A chapel with a spring and a font is being landscaped in the Shumilino district on the site of a destroyed church, reports a BELTA correspondent.
A chapel with a spring and a font is being landscaped in the Shumilino district on the site of a destroyed church, reports a BELTA correspondent.
Locals call this place Pyatenka, it is located near the former village of Kozanogovo. Once there was a temple complex of two churches - stone and wooden. The exact date of construction of the first is unknown, and the second was erected in 1865. In the second half of the 19th century, pilgrims from Vitebsk, Smolensk and Pskov provinces came here. According to legend, the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos appeared here three times. The spring, which gushed from under the foundation of the churches, was considered healing and holy. And three Fridays a year (before the days of Peter and Paul, Elijah the Prophet and the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos) large religious processions were held. In the late 1920s, both churches were dismantled and destroyed, and the holy spring was filled in. The brickwork and the narthex of the stone church have survived to this day.
In 1989, the restoration of the shrine began, and bas-reliefs of saints were installed over the spring. In the 2000s, local historians and concerned residents cleaned the well with the spring and the font, and installed a wooden chapel.
In the Year of the Small Motherland, this endeavor received a new impetus: local authorities joined the effort to restore order. On the initiative of the leadership of the Shumilino District Executive Committee, a road was recently laid, the porch of the chapel was put in order, and the fence around it was painted. Considerable time was spent clearing trees and bushes that hindered the access of equipment.
Currently, builders have deepened the font and are strengthening its walls. The repair of the chapel entrance is planned for the near future. In addition, it remains to determine exactly where the spring gushed from, in order to organize water collection for those who wish to do so again.
After all the work is completed and the necessary infrastructure is created, the district leadership intends to include this place in the tourist routes of the Shumilino district.