The village of Primorskoye is well known to all lovers of recreation in the economic mode. It is located on the territory of Belgorod-Dnistrovsky district and is situated much to the south of Odessa itself. On one side Primorskoe is washed by the waters of the Black Sea, on the other side — Shabolatsky estuary, rich in silt mud and waters with valuable chemical composition.
Officially on the map of the Russian Empire the village appeared in the early XIX century. But the first people settled between the estuary and the sea back in the Bronze Age, as evidenced by the remains of settlements and burial chambers of the Cimmerians and Scythians found here. When these lands were under the protectorate of the Ottoman Sultanate, they were settled by Russian Old Believers who fled from the oppression of their sovereign and Patriarch Nikon the Reformer. After the Russo-Turkish War, the Russian Empire again «caught up» with the Old Believers to continue the persecution of people who disagreed with the state policy.
Old Believers were forbidden to build temples, schools, sketes, print books, and their marriages were not recognized by the state. Therefore, The Church of Our Lady of Kazan was built in 1903 in the village of Primorskoe by the community of Old Believers at the risk of the freedom of all adult men of the community. It was them — the builders, were to be imprisoned. The masterful schismatics were saved only by a bribe and placement at the back of the empire. And then came 1905, which gave the Old Believers a manifesto on «Freedom of Religion.
People who opposed themselves to the official Orthodox Church, their conservatism manifested itself in everything. Therefore the temple of the Mother of God of Kazan was built according to the canons brought to Russia in Byzantine times. The sacral construction of the Old Believers has one spacious box topped with an octagonal drum and a voluminous dome.
The bell tower is especially good — four-tiered, covered with a dome, made in the same style as the whole church. In the middle of the church is equipped with a rich iconostasis with priceless images from four hundred years ago. Unfortunately, during the mass robbery of schismatic churches in 1994-2004, about 50 ancient icons in expensive frames, kiosks and other church utensils were stolen from it.
Today, the main attraction of Primorskoe is painted in a gentle blue color, and all its domes and roofs are covered with silver-colored plaque. This combination is deliberately favorable, so the Old Believers’ temple looks very harmoniously against the background of the boundless steppe and almost cloudless Bessarabian sky. Despite the delicate colors, on those who came on vacation in the Black Sea, the temple gives the impression of a reliable ship or ark. And this is exactly the effect that the Old Believers achieve when erecting their temples to show that it is their way that is the only salvation for the human soul.