possible areas of cooperation in the reconstruction of the church, ways of attracting benefactors, organizing a board of trustees for the implementation of the project, as well as the possibility of opening a Sunday school at the church.
The first Church of the Ascension of the Lord was built in 1796 with funds from Colonel Artemon Kozhin in his estate Belskoye Ustye in Porkhov district. In the early 1860s, Artemon Osipovich’s son, Pyotr, decided to build a new church, as the old one had fallen into disrepair. The new building was erected according to the design of the St. Petersburg architect Shestakov in the style of early classicism with elements of baroque. In October 1898, a church-parish trusteeship was founded, and in November 1887, a church-parish school began operating.
A. G. Gagarin often visited the church, and after his death on December 22, 1921, he was buried in this church and buried in the local cemetery. In 1921-1922, a colony of the House of Arts was opened in the estate of Prince Gagarin. Among its participants were famous writers and artists K. I. Chukovsky, E. I. Zamyatin, M. L. Lozinsky, M. L. Slonimsky, M. M. Zoshchenko, V. F. Khodasevich, O. E. Mandelstam and others. All of them regularly visited the Church of the Ascension of the Lord. In 1921, the colony held a memorial service for Alexander Blok there. In the 1960s, the church was closed due to its emergency condition.
In 2014, an initiative group was created, which included the heads of SPbPU, representatives of the Pskov Region Committee on Culture, Pskov State University, the administration of the Porkhov District, and the St. Petersburg branch of the All-Russian public movement “Orthodox Russia”. Since 2017, active work has been underway to restore and rebuild the church.
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