Русский | from Russian Atlantida
English Translation by Katherine Ilachinski

Builders of St. Alexis Church

Sunday, September 19, 2004
L.P. Markizov, city of Syktyvkar
N.F. Pogozheva (Markizova), city of Tashkent

When we were children, in Majiagou at the corner of Church and Skobelevskoj streets there was a small wooden St. Alexis church in honor of the hierarch Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow. As old residents of this area of city remarked, the parish was populous. So it has been resolved by parishioners in 1930 to build a new spacious brick church. External construction work, including bricklaying of walls, in those years were carried out in Harbin only during the warm season. One would not think of bricklaying in freezing weather.

The family album kept in Tashkent, has reminded, who and how they built the brick Alexis church. On one of the photos which have been taken during construction (from left to right) the head of construction work known to many inhabitants of Harbin the engineer of means of communication Michael Vasilevich Karbyshev, graduate of Polytechnic Institute of Harbin, near to him secret, but the actual author of the project is the architect who has developed all details of the temple J.V.Smirnov. He was a citizen of the USSR, and he could not participate in construction of religious buildings. However it has not prevented him to become the soul of the project. Next was a contractor Flor Stepanovich of Markizov, Chinese, one of the senior working masons and the parishioner of the temple Basov, who gave a lot of time to construction of the church.

In the other picture (from left to right) contractors-brothers of Flor Stepanovich and Paul Stepanovich Markizovy, Archpriest Fr Serge Rusanov, Archpriest Fr Michael Rogozhin, and Vladimir Borisovich Rogan, the engineer who constantly was carrying out technical supervision on the part of the customer (parish council). Apparently, people who were photographed were on the erected brick walls of the temple.

Solemn raising of the cross on the dome was especially memorable. Many people gathered there praying. After the moleben with the help of cables, blocks, talej, and cranes, the cross was slowly lifted onto the dome. On the sky background one had an impression, that the cross was coming by itself nearer to that place where it should be erected. This show was remembered for the whole life. Divine services in the new temple begun in 1935.

After consecration of the new temple, the Theological Seminary of Harbin was placed in the old wooden church, which existed till 1945.

Now in building of St. Alexis temple is a Catholic church.