Temple where you can study history

Passengers at the Moscow metro stations "Kropotkinskaya" or "Okhotny Ryad" will certainly be very surprised if they are told what kind of marble the lobbies of these stations are lined with. The fact is that this is the marble of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, blown up in 1931. After Stalin personally gave the order to demolish it and build the Palace of Soviets on this site, it was decided to transfer the "building material" of the main cathedral of Russia for various household needs.

The first floor of the Moskva Hotel, still memorable to many, was faced with red granite from the stairs of the cathedral. And marble benches were installed at the Novokuznetskaya metro station.

One of the church bells was moved to the tower of the Northern River Station in Khimki. And in one of the rooms of the main building of Moscow State University on the Sparrow Hills, there are still several columns that were once taken from the altar of the temple.

St. Alekseevsky Monastery, on the site of which the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was later built. Painting by Karl Rabus, 1838 According to a popular but unreliable folk legend, they were forced to move to a new place against the wishes of its inhabitants. The abbess of the monastery, not wanting to move, allegedly first tied herself with chains to an oak tree in the monastery courtyard, and then cursed this place. They also say that when Nicholas I came to the monastery and began to personally convince the nuns of the need to move, then at the end of the unsuccessful persuasion, the same abbess suddenly prophesied to him: “Sir, you will get a puddle here.” However, no curse, apparently, was not. It is not supported by any historical documents and evidence. Such stories are rather myths, with which, post factum, they tried to explain the subsequent tragic fate of the temple.

This is how the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was supposed to look according to the project of A. L. Vitberg

Grand opening of the monument to Alexander III in 1912 (destroyed in 1918). The military parade is hosted by Emperor Nicholas II

In the Donskoy Monastery, where the new authorities opened the Anti-Religious Museum, several high reliefs from the facades of the temple were transferred. There are still fragments of the statue of St. George the Victorious and the Old Testament prophetess Deborah, as well as the bas-relief “Sergius of Radonezh blesses Dmitry Donskoy for the Battle of Kulikovo”, which was damaged by the explosion.

There are facts that are completely amazing: when the Tretyakov Gallery was overhauled in the late 1990s, they began to change the worn-out marble steps that led to the wardrobe. What was the surprise of the workers when they saw the engraved names of the heroes of 1812 on the reverse side of the dismantled steps. The steps to the cloakroom were made of marble from the memorial plaques of the temple. The memory of the heroes of the spirit, the warriors who laid down their lives for their faith and Fatherland, has been trampled underfoot for decades by the unknowing visitors of the Tretyakov Gallery. These steps are now in the temple museum. In addition, part of the memorial plates with the names of heroes from the district gallery of the temple were crushed into small gravel and sprinkled with it on the paths in the Gorky Central Park of Culture and in other metropolitan parks. The meaning of this action was definitely not economic, but symbolic. So in the 1930s, on a still fresh revolutionary wave, they wanted to forever destroy the memory of old Russia and its great victories.

Bench from the Cathedral of Christ the Savior at the Novokuznetskaya metro station. Photo by Vladimir Eshtokin

In memory of a miracle

On December 25, 1812, on the day of the Nativity of Christ (according to the old style), the last Napoleonic soldiers crossed the Neman River on ice, forever leaving the borders of Russia. On the same day, the Supreme Manifesto of Emperor Alexander I was issued on the construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow * "in commemoration of gratitude to the Providence of God, which saved Russia from the death that threatened her." It so happened that the most critical trials that have befallen Russia over the past two hundred years turned out to be connected in one way or another with the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Our country has been on the verge of death more than once in the last two centuries, but has risen again, no matter what. And every time it looked like a real miracle. It was a miracle that Russia was saved from an enemy invasion in 1812, when Russia was initially able to oppose the 600,000-strong Napoleonic army with less than 200,000 of its soldiers and officers. In memory of this miracle, they decided to erect the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The real miracle was the salvation of Russia in the Great Patriotic War. By the way, it was precisely its beginning that prevented the completion of the communist Palace of Soviets on the site of the blown up temple. It was also a miracle that the temple, seemingly lost forever as a result of the October Revolution, was restored in just a few years after the fall of communist power.

But the first time it was built for a very, very long time. Between the decree of Emperor Alexander I on the construction of the temple and its consecration in 1883, seventy years passed.

Unsuccessful attempt

Few people know that at first the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was planned to be erected on Sparrow Hills, a kind of “crown of Moscow”, from where it would tower over the capital and be visible from everywhere.

Its construction was entrusted to the young architect Karl Magnus (after the adoption of Orthodoxy - Alexander Lavrentievich) Vitberg. He designed a three-tiered building with three thrones. The first temple, the lowest one, was supposed to become the tomb of Russian soldiers, where requiems would be constantly held. After reviewing Witberg's project and addressing the architect, Alexander I exclaimed: "You made the stones speak!"

Exactly on the fifth anniversary of the expulsion of the French from Moscow, on October 12, 1817, between the Smolenskaya road (the enemy entered Moscow along it) and the Kaluga road (he left the capital along it), the solemn laying of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior took place on Sparrow Hills.

However, Vitberg, a favorite of Alexander I (it was not without reason that he was his godfather at baptism and gave him his name), after the death of the emperor, they are undeservedly accused of embezzlement and, after lengthy proceedings, they are exiled to Vyatka.

They also refuse to build a temple on Sparrow Hills. Firstly, due to subsidence of soil on the banks of the Moscow River and the danger of a landslide. Secondly, fears were expressed that due to the remoteness from the center of the capital, the magnificent building would be empty most of the time. In addition, Witberg's project was full of mystical symbolism, very close to the worldview of Alexander I, but alien to the views of the new Russian tsar, who did not share the mystical passions of his brother.

The first life of the temple

Nevertheless, Nicholas I did not forget the “vow” of Alexander I. The design of the new temple was entrusted to Konstantin Andreevich To-n-u, the famous author of the Moscow and Nikolaevsky twin stations in both Russian capitals, the embankment in St. Petersburg with the famous sphinxes in front of the Academy Arts and the Armory in the Kremlin.

The emperor approves a hill next to the Big Stone Bridge for new construction. The place was chosen because of its proximity to the Kremlin, and also because from it the Cathedral of Christ the Savior would be visible from all parts of Moscow. The Alekseevsky convent located here is transferred to Krasnoe Selo (now it is the area of ​​​​the Krasnoselskaya metro station).

On September 10, 1839, the solemn laying of the new church took place. It was performed by St. Philaret of Moscow himself, whose relics now rest in the church.

It was built almost 44 years. The whole of Russia collected money for it. In the churches there were mugs with the inscription "To build a temple to the Savior Christ in Moscow."

Twenty years after the start of construction, the outer scaffolding was removed from the building, and for the first time the temple appeared before Muscovites in all its grandeur and splendor. It truly reigns over the capital - its golden domes are visible even dozens of miles from the center of Moscow.

By 1881, work was being completed on the interior painting of the temple, as well as on the construction of the embankment and the square in front of the temple. It was painted by the best artists of Russia - V. Surikov, F. Bruni, I. Kramskoy, V. Vereshchagin, and others. The authors of facade sculptures based on scenes from the Old Testament and Russian history were Baron P. Klodt, A. Loganovsky, N. Ramazanov. The theme of the paintings of the most important parts of the building - the main dome and its belt, small vaults and the iconostasis - was personally approved by St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow.

