| The Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit Церковь Сошествия Святого Духа | |
|---|---|
 The porch right of centre is the doorway of the former church | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Russian Orthodox |
| Location | |
| Location | Monastyrki Embankment 1, Saint Petersburg |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | Vasiliy Petrov |
| Style | Petrine Baroque |
| Groundbreaking | 1820 |
| Completed | 1822 |
| Website | |
| www.lavra.spb.ru | |
The Dukhovskaya Church (Russian: Духовская церковь), formally the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit (Церковь Сошествия Святого Духа), is a former Russian Orthodox church in Saint Petersburg. It is in the Diocese of Saint Petersburg and is part of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
Built into the existing wing of the monastery that linked the Holy Trinity Cathedral and the Annunciation Church, the new church was designed to ease overcrowding of the Annunciation Church. As built, the church was richly decorated with a three-tiered iconostasis and paintings and sculpture from some of Russia's leading artists. The church was consecrated in 1822 in the name of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, and shortly afterwards a small aisle at the choir end of the church was consecrated in the name of Saint Sergius of Radonezh. Renovations took place in 1867, and extensions were made to increase burial space. In 1881 the Dukhovskoy Church hosted the funeral of author Fyodor Dostoevsky, and in the mid-1890s a small chapel was consecrated to Saint Evdokia.
Despite calls to protect the important historical and artistic heritage of the church, it was not one of those selected for conversion into a museum necropolis during the Soviet period and was instead passed through various organisations, who at times used it as a boiler room, for coal storage, or as temporary accommodation. The church was briefly returned to the diocese in the 1950s, and a church was once more consecrated, this time to Saint Alexander Nevsky. It was once again confiscated by the city authorities during a period of anti-religious campaigning and hosted a blood transfusion station until its return to the monastery in the early 2000s. The church building is undergoing restoration, and there are plans to reopen it as a place of worship.