Slobodskoy - city of churches

Hello, my friends.

Today I want to show you, friends, a piece of the city in which I live.
Slobodskoy is an ancient merchant сity on the banks of the Vyatka River. Once it was a city of furriers and tanners. It is still called such even now, but still the city no longer has that former glory. Gone are the days when fur products of Sloboda craftsmen were sold at world auctions.

The bell tower on Cathedral Square is considered to be the symbol of the city, its calling card.

I will start my walk from Rozhdestvenskaya Street. More recently, it was called Lenin Street and there was a lot of controversy after changing its name. The old Communists have not yet come to terms with the fact that Lenin's name has disappeared from Slobodsky.

There are 2 monasteries in our city - female and male. Until recently, there was a military unit in the convent, and on the territory of the monastery there were workshops of the fur factory "Belka".
The convent is located in the central part of the city and is surrounded by Rozhdestvenskaya, Nikolskaya, Gogol and Vyatskaya streets. This is the Nativity Church on the street of the same name. Here is the main entrance to the monastery.

If you go to Vyatskaya Street, you can see the central square of the city with a bell tower located on it.
The central part of the city has changed little in its appearance since pre-revolutionary times, i.e. since the beginning of the 20th century. Almost all the houses were built back in those days. Of course, asphalt and urban evil appeared - advertising banners and banners that spoil the appearance of houses, coupled with rare repairs.

I chose the time for a walk early Saturday morning. There are still few cars and people on the streets of the city at this time.

All city holidays and mass events take place on this square. Now it is called Cathedral. By the way, at the end of the 80s of the last century, a film called "Carousel on the Market Square" was filmed here. Many residents of the city took part in the filming of this film.
Now there is a mobile medical car on the square every day. In this car, residents of the city are vaccinated against covid. I also vaccinated in it in June of this year.
The Annunciation Church is located next to the bell tower. For many years it housed a museum of local lore. But now the museum has moved to another old building, and this building has been returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. Now a cult service is being held in the church.

In the summer of this year, the bell tower was repaired. But the old church is not. The bell tower is considered a federal facility and repairs were carried out at the expense of the federal budget, and the church building should be repaired at the expense of donations from parishioners and at the expense of the ROC money.
The bell tower has a height of 67 meters and was built according to the project of the Vyatka provincial architect Ivan Denisovich Dussard de Neuville in 1824. It was conceived as a Triumphal Arch in honor of the 10th anniversary of the victory over Napoleon.

There is also an old Gostiny Dvor building on the Square. This building has an interesting fate.

Gostiny Dvor was built in 1835-1840. After the revolution of 1917, the building was used as a grain warehouse, then an agricultural market was made of it, and in the 80s of the last century, the building was rebuilt as a cinema and called "Cosmos". The name has remained to the present, but there has been no cinema for 25 years. Now it has become a Shopping Mall. I have been living in Slobodsky for 30 years, but I have never seen this building repaired.

Of course, are there city squares in Russia without statues of Lenin? No! In every city there is a similar idol. The city authorities protect these statues very strictly. Why? I ask this question myself. Why are the statues of the destroyer of Russia and the murderer still protected by the current state authorities?

Yes. Our city has another symbol. This is a wooden church.

Mikhailo-Arkhangelsk Church.
This church was cut down in 1610 in the Sloboda Epiphany Monastery without a saw and nails. She is 100 years older than the famous Kizhi. It is amazing why after the revolution of 1917 this church was not destroyed, burned, and the logs were not pulled apart for firewood.
In 1971 it was restored and in 1973 it was sent to Paris for the exhibition "Russian wooden plastic from ancient times to the present day". There the church was installed near the Champs-Elysees. The French were delighted. They say that a rich Parisian woman wanted to buy it for any amount named. After returning from France, the church took its current place. It should be taken into account that the church was transported back and forth in disassembled form.

We must take into account that this is still an active church! Periodically, prayers are read and religious services are held in it

A very interesting building. Classical masonry of the well. A very reliable scheme. Of course, the hand of modern craftsmen is already visible, who are not used to building without nails and screws with a screwdriver..

The building is already in need of restoration and repair. After all, no one has repaired this church since 1973.
The dome. That's for sure what needs to be repaired.
But I think that many people understand this and the whole issue of repair rests only on financial problems.

At this point I will interrupt my story about my walk through the central part of my city.
I think, friends, that you have already realized that there are a lot of churches in Slobodsky. To count them, you need to think hard. And to understand which of the churches is the largest, and which is the smallest, it will not work right away.
But this wooden church is the most interesting church.

I leave the Cathedral Square and go to the back of the bell tower and then I want to go to the river. I want to walk along the embankment of the river and return back to Rozhdestvenskaya Street by walking along Yekaterininskaya Street. And there will be 2 more big churches on my way.