And on the day of the Ascension of the Lord, May 26 (June 8), 1883, the consecration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior takes place, specially timed to coincide with the coronation of Alexander III. In the northern corner of the temple there are a few veterans of the Patriotic War with the Orders of St. George on their chests. For the first time, P. I. Tchaikovsky’s overture “1812”, specially written for this festival, sounds.

The temple received the status of a cathedral, and its clergy were equated with the clergy of the capital's St. Isaac's Cathedral. Since then, many important historical events have taken place under its arches. It, for example, celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Patriotic War and the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty.

After the February Revolution in August 1917, the All-Russian Local Council opened in the temple, which two months later elected Metropolitan Tikhon of Moscow as Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. Then the Russian Church, after a 200-year break, regained its Patriarch.

But already three months later, in November 1917, at the insistence of Patriarch Tikhon, prayers were performed here for the appeasement of Russia. At the end of the funeral of the victims of revolutionary battles in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, a Cathedral prayer was served for all those who died in bloody clashes.

"Farewell, keeper of Russian glory!"

After the October Revolution, the fate of the temple was sealed. Back in December 1922, at the First Congress of Soviet Deputies, which proclaimed the creation of the USSR, S. M. Kirov proposed instead of the “palace of bankers, landlords and tsars” to erect a “new palace of workers and working peasants”. It should appear, Kirov said, in Moscow "on the most beautiful and best square" and become "an emblem of the coming power, the triumph of communism not only here, but also there, in the West."

Explosion of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, 1931. Photo by Itar-TASS. They planned to destroy not only the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. According to the general plan of Moscow in 1935, they were going to demolish almost all the buildings in the district and create around a huge square that would connect the Palace of Soviets with the Kremlin. Neither the church of Elijah the Obydenny near Ostozhenka, nor the “fairy tale house” in Soimonovsky passage, nor other remarkable buildings should have remained. However, they all remained intact and survived to this day. Together with the temple, only two churches were destroyed - the Praise of the Virgin (next to it) and the Holy Spirit (on Gogolevsky Boulevard).

In March 1924, the Pravda newspaper received a letter from a certain student Balikhin from the Association of New Architects with a proposal to demolish the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in order to put a monumental building in its place, which would also be a monument to Lenin. From that moment began the countdown to the destruction of the temple.

The press, led by the Union of Militant Atheists, is unleashing a wild campaign to discredit the architectural merits of Russia's main cathedral. It is pejoratively compared with a samovar and Easter cake, they claim that it allegedly “does not represent artistic value”, that the temple is a “thick poisonous mushroom”, “eating juices” of Zamoskvorechye, created to “glorify mass human extermination (meaning the war of 1812. — Ed.), in which the workers and peasants did not show any unparalleled zeal.

In August 1931, work began on dismantling the temple and clearing the surrounding area. And at noon on December 5 of the same year, the first powerful explosion was heard, then the second. But the Cathedral of Christ the Savior continued to stand almost unscathed. Only the third explosion finished him off.

Less than 50 years passed from the consecration of the temple to its destruction.

Unfulfilled utopia

Two years after the explosion, the project of the Palace of Soviets by architect B. M. Iofan was adopted (co-authors V. A. Shchuko and V. G. Gelfreikh). Its scale can amaze the imagination of any person. A gigantic building 420 meters high would be crowned by a huge statue of Lenin (twice as high as the American Statue of Liberty). For comparison, the height of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was 104 meters (that is, the temple was four times lower than the planned "miracle palace"!). Thus, on the site of the temple to the God-man, a communist universal “temple” was supposed to appear symbolically opposed to it, which instead of a cross would be crowned with the figure of a man-god.

According to the project, the Palace of Soviets was supposed to be 4 times higher than the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. They planned to destroy not only the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. According to the general plan of Moscow in 1935, they were going to demolish almost all the buildings in the district and create around a huge square that would connect the Palace of Soviets with the Kremlin. Neither the church of Elijah the Obydenny near Ostozhenka, nor the “fairy tale house” in Soimonovsky passage, nor other remarkable buildings should have remained. However, they all remained intact and survived to this day. Together with the temple, only two churches were destroyed - the Praise of the Virgin (next to it) and the Holy Spirit (on Gogolevsky Boulevard).

Outdoor pool "Moscow", built on the site of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior

Saint Sergius blesses Prince Dmitry Donskoy for the Battle of Kulikovo. High relief of the destroyed Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Sculptor A. Loganovsky. And the same high relief after the destruction of the temple. Photo www.xxc.ru.

The Palace of Soviets was to become the tallest building in the world. It was supposed to be the center of the new Moscow - the capital of world communism, a utopian paradise on Earth. Its two halls - the Big and the Small - were supposed to accommodate 15,000 and 6,000 people, respectively. It was planned to place a library in the giant head of Lenin, the size of a 5-story building, and the index finger of the statue of the leader of the world proletariat was 4 meters long. The Palace of Soviets began to be built in the first half of the 1930s, but they only managed to lay the foundation. The Great Patriotic War is not up to the construction of the giant Palace of Soviets. In the autumn of 1941, when the Germans were rushing to the capital, metal structures from the construction went to the manufacture of anti-tank hedgehogs for the defense of Moscow.

After the war, the project is frozen due to lack of funds in a country recovering from a war of extermination. The idea of ​​the Palace of Soviets, together with the belief in a more or less near victory of communism throughout the world, was gradually fading away. As a result, the authorities decided to limit themselves to the construction of the Palace of Congresses in the Kremlin, and in 1958, on the site of the unbuilt palace, they built the outdoor swimming pool "Moscow" according to the project of architect D.N. Chechulin. By the way, if something more serious, say, residential buildings, were built on the site of the destroyed temple, then it would be very difficult to restore the temple in the post-Soviet period.

New life for the temple

In the late 1980s there is a public movement for the restoration of the temple. The writers Vladimir Soloukhin, Vladimir Krupin and Valentin Rasputin, composer Georgy Sviridov did a lot for its revival.

In February 1990, the Holy Synod of the Russian Church blessed the revival of the temple and turned to the Government of Russia with a request to allow it to be rebuilt in its original place. And four years later, the builders dismantled the pool and began installing the foundation of the temple.

Since the Church alone, despite numerous donations from parishioners, was unable to build the temple, the Moscow Government took an active part in its construction. An agreement was reached that it was transferred not to the ownership of the Church, but to the municipal property, in which it is still located.

Already in April 1996, crosses were hoisted on the heads of the temple, and bells cast at the ZIL factory rang on the domes. On August 19, 2000, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II performed the Great consecration of the temple. That is, less than six years passed from the beginning of construction to the consecration of the temple.

In the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, unique shrines are stored: a particle of the robe (tunic) of the Lord Jesus Christ, a particle of the robe of the Most Holy Theotokos and nail from the Cross on which the Savior was crucified. Also in the temple are particles of the relics of John the Baptist, the Apostle Andrew the First-Called, the Monk Mary of Egypt, John Chrysostom, Gregory the Theologian, Basil the Great, Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, Prince Alexander Nevsky, Metropolitan Philaret (Drozdov) of Moscow, as well as the relics of other saints and ascetics of the Church. Photo by Vladimir Eshtokin

The Cathedral of Christ the Savior is the main cathedral of Russia. It accommodates several thousand people. The height of the temple is the same as in the last century - 104 m, and the thickness of the walls is 3.2 m. Its rector is the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia (the representative of the Patriarch in the temple is the dean of the temple, Archpriest Mikhail Ryazantsev). Patriarchal services are held here at Christmas, Easter and other Great holidays of the Russian Orthodox Church. Here, at the Council of Bishops in August 2000, Nicholas II and his family were canonized as Holy New Martyrs of Russia. Here the relics of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called were exhibited for veneration (June 2003) and the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God returned from America (June 2004). Here, in November 2011, the Holy Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos was put up for worship by numerous pilgrims. Also in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior at the Local Council in 2009, the election of a new Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and his enthronement took place.

