Kostroma region. A 17th century church burnt down through the fault of museum staff?

KOSTROMA REGION.
A 17TH CENTURY CHURCH BURNT DOWN THROUGH THE FAULT OF MUSEUM STAFF?

A terrible fire broke out at the Ipatyevsky Monastery of the Holy Trinity at the Spas-Vezhi village near Kostroma on September 4 to burn down a monument of the Old Russian architecture. Founded in 1628, this church was unique in that it was built on piles. There are only two churches of this kind surviving, both at Kizhi.

Several days before that, on August 30, the Ipatyevsky monastery was honoured by a visit of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia. He called for speeding up as much as possible the process of returning the monastery to the Russian Orthodox Church.

The burnt-down church was located in the so-called New Yard, which has been recently given to the monastic community, but which is still accessible for tourists and sightseers. The fire started at 17.30 when the museum was still open and there were tourists, including foreign visitors, in the territory of the monastery. It was immediately ranked as the most complex fire. An Emergency Ministry’s special fire brigade was extinguishing it. The pillar of fire was 50 meters high. The fire quickly spread to the nearby corner-tower and the wall, which were also strongly damaged.

The main cause of the fire is believed to be a cigarette stub dropped by some tourist. It is astonishing, as tourists are not allowed to smoke in the territory of the Museum of Wooden Architecture. The more so that a monastery is a holy place.

The father superior of the monastery, Archimandrite Pavel, has repeatedly requested the museum leaders to prohibit tourists from smoking in the monastery, but every time he was sneered and scorned by both the former director of the museum, Ms. Soboleva, and the present one, Mr. Chugunov. The museum staff’s hostility towards the Orthodox Church seemed to overpower the elementary norms of conscience and concern for the national cultural legacy. They were ready to put the unique architectural monuments at risk of being destroyed rather that to make concessions to the Church and the faithful. And the trouble finally came, writes Kostroma’s Church Messenger.

It is characteristic that the museum staff hasted to put the blame on the Church. It was also amazing to see the boorish behaviour of the Kostroma vice-governor, Mr. Tzikunov, who came in a great hurry to direct the fire extinguishing efforts. He bunched all the journalists present, shouted at them and ordered to report only the “official” version that the New Yard was closed and that the monks made a bonfire near the church and that first grass and then the church caught the fire. But actually there were no monks in the New Yard when the fire started there. And, fortunately, the journalists refused to repeat that apparent “official” lie. Mr. Tsikunov has been known for a long time for his hostile attitude to the Church.

Meanwhile, a rumor began to spread among local people that the church was put on fire by the museum staff themselves in order to do harm to the Church and to put a stop to returning the Ipatyevsky Monastery to her. Incidentally, Tsikunov and Chugonov have long threatened the monastic community to do them some harm.

REGIONS.RU