Trinity Church

The Trinity Church, located in the immediate vicinity of the Golden Gate, is one of the last religious buildings of the pre-revolutionary provincial Vladimir. This neighborhood of the monuments of the 12th and early 20th centuries  is very harmonious and only emphasizes the uniqueness and beauty of each of them.

The red brick Trinity Church was built in 1913-1916, to the 300th anniversary of the Romanov Imperial House. The temple was built for the Old Believer community, consisting primarily of the merchants, and for its donations. The project and construction of the building was carried out by the Moscow architect S.M. Zharov, a disciple of the renowned architect L.N. Benoit (Benua). It was Benoit who gave Zharov a recommendation for assuming the post of Vladimir city architect. Trinity Church was built in the pseudo-Russian style, popular in the early 20th century, which obviously suited Vladimir. By the stair-step composition of the keeled kokoshniks, framing the drum, the church remotely resembled the unusual in architecture Assumption Cathedral of the Princess’ Monastery. The inhabitants of Vladimir call the Trinity Church – "Red Church".

The Trinity Church was magnificent. To decorate the interior, wealthy merchants donated and collected antique icons for the oak iconostasis, luxurious church utensils, liturgical books. In 1928, the Old Believer community was closed, and divine services in the church ceased.

For a long time an imposing two-headed cult building in the very center of Vladimir was not used. In the 1960s, the temple was supposed to be demolished and thereby expand the area near the Golden Gate. But through the efforts of the public and with the active participation of writer V.A. Soloukhin the church was preserved.

After restoration, only in 1976 in the building of the Trinity Church housed the Museum of Crystal. Recently it was reconstructed. In the museum you can admire fine examples of decorative and applied art of the Vladimir region: crystal products of the famous Maltsovs’ plant in Gus-Khrustalny, amazing Mstera lacquer miniatures, original Vladimir embroidery.

The temple has excellent acoustic properties, allowing even today to arrange performances of choral groups in it. In the basement floor of the "Red Church" an art salon housed since 1994. 

Author: V. Korolkova