In preparing the article, materials from the book "Temple of Christ the Savior" were used. St. Petersburg, publishing house "P-2", 2011. 157 p.

The Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow is a cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church not far from the Kremlin on the left bank of the Moskva River, at a place previously called Chertoly. The existing building is an external reconstruction of the temple of the same name, created in the 19th century, carried out in the 1990s. The names of officers of the Russian army who fell in the war of 1812 and other close military campaigns were inscribed on the walls of the temple.

The original was erected in gratitude to God for saving Russia from the Napoleonic invasion: “to preserve the eternal memory of that unparalleled zeal, fidelity and love for the Faith and the Fatherland, with which the Russian people exalted themselves in these difficult times, and to commemorate Our gratitude to the Providence of God that saved Russia from the death that threatened her.

It was designed by the architect Konstantin Ton. Construction lasted almost 44 years: the temple was founded on September 23, 1839, consecrated on May 26, 1883.

On December 5, 1931, the temple building was destroyed. It was rebuilt on the same site in 1999.

Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow- the largest in the Russian Church. Designed for 10,000 people. In plan, the temple looks like an equilateral cross about 85 m wide. The height of the temple with a dome and a cross is currently 105 m (3.5 m higher than St. Isaac's Cathedral). It was erected in the traditions of the so-called Russian-Byzantine style, which enjoyed wide state support at the time of the start of construction. The painting inside the temple occupies about 22,000 m?, of which about 9,000 m? are gilded.

As part of a modern complex Cathedral of Christ the Savior includes:
- "upper temple" - actually the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. It has 3 thrones - the main one in honor of the Nativity of Christ and 2 side ones in the choirs - in the name of Nicholas the Wonderworker (southern) and the holy prince Alexander Nevsky (northern). Consecrated on August 6 (19), 2000.
- "lower temple" - the Church of the Transfiguration, built in memory of the women's Alekseevsky monastery located on this site. It has three altars: the main one - in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord and two small chapels - in honor of Alexy the Man of God and the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God. The church was consecrated on August 6 (19), 1996.

The idea of ​​building memorial churches goes back to the ancient tradition of votive churches, built as a token of thanksgiving for the victory and in eternal remembrance of the dead. The tradition of memorial temples has been known since pre-Mongolian times: Yaroslav the Wise erected Sophia of Kyiv in Kiev on the site of the battle with the Pechenegs. In the era of the Battle of Kulikovo, numerous churches were built in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary - a holiday that fell on the day of the battle of the Russian army with the troops of Mamai. In Moscow, in memory of the fallen and to commemorate military victories, the Church of All Saints, the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat (better known as St. Basil the Blessed), and the Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (Kazan Cathedral) on Red Square were built.

On December 25, 1812, when the last Napoleonic soldiers left Russia, Emperor Alexander I signed the Supreme Manifesto on the construction of a church in Moscow, which at that time lay in ruins:
“The salvation of Russia from enemies, as numerous by forces as by evil and ferocious intentions and deeds, carried out in six months of all their extermination, so that with the most rapid flight, only the smallest part of them could go beyond Our borders, is clearly poured out on Russia goodness God, there is a truly memorable incident that the ages will not erase from everyday life.
In order to preserve the eternal memory of that unparalleled zeal, fidelity and love for the Faith and for the Fatherland, with which the Russian people exalted themselves in these difficult times, and in commemoration of Our gratitude to the Providence of God, which saved Russia from the death that threatened her, We set out in Our Mother See of Moscow to create a church in the name of the Savior Christ, a detailed decree about which will be announced in due time.
May the Almighty bless Our undertaking! May it be done! May this Temple stand for many centuries, and may the censer of gratitude of later generations smoke in it before the Holy Throne of God, along with love and imitation of the deeds of their ancestors.- Alexander I

After the victory over Napoleon in 1814, the project was refined: it was decided to build a cathedral in the name of Christ the Savior within 10-12 years.

In the same 1814, an international open competition was held with the participation of such respected architects as Voronikhin, Quarenghi, Stasov and others. However, to the surprise of many, the project of 28-year-old Karl Magnus Witberg, an artist (not even an architect), a freemason and moreover, a Lutheran. The project, according to contemporaries, was really exceptionally beautiful. Compared to the current temple of Witberg, it was three times larger, included the Pantheon of the Dead, a colonnade (600 columns) of captured cannons, as well as monuments to monarchs and prominent commanders. In order to approve the project, Witberg was baptized into Orthodoxy. It was decided to place the building on Sparrow Hills. Huge funds were allocated for the construction: 16 million rubles from the treasury and considerable public donations.

A. Vitberg project

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On October 12, 1817, on the 5th anniversary of the departure of the French from Moscow, in the presence of Tsar Alexander I, the first church designed by Witberg was founded on Sparrow Hills. Construction at first proceeded vigorously (20,000 serfs near Moscow took part in it), but soon the pace dropped sharply. For the first 7 years it was not possible to complete even the zero cycle. The money went to no one knows where (later the commission counted the embezzlement for almost a million rubles).

After the accession to the throne of Nicholas I in 1825, the construction had to be stopped, according to the official version, due to insufficient reliability of the soil; Witberg and construction managers were charged with embezzlement and put on trial. The process lasted 8 years. In 1835, "for abuse of the emperor's trust and for damages to the treasury," the defendants were fined one million rubles. Vitberg himself was exiled to Vyatka (where, in particular, he met Herzen, who dedicated a chapter to him in Past and Thoughts); all his property was confiscated. Many historians consider Witberg an honest man, guilty only of indiscretion. His exile did not last long, later Witberg participated in the construction of Orthodox cathedrals in Perm and Tiflis.

A new competition was not held, and in 1831 Nicholas I personally appointed the architect Konstantin Ton, whose "Russian-Byzantine" style was close to the tastes of the new emperor. A new place on Chertolye (Volkhonka) was also chosen by Nicholas I himself; buildings that were there were bought and demolished. The Alekseevsky convent located there, a monument of the 17th century, was also demolished (transferred to Krasnoye Selo). Moscow rumor has preserved the legend that the abbess of the Alekseevsky monastery, dissatisfied with such a turn, cursed the place and predicted that nothing would stand on it for long.

The second temple, unlike the first, was built almost entirely at public expense.

The solemn laying of the cathedral took place on the day of the 25th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino - in August 1837. However, active construction began only on September 10, 1839 and lasted almost 44 years; the total cost of the Temple reached 15 million rubles. The vault of the large dome was completed in 1849; in 1860 the outer scaffolding was dismantled. For another 20 years, work on the interior decoration continued; famous masters V. I. Surikov, I. N. Kramskoy, V. P. Vereshchagin and other famous artists of the Imperial Academy of Arts worked on the painting.

Similar temples were built in Novocherkassk, Baku and a number of other cities. In the former Cossack capital of Novocherkassk, it stands to this day.

On May 26 (June 7), 1883, a solemn consecration took place Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, committed by Metropolitan Ioannikius (Rudnev) of Moscow with a host of clergy and in the presence of Emperor Alexander III, who was crowned in the Moscow Kremlin shortly before.

