Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the Assumption Vrazhek, 1881
In the old days, between Bolshaya Nikitskaya and Tverskaya there was a ravine, near which stood the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The surrounding area was named after it - “Uspensky Enemy”. Since this toponym appears in the Nikon Chronicle, created between 1526 and 1530, it presumably appeared here at that time or even earlier.
Be that as it may, the first documentary mention of Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the Assumption Vrazhek dated 1625. The monastery was made of wood and burned down in a fire in 1629. In 1647, the famous nobleman Grigory Gorikhvostov built a stone one in its place with a porch and two borders - in honor of John the Baptist and Nicholas the Wonderworker. Here, under the bell tower, the tomb of the Gorikhvostovs was built.
In the 1760s. (according to some sources in the 70s), the owner of neighboring lands A.D. Yankov dismantled the chapel of St. Nicholas and built a separate one instead. For a long time, the Yankovs remained the main donors to the monastery.
. Until the end of his days he remained the headman of the Assumption Monastery.
As a result of the restructuring, three chapels appeared in the temple: in honor of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, in honor of John the Baptist and in the name of Sergius of Radonezh, the patron saint of the temple builder. It was a one-domed temple with a small hipped bell tower over the porch. Inside it was a square chamber, divided by rows of columns into 3 naves. Church hall
had a stone floor and was decorated with different types of marble. The choir was located above the western entrance.
The author of the sculptures is Nikolai Ramazanov, who created high reliefs for the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and also removed the death mask from Gogol’s face. In the sculptures of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a special type of cement was used for the first time - English Portland cement.
If we talk about the style in which the temple was built, it is eclectic with elements of Russian architecture.
Closed in 1924. In his building in different time there was a historical archive of the Moscow region, metro construction workshops, a residential apartment, a garment factory, an archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and a telephone exchange.
In 1992, the temple was formally returned to believers. In fact, it was only by 1996 that parishioners had access to its basement floor. True, the room was chosen by rats and cockroaches. Having got rid of this “good”, the church was consecrated in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker - in honor of the side church, which was destroyed in Soviet times. In 1999, the upper church was also given to the parishioners.
Today, there is a Sunday school at the Assumption Church, and a parish group “Mercy” operates.
In the Moscow outlying settlement, located outside the Tver Gate, a wooden church was built in the 16th century. Previously, the place was called Putinki. Now this is the area of Strastnoy Boulevard and Pushkinskaya Square. The temple was given the name of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The stone church was completed around 1676. At the same time, a refectory was built, and in 1690 a chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas was erected. Towards the end of the 18th century, a bell tower was added.
History of the Assumption Church
The first mention of Putinki dates back to the 14th century.. According to legend, at that time there were meadows there that were called Velikiye. Two large highways began there - to Dmitrov and Tver. In the 16th century, in these places there was one of country residences Tsar Vasily III. Later it was turned into a Travel Palace to stop foreign ambassadors.
Presumably the name Putinki is a derivative of the word path. The fact is that it was necessary to get to the palace by paths, that is, curved alleys and streets.
For the first time in chronicles, a church built of wood was mentioned in 1621. It was called the Church of the Assumption in the old Embassy Courtyard, the second name is the Church on Dmitrovka outside the city. In those days, it was famous for its icon depicting the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, exuding myrrh.
Construction of a stone temple
By the end of the 17th century, the wooden temple was either dismantled or burned down on its own. There is no precise documentary information on this matter. . Under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in 1676 A stone church is being built on the site where a wooden church previously stood. In the 17th century, in the 90s, the first mention of the construction of a chapel in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker on the northern side of the temple appears.
The new chapel was made in the Moscow Baroque style. Dome main tower The temple was made in the shape of an apple. This was a rather rare occurrence; there were only two such domes in Moscow. In the second half of the 18th century, a bell tower was erected.
The Church of the Assumption of Our Lady gave its name to the lane on which it was located. They called him Uspensky. Later it was renamed Proezzhiy. Towards the end of the 18th century, the main development of the temple property took shape.
Buildings were erected on the churchyard, which are located:
- Priest.
- Deacon.
- Sexton.
- Women baking bread.
Shrines of the Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God
The church in Putinki has shrines that are revered by parishioners. There are quite a lot of icons in the small church.
