The Church of the Twelve Apostles - the oldest church in the Crimea

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The Church of the Twelve Apostles is the oldest Orthodox church in the Crimean peninsula. It was built by the Genoese in 1375 in Balaklava – a district of Sevastopol. There is a version that it was erected on the foundation of a Byzantine church of the VI century. It has long remained wooden. Only in 1794 it was replaced by a stone cross-domed church reminiscent of ancient times. Perhaps the choice of architectural style was associated with the Greek battalion located in Balaklava.

Closed in 1917 the Church of the Twelve Apostles was badly damaged by the earthquake of 1927. After the Great Patriotic War the house of the pioneers was built in the church building and a military club was located here a little later. In the 1990s the authorities first wanted to demolish the church but then decided to return it to Orthodox believers. The church was restored according to the last survived drawings, the walls were left white and the iconostasis was recreated. Today believers are attracted to the church by the particles of the relics of St. Basil the Blessed and St. Sergius of Radonezh.

The Church of the Twelve Apostles - the oldest church in the Crimea

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