Architectural and artistic merit Cathedral of Christ the Savior questioned by many figures of Russian culture; in particular, a negative review by I. E. Grabar is known.

The activity in the temple very soon became a noticeable phenomenon in social and cultural life, it was the center of many cultural events and educational activities.

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A year before the consecration, on August 20, 1882, Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, written by the composer to commemorate Russia's victory in the war against Napoleon, was first performed in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The church had its own choir, which was considered one of the best in Moscow. Among the regents were the famous composers A. A. Arkhangelsky and P. G. Chesnokov, the works of another major church composer A. D. Kastalsky were performed, the voices of Fyodor Chaliapin and Konstantin Rozov sounded.

AT Cathedral of Christ the Savior coronations, national holidays and anniversaries were solemnly celebrated: the 500th anniversary of the death of Sergius of Radonezh, the 100th anniversary of the Patriotic War of 1812, the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, the opening of monuments to Alexander III and Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. The main patronal feast of the temple - the Nativity of Christ - until 1917 was celebrated by Orthodox Moscow as a holiday of Victory in the Patriotic War of 1812. A rich library was created in the temple, in which there were many valuable publications, and excursions were constantly held.

The last dean of the temple was Hieromartyr Alexander Khotovitsky (August 1917-1922).

Since 1922, the temple was under the jurisdiction of the Renovationist Higher Church Administration of Metropolitan Antonin, and subsequently the Renovationist Holy Synod - until it was closed in 1931. rector Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow in those years was one of the leaders of renovationism, Metropolitan Alexander Vvedensky.

On December 5, 1931, the temple-monument of military glory was destroyed by an explosion. On June 2, 1931, an order was given to demolish the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in order to build the Palace of Soviets in its place.

Cathedral of Christ the Savior- This is the main temple of all Russia. The Cathedral is a place for worship of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, meetings of Bishops' Councils and other important church forums. This temple has long become a symbol of the country and the spiritual faith of Russians, as well as a monument to the complex and intricate history of Russia. The Cathedral of Christ the Savior was transferred to the permanent use of the Russian Orthodox Church by the Moscow City Hall.

The temple was erected in honor of the memory of the heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812 as a great monument to the courage of the spirit of the Russian people. As usual, such votive churches were erected in honor of a saint or one of the great church holidays. However, this temple was built in honor of Christ the Savior himself. Alexander Vitberg was the chief architect of the first construction project. He believed that the future cathedral should be the largest and most majestic, surpassing even the Roman Cathedral of St. Peter in its power.

According to the first project, the temple was supposed to be built on Sparrow Hills, but after the foundation was laid, it was decided to change the place to a territory with more stable soil. Alexander Vitberg was removed from construction due to huge expenses, and his place was transferred to Konstantin Ton. Under his professional and sensitive guidance, the construction of the temple began in 1839 at a new location - not far from the Kremlin. Ton's project was chosen as the fundamental one, and the grandiose construction of the temple on it was completed only in 1881.

During the reign of Joseph Stalin, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was forcibly blown up. According to the plan of the Soviet government, a huge Palace of Soviets with a solemn monument to Lenin was to be built on the vacated territory of the cathedral. However, the beginning of the war prevented the project from being realized, and as a result of the impoverished budget and the changed mood in politics, construction did not begin even in the post-war years. From 1960 to 1994, the Moskva public swimming pool was located on the site of the former temple.

After the coup of power and the formation of the Russian Federation, the government decided on a new construction of the great temple. Aleksey Denisov, a talented restorer, did a great job of restoring the appearance of the cathedral, which he distinguished in the 19th century. The surviving drawings and drawings helped in this. Denisov was suspended from work, and then Zurab Tsereteli took over the construction. According to his idea, the facade decoration was made in bronze, which contradicts historical data. To date, the temple has been completely restored, but its appearance is not a repetition of Ton's project.

Cathedral of Christ the Savior brief information.

On this day 130 years ago, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was consecrated by Emperor Alexander III, who had just ascended the throne. In honor of this anniversary, we decided to take a closer look at the history of the Temple.

And it all started December 25, 1812, when the last soldier of Napoleon's army was expelled from Russia, Emperor Alexander I, in honor of the victory of the Russian army and in gratitude to God, signed the Supreme Manifesto on the construction of a church in Moscow in the name of the Savior Christ and issued " The Highest Decree to the Holy Synod on the establishment of the feast of December 25, in remembrance of the deliverance of the Church and the Russian Power from the invasion of the Gauls and with them the twelve languages».

The idea of ​​building a memorial church resurrected the ancient tradition of votive churches, built as a token of gratitude to God for the granted victory and in eternal remembrance of the dead.
Already in 1813, an official competition was announced for the project of a memorial temple, in which prominent architects of that time took part. By December 1815, about 20 projects had been submitted for the competition.
Most of the projects had a high degree of homogeneity. The thought and imagination of the architects of that time worked within the framework of strictly defined concepts, conditioned by the ideas of Empire architecture. Participants in the competition for the design of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior were mainly inspired by St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and the Pantheon.

The project, designed by Giacomo Quarenghi, is similar to the Pantheon, especially its main facade with an eight-columned Corinthian portico and a solemn staircase in front of it.

Voronikhin's project gravitates toward St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome.

Voronikhin also used forms associated with Gothic - lancet openings and decorative elements characteristic of the Western European Middle Ages.

But the Sovereign approved the project presented by the architect A.L. Witberg, who managed to put into classical forms the meaning that expressed the national idea, and also to interpret the event of national history, based on the system of universal values ​​of Christianity.

Witberg's ideas about the temple come down to three main points: 1st, so that its colossality corresponds to the greatness of Russia; 2nd, so that, free from slavish imitation, he had something original in his character, a style of strict original architecture; 3rd, so that all parts of the temple are not only arbitrary forms of architectural need, not a dead mass of stones, but express the spiritual idea of ​​a living temple - a person in body, soul and spirit».
Vitberg proposed to build a temple between the Smolensk and Kaluga roads, on the Sparrow Hills, which Alexander I poetically called the "crown of Moscow."

The reasons for choosing a place were the desire of the Emperor to build a temple outside the city, since in Moscow " there is not enough space required for an elegant building". This was consistent with a good geographical location (spreading at the foot of the Sparrow Hills, the Maiden's Field would allow you to see the whole temple from afar), and the fact that the Sparrow Hills are located between the paths of the enemy, who entered Moscow along the Smolensk road and retreated along the Kaluga.

According to Witberg, the temple was to become triple, i.e. " the temple of the body, the temple of the soul and the temple of the spirit - but since a person, being threefold, is one, so the temple, with all threeness, must be one". Thus, the idea of ​​a triple temple becomes central to Witberg's project.
He works, striving, that all the outer forms of the temple be the imprint of the inner idea". The idea of ​​a tripartite temple and the fact that Witberg was able to put into classical forms the meaning that expressed the national idea, as well as interpret the event of national history, based on the system of universal values ​​of Christianity, helps him win the competition.

Witberg designs the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in three parts and vertically. One above the other are located:
- an underground temple in the name of the Nativity of Christ, which has a parallelepiped in plan, resembling a coffin (panikhidas were supposed to be continuously performed here);
- cruciform ground - in the name of the Transfiguration of the Lord, symbolizing the mixture of light and darkness in the human soul, as well as the combination of good and evil in human life. The middle temple was supposed to be decorated with many statues;
- round top - in the name of the Resurrection of Christ.