Among them are icons depicting:
Particularly revered icon from Constantinople
Among the faces especially revered by Christians are Icon of the Mother of God from Constantinople. One of its lists (copies) is located in the Assumption Church in Putinki. A legend has been preserved about this icon, which says that in ancient times two Greek monks from Constantinople were passing through Staraya Russa. There they served the Divine Liturgy in the cathedral church.
In memory of their presence, the monks left in this church a small icon of the Mother of God, which was engraved on a slate board. This miniature face soon became famous for its miracles. After which lists were made from it, which are kept to this day in various churches in Russia, including in the Church of the Assumption in Putinki.
Repair and destruction of the Assumption Church
In 1898 An unknown benefactor donated a large sum for that time to the temple - 6 thousand rubles. This money was used to repair the building and restore the icons. The iconostasis was re-covered with gold leaf, and the walls were decorated with paintings.
In 1922, the church was closed, and subsequently it was subject to partial destruction and looting. 34 spools (145 g) of gold, 6 poods and 5 pounds (100 kg) of silver and precious objects disappear from it.
The domes of the temple and the bell tower were destroyed, and the entrance to it was blocked with bricks. They also destroyed apses - buildings adjacent to the main part of the building. In their place, the door and windows were broken through. After the desecration and closure of the church, the building was used as a residential building for many years.
Reduction of territory and return to the fold of the church
Over time, the building was surrounded by extensions, which radically changed the once voluminous composition of the cathedral. The territory of the temple property was greatly reduced. They seized the northwestern part of the territory, on which a three-story house was built in 1927. Currently, it houses the embassy of the African Republic of Benin.
In the second half of the twentieth century, the residential building was resettled. A sewing workshop was set up there. In 1990, the temple was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. After this, its restoration began. In 1991, worship services were resumed here.
Schedule of services
Temple in Putinki
The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Putinki is located in Moscow, on Uspensky Lane, in house No. 4. The church is open to the public every day from 10:00 to 19:00, as well as during services.
Information about the schedule of services in the Assumption Church as follows:
Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Putinki
This church, located in Putinki, is truly unique. It is the only three-tent temple building on the territory of Moscow, the appearance of which has survived to this day. In 1648, the wooden temple was destroyed by fire, but on the site of the previous structure, a new one was erected from stone according to its model. Its uniqueness lies in its lack of façade, that is, from any point of view it does not have a uniformly defined façade due to the non-standard architectural solutions that were used during construction. Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary is historical monument architecture, but at the same time the temple is active and divine services are performed in it.
Service schedule:
- On weekdays, morning services begin at 7:30 am.
- On Saturday, Sunday, and also on holidays, the Divine Liturgy is held from 9-00.
- The All-Night Vigil begins at 6:00 pm.
Cathedral of the Assumption of the Mother of God in Moscow
Another Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in the capital located on the territory of the Kremlin, on the square called Cathedral. It belongs to the historical and cultural museum-reserve "Moscow Kremlin". The church was built in 1475 - 1479. The development of the project was entrusted to the famous Italian architect Aristotle Fioravanti.
This temple was the main cathedral of the Russian Empire until the abolition of the monarchy in 1917. The Church of the Assumption is the oldest building in Moscow that has been completely preserved. The ashes of all the patriarchs of Moscow of the first patriarchal period, with the exception of Ignatius and Nikon, rest in the cathedral.
The first capital temple made of stone
The first temple made of stone it was erected on this site at the beginning of the 14th century, during the reign of Prince Ivan I Kalita. In the August days of 1326, in the place where the previous wooden cathedral stood, a new white-stone Assumption Church was founded. It was consecrated in 1327.
The Assumption Church was the first built of stone in Moscow. Archaeological research shows that it was a single-domed temple, supported by four pillars, with triple apses. It was built in the image of St. George's Cathedral, located in the city of Yuryev-Polsky.
The church was erected in an architectural style characteristic of the 14th century. The masonry consisted of squares of rough white stone. It was combined with smoothly polished decorative architectural elements. The facade of the church was crowned with kokoshniks, and the central tower was crowned with a dome.
Moscow Assumption Cathedral in the 15th century
During the reign of Ivan III the Great The Moscow state was gaining strength. The Assumption Cathedral ceased to correspond to the status of a cathedral. The chronicles mention that it became very dilapidated and was no longer repaired. Most likely, a decision had already been made to demolish the old one and build a new stone temple.
