Kazan Transfiguration Church

The main decoration of the left bank, which attracts the eyes of all travelers along the Volga, the red sun of ancient Romanov is the Kazan Transfiguration Church. She is one of the main decorations of the city, its calling card.

Built in 1758 on the site of wooden churches, it had different names – Kazan, Nikolskaya, Preobrazhenskaya. The Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God has a dominant role in the composition of the left bank. It stands on an embankment, reinforced with boulders, and above it is a freestanding bell tower. Together with the bell tower, an original spatial ensemble is being created. Its stepped silhouette, as if falling down a steep slope, connects the urban development with the Volga coast. Here, at the pier, ships arriving in Romanov anchored at the pier. It was the main entrance to the city from the river.

The appearance of this remarkable temple was preceded by a story closely related to the lives of both Romanov and Yaroslavl residents. The "Legend of the Miraculous Mother of God of Yaroslavl Kazan and the foundation of the Yaroslavl Kazan Monastery" tells about her. The Kazan icon of the Virgin Mary was brought to the city at the behest of the Blessed Virgin by Gerasim, a native of Romanov, in 1588 from the village of Tetyusha, near Kazan. Many miracles and healings took place in Romanov from the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. The Romanovs were supposed to build a temple in honor of the holy image, but they were in no hurry to fulfill it. The icon of the Kazan Mother of God was located in the wooden St. Nicholas Church.

In the troubled times of the early 17th century, the icon fell into the hands of the Poles and was transferred to the city of Yaroslavl, where it is located in the Kazan Convent. Every year in July, a procession with the icon of the Kazan Mother of God is held from Yaroslavl to the city of Tutaev.

The Kazan Church is a five-domed refectory-type temple on a basement with a gallery and a porch on a "creeping arch" on the north side. It is a unique architectural ensemble consisting of a temple and a bell tower, towering like a lighthouse on top of the Volga cliff. The genius of the architectural solution is striking, creating a sense of grace, lightness and simplicity combined with the massiveness and impressiveness of the structure.

There are beautiful legends about the construction of the Kazan Church. One of them tells us that traditionally a foundation stone was installed at the construction site of the church. The master builders installed the stone almost at the very top of the Volga escarpment, but when they arrived in the morning, it turned out that the foundation stone had rolled down almost to the water. The builders decided that, apparently, it was God's will and began to build the temple.

And another legend tells how the inhabitants of the city shouted and asked all passing ships to put a stone on the Volga coast, and they themselves tried to collect stones. Rumor spread along the Volga River: whoever leaves a stone on the shore, his sins are forgiven, because building temples is a work pleasing to God. Over the course of several navigations, so many stones were brought that it was enough to strengthen the banks of the Volga, to build two cobblestone accesses to river piers, and even part of the shopping area was paved.

According to legend, there was once a chapel of St. Nicholas here, near the water. And on the lower porch of the church, on both sides of the entrance, stone crosses are embedded in the wall. There was an icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in a special case in the church.

The holy fool Onufriy, who has been greatly revered by the Romanovs since time immemorial, is buried under the stone bell tower of the Kazan Church.

In 1931, the church was closed. During the Soviet period, there was a rescue station in the temple, part of the building was converted into residential apartments. For a period of time, the temple housed a beer factory.

In 1997, the church was handed over to the faithful. On April 30, 1999, the first wedding took place in the restored Kazan Church.