Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church (Berlin, New Hampshire)
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The Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church ( rus, Свято-Воскресенская Православная Церковь, Svyato-Voskresenskaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov) is a historic
Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...
building on Petrograd Street in Berlin, New Hampshire. The church is known locally as "The Russian Church" because it was built in 1915 by immigrants from the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
who were mostly from the provinces of Grodno,
Volyn Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. The ...
, and
Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...
in modern-day
Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
and
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
. The church closed in 1963 but reopened in 1974 for the funeral of a
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
immigrant from modern-day
Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
, named Eugenia (Tarasevich) Tupick. It was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1979 and is part of the
Orthodox Church in America The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is an Eastern Orthodox Christian church based in North America. The OCA is partly recognized as autocephalous and consists of more than 700 parishes, missions, communities, monasteries and institutions ...
(OCA).


Architecture

The Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church was designed by John Bergesen, an architect from
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. The church was built with six
onion dome An onion dome is a dome whose shape resembles an onion. Such domes are often larger in diameter than the tholobate upon which they sit, and their height usually exceeds their width. These bulbous structures taper smoothly to a point. It is a typ ...
s, which was common in
Russian architecture The architecture of Russia refers to the architecture of modern Russia as well as the architecture of both the original Kievan Rus’ state, the Russian principalities, and Imperial Russia. Due to the geographical size of modern and imperia ...
of that period. The dimensions of the church are , which does not include the main entrance, and a height of approximately . The inside of the church is divided into three parts: the vestibule, the
nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
, and the
sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...
. Its icons were some of the last ones to leave
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
before
Czar Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...
was overthrown.


History

In 1915, Reverend Arcady Piotrowsky came to Berlin from Cleveland, Ohio to establish an Orthodox church for the approximately 500 Russians that inhabited Berlin at that time. At first the church services were held in another church, but then moved to an old garage owned by the city. A site at the base of Mt. Forest was chosen for a new church building to be built, and on May 1, 1915, construction of the church began. On October 1, of that same year, the church was complete.


Reliquaries

Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church houses two reliquary icons, one of Saint Herman of Alaska and one of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker. The relic of Saint Herman of Alaska was given to the church by Metropolitan Theodosius during a parish visit. In the icon of Saint Nicholas, the saint is pictured holding the city of Berlin in his hand. The relic of Saint Nicholas was found in the altar in late summer of 2003, originally transferred from Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church in
Richmond, Maine Richmond is a town in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,522 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland– South Portland– Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical area, situated at the head of Merrymeet ...
, and placed into the icon by Bishop Nikon December 6, 2003.


See also

* History of the Eastern Orthodox Church in North America * National Register of Historic Places listings in Coos County, New Hampshire *
Orthodox Church in America The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is an Eastern Orthodox Christian church based in North America. The OCA is partly recognized as autocephalous and consists of more than 700 parishes, missions, communities, monasteries and institutions ...


References

*''Images of America, Berlin'' by Renney E. Morneau, page 67 *''Postcard History Series, Berlin'', published by
Arcadia Publishing Arcadia Publishing is an American publisher of neighborhood, local, and regional history of the United States in pictorial form.(analysis of the successful ''Images of America'' series). Arcadia Publishing also runs the History Press, which publ ...
in 2008 and written by Jacklyn T. Nadeau, page 87


External links


Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church official website

Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church on ''Berlin New Hampshire History''

Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church's page on the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) website
{{Authority control Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire Churches completed in 1915 20th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings Churches in Coös County, New Hampshire National Register of Historic Places in Coös County, New Hampshire Churches in Berlin, New Hampshire