Assumption of Mary (Kerch)

The "Church of the Italians" in Kerch

The Church of the Assumption of Mary is the only Roman Catholic church in Kerch in the Crimea and bears the patronage of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary .

history

In the early 1830s, the Italian community of Kerch got permission to build their church at the foot of Mitridat Mountain. It was designed by the Piedmontese architect Alexander Digby (1758-after 1840) in classical style with Tuscan pillars order built at the expense of the Italian community and with the help of foreign ship captains and on March 19, 1840 consecrated . The church is still known today as the Church of the Italians .

“ Since the Catholic community there is not very numerous, the church was built primarily with the help of foreign ship captains who visit the port there. "

In 1840 there were around 30 Catholic families in Kerch, almost all of them of Italian descent.

“ ... before their dedication [of the church], a solemn mass was held on the quai in the quarantaine. The canopy adorned with flags over the built altar, the sight of the harbor covered with ships and the place of the quarantine itself, so to speak on the border between Europe and Asia between the Black and Azov Seas, are so lively with a long line of trade movements Building, gave the painting even more life. The captains had lined up in several rows in the square in front of the quay, while the sailors kept the sloops manned along it. Regardless of the difference in religion, the feeling that animates all of us was so deep that the deepest calm was intact. Action took place, and at the moment the host was raised, instead of the bell, one suddenly heard the artillery volley of a hundred ships in the roadstead. This open air ceremony had a truly sublime character. - After the mass, the governor ( Vorontsov ) thanked the captains on behalf of all Catholics for their gifts for the good of the church. "

After the Bolsheviks came to power , most of the churches were closed and converted into cultural clubs or the like. The Kerch Catholic Church functioned until World War II . Under the pretext of wanting to fight the famine, all church treasures were forcibly taken from the churches in 1921/22. 16 religious silver items and 27 items donated by believers were confiscated from the church in Kerch.

In the same year the Italian pastor was forced to leave the Soviet Union and returned to Italy. From then on, only pastors who had Soviet citizenship were allowed to serve. From 1921 to 1926 Pastor Alexander Frison , a Black Sea German, served in Kerch . When he was ordained bishop 'in silence' in March 1926 , he moved to Simferopol, but still looked after the Kerch parish.

In 1942 the church was closed and turned into a gym. In the 1990s, the church was rebuilt with donations from the parish, some citizens and construction companies of the city. The reconstruction ended in 1998.

literature

Giulia Giacchetti Boico - Giulio Vignoli, La tragedia sconosciuta degli Italiani di Crimea - Neisvestnaja traghedija italianzev Kryma - Nevidoma traghedija italijzev Krymu, Kerch, 2007 ( Italian , Russian, Ukrainian)