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Founded: 1872Category: Religious sites in Estonia
Historical period: Part of the Russian Empire (Estonia)
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In the 1840’s, 80% of the people of Häädemeeste changed their Lutheran faith for the Orthodox one hoping, as a result of converting to the religion of the Russian imperial house, to secure for themselves a piece of land in return. Such calls were made throughout Estonia. The first Orthodox congregation of the neighborhood, the Häädemeeste congregation, was established in 1849, the church was ready in 1872. The highest top of the Apostolic Orthodox Church of Transfiguration of Our Lord is the clock tower with an onion shaped dome over the western entrance. The pride of the interior is an eclectic three-story style iconostasis with a sumptuous decor.
Reference: Romantiline Rannatee
The Kalozha church of Saints Boris and Gleb is the oldest extant structure in Hrodna. It is the only surviving monument of ancient Black Ruthenian architecture, distinguished from other Orthodox churches by prolific use of polychrome faceted stones of blue, green or red tint which could be arranged to form crosses or other figures on the wall.
The church is a cross-domed building supported by six circular pillars. The outside is articulated with projecting pilasters, which have rounded corners, as does the building itself. The ante-nave contains the choir loft, accessed by a narrow gradatory in the western wall. Two other stairs were discovered in the walls of the side apses; their purpose is not clear. The floor is lined with ceramic tiles forming decorative patterns. The interior was lined with innumerable built-in pitchers, which usually serve in Eastern Orthodox churches as resonators but in this case were scored to produce decorative effects. For this reason, the central nave has never been painted.
The church was built before 1183 and survived intact, depicted in the 1840s by Michał Kulesza, until 1853, when the south wall collapsed, due to its perilous location on the high bank of the Neman. During restoration works, some fragments of 12th-century frescoes were discovered in the apses. Remains of four other churches in the same style, decorated with pitchers and coloured stones instead of frescoes, were discovered in Hrodna and Vaŭkavysk. They all date back to the turn of the 13th century, as do remains of the first stone palace in the Old Hrodna Castle.
In 2004, the church was included in the Tentative List of UNESCO"s World Heritage Sites.