The high bank of the Sparrow Hills is interpreted by the architect as the natural foot of a grandiose structure. The underground temple was supposed to be built in the thickness of the coastal slope, having decorated the passages in the form of solemn staircases framed by colonnades.

When summing up the results of the competition, the Sovereign said to Witberg with favor: “ I am extremely pleased with your project. You guessed my desire, satisfied my thoughts about this Temple. I wanted it not to be one heap of stones, like an ordinary building, but to be animated by some religious idea; but I did not expect to receive any satisfaction, did not expect anyone to be animated by her, and therefore concealed my desire. And so I considered up to 20 projects, among which there are very good ones, but all the things are the most ordinary. You made the stones speak».
The laying ceremony - exceptionally beautiful and solemn - took place October 12, 1817, five years after the performance of the French from Moscow, and was accompanied by an unprecedented spiritual upsurge.

A. Afanasiev - Historical image of the celebration that took place during the laying of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior

« Mr. Academician Alexander Lavretevich Vitberg, the author of the plan and facade of this temple, presented the Sovereign Emperor with a gilded copper cruciform board, with a decent inscription, which His Imperial Majesty deigned to put in the deepening of the stone; for this, Mr. Architect filed on two silver, gilded dishes prepared for this - a marble stone, a silver gilded hammer, the same spatula and dissolved lime. After the position of the first stone, stones were served on silver dishes, a decent silver tool and lime of the entire Royal family and the Prussian Prince Wilhelm who was present at this celebration».
After the laying of the temple in 1817, work on the project was not completed, and the final version of 1825 is a square, single-domed temple with majestic twelve-column porticoes under triangular pediments.

During construction, Vitberg had problems with the delivery of stone and soil, which led to delays in construction.
With the death of Alexander I, Vitberg lost his main patron. The new autocrat of Russia - Nicholas I - ordered to suspend all work. To clarify the issue of the possibility of implementing the Witberg project, Nicholas I May 4, 1826 creates a special "Artificial Committee".
As a result of the research and the drawings of the plan and sections of the Sparrow Hills made on their basis, Moscow experts came to a conclusion that everyone recognized: “ The construction of a great temple on the sloping Sparrow Hills belongs to the number of impossibilities, as is proved by the tests of the soil; but on top of them is a spacious platform on which you can build a huge building».
This sealed the fate of Witberg and his project. The construction, conceived on a grand scale, ended tragically for the architect. Vitberg was accused of embezzlement of state funds, a process began that ended in 1835 with a guilty verdict and exile of the architect to Vyatka.
In February 1830, a new competition was held, and it was proposed to mark the temple on the top of the Sparrow Hills or in another place.
Project A.S. Kutepova presents a five-domed cathedral-type church, created in the likeness of ancient Russian temples. The architect also designed the surroundings of the future temple, placing it in the center of a vast rectangular square, built up around the perimeter with St. Petersburg-style houses.

A.S. Kutepov - Project of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior lava façade and adjacent square at the top of Sparrow Hills, 1831

In the project of the architectural assistant E.G. Malyutin, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was proposed to be built in the very center of Moscow, in close proximity to the Kremlin, but on the opposite side of the Moscow River - on a huge square stretching from Vozdvizhenka to Znamenka and from Alexander Garden to the Arbat Gate.

The project attracted the attention of the original, rare in the architecture of classicism, four-leaf plan. One of the two versions of the project provided for a direct connection of the area of ​​the Cathedral of Christ the Savior with the help of a bridge thrown over the Alexander Garden with the Kremlin.

Project A.I. Melnikov was typical of classicism - a five-domed majestic temple, round in plan, surrounded by a colonnade, with four 8-columned porticos.

A.I. Melnikov - Project of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on the upper platform of the Sparrow Hills, western facade, 1831

I.T. Tamansky proposed to place the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in close proximity to the Kremlin - on the opposite side of the Moskva River in Tsaritsyn Meadow.

The main axis of the ensemble, oriented to the Cathedral Square of the Kremlin, is emphasized by the pier located on the river bank. In front of the temple, Tamansky proposed to erect an equestrian monument to Emperor Alexander I, in the center of the roundness of each side of the oval - a triumphal gate, symbolizing "two extreme points of a great cause - the capture of Paris and Moscow, renewed in the glory and greatness of its Fatherland." Obelisks or pyramids, standing inside a colossal oval square, Tamansky proposed to decorate with bas-reliefs with inscriptions.

I.T. Tamansky - General plan and design of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on the Tsaritsyn meadow, 1829

I.I. Charlemagne - Project of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on Sparrow Hills, 1831

April 10, 1832 Emperor Nicholas I approved the new design of the Temple, drawn up by the architect K.A. tone. While working on the project of the temple, Ton presented Nicholas I with a choice of three options for placing the Cathedral of Christ the Savior: behind the Educational House, where the Church of Nikita the Martyr on the Cross over the Moscow River (an option related to the proposed Beauvais), on Tverskaya Street on the site of the Strastnoy Monastery (today Pushkinskaya square; a variation of the option proposed by Shestakov) and at the Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge not far from the Kremlin, between the Moskva River and Volkhonka, on the site of the Alekseevsky Convent. The emperor personally chose the latter.

The fate of the Alekseevsky Monastery was not easy until these times. It was founded in 1358 and was the oldest maiden monastery. In the 16th century, after a terrible fire in 1547, Fyodor Ivanovich and Irina founded the Zachatievsky Monastery on the site of the burned-out monastery.
The restoration of the Alekseevsky monastery in the 17th century, already in a new place - in the White City, in Chertolye - was taken up by Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who was named in honor of Alexy, the Man of God, did a lot for the monastery.

In the 19th century, after the Patriotic War, the Alekseevsky Monastery was restored, but, as mentioned above, its fate was decided by the project to build the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in its place. The monastery was transferred in 1837 to the place where the parish church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Krasnoye Selo stood.

N. Benois - General view of excavation for the foundations of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the facade of the temple and the former Alekseevsky Monastery

The new cathedral, like the temple of Witberg, faced the Moscow River and stood on a bend in the high bank.

Taking into account that the symbolism of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior as a whole was focused on identifying the connection with the cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin, the great advantage of the finally chosen place was the magnificent view of the Kremlin from the Cathedral of Christ the Savior with cathedrals, towers and the bell tower of Ivan the Great.

The Cathedral of Christ the Savior took almost 44 years to build.

General plan of the construction site of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior according to the project of K.A. tone. April 10, 1832

Plan of the area near the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, 1870s.

According to the general agreement, all the people chipped in for the construction. Everyone's contribution was initially limited to certain social limits, so that the poorest could contribute what they could, and the wealthy would not be tempted to show off their generosity.

Miscellaneous items related to the laying of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, September 10, 1839

In 1860, the outer scaffolding was dismantled, and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior for the first time appeared before Muscovites in its grandeur.

In 1862, a bronze balustrade was installed on the roof, which was not in the original project. From the observation deck of the cathedral, an unforgettable view of low-rise Moscow opened up.

From 1878 to 1881, work was underway to decorate the terrace area around the Temple.
In the spring of 1880, a stretcher with an eighty-year old man was brought to the foot of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, sparkling with gold domes and crosses. He wanted to get up to climb the steps to the temple, but he did not muster up the strength. And so he lay with his eyes full of tears.
One can only guess about the feelings that the outstanding architect experienced at the sight of his main creation.

He died, not having lived quite a bit before the consecration of his offspring, until the day when, under the powerful vaults of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Eternal Memory was proclaimed to those who had accomplished a feat of arms in the name of the Fatherland, until the day when he, K.A. Tona, the name was uttered with gratitude by ordinary people who knelt in prayer before the altar...

