The history of the Ozeryans’ka Church on Kholodna Hora neighborhood in Kharkiv is closely linked to one of the principal shrines of Kharkiv and the Sloboda Ukraine – the Ozeryanska Icon of the Mother of God. The church was built between 1892 and 1901 in the eclectic Neo-Byzantine style, designed by the diocesan architect Vladimir Nemkin. Its 40-metre bell tower is a true landmark of the district. The church’s current address is Poltavskyi Shliakh Street, 124.
According to research by Filaret Gumilevsky, dating from the 1850s, the Ozeryans’ka icon was painted by an unknown Ukrainian iconographer from the Right Bank. It was found by a peasant at the end of the 17th century in the area of the present-day village of Nyzhnya Ozeryana (near Merefa); there was also a spring at the site of the discovery. From 1711 to 1783, a monastery stood on that site – the Ozeryana Monastery of the Mother of God – where the miraculous icon was kept. At that time, the area was difficult to access, covered in forests and marshes, it was home to hermit monks who sought maximum silence and tranquillity, far from worldly settlements.
In 1787, as a result of Catherine II’s secularisation policy, the Ozeryana Monastery was closed. The wooden Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God from the monastery was permitted to be dismantled and moved to Merefa. The Ozeryans’ka icon itself was moved to the Kuryazh Monastery (now the site of the Kuryazh penal colony in the village of Podvirky, on the outskirts of Kharkiv). In 1788, the Kuryazh Monastery was also closed, and the Ozeryans’ka icon was transferred to the Pokrovskyi Monastery in Kharkiv.
When the Kuryazh Monastery was restored in 1796, the Ozeryans’ka Icon was returned to it. According to legend, the ‘father’ of the Kharkiv theatre, Hryhorii Kvitka-Osnovianenko, suffered from an eye ailment but was healed by praying before this icon, which is why he served as a novice at the Kuryazh Monastery in 1804–1805. But the people of Kharkiv were keen to see the miraculous icon in their city more often. From 1844, the icon was carried in a procession from Kuryazh to Kharkiv (to the Church of the Intercession) every year on 30 September, and on 22 April the following year, the icon was carried back to the Kuryazh Monastery.
These were truly solemn processions, attended by a great many Kharkiv residents and people from the surrounding villages. On these days, many institutions and educational establishments were closed, and shops on Katerynoslavska Street (Poltavskyi Shliakh) shut their doors – just as they would on public holidays.
A chapel was built in 1847 on the spot where the Kuryazh clergy handed over the icon to the Kharkiv clergy. From 1874, it housed an altar for full-scale divine services. However, this church was small, and the number of parishioners grew along with the city – to accommodate them, the new Ozeryans’ka Church was built, which we can see today. There was also a church-parish school on the church grounds; in 1903, the total number of parishioners stood at 1,737.
Incidentally, the first documentary film in the Russian Empire shot by one of its citizens was ‘The Solemn Transfer of the Miraculous Ozeryans’ka Icon from the Kuryazh Monastery to Kharkiv’, which was captured on film by the eminent Kharkiv photographer Alfred Fedetsky on 30 September 1896. It was in this very year that, according to Nemkin’s design, the construction of another Ozeryans’ka Church was completed – on the grounds of the Pokrovskyi Monastery; from that year onwards, the icon was kept there during the winter.
The Neo-Byzantine style, in which Nemkin predominantly built churches, drew inspiration from the architecture of ancient Byzantine churches; it became particularly popular in the 1890s. However, it was an eclectic style in which one could discern motifs from Byzantium, Old Russian architecture and even Neo-Gothic design.
In 1933–1934, the Ozeryans’ka Church on Kholodna Hora became the residence of Metropolitan Constantine, Exarch of Ukraine, and from 1934 onwards, the cathedral of the Kharkiv Diocese. In 1938, the church was closed, and the cathedral was moved to the Kazans’ka Church on Lysa Hora neighborhood. Divine services resumed in the church in 1942.
Due to the construction of the metro in the 1970s, cracks appeared in the church, but thanks to the efforts of the congregation and Archpriest Mykola Baranenko, it was stabilised. Work on the repair and restoration of the church and its interior decoration intensified particularly from 1991 onwards and continued effectively until 2018, when the lower church dedicated to Joasaph of Belgorod was opened.
Incidentally, in Nyzhnya Ozeryana, next to the spring, a small chapel was consecrated in 1995.
And nearby is the authentic museum-estate ‘Ukrainian Hut’.
