The St. Alexander Nevsky Church () is a

Russian Orthodox The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

church in the city of

Ashgabat Ashgabat (Turkmen language, Turkmen: ''Aşgabat'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Turkmenistan. It lies between the Karakum Desert and the Kopet Dag, Kopetdag mountain range in Central Asia, approximately 50 km (30 ...

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

. It is directed by

Archpriest The ecclesiastical title of archpriest or archpresbyter belongs to certain priests with supervisory duties over a number of parishes. The term is most often used in Eastern Orthodoxy and the Eastern Catholic Churches and may be somewhat analogo ...

Ioann Kopach. The church is

cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

and constructed of fired

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

. It features a wooden dome under a tin roof and has a capacity for 350 worshipers. The church was originally notable for its

iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis () is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere withi ...

of rococo-style carved lime wood, acquired for 1,000 rubles from craftsman A.I. Kuklin of the town of

Torzhok Torzhok () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Tver Oblast, Russia, located on the Tvertsa River along the federal highway M10 highway (Russia), M10 and a branch of the Oktyabrskaya Railway division of the Russian Railways. The ...

, Tver' guberniya; the iconostasis disappeared during the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

period.

History

The Church of "Holy Blessed Grand Prince

Alexander Nevsky Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (; ; monastic name: ''Aleksiy''; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) was Prince of Novgorod (1236–1240; 1241–1256; 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1249–1263), and Grand Prince of Vladimir (1252–1263). ...

" was established in 1882 and consecrated in 1900 as the parish church of the 1st Taman Regiment of the

Kuban Cossack Host Kuban Cossacks (; ), or Kubanians (, ''kubantsy''; , ''kubantsi''), are Cossacks who live in the Kuban region of Russia. Most of the Kuban Cossacks are descendants of different major groups of Cossacks who were re-settled to the western Norther ...

. At the time, the church was located outside the city limit, in the village of Koshi, which was annexed by

in 2013. It was designed to accommodate 350 worshipers and constructed of fired brick by order of General

Aleksey Kuropatkin Aleksey Nikolayevich Kuropatkin (; March 29, 1848January 16, 1925) was a Russian politician and military officer who served as the Russian Imperial Minister of War from January 1898 to February 1904 and as a field commander subsequently. Hist ...

at a total cost of 14,740

rubles The ruble or rouble (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is a currency unit. Currently, currencies named ''ruble'' in circulation include the Russian ruble (RUB, ₽) in Russia and the Belarusian ruble (BYN, Rbl) in Belarus. These currencies are su ...

. In 1918 the church was deconsecrated and used as a warehouse on the military base. It was returned to the church in 1989 but required extensive renovations, including reopening two bricked-in doorways, replacement of the roof, replastering and repainting of icons on the interior, reconstruction of the bell tower and domes, and replacement of the iconostasis, which had disappeared. The church was reconsecrated in November 1993.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Alexander Nevsky Church, Ashgabat Eastern Orthodox churches in Turkmenistan Buildings and structures in Ashgabat Churches completed in 1882 Christian organizations established in 1882

History

See also

References