The construction of the new church, the largest in size for those years, was entrusted to the Russian architects Myshkin and Krivtsov. At the end of April 1471, the first stone was laid. However, the construction could not be completed, since on May 20, 1474, an earthquake occurred in Moscow and the cathedral collapsed.
After this, Ivan III invites the Italian architect Aristotle Fioravanti, who completely dismantles what remains of the destroyed temple. At this place, under his leadership, a building is being built on the model of the Assumption Cathedral, located in Vladimir. The Assumption Church is still located on Kremlin Square. The cathedral was consecrated in August 1479, the ceremony was performed by Metropolitan Gerontius.
Laconic architecture
The temple has a laconic and monolithic appearance. The unity of the building is emphasized by the uniform division of the facades using vertical flat projections. Smooth walls are crowned with narrow arcature windows. This is the name given to the rows of decorative false arches on the façade. Apses (lower projections of a building adjacent to the main structure) are not very high. They are covered with pylons from the north and south. The pylons are a tower-like structure in the shape of a truncated pyramid.
The cathedral is decorated with five large towers topped with massive domes. Aristotle Fioravanti managed to cope with the most difficult task. He increased the internal volume of the cathedral, which Myshkin and Krivtsov failed to do. The Italian, for the first time in the temple architecture of Rus', used cross vaults 1 brick thick, as well as metal openings and intra-wall connections. Essentially, he applied reinforcement.
The main idea of the Italian architect
But the main engineering and architectural idea of the Italian master was that he built behind the iconostasis there are additional arches. Thanks to this, the eastern halls, united by the through passages of the cathedral, in fact became a monolith. Additional arches took on a significant share of the load from the colossal towers of the cathedral.
This technique made it possible to build relatively thin round pillars in the western and central parts of the temple. This gave a feeling of unusual lightness of the large structure and its integrity with the main part of the pump. Naos is central place in the church where parishioners are present during services.
Moscow temple in the 15th - 16th centuries
Period from 1482 to 1515. At this time, the initial painting of the cathedral was completed. The famous Moscow icon painter and fresco master Dionysius took part in the painting of the temple. Later, the church is redecorated, but some fragments of the original painting are preserved. They are the oldest examples of fresco painting of Rus' on the territory of the Kremlin that have survived to this day.
1574. The Assumption Cathedral suffered from numerous fires, which occurred quite often at that time, but it was constantly restored and updated. After a severe fire in 1574, Ivan I. V. the Terrible issued a decree to cover the top of the cathedral with gilded copper sheets. The relics of Metropolitan Peter, kept in the church, were moved from a silver shrine to a gold one. In the same year, the crowning of Ivan the Terrible took place in the cathedral, the first in the history of the temple.
Assumption Cathedral in the 17th century
The most significant events for the temple in the 17th century were the following:
- In 1613, the Zemsky Sobor was held here, at which Mikhail Fedorovich, the first of the Romanov dynasty, was elected tsar.
- In 1624, the church vaults were worn out and threatened to collapse. To avoid this, they were disassembled and reassembled according to the modified drawing, using additional reinforcement. They also erected additional girth arches, which increased the strength of the structure.
- In 1625, the Robe of the Lord, presented to Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich by the Shah of Persia Abbas I, was transferred to the Assumption Cathedral.
Events of the 18th - 20th centuries associated with the Assumption Church
A brief chronicle of events at this time is as follows:
Currently Cathedral The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary operates as a museum. It can be visited any day except Thursday, from 10:00 to 18:00.
While in Moscow, it is worth visiting such architectural pearls of architecture ancient Rus', like churches dedicated to the Nativity and Dormition of the Mother of God.
