During the Northern War with Sweden (1700-1721), Arkhangelsk, as the only seaport through which strategically important goods arrived from Europe to Russia, needed special protection. By the decree of Peter the Great, the Novodvinsk fortress, the first bastion fortress of Russia, was built at the mouth of the Northern Dvina River. Construction was led by a military engineer Georg Reze. In 1701, near the walls of the fortress under construction, the first naval battle took place, ending with the victory of the Russians. In 1702, at the third visit of tsar Peter I to Arkhangelsk, a church was erected in the name of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in the Novodvinsk fortress which was still under construction.
Architecturally, the church was significantly different from canonical Orthodox churches. Peter’s contemporaries saw a typical Lutheran temple with a hip roof, painted in the colour of tiles, and with three spiers (one on the main tower in the centre, and two spiers on decorative turrets in the corners of the western facade). The main tower doubled as the bell tower. On the northern and southern facades of the church, pseudo-arched windows were built, in which there were trellised stained-glass windows with rhomboid mica fragments. Inside the temple on three walls was a balcony-mezzanine (choirs) with a spiral staircase leading to it in the corner. Windows were placed along the balcony. The entire space of the temple was taken by transverse benches.
The iconostasis of the church was carved out of wood. The icons, painted in oil on fabric, were donated to the new church by Peter I. In addition, the “Sovereign offering” consisted of two altar gospels, a silver cross, a silver ciborium with sacred objects, and a silver censer. As well as veils, local icons, silver and copper lamps, two sets priestly vestments, one sticharion, liturgical books and bells.
The church went through numerous repairs and rebuildings, as a result of which it acquired a U-shaped gallery and lost its pinnacle towers on the facade. The church tower was covered with a hipped roof and devoid of a bell. A traditional Orthodox hexagonal bell tower was built next to the church. In 1877, a fire broke out and the church completely burned down.
The model of the church was commissioned by the Arkhangelsk Regional Museum. It was possible to reconstruct its original appearance by the drawings of the preserved log house, a drawing of the exterior from 1745 and a few historical descriptions of the consecration of the church in 1702.
