Assumption Holy Mother of God on the Uspensky 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.
In 1857-1860
was rebuilt according to the design of A.S. Nikitin (the same one who would build the Warm Trading Rows in the future) and at the expense of the respected merchant Sergei Zhivago. It must be said that Sergei Afanasyevich was known not only in business circles, but also as a public figure. 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. The 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.
Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God on the Assumption Vrazhek
Gazetny Lane, now st. Ogareva, 15
“Once upon a time here, between Nikitskaya (now Herzen) and Tverskaya (now Gorky) streets, there was a deep, long ravine, next to which a wooden church in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary had long existed. From the name of the temple, this is the place of Moscow (or, as they said in the old days, " tract") received the name "Uspensky enemy" (ravine). This tract was the oldest in the so-called "White City" of Moscow." - The Church of the Resurrection, which is still in use today, has the same nickname “on the Assumption Enemy”.
“In the 17th and early 18th centuries, the lane was called Uspensky and Uspensky Vrazhka, after the Church of the Assumption on Vrazhka that stood in it.”
"The church existed already in 1531, because the Assumption enemy is mentioned in the Nikon Chronicle under this year. It was wooden, single-altar. The stone one was built by Grigory Gorikhvostov in 1647 with the chapels of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and John the Baptist. In 1775, instead of the first, there was a separate church of the same name was built. In 1790, the temple was completely rebuilt at the expense of the merchant Sergei Afanasyevich Zhivago, and the fence with the inscription about Gorikhvostov was broken. The beheading of John the Baptist. It is a single-light hall, divided into three naves by rows of columns. The bell tower is low, like a tent. The southern façade facing the street is decorated with relief images." "Architect A. S. Nikitin."
“On April 23, 1922, 3 pounds 2 pounds 90 spools of silver were confiscated from the Church of the Assumption on Vrazheka.”
"Closed in 1924 and given over to the archives."
“The last building of the church, built in 1857, is now occupied by the Moscow Regional Historical Archive. To the west of the church in 1758 was the courtyard of the official A. N. Yankov.” This Yankov in 1767 added to the Church of the Assumption on Vrazhka from the north a separate church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, now broken.
Since 1979, the historical archive was evicted from the building, renovations were carried out inside and a telephone exchange was opened for long-distance calls. In the royal gates there is, for example, a window for changing coins. Old-timers recall that previously the interior of the temple was especially distinguished by the decoration of the walls with white, black and blue marble. Nowadays there are no traces of her. The heads of the temple and the bell tower with crosses were broken, the kokoshnik with bas-reliefs that was placed above the southern facade was knocked down, the windows of the bell tower were blocked. The sign "House of Composers", attached to the building and confusing as to its actual tenant, is in fact only a sign - the house of composers is located in the courtyard, behind the temple. The temple building is not under state protection, but is included in the list of objects proposed for placement on state security in Moscow.
Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Gazetny Lane- near Telegraph, in the very center of Moscow, two steps from Tverskaya Street. Perhaps one of the most unusual churches in the capital. Or rather, it is a temple with very unusual traditions and a special parish.
Assumption Church on Gazetny Lane - why is it special?
This church breaks stereotypes. More precisely, it debunks one of the most important misconceptions: that the Church is so conservative that it does not tolerate any otherness. Simply put, he doesn't even try to be understandable. to modern man.
Temple on Gazetny Lane. You will see a parish in which women walk freely without headscarves. Where the internal structure of the temple is ascetic - there is no gold, no picturesque iconostasis: everything is very simple.
This temple is perhaps the only place in Moscow (or at least one of the very few) where services are held in modern Russian. Not completely, but selectively, individual phrases in the prayers are pronounced not in Church Slavonic, but in a language understandable to the general public (in my opinion, instead of “... and we will give our whole life to Christ God,” the priest proclaims “... and we will give our whole life to Christ God”).
There are other differences from established traditions. For example, I remember that some of the prayers that are sung by the choir in “ordinary” churches are sung here by the whole church.
Service in Russian and other “innovations” - how to feel about this?
In this church on Gazetny Lane there is an attempt to recreate the spirit of early Christian services, when the Liturgy was often not a solemn, seemingly full of ceremony, action, but a living, community action, where everyone is together in Christ, true brothers and sisters. Where there are no iconostases separating the Sacrament from the people. Where there is a deep, shared by everyone and indivisible joy from Communion and Liturgy.
Another goal of the rector of this temple: the search for a “language” that will be understandable to modern people: young people, older people - all those who are part of this New World, which is becoming wider, freer, larger and more omnipresent. Internet, gadgets, synchronization, personal freedom, the right of self-expression, any fear of ossified conservatism, etc.
But where then, for me personally, did I get the feeling of contradiction from this temple (for the first time the thought even arose that this was not an Orthodox church)? Why, when I go there, I don’t feel anything and immediately rush to the neighboring church - in Bryusov Lane, where everything is “traditional” and “conservative”? Why is incense and gilding dearer to me?
Maybe because those early Christian communities, the spirit and form of which we sometimes yearn for, were born of awe for Christ, the Breath of the Holy Spirit and a common Sacred Love, and not the “spirit of the times” and the desire to “be understood”?
Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 2006, view from Gazetny Lane.
So how can the Church speak to modern people?
This question once seemed very important to me. Now it seems to me that this problem does not exist at all.
With a modern person - if by this we mean exactly the type of people who put rationality, their “conviction” or “the desire to understand for themselves” at the forefront - there is no point in speaking in words. You can only speak to him in the language of the Holy Spirit.
Church tradition is not the Holy Spirit himself, but it protects Him.
By moving away from traditions like this - sharply and obviously - you can really make some things more understandable and friendly to modern people. But at the same time, you will never descend to that depth (or rise to that height) where “angels sing” and the Holy Spirit changes the Nature of man.
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 on a wave of interest Soviet power to the preservation of 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 stores, and the warehouses of the 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.
The final location of the museum and its collection was not immediately determined. Among the former halls of the Museum of the East are the Girshman House at the Red Gate, the Historical Museum, the Stroganov School, the 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 is running otherwise, but somewhere it 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.
What is truly unexpected after such a journey through the traditional East is the last hall of paintings of the Caucasus and Central Asia, where the works of the world's greatest 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.
Driving directions
Okhotny Ryad metro station.
Divine services
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 in Soviet time now returned to 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 courts of the ambassadors - the Lithuanian court 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 - heavenly patron 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