Orthodox Church of St. Sergey of Radonezh

The Orthodox congregation in Valmiera was established in the 1920s, when many Russian merchants, craftsmen and soldiers settled in the city. In Vidzeme in general, the conversion of Latvian farmers to Orthodoxy is widespread, both under the general policy of Russification and hoping to acquire land in this way.

The construction of the new Valmiera Orthodox church began in 1877 and was completed in December 1878. Its author is the first academically educated Latvian architect Jānis Frīdrihs Baumanis (1834–1891). The church was consecrated on May 16, 1879. The church was built of torn gray boulders. Eaves, corners and cornices are made of red locally made bricks. Next to the church is the Mengden family chapel - a mausoleum (built in 1903). A new iron fence was built around the chapel, on stone poles and on a stone foundation. The money, 2000 rubles, was given for the construction of the fence by Count George Mengden's son Georgy Mengden. On November 9th, 1903, in the presence of Dmitry Muraveisk, a clergyman of the Church of St. Sergey of Radonezh, took the coffin of Count George Mengden's father with ashes from the Lutheran chapel to the chapel of the Orthodox church. Inside it, on the east wall, a marble slab with an inscription was fastened and the symbol "Resurrection" was placed in a special niche.
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