The museum houses works of painting, graphics, sculpture, objects of decorative and applied art, as well as archaeological exhibits from more than a hundred countries. The museum arose in 1918 in the wake of the Soviet government’s interest in preserving world heritage: in the five post-revolutionary years, more than 250 museums were opened throughout the country. At that time, the collection of the Museum of the East, or Ars Asiatica, as it was then called, included the oriental collections of the National Museum Fund, the museum of the former Stroganov School, carpet and antique shops, warehouses " Northern Company " Over time, the State Historical Museum transferred its oriental collections to the museum. State Museum fine arts them. A. S. Pushkin, Polytechnic Museum and many others. The fund also expanded significantly thanks to private collections, purchasing and archaeological expeditions. Many exhibits were donated to the museum by the republics and allied countries that were part of the USSR. A special place in the permanent exhibition Soviet period occupied the section “The Image of the Leaders of the Proletarian Revolution in the Art of the National Republics.” In particular, one could see how the image of Lenin was revealed in the works of artists of the Soviet East., Stroganov School, Tsvetkovskaya Gallery on Kropotkinskaya Embankment and the building of the Church of Elijah the Prophet on Vorontsov Field.
Today, the oldest Chinese ceramics from the 2nd millennium BC. e. is adjacent here to traditional ritual objects from Buryatia, which to the untrained eye seem as ancient as Chinese ones, but in fact were created no more than a hundred years ago. This creates the illusion that in the East time moves differently, and somewhere else it has stopped altogether. On one floor you can see a masterpiece of world significance - a piled silk carpet from India of the 17th century - and a modern wool carpet from Afghanistan, where images of tanks and Kalashnikov assault rifles are quite naturally woven into the traditional pattern. If the concept of “design” is applicable to antiquity, then over thousands of years little has changed in Asian design.
Each hall or group of halls of the museum is dedicated to a separate country or region of the East: thus, starting from Iran, you end the journey in Kazakhstan, having time to examine a shield made of rhinoceros skin in India, giant masks for the Buddhist religious mystery Tsam in Mongolia, Japanese katana fighting swords, Chinese jars for crickets, Indonesian shadow theater, handwritten books on palm leaves in Laos, Caucasian carpets and suzani embroideries in Uzbekistan. The Japanese hall presents a unique figurative composition: a snow-white eagle on a pine tree against the backdrop of a screen depicting a raging sea. The eagle figure is made using a highly complex combined assembly technique: the body and wings are made of wood, and the plumage consists of 1,500 individual ivory plates. But what is especially interesting is that this composition was brought to Russia in 1896 as a gift to Nicholas II on the occasion of his coronation from the Japanese Emperor Meiji. The emperor himself was not part of the delegation that arrived in Russia; the imperial family was represented by Prince Sadanara Fushima. All vases, jugs, swords and carpets, each item has its own story. And these stories have keepers. The research institute at the museum employs more than 300 specialists.
After such a journey through the traditional East, the last hall of painting of the Caucasus and Central Asia becomes truly unexpected, where the works of the world's largest artists of the 20th century, Niko Pirosmani and Martiros Saryan, deserve special attention.
Working hours
The temple is open daily from 10:00 to 19:00, on days of worship - from 8:30.
Services are held on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On ordinary days, Matins and Liturgy are at 8:30. On Sundays and holidays Liturgy at 9:00, the day before all-night vigil at 18:00.
Thrones
1. Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary;
2. St. Sergius of Radonezh;
3. Beheading of John the Baptist;
4. St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
Patronal holidays
August 28 – Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary (main altar);
July 18, October 8 – the day of remembrance of St. Sergius of Radonezh;
September 11 is the day of remembrance of the Beheading of John the Baptist;
May 22, December 19 – days of memory of St. Nicholas, World of Lycian Wonderworker.
Story
Many Moscow churches that survived during Soviet times have now been returned to the Russian Orthodox Church, and in the period 1991-1992. most of them were filled with believers. Regular services have resumed. One of these churches is the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Uspensky Vrazhek.
Uspensky Vrazhek is an ancient Moscow tract between Tverskaya and Nikitskaya streets, mentioned in chronicles from the 16th century. Here were the courtyards of the ambassadors - the Lithuanian courtyard and the “court of the Tsar's ambassadors”, i.e. Roman Empire. The courtyard of Aleviz the New, a famous architect, is also mentioned here.
1601 - the first written mention of the temple.
1629 - the wooden Church of the Assumption burned down in a big fire.
1634 - rebuilt.
1647 - the first stone church was built at the expense of G.I. Gorikhvostov
1707 - wooden chapel of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the churchyard.
The history of the temple is closely connected with the owners of the neighboring estate, the Yankovs, who took care of the welfare of the church.
