On the 6th Week after Pentecost, the day of commemoration of the glorious and all-laudable First-born Apostles Peter and Paul On July 12, 2026, Metropolitan Mercury of Rostov and Novocherkassk performed the great consecration of the Peter and Paul Church at the Don Starocherkassk Ephraim Monastery of the Starocherkassk stanitsa of the Aksai district of the Rostov Region and led the Divine Liturgy service in the newly consecrated church.
The head of the Don Metropolia was co-served by Abbot Sergius (Kolomits), abbot of the Don Starocherkassk Ephraim Monastery, Hieromonk Nikon (Sandulsky), dean of the monastery, and the monastery's brethren in holy orders.
The Cossacks of the Great Army of the Don, numerous parishioners and pilgrims prayed during the divine service.
At the end of the Liturgy, Abbot Sergius (Kolomits) expressed gratitude to Metropolitan Mercury for praying together on the day of the great consecration of the temple.
Then His Eminence the Metropolitan addressed the worshippers with a speech in which, in particular, he noted:
"Today's stay in the village of Starocherkasskaya is a special joy, marked by a great event — the consecration of the church in honor of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul. This temple is especially dear to the heart: from the very first days it became close to its architecture, beauty, amazing conciseness and the special devotion that its walls have preserved for centuries. The history of this shrine is inextricably linked with the fate of our people and is marked by the severe trials of the post-revolutionary period and the war years: the temple was looted, lost its bell tower, roof and its side chapels.…
May this day of great consecration become the cornerstone that the Russian Orthodox Church, the people of God, and the monastics place at the foundation of their work to restore their historical appearance and preserve their spiritual heritage. May the Lord bless this undertaking, so that the place, which has been prayed for for centuries, consecrated by the prayers and labors of our ancestors and ascetics, may shine again in the expanses of the Motherland as a precious stone, worthily decorated with a beautiful setting."
Then the presentation of church awards took place in recognition of the work in the restoration and restoration of the church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul at the Donskoy Starocherkassk Ephraim Monastery.
Also, in memory of this day, the Metropolitan donated the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God to the parish.
***
The first mention of the small wooden Peter and Paul Church in Cherkassk dates back to 1692. After the city fire of 1744, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna sent ten masons and plasterers to the local chieftain Danila Yefremov in 1749 to build a new temple. Already in 1751, a divine service was held in honor of the opening of the church and the chapel in honor of John the Warrior.
Ataman Matvey Platov was baptized in the newly consecrated church in 1753.
In Soviet times, the temple was closed and partially destroyed. In the 1970s, the condition of the building was already critical: the dome and chapels were missing, and the bell tower was completely demolished. The restoration of the temple was started in 1975, but stopped due to insufficient funding. Work resumed in 2004 with funds allocated by the regional administration. By 2008, most of the finishing work had been completed.
Since 2011, the restoration work has been carried out at the expense of the parishioners. The amount of donations spent amounted to about 60 million rubles.
On July 12, 2026, the church was consecrated by Metropolitan Mercury of Rostov and Novocherkassk after a five-year period of repair and restoration work. In five years, the facades and interiors of the temple have been repaired, the temple is equipped with its own boiler room and a underfloor heating system, cast-iron tiles have been laid on the floors according to the tradition of the Starocherkassk temples, a new Elizabethan Baroque iconostasis has been made for the central chapel, as well as a new iconostasis in the chapel of St. John the Warrior in the style of the XVII century, the temple is equipped with new items the church interior.
An interesting feature of the central iconostasis is the sturgeon, which has a small icon of the Apostles Peter and Paul in its mouth. According to legend, the Cossacks caught a large sturgeon, in whose mouth they found a small icon of the Apostles Peter and Paul, after which they decided to build a temple in honor of the first apostles. The icon is removed from the mouth of the sturgeon once a year and placed in a kiosk on the central lectern during the celebration of the memory of the Apostles Peter and Paul.