The Descent of the Holy Spirit temple in Flenovo will be open for tourists after the restoration

It should be reminded that the Descent of the Holy Spirit temple, also called the “Church of the Savior”, is one of the most interesting historical and cultural monuments of federal significance. It is unique in many respects due to the mosaic "The Savior Not Made by hands and forthcoming Angels", located above the central entrance, which was created by the great Russian artist Nikolai Roerich in the early 20th century.

Thanks to the request of Governor Alexey Ostrovskiy to the Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets during her visit to the historical and architectural complex “Teremok” last April, the Ministry of Culture allocated over 40 million rubles within the federal target program "Culture of Russia (2012-2018)" for the restoration works in the temple. This year, more than 6 million rubles were additionally allocated for the restoration of the mosaic "The Savior Not Made by hands and forth coming Angels".

During the full-scale restoration in the Descent of the Holy Spirit temple, the brick masonry and blind area were renovated, the mosaic painting was restored in its original form, and the basements, which occupy about 60% of the building area, were fixed up. Also, the specialists retained the remaining paintings on the walls; in the future it is planned to restore them basing on the photographs taken by Prince Vyacheslav Nikolaevich Tenishev and Nikolai Roerich, as well as to recreate them with the help of projection equipment.

According to the staff of the relevant Department, in the near future in the church there will be an exposition that will tell the story of its creation. The sketches of the artists who worked on the architecture, exterior and interior design of the church - Vladimir Suslov, Mikhail Vrubel, Sergei Malyutin, Maria Tenisheva, will be provided from the funds of the Smolensk Museum-Reserve. Also, the residents and guests of the city will be able to see the sketches of the murals and the famous mosaic "The Savior Not Made by hand and forthcoming Angels".

It should be noted that the historical and architectural complex "Teremok" can become one of the sites that the Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky will visit during the forthcoming visit to Smolensk region. The question of providing the region with financing for the reconstruction of "Teremok" in Flenovo was discussed during the recent working meeting of Governor Alexey Ostrovskiy with the head of the Ministry.