There are places in the world whose spirit cannot be broken. Neither human cruelty, nor nature, nor merciless years have no power over them. One of such places is the village of Goryanka, located a few kilometers from Bakhchisarai, and, more precisely, its The Temple of the Holy Trinity.
The history of Goryanka village, or as it used to be called — Laki, is very tragic. Since VI century in the isolated from the outside world picturesque valley between the mountains Ai-Ilya and Tatar Yalta people built their own small, kind and beautiful world, which later became the village of Laki. The name of this early medieval Greek village comes from the name of the apostle St. Luke. The small village lived its life from century to century: people raised cattle, grew tobacco and grapes.
The Church of the Holy Trinity appeared here at the beginning of the XV century, villagers living in isolation erected a truly architectural masterpiece — simple, but charming with its unique appearance, light and beautiful. The cube-shaped temple with equal branches of the cross, four octagonal columns, three apses and a small bell tower above the front entrance was decorated with the inscription in New Greek «Come (to me) all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will rest (you)». These words of Christ became momentous for the ancient settlement. Life in the village was brutally cut off on March 23, 1942 by the Nazis: all the inhabitants of the small village were shot and burned for helping the partisans.
Only the church, which absorbed all the grief, all the bitterness of such a merciless fate and, it seems, became a dwelling place for the souls of the unquiet souls, brutally killed by the Germans, has survived from the whole village. There are no houses, yards or any other evidence that people lived here less than a century ago. Only the Church of the Holy Trinity survived, even the fire could not destroy it.
Now the temple of the Holy Trinity in the village of Goryanka, which received this name in 1948, is half-destroyed,
but traces of its former beauty have survived to this day. Surrounded by a high wall of weedy grass, the temple is still as welcoming as ever with its ceremonial inscription. Inside are still distinguishable fragments of ancient fresco paintings of church walls: the image of the Evangelist Matthew in the form of an angel — a symbol of messianic messenger to our world of the Son of God, images of the Evangelist Mark in the form of a lion — a symbol of royal dignity and power of Christ, images of the Evangelists Luke and John and their symbols — a calf, emphasizing the sacrificial redemptive service of the Savior and the eagle, signifying the height of evangelical teaching. The dome, bell tower and altar are damaged and practically not preserved, but the vaults of the temple stand unshaken, as if supporting the souls of the lost inhabitants of Laki.
The atmosphere of this attraction of Bakhchisarai is unique, it is quiet and peaceful, one can feel the passage of time, many years and centuries. Now the church has once again become a spiritual abode — the believers take care, clean the temple, the fire of candles flows here again, and a monument to the villagers killed by the Germans was erected opposite the building.
Getting to such corners of our world, each person is not only amazed by the fact that there are still really secluded and untouched places on earth, but also charged with amazing energy. Many sights of Crimea can boast such an impressive effect, and the ancient Church of the Holy Trinity is one of them.