Artist Ralif Akhmetshin created “The Road to the Church” in Ufa in 2008. In this work, he depicted an autumn landscape with a country road in the center of the canvas, almost bare birch trees and simple houses with gable roofs. Dense gray clouds float across the sky, but the faint autumn sun peeks through.
In the center, a church with three bright blue domes and snow-white walls stands out. Presumably, Akhmetshin depicted in his painting the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Ufa; it was built in 1893 with the blessing of prominent missionary Bishop Dionysius of Ufa. the temple was consecrated by a priest and missionary Yevgraf Evarestov, who has been canonized as a hieromartyr.
Before the revolution, the parish of the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was one of the largest in Ufa and consisted mainly of workers. The church ran a parish patronage: they helped poor inhabitants of Nizhegorodka district of Ufa, and also the families of soldiers who were sent to the front during World War I. After the revolution the trustees were arrested, and the church was closed. The premises were used as a warehouse for mineral fertilizers.
At the request of local Christians, the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was reopened in 1942. In Soviet times, when almost all temples were closed, Christians from many settlements and villages of the Ufa Diocese gathered at this church. Presently, the church runs a library, a Sunday school, pedagogical courses for teachers of Sunday schools and an iconostasis workshop.
Ralif Akhmetshin was born in 1963 in the Karaidelsky District of Bashkortostan, but spent most of his life in Ufa. After finishing school, he graduated from the Aviation Institute and served in the army. In 1989 Akhmetshin took evening courses of the Art School № 2, and then entered the College of Arts in Ufa, at the same time he worked as an artist-decorator in the Bashkir Opera and Ballet Theater. Since 1990, the artist participated in republican, all-Russian and international exhibitions. Akhmetshin’s works are housed in Russian museums and private collections in Italy, Germany, USA, Finland, France, South Korea and Japan.
In the center, a church with three bright blue domes and snow-white walls stands out. Presumably, Akhmetshin depicted in his painting the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Ufa; it was built in 1893 with the blessing of prominent missionary Bishop Dionysius of Ufa. the temple was consecrated by a priest and missionary Yevgraf Evarestov, who has been canonized as a hieromartyr.
Before the revolution, the parish of the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was one of the largest in Ufa and consisted mainly of workers. The church ran a parish patronage: they helped poor inhabitants of Nizhegorodka district of Ufa, and also the families of soldiers who were sent to the front during World War I. After the revolution the trustees were arrested, and the church was closed. The premises were used as a warehouse for mineral fertilizers.
At the request of local Christians, the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was reopened in 1942. In Soviet times, when almost all temples were closed, Christians from many settlements and villages of the Ufa Diocese gathered at this church. Presently, the church runs a library, a Sunday school, pedagogical courses for teachers of Sunday schools and an iconostasis workshop.
Ralif Akhmetshin was born in 1963 in the Karaidelsky District of Bashkortostan, but spent most of his life in Ufa. After finishing school, he graduated from the Aviation Institute and served in the army. In 1989 Akhmetshin took evening courses of the Art School № 2, and then entered the College of Arts in Ufa, at the same time he worked as an artist-decorator in the Bashkir Opera and Ballet Theater. Since 1990, the artist participated in republican, all-Russian and international exhibitions. Akhmetshin’s works are housed in Russian museums and private collections in Italy, Germany, USA, Finland, France, South Korea and Japan.
