Church of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and Their Mother Sophia at the Metochion of the Ioannovskiy Stavropegic Convent in the village of Vartemyagi, Leningrad region
Construction of the church was conceived by the owner of the Vartemyagi estate, Shlisselburg district,
Lieutenant General Count Peter Andreevich Shuvalov at the beginning of the 19th century. It was
decided to build a new temple first of all for the convenience of the peasants - residents of the villages
that were part of the estate.
In 1808, Count Peter Andreevich died before he could carry out his intention. In 1825, the question of
the construction of the church arose again at the initiative of Count Andrei Petrovich Shuvalov, the son
of Peter Andreevich.
On August 8, 1840, the church was consecrated in the name of the Holy Martyr Sophia. The church was
named in honour of the mother of the temple builders Andrei and Grigory Shuvalov - Sophia who was
buried under the altar of the temple.
Before the revolution of 1917, the church served as the family burial place of the Shuvalov family. In
1906, a tomb chapel was built and it has survived to the present day.
After the revolution, the family of the owners of the estate emigrated to France, the temple was closed
in 1932 and was used as a warehouse for combustible materials. It was badly damaged by the fire that
occurred in 1960 as a result of the explosion: all the ceilings, the roof of the dome and the altar part
burned down, the porticos that adorned the main, northern and southern entrances were destroyed.
By the end of the 80s, according to experts, the church was in disrepair. In 1988, the entire complex of
the former Shuvalov estate was taken under state protection. In 1991, the building of the Church of the
Holy Martyr Sophia was transferred to the religious community of residents of the village of Vartemyagi.
In 1993, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, the temple was transferred to the
Ioannovskiy Stavropegic Convent in Saint Petersburg.
By this time the church was a pitiful sight. Almost only ruins remained of it: there was no roof in the
temple; four domes, the top of the bell tower, two porticos of the main and northern entrances were
lost; inside the temple there was neither floor covering in the central part of the building, nor choir or
stairs leading from the basement to the bell tower. All interior decoration was completely lost.
At the end of 2018, the restoration of the temple began. Thanks to the help of the honourary
philanthropist of Saint Petersburg Vyacheslav Adamovich Zarenkov, a large amount of restoration work
was carried out.
During the restoration, the plaster coat of the facades was dismantled, a large part of the brickwork was
repaired, the facades were plastered and painted with original light beige colour. The roof was repaired:
the frame was partly restored and a new roof covering was installed. Old, rotten windows were
replaced, the doors were restored. Inside the temple, a major overhaul was carried out in the choir and
in the utility rooms, wall paintings, the iconostasis and temple icons were restored. A mosaic icon of the
holy martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia was created above the portico, and a mosaic
icon of the Saviour began to adorn the eastern facade. New furniture was made for the temple. All the
work was done at the highest level thanks to the eager efforts of Vyacheslav Adamovich. The temple
now is so beautiful, as if it was recently built.
