The date of the construction of the Church of the Nativity is not known, but according to the records in the Re-inventory book of the City of Belo-ozero of 1617/18 it already existed at the beginning of the 17th century. The first building was wooden, cellular, that is it consisted of several timber cribs. As per the tradition, the church’s ensemble consisted of three components: the temple itself, the refectory and the bell tower.
Later, in 1793, instead of the dilapidated wooden building, a stone church was erected. Some features of the Russian baroque and fretwork patterns could be traced in its appearance. The façade was decorated with paired half-columns, sculptured casings, pilaster perches, cornices. The main building was covered by the roof with an unusually complex shape with a miniature onion head on an octagonal base. The northern and southern walls of the temples were crowned by a portico with a row of columns. Similar porticoes decorated the lower level of the bell tower. The three-tier Baroque bell tower was the tallest in the area.
The church was one of the richest in Belozersk. It owned more than 9 hectares of land. It was 16 kilometers from the city on the left bank of the Shaksna River, near its source from the White Lake. The land was leased and paid for with hay up to 150 poods or more than 2.5 tons per year. The researcher Nikolai Bogoslovsky described the custom of the all saints’ week to make a cross procession from the Transfiguration of the Saviour Cathedral to the Church of the Nativity.
The local Virgin Mary icon was taken out for the cross procession. It was carried by four people: ‘Everyone who is in the cross procession, especially from the middle and lower class of people, despite the crowdedness, tries to reach to the icon, or to bring their children closer to it’. There was a library at the church, where one could find not only prayer books, but also ecclesiastical literature, historical works, as well as magazines ‘Spiritual Conversation’ and ‘Guidance for rural pastors’.
After the revolution, the temple was closed. During the Great Patriotic War, the building housed a foundry shop. In the 1960s it was demolished. Today there is a sports ground of the remedial school on the site of the temple.
Later, in 1793, instead of the dilapidated wooden building, a stone church was erected. Some features of the Russian baroque and fretwork patterns could be traced in its appearance. The façade was decorated with paired half-columns, sculptured casings, pilaster perches, cornices. The main building was covered by the roof with an unusually complex shape with a miniature onion head on an octagonal base. The northern and southern walls of the temples were crowned by a portico with a row of columns. Similar porticoes decorated the lower level of the bell tower. The three-tier Baroque bell tower was the tallest in the area.
The church was one of the richest in Belozersk. It owned more than 9 hectares of land. It was 16 kilometers from the city on the left bank of the Shaksna River, near its source from the White Lake. The land was leased and paid for with hay up to 150 poods or more than 2.5 tons per year. The researcher Nikolai Bogoslovsky described the custom of the all saints’ week to make a cross procession from the Transfiguration of the Saviour Cathedral to the Church of the Nativity.
The local Virgin Mary icon was taken out for the cross procession. It was carried by four people: ‘Everyone who is in the cross procession, especially from the middle and lower class of people, despite the crowdedness, tries to reach to the icon, or to bring their children closer to it’. There was a library at the church, where one could find not only prayer books, but also ecclesiastical literature, historical works, as well as magazines ‘Spiritual Conversation’ and ‘Guidance for rural pastors’.
After the revolution, the temple was closed. During the Great Patriotic War, the building housed a foundry shop. In the 1960s it was demolished. Today there is a sports ground of the remedial school on the site of the temple.
