Russian Orthodox Autonomous
Church
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Ryazan
This is an altar part of our Church in Ruazan. The church of Epiphany was built in 1673 as the cathedral of an ancient monastery of Epiphany that was located in the Ryazan suburb Borki. At the end of the 18th century the monastery has been abolished, and on its place there was a cemetery. The services in the church were not interrupted up to the end of the 1930s when its rector Fr John has undergone a martyric death for Christ.
This is how the church looks inside. As you can see, it is very modest and poor, with temporary iconostasis.
In early 1992, according to the decision of Administration of the Ryazan area, the church was transferred to the Parish of St Vasily of Ryazan, which was then in the jurisdiction of the ROCOR. The parish has gone through persecutions, attempts to take its church by force, litigations, but has managed to defend the holy place which did not belong to the Sergian Moscow patriarchate a single day. At the end of 2000 -- the beginning of 2001 the parishioners decided to join the Suzdal Eparchy of the ROAC being forced to leave the ROCOR due to the apostatic decisions of the Sobor of 2000 of the latter.
The
church is rather large. For now I do not have its full picture, but here are
the fragments. The door is surrounded with old stone carving. The parish fixed
roof and windows and consolidated the ruining parts of the building. Some conservation
works were done.
Whe MP tried to seize the church, they forced the authorities to seal the doors (see the white bands). Our journalist Alexander Soldatov was beaten here by the police and his camera was broken. Finally (after a several trials) the church was returned, but the war still is not over.
