​Pokrovskaya church of Pereslavl-Zalessky.

The Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God is loved by many Pereslavs. Not only because it is elegant and very close to the central part of the city. This church, built in the XVIII century, to our time partially
preserved the old interior decoration, as in the twentieth century it was not closed, like all other temples of the city. However, for decades the Pokrovsky temple was under the scrutiny of local authorities. At one time in Pereslavl, a single functioning church was created.
Commission on the observance of Soviet legislation on religious
cults. It consisted of 7 people, and was headed by the Secretary of the Executive Committee. They studied the forms and methods of work of the clergy, their influence on the population and especially on the youth. Each member of the committee
He received a specific task, and all of them invariably attended the Church of the Intercession. Some of the representatives attended the services, studying the “preaching activities of priests”, someone checked the complaints and statements of citizens. Frequently carried out checks of members of the church choir – pensioners who are obliged to report their additional income to the social security department. Finding violations, the City Council took appropriate measures.

One of these was revealed in early 1968 – the priest admitted the baptism of a newborn, whose parents, having arrived in the city church, left documents in the village and did not have them with them.

Representatives of the City Council considered in detail both the number of ceremonies performed by priests and the cost-income
temple. For example, in 1974, among other necessary costs, the Pokrovskaya Church contributed 20,000 rubles to the peace fund, 2,000 rubles to the monuments protection society and 3,130 rubles to the executive body and the audit commission. The expenses of the temple barely covered its income, which came mainly from the sale of candles. Constantly and openly visit
In the days of the Communists and Komsomol members, few were decided.

In those years, the Council of Atheists worked in Pereslavl, its lecturers spoke at the chemical plant, the Red Echo factory and the schools of the city. About 200 reports were read annually on scientific and atheistic topics. Exactly.
In those decades, the life of Orthodox people, formed over centuries and shaken over the past fifty years, introduced new “civil rites” – rituals of solemn registration of the birth of children and marriage. They were improved: they began to enter the custom of young couples after the registration of marriage in the registry office to lay live flowers at the monument of V. I. Lenin and the obelisk of those who died during the Great Patriotic War. The work carried out was supposed to contribute to the “reduction of religious rites.” Nevertheless, the “rituality and profitability of the church” gradually grew. So, in 1974, in the Pokrovskaya Church of Pereslavl, according to only official statistics, two couples were married, 276 people were baptized and 142 people were buried according to the church ritual. However, 50% of all baptized in that year in the Church of the Intercession were residents of other areas and regions. Once a famous Orthodox center, Pereslavl and in those years was attractive to believers.

Many Pereslavl and pilgrims remember with warmth the rector of the temple, Archpriest John (Belyakov), who gave 35 years of his life.
life for selfless service in the Intercession Church and buried next to it in 2003. He, like other priests of the Soviet era, deserves great respect and even admiration, given the difficult, anti-religious times in which they were brought up and then maintained faith in the people.
Natalia Ermakova, tour guide to Pereslavl-Zalessky.