By 1881, work was completed on the construction of the embankment and the square in front of the Temple, and thatoutside lights are also installed. By this time, work on the interior painting of the Temple had come to an end.

Opposite the main entrance, in the eastern branch of the cross, an iconostasis, unique in composition, is being designed in the form of a white marble octagonal chapel topped with a bronze tent. The peculiarity of the iconostasis, which had no analogues and predecessors in ancient Russian and post-Petrine architecture and remained the only one of its kind, was that it looked like a tented temple, the type of which was common in Russia in the 16th - first half of the 17th centuries.

Over the creation of the Temple according to the project of K.A. Ton worked the best architects, builders and artists of that time. The unique painting was created by the artists of the Russian Academy of Arts V. Surikov, Baron T. Neff, N. Koshelev, G. Semiradsky, I. Kramskoy, V.P. Vereshchagin, P. Pleshanov, V. Markov. The authors of the facade sculptures were Baron P. Klodt, N. Ramazanov, A. Loganovsky. The Gates of the Temple were made according to the models of Count F. Tolstoy.

The sculptural and pictorial decoration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was a rare unity - on all the walls of the Temple were placed the figures of the holy intercessors and prayer books for the Russian land, those domestic figures who worked to establish and spread the Orthodox faith, as well as Russian princes who laid down their lives for freedom and integrity of Russia.

The temple was a living chronicle of the struggle of the Russian people with the conqueror Napoleon, and the names of the valiant heroes, through whom God revealed salvation to the Russian people, were inscribed on marble plaques located in the lower gallery of the Temple.

May 26, 1883, on the Day of the Ascension of the Lord, the Solemn consecration of the Temple took place, which coincided with the Day of the Holy Coronation of Emperor Alexander III to the All-Russian Throne. On June 12 of the same year, the chapel was consecrated in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, and on July 8 the second chapel of the Temple was consecrated - in the name of St. Alexander Nevsky. Since that time, regular Divine Services began in the Temple.

Since 1901, the Temple had its own choir, which was considered one of the best in Moscow. It consisted of 52 people, and famous composers A.A. Arkhangelsky and P.G. Chesnokov. The works of their contemporary, also a major church composer A.D. Kastalsky. The voices of F.I. Chaliapin and K.V. Rosova. In the spring of 1912, a monument to Emperor Alexander III was erected in the square near the Temple - the work of the professor of architecture A.N. Pomerantsev and sculptor A.M. Opekushina (the monument lasted only six years and was destroyed in 1918).

August 15, 1917, in a troubled time for Russia, the opening of the Local Council took place in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, at which Russia, after a 200-year break, again found its Patriarch - His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, now canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church to the rank of Saints, was elected by him.

In 1918, after the revolution, a monument to Emperor Alexander III was dismantled in the square near the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

1931 - fatal for the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. In accordance with Stalin's General Plan for the Reconstruction of Moscow, the Palace of Soviets was to become the architectural dominant of this area. August 18, 1931, exactly one month after the publication in Izvestia of the decision on the competition for the Palace of Soviets, work began on its dismantling on the site of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The territory adjacent to the Temple was surrounded by a fence.

The work was carried out in a great hurry: sheets of roof and dome sheathing were thrown down, breaking the lining and sculptures. Towing ropes were thrown over the sculptures and dragged out by the neck. Angels - so that their heads flew off and their wings broke - were thrown from a height to the ground, into the mud. Marble high reliefs were split, porphyry columns were crushed with jackhammers.

December 5, 1931 Temple-monument of military glory, the Main Temple of Russia was barbarously destroyed. And it was not an easy task: it turned out that neither crowbar nor chisels could take the walls of the Temple, because they were made of large sandstone slabs, which, when laying, instead of cement, were poured with molten lead.

Then we decided - we need to blow it up. After the first explosion, the Temple survived, and a new explosive charge had to be placed.
In a few hours it was all over. Here is what the literary critic L.V. wrote about this barbarism. Hartung: " B.L. and I (approx. B.L. Pasternak) watched from the window how the explosion of the Temple was being prepared, and after the building collapsed, sad, they moved away from the window, depressed and silent ...»

All more or less valuable things were adapted to the "needs of the national economy." Gold from the domes (and it was more than four hundred kilograms on the main one alone) was chemically washed off at the plant. V. Menzhinsky, the bells were melted down.

Only one bell from the clock tower survived intact because seven years later it was attached to the upper platform of the Northern River Station. To resolve issues with the interiors, a special Commission for the Withdrawal of Artistic Values ​​was created. This commission ordered to save one work by artists V. Surikov and G. Semiradsky ("The Last Supper").

Several high reliefs, made by sculptors A. Loganovsky and N. Ramadanov, were built into the fortress wall of the Donskoy Monastery. "Urban legends" say that many parts of the Temple, thoroughly altered, can be found in the subway, in parks, and in the lobbies of administrative buildings...

The opening of the Palace of Soviets was supposed to take place in 1933, but by 1941 only a reinforced concrete foundation more than 20 meters deep had been laid and a metal frame had been erected to about the height of the sixth floor.

Palace of Soviets project

In 1941, the Great Patriotic War broke out, and beams made of steel "DS" of special strength had to be used for the manufacture of anti-tank hedgehogs, and then part of the frame was dismantled to restore damaged railway bridges. After the war, only an abandoned pit remained from the grandiose construction site, the recesses in which began to fill with water. In the early 1950s, crucian carp appeared in the pit lakes ...
In 1958, during Khrushchev's godless "thaw", the "Moscow" pool appeared according to the project of the architect D. Chechulin, as a monument to the desecration and oblivion of national glory and history, which did not fit into the templates of the "builders of communism" tasks.

Pool "Moscow"

The Moscow speech habit, usually quickly responding to all sorts of innovations in urban life, assessed this event as follows: "First there was a Temple, then rubbish, and now shame." The water heated in the pool was appropriately chlorinated, as a result of which, every winter, strong evaporation from the surface caused corrosion of the surrounding buildings, and even posed a threat to the world's masterpieces stored in the Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin.
In the late 1980s, a social movement arose to recreate the Temple of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The project of the new Temple was completed by the architects M.M. Posokhin, A.M. Denisov and others. The pool was dismantled, and a huge stylobate was erected in its place, which now houses the Cathedral Hall of the Russian Orthodox Church, a museum in memory of the fallen in the Patriotic War of 1812, as well as many administrative and utility rooms. On the resulting platform, a monolithic reinforced concrete frame was erected with an external brick lining and subsequent marble lining. Domes were built on it using the same technology. An alloy was installed on one of the surviving original bells, and after studying the materials in the vibroacoustic laboratory at AMO-ZIL, the current set of bells was cast. Z. Tsereteli was involved in the new design of the cathedral. August 19, 1996, on the day of the Transfiguration, Patriarch Alexy II performed the rite of consecration of the lower Spaso-Transfiguration Church and the first liturgy in it. August 19, 2000 the great consecration of the Temple by the cathedral of bishops took place. Literature used:
1. xxc.ru
2. Moscow - historical guide
3. N.P. Yamskoy - Moscow boulevards

I understood that this temple should be majestic and colossal, should finally outweigh the glory of Peter's temple in Rome. It was necessary that each stone of it and all together be the speaking ideas of the religion of Christ, so that it was not a heap of stones, skillfully arranged; not a temple at all, but a Christian phrase, a Christian text.

