One of the most unusual sights of the city of Alushta, attracting all the guests of Crimea, is Lighthouse Church or Church of St. Nicholas. There is no other such temple or lighthouse on the territory of Ukraine, there are only about a dozen of them in the world.
65-meter Temple of St. Nicholas, rising on a fifty-meter cliff — the highest temple on the Crimean peninsula, it can be seen from anywhere on the southern coast. The temple was erected in 2004-2007 years, and on May 15, 2007, its main throne in the name of St. Nicholas of Myra, the Wonderworker, consecrated Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine Vladimir.
The whole memorial temple complex delights with its beauty, originality and harmony. Architect A. Gaidamak, who created the projects of many churches in Yugoslavia, put into this work not only all his experience, knowledge and skills, but also his soul, which can be seen at once — so much it delights with its splendor, surprises with the combination of different details.
The complex was created in memory of those who died on the waters. Here you can not only admire the beautiful temple, but also visit the Museum of Water Disasters in the basement of the church, where you can learn a lot of new, interesting and tragic about sea disasters, and from the gazebo over the edge of the cliff, created in the form of the «Flying Dutchman», a magnificent view of the sea.
If you look at the whole temple complex from afar, you can see that it resembles a ship: its deck is a round room of the museum with windows-illuminators, and the temple itself, located on the «deck» as if floating on the sea. There are many ship elements in the decoration of the church: chains, anchors and other details lifted from the depths of the sea.
The temple of St. Nicholas amazes with its splendor — it is a real work of architectural art. It is elegant, original and incredibly beautiful.
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The dome of the church is crowned with an equilateral Greek cross rising above a gilded openwork ball symbolizing the Earth. The lighthouse is hidden in this ball. But not only functional purpose has this unique combination of details — Byzantine traditions, in which the cross is made, towering above the planet — it is also a symbol of the unity of the Orthodox world, the world as a whole, the unity of the universal. Under the openwork ball there is a bell tower, and under it there is a large mosaic image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Byzantine traditions.
The Church of St. Nicholas is equally amazing and beautiful from inside. The interiors are decorated in a modern interpretation of the Byzantine style and in the traditions of the Orthodox icon painting school: these are the biblical themes of the Flood, stories about Noah’s Ark. The floors of the church are made of multi-colored hard granite in the technique of Florentine mosaics, as well as lamps and stained glass on the windows.
Located in the basement of the museum, the Disaster Museum exhibit features many vintage items raised from shipwrecks. The interior of the museum is created in the form of the seabed, which creates the sensation of being underwater. What you see and hear here will surprise not only a child, but also every adult, for example, it tells the story of the catastrophe, which killed twice as many people as the Titanic, which was kept secret for a long time.
A visit to this attraction of Alushta will give a lot of positive emotions to any tourist. This is a truly unique attraction, and the beauty of the temple complex, towering above the vast expanse of the sea on a cliff under the blue sky, picturesque picture will remain in the memory forever. Spending your holiday in Crimea, be sure to visit the Temple Beacon, and the impressions of what you have seen will stay with you for many years.