1735 - D.I. Yankov added the side church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker to the building of the Church of the Assumption itself. The temple became the tomb of the Yankovs.
1781 - St. Nicholas side church was rebuilt due to its dilapidation.
1812 - the church burned down.
The Assumption Church was a summer church; in winter they served in the warm chapel church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
In the mid-50s, the Moscow merchant S. A. Zhivago, who had previously bought the Yankov estate for himself, was elected head of the temple. Commissioned by Zhivago, academician of architecture A.S. Nikitin drew up a design for a vast three-altar church with a bell tower adjacent to the St. Nicholas Church.
1860 - construction of the current temple building was completed. The new church has three altars: the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Beheading of John the Baptist and Sergius of Radonezh - the heavenly patron of the temple builder.
Finishing work continued until the 1890s. Only in 1870, at the expense of the elder Joseph Zhivago (brother of S.A. Zhivago), the temple was plastered and painted, the domes were gilded.
1910 - the 50th anniversary of the temple was solemnly celebrated.
1920 - an agreement was concluded between the parish and the Moscow Council of Workers and Red Army Men on the transfer of “religious buildings” for indefinite and free use.
1924 - by resolution of the Presidium of the Moscow Soviet, the agreement with the community was terminated. The temple was transferred to the State Historical Archive of Moscow. areas. In Soviet times, the heads of the temple and bell tower, the sculptural decoration of the temple, decor, not to mention the interior decoration and church property were lost. The side-chapel St. Nicholas Church was dismantled during the construction of the House of Composers.
1979 - a long-distance telephone center was opened in the church.
1992 - Moscow Government decree on the return of the church to the Russian Orthodox Church.
1996 - the basement was given to the community for use. At the same time, on the Resurrection of Fomino, the first Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the returned church.
In memory of the lost side church, the throne is dedicated to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
1998 - the upper church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was returned.
1999 - on the feast of the Giving of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the throne was consecrated in the name of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Shrines
Icon of the Venerable Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth with particles of the relics of St. mcc. Elizabeth and nun Varvara
The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Gonchary is like a precious stone, small in size, embedded in the old streets of Moscow.
The first mention of the wooden Assumption Church, built in the potters' settlement, dates back to the beginning of the 17th century. At this time, Zayauzye was bordered on the east by Zemlyanoy Val, with the only gate at Taganskaya Square, and the population density of the area became one of the highest in Moscow. Various palace craft settlements were located here very compactly, almost each of them had its own temple. It is for this reason that Nikolsky stands literally opposite the Assumption Church. Then the church was called “The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the Spasskaya Sloboda in Chigis,” which is connected with the settlement located here in ancient times at the Spaso-Chigasovsky Monastery, which existed until the middle of the 17th century. Unusual name The monastery comes from the name of Abbot Chigas, who founded it in 1483.
In 1654, local potters built themselves a new stone single-altar Assumption Church. In 1702, the Assumption chapel was rebuilt; on the site of the dismantled vestibule, a refectory was built with a chapel for Tikhon, Bishop of Amafuntsky. Between 1764 and 1774, a three-tier bell tower was built in the post-Petrine Baroque style. During these same years, the temple acquired the color that can be seen on the modern temple.
The Assumption Church turned out to be small and cozy. The famous tile artist Stepan Polubes took part in its design. IN late XVII century he lived in Goncharnaya Sloboda, not far from the temple. His workshop was located here, in which he produced tiled friezes and panels. Polychrome tiles by Stepan Polubes decorate the chapel and refectory. On the northern façade they form a wide frieze; the southern side of the temple is decorated with separate inserts. The head of the chapel of Tikhon of Amafuntsky is decorated very interestingly. It features one of Polubes’ favorite subjects - a panel depicting the four evangelists.
In 1812, the Assumption Church was plundered by Napoleon's troops, and the parish courtyards were burned. By 1836, the temple was restored and partially rebuilt.
During the years of Soviet power, the temple, fortunately, did not suffer the fate of many others. Orthodox churches subjected to abuse and destruction. The temple never closed and retained all its bells. True, the bells did not ring for a long time, and many pilgrims had to sneak into the temple. Despite all this, the number of people wishing to get into the temple for worship was enormous, and the number of communicants during Lent reached several thousand. In the post-war period, the staff of clergy in the Assumption Church was increased.