The competition was attended by Giacomo Quarenghi, Osip Bove, Domenico Gilardi. But only Witberg managed to guess the desire of Emperor Alexander I to create a temple animated by a religious idea and make the stones speak. The architect's idea was so brilliant that it bordered on madness.

The lower temple, carved into the mountain, had the shape of a parallelogram, a coffin, a body; his appearance represented a heavy portal supported by almost Egyptian columns; he was lost in grief, in the wild uncultivated nature. Daylight fell scantly into it from the second temple, passing through the transparent image of the Nativity. All the heroes who fell in 1812 were to rest in this crypt, an eternal memorial service was to be served for those killed on the battlefield, the names of all of them, from commanders to privates, were to be carved on the walls. On this coffin, in this cemetery, the equal-ended Greek cross of the second temple is scattered in all directions - the temple of outstretched arms, life, suffering, labor. The colonnade leading to it was decorated with statues of Old Testament figures. The prophets stood at the entrance. They stood outside the temple, pointing out the path they didn't have to take. Inside this temple were all the gospel history and the history of the apostolic deeds. Above it, crowning it, ending and concluding, there was a third temple in the form of a rotunda. This temple, brightly lit, was the temple of the spirit, unperturbed peace, eternity, expressed by its ring-shaped plan. There were no images, no statues, only from the outside it was surrounded by a wreath of archangels and covered with a colossal dome.

Compared to the modern temple of Witberg, it was supposed to be 3 times larger and included the pantheon of the dead, a colonnade of 600 columns and a pyramid of captured cannons, monuments to monarchs and prominent commanders. It was planned to place the church on Sparrow Hills. And huge funds were allocated for the construction - 16 million rubles from the treasury and public donations.

On October 12, 1817, the first stone of the future Cathedral of Christ the Savior on Sparrow Hills was laid.

Guide to Architectural Styles

At first, construction progressed briskly, but soon the pace slowed down. As a result, in 7 years it was not even possible to complete the zero cycle, and the money went to no one knows where (later the commission counted 1 million rubles of embezzlement).

There were great difficulties with the materials: the stone for the construction of the temple was transported from the village of Grigovo, Vereisky district, and the village of Vasilyevsky near Moscow, on barges along the Moscow River. A dam was built to raise the water level. But during the work, the fields were littered with stones, and the owner of the village, Yakovlev, filed a lawsuit against Vitberg. As you know, trouble does not come alone: ​​barges sank on the way to Moscow.

Nicholas I, who came to power in 1825, stopped construction. The official version was the insufficient reliability of the soil. At the same time, legal proceedings began - Vitberg and the construction managers were found guilty of embezzlement. In 1835, the architect was exiled to Vyatka, and his property was confiscated. Witberg's ideas with a pyramid and monuments to generals were never implemented. Even captured cannons brought to Moscow remained lying near the walls.

A new competition for the construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was not held: in 1831, Nicholas I personally appointed Konstantin Ton as the architect. After the story with Witberg, it was important to build not brilliantly, but economically. And Tone has won numerous cost-cutting bonuses.

Nicholas I personally chose a new place for the church - closer to. To do this, it was necessary to demolish the Alekseevsky convent located there and transfer the nuns to Sokolniki. The work went on for 44 years, not stopping for a day, and it took 20 years to create the interior decoration. Konstantin Andreyevich Ton spent almost 50 years working on the construction of the main temple of Russia. He died not long before his consecration.

The church was painted by V.I. Surikov, V.P. Vereshchagin, I.M. Pryanishnikov, V.E. Makovsky, G.I. Semiradsky. Sculptural high reliefs were made by P.K. Klodt, N.A. Ramazanov and other eminent sculptors. The plots of the external high reliefs and internal paintings are associated with Christian holidays, which fell on the days of decisive battles - at Tarutino, Borodino, Maloyaroslavets. A pantheon of the Holy Protectors of Russia appeared on the walls - Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Daniel of Moscow, Sergius of Radonezh, Vasily the Blessed, Tsarevich Dmitry, Prince Vladimir and Princess Olga,. Among the high reliefs were images of the Mother of God - Smolensk, Vladimir, Iver.

And in the walls of the lower part of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, 177 marble slabs were placed, where all the past battles were described, the composition of the troops, the names of the command, those killed, wounded and awarded were listed. On the walls of the church, one could even read the texts of orders for the army and royal manifestos - about the capture of Paris, the deposition of Napoleon, and the conclusion of peace.

The new temple is huge! A bell tower could fit inside. The height of the temple was 103 meters, and the diameter of the main dome was almost 30 meters. There were 14 bells on the bell towers. The largest of them weighed 1,654 pounds. And during the service in the temple could be 7,200 people.

In 1880, the church received an official name - the Cathedral in the name of Christ the Savior. And by 1881, work was completed on the construction of the embankment and the square around the temple. Konstantin Ton, by that time already a decrepit old man, was taken to the temple on a stretcher. But the lighting of the church was prevented by the death of Emperor Alexander II at the hands of terrorists.

The Cathedral of Christ the Savior was consecrated under Alexander III. And the new church immediately became the center of many cultural events. For example, a year before the consecration, on August 20, 1882, Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture was performed for the first time in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

But contemporaries perceived the church ambiguously. Taras Shevchenko compared it with "a fat merchant's wife in a golden warrior", Alexander Chayanov - with a Tula samovar, Alexander Herzen - with "five-headed vessels with onions instead of corks".

In January 1918, the state stopped funding churches. And on June 2, 1931, an order appeared to demolish the Cathedral of Christ the Savior for the construction of the Palace of Soviets in its place.

Muscovites grumbled, calling the new Palace an "inkpot", but they did not openly oppose the decision of the authorities.

Magnificent Cathedral of Christ
Our golden-headed giant,
What shone over the capital!

According to the brilliant idea of ​​Ton
You were simple in majesty
Your giant crown
The sun burned over Moscow.

Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolly,
Count Wittgenstein, Bagration -
Couldn't break on the battlefield
You even Napoleon himself!

Davydov, Figner and Seslavin,
Tuchkov, Raevsky, Baggovut -
Who was equal to you in courage
Let them be called!

I feel sorry for artists and architects,
Great forty years of work;
And the thought does not want to make peace,
That the temple of the Savior will be demolished.

Over this pride of Moscow
Many craftsmen worked
Neff, Vereshchagin, Loganovsky,
Tolstoy, Bruni and Vasnetsov.

Klodt, Semiradsky, Romozanov,
Makovsky, Markov - these are those
Who decorated with images
Temple in unspeakable beauty.

Nothing is sacred to us!
And isn't it a shame
What is a "cast gold cap"
She lay down on the chopping block under the ax!

Farewell, keeper of Russian glory,
Magnificent Cathedral of Christ
Our golden-headed giant,
What shone over the capital!

The idea of ​​the Palace of Soviets arose from the fact that there was no suitable premises in Moscow for gathering representatives of the Union Republics. A competition was announced for which 160 projects were submitted.

Among the authors were Le Corbusier, Gropius, Mendelssohn. And the winner was the project of Boris Iofan in Stalin's favorite classic "grand style". The palace, 415 meters high, was supposed to be the tallest building in the world, and it would be crowned with a grandiose statue of Lenin. The leader's index finger alone stretched forward 6 meters, and the length of the foot reached fourteen! The project was monumental in every way: huge halls, elevators that lifted to the observation deck in the palm of Lenin, a giant parking lot that could even accommodate planes. And for the construction of the observation deck, a special “right hand institute” was created.

