THE CHURCH OF THE ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD OF TIKHVIN

When the church of the Nativity of Christ was dilapidated in 1850 there was a thought to build a new church. It was collected up to 13 thousand rubles of silver. Architect Alexander Andreev was commissioned to draw up the plan and budget of the church, on the likeness of the Annunciation Church. The temple was built in 1854 and consecrated in 1862.

The new three-pillar temple is made of brick. It is 30 metres long with a bell tower and 20 metres wide. The temple is approved on the arrow-shaped brick vaults and on the base, 2 metres high. The main altar is semicircular, the borders are square. The walls of the temple are made of solid masonry, the middle of the temple is covered with brick and poured with lime; on the walls there is a tile laid; connections are made of thick tin iron, reinforced by bolts. The exterior walls are decorated with a cornice, half columns, pilasters; windows are semicircular, with iron bars; roof of the temple is a tented, on 4 slats, it is covered with iron and is painted with copper. The temple is five-headed. In the middle chapter there are 8 half-round windows, the rest of the windows are false. The heads of the church are round, covered with iron and painted with copper. The crosses are slotted and made of iron, polefield. The height of the temple, with a cross middle dome, is 30 metres; the height of the bell tower with a cross is 32 metres. The doors are on three sides, carpentry, double, and made of wood and glass. The wood is painted under ash.

The church inside is square, there are 4 massive columns; it is illuminated by 8 windows. Solea is raised on 3 steps and fenced with iron grate; the floor is covered with a square "grated" plate. Iconostasis are wooden and golden. The middle in 3 tiers, side - in one. They are made by the master Saveliev, according to the drawing of the architect Andreev; icons are of the work of Zabolotovsky. The seats are wooden; the top board is of cypress; under the seats there are crosses with an inscription on the time of consecration of the throne. The temple was built by a man from Torzhok named Ilya Evstratov. The main donors to the temple were merchants of Novaya Ladoga. In total the construction cost up to 37 thousand rubles of silver. In 1883 three chamber basement furnaces were installed.

The Gospel is a wonderful example of sacred things (1633). The biggest of the bells weighed 1685 kg, the master, Valdai’s merchant son, Ivan Stukolkin. One of the small bells was lit in Stockholm in 1731. The master's name is Erich Neumann. Due to abundance and wealth of decorations the temple can be considered the first of the churches of Novoladozhsky district.

In the Soviet period temple services continued until 1938. Then it was closed and used as a service room and workshops. The building was preserved, although it was made in the passage for the equipment. In the post-Soviet period the building was not used and destroyed. In particular the roof was damaged, the dome and the heads were lost.

The temple is a cultural heritage object of regional importance. In 2023 the work on preserving the temple was completed to prepare for a subsequent full restoration.