Ironically, the hill above the Moskva River, where the Cathedral of Christ the Savior stood, was chosen as the place for the Palace of the Council.

The building of the temple was dismantled for several months, but the church did not give in. Then they decided to blow it up. On December 5, 1931, 2 explosions struck - after the first, the temple survived. All this happened in front of Ilya Ilf, who lived nearby. He recalled that powerful explosions shook not only nearby buildings, but were felt at a distance of several blocks.

It took almost 1.5 years to clear the wreckage. But the material was not in vain: the bells and the roof of the domes were melted down for casting sculptures at the Ploshchad Revolyutsii metro station, the slabs with the names of the heroes of 1812 were used to decorate the Institute of Organic Chemistry of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the construction of the stairs of the Tretyakov Gallery and the facing of the stations "and" Kropotkinskaya ". Only separate fragments of the decoration were transferred to museums (for example, some of the high reliefs ended up in the Museum of Architecture - they can still be seen today in the northern wall of the Donskoy Monastery). The remaining marble was crumbled to sprinkle paths in the parks.

The construction of the Palace of Soviets, begun in 1937, was not destined to be completed - the Great Patriotic War began, and the already prepared metal structures went to the manufacture of anti-tank hedgehogs.

Soon, the building, which had barely risen from the level of the foundation, had to be dismantled, and after the war, the Palace of Soviets was practically forgotten. From the grandiose project, only the metro station of the same name (now Kropotkinskaya) and a gas station on Volkhonka were built.

In 1960, the Moskva outdoor swimming pool appeared on the site of the temple. The wits joked: There was a temple, then rubbish, and now shame. The sports facility gained a bad reputation: people drowned there from time to time - allegedly a group acted, dissatisfied with the demolition of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Also, the administration of the Pushkin Museum was dissatisfied with the neighborhood with the pool, since in winter the evaporation of hot water settled on the building and museum exhibits, destroying them. But this did not prevent the pool from working for more than 30 years.

In the late 1980s, a public movement appeared to rebuild the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. And on December 5, 1990, a "mortgage" stone was installed, and in 1994 construction began.

What is what in the church

There were enough materials to recreate the temple: many authentic fragments were hidden in the basements of the old building of Moscow State University, and photographs and measurements of the building taken before destruction were kept in the archives of the NKVD.

The author of the project to recreate the temple, Denisov, soon retired from work, giving way to Zurab Tsereteli. Under his leadership, not marble, but bronze high reliefs appeared on the white stone walls. This deviation from the original source caused a lot of controversy. The interiors were also painted by artists recommended by Tsereteli. Instead of the original white stone cladding, the building received marble, and the gilded roof was replaced with a coating based on titanium nitride. Large sculptural medallions on the facade of the temple were made of polymer material. All this was done in order to avoid the destruction of the decor on the temple, as was already the case with the marble and plaster decoration of the first church.

But experts said that if earlier the temple could be read like a book, now its pages are in disarray: some have been rearranged, and some have been torn out.

But still, the history of the Patriotic War of 1812 can be clearly traced in the architectural decoration of the temple: all the manifestos that were published during the war are listed on marble slabs in the corridor. All battles are described in chronological order. Opposite the altar there is a manifesto about the expulsion of the enemy on December 25, 1812. On the southern and western side are descriptions of the battles that took place abroad and manifestos about the capture of Paris, the deposition of Napoleon and the establishment of peace.

Zurab Tsereteli participated in competitions for the manufacture of bas-reliefs and for the manufacture of crosses. In both cases, he won. At the same time, the decoration is not only aesthetically and historically elaborated, but also thought out from an engineering point of view. Thus, the massive doors of the temple are accessible even to an elderly person (you need strength to move a load weighing only 1.5 kg), and earlier, the efforts of several servants were required to open the doors.

Interior paintings were entrusted to Tsereteli after Ilya Glazunov, in a conversation with the mayor, noted that it was wrong if the artists who used to paint Lenin would paint Christ. There were few applicants who did not draw leaders.

By 1999, the new Cathedral of Christ the Savior was completed. But unlike its historical predecessor, the building became two-level, with the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior on the ground floor.

It is believed that in this way the curse of the abbess of the Alekseevsky monastery was avoided. Almost nothing survived from the old temple: after the destruction of the church, the new government tried to eradicate all memory of it. But miraculously, 6 large paintings by the artist Vereshchagin and the icon “The Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands” by the artist Sorokin, painted on a zinc plate, were miraculously preserved.

Before blowing up the church, Metropolitan Alexander Vvedensky was summoned by Lunacharsky and allowed to take something from the church as a keepsake. The Metropolitan took this particular icon. She was kept in his family for a long time. And during the reconstruction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the descendants of Vvedensky found a well-packed bundle in old things. So they found the image of the Savior. Now the icon is located in the Transfiguration Church of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

The temple also has a car wash. And under the dome there is an observation deck, from where an interesting view of Moscow opens.

They say that...... when the tsarist soldiers came to set fire to the ruins of the Alekseevsky monastery, the abbess refused to leave the monastery. They tried to take her away by force, but she chained herself to an old oak tree and predicted: “There will be nothing here, but a puddle here!” According to another version, she said about the future Cathedral of Christ the Savior: “Poor. He won't stay long." The nun burned down with her monastery, but the curse is still in effect, and the temple is in constant repair.
... Yuri Luzhkov himself spoke about the reconstruction of the temple as something mystical.
One day at the end of 1992, an intelligent-looking old woman with a shopping bag entered the mayor's office. She took out a heavy roll of newspaper, which contained an old leather-bound book.
The old woman explained that this was one of the first copies of the Bible in Russia. The book belonged to her late husband, and now she wants to give it to Luzhkov.
Yuri Mikhailovich began to refuse, but his interlocutor interrupted him:
- You don't understand. I don't want anything from you. I'm just handing over the book. And then, when you build a temple, give it to the Patriarch. Before his death, my husband ordered me to do exactly this: to hand over the book to the one who will restore the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, so that he - that is, you - would hand it over to the rector.
- Temple? What temple? We are not going to restore the Cathedral of Christ the Savior at all! Luzhkov objected.
- My husband said you would. And he was never wrong about such things.
Finally Yuri Mikhailovich gave up:
- The only thing I can promise is that when I finish my tenure as mayor, I will hand over the book to my successor. And he to his. And so on down the chain. Maybe someday someone will actually restore the temple. Then he will give the book to the abbot. And it will be possible to consider that the will of the deceased is fulfilled. Until then, I see no other way. The only way.
The old lady left. Meanwhile, the mayor became interested in the history of the construction of the temple and its destruction. It turned out that many events and folk legends were connected with this place. They concerned primarily the “old maiden” Alekseevsky monastery, which was expelled from here in connection with the construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Rumors about a terrible curse circulated among the people for a long time: they say that everything that is built on this place will be destroyed.
During research work, it was found that the foundation for the Palace of Soviets was well preserved. And it was laid much below the zero mark of the destroyed temple. So the idea arose: to resurrect the Transfiguration Church of the “Old Maiden” monastery on this sub-church space.
And on January 4, 1995, a prayer service was held in the Assumption Cathedral of Moscow for the reconstruction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. And then, on the site of the future temple, a religious procession and the laying of a capsule took place. And then the mysterious old woman reappeared. She began to come to the construction site every day. And when the lower church opened, and divine services began in it, I didn’t miss a single one. Finally, on December 31, 1999, the consecration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior took place.