When the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was restored. History and time of operation of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior

130 years ago, on June 7 (May 26, old style) 1883, the solemn consecration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior took place.

The idea of ​​erecting a temple in honor of Russia's victory over Napoleon's army belonged to Army General Mikhail Kikin and was transferred to Russian Emperor Alexander I.

At the end of 1812, Alexander I issued a manifesto on the creation of the temple in commemoration of “gratitude to the Providence of God, which saved Russia from the destruction that threatened it.”
On October 24 (12 old style), 1817, the ceremonial laying of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior took place on the Sparrow Hills, but the project was not implemented, as problems arose related to the fragility of the soil, which has underground streams. After the death of Alexander I in 1825, the new Emperor Nicholas I ordered the suspension of all work, and construction was stopped in 1826.

On April 22 (10 old style) April 1832, Emperor Nicholas I approved a new design for the Temple, drawn up by the architect Konstantin Ton. The Emperor personally chose the location for the construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior - on the banks of the Moscow River, not far from the Kremlin, and in 1837 established a special Commission for the construction of a new Temple. Alekseevsky convent and the Church of All Saints, located on the site where it was planned to build the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, were dismantled, the monastery was transferred to Krasnoye Selo (now Sokolniki).

On September 22 (10 old style), the ceremonial laying of the new temple took place.

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The fate of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Archive footage for the 130th anniversary of the consecration of the Cathedral

In plan, the temple had the shape of an equal-ended cross. Byzantine was chosen as the basis of his style. The height of the temple from the base to the cross was 103.5 meters (the height of the cross was 8.5 meters). The walls, the thickness of which reached 3.2 meters, were made of brick and partly white stone. The cladding was made of Italian marble of different types. Four powerful pylons supported the central drum. At the ground floor level, the building was surrounded by a corridor - the first museum of the War of 1812, where all the battles, distinguished units and their commanders, the names of the dead and decorated officers were immortalized on white marble boards. High reliefs by sculptors Alexander Loganovsky, Nikolai Ramazanov, and Pyotr Klodt were placed on the facades.
The interior of the temple was illuminated by 60 windows. A large group of artists worked on the picturesque decoration of the temple for 23 years, among whom were famous painters Henryk Semiradsky, Vasily Surikov, Konstantin Makovsky and others.

The temple took almost 44 years to build. In 1841 the walls were leveled with the surface of the plinth; in 1846 the vault of the large dome was built; three years later, the exterior cladding work was completed and the installation of metal roofs and domes began. The vault of the large dome was completed in 1849. In 1862, a bronze balustrade was installed on the roof, which was missing in the original design. By 1881, work on the embankment and square in front of the temple was completed, and external lanterns were installed.

On December 25 (13 old style), 1880, the new church was given the name of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and the staff of the clergy and clergy were approved.

On June 7 (May 26, old style), 1883, on the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord, the solemn consecration of the temple took place, coinciding with the coronation day of Emperor Alexander III. On June 24 (12, old style) of the same year, the consecration of the chapel in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker took place, and on July 20 (8, old style), the second chapel was consecrated in the name of St. Prince Alexander Nevsky. From that time on, regular services began in the temple. Since 1901, the church established its own choir, which was considered one of the best in Moscow.
In the spring of 1912, a monument to Emperor Alexander III was erected in the park near the temple, which was destroyed in 1918.

Coronations, national holidays and anniversaries were solemnly celebrated in the temple: the 500th anniversary of the death of St. Sergius of Radonezh, the 100th anniversary of the Patriotic War of 1812, the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov.
In August 1917, the opening of the Local Council took place in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, at which, after a 200-year break, Patriarch Tikhon was elected, now canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.
In February 1918, to prevent the closure of the temple, the Brotherhood of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was created, which actually maintained the temple. In 1922-1923, the temple was captured by renovationists, and in 1931 it was closed.

By decision of the Soviet government, on December 5, 1931, the temple was blown up. Some of the external white stone bas-reliefs, which were later mounted into the wall of the Donskoy Monastery, have been preserved.

On the site of the temple it was planned to build a grandiose structure of the socialist era - the Palace of Soviets. The Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) did not allow these plans to be implemented. After the war, the foundation of the unfinished building was used to build the Moscow outdoor swimming pool (1960-1994).

In September 1994, the Moscow government decided to recreate the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in its previous architectural forms.

On January 7, 1995, on the feast of the Nativity of Christ, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II, together with the mayor of the capital Yuri Luzhkov, laid a memorial capsule at the base of the temple.

The temple was built in less than six years. The first construction work began on September 29, 1994. On Easter 1996, the first Easter Vespers was celebrated under the arches of the church. In 2000, all internal and external finishing work was completed.

On August 19, 2000, on the day of the Transfiguration of the Lord, Patriarch Alexy II performed the Great Consecration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

The architectural design of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior complex was developed by the Mosproekt-2 management together with the Moscow Patriarchate. The project manager and chief architect is academician Mikhail Posokhin. Work on recreating the artistic decoration was carried out by the Russian Academy of Arts, headed by its president Zurab Tsereteli; 23 artels of artists took part in the painting. The reconstruction of the sculptural decoration of the facades of the temple was carried out under the leadership of Academician Yuri Orekhov with the assistance of the Sculptor Foundation. The bells were cast at the I.A. Plant. Likhacheva (AMO ZIL).

The recreated temple is reproduced as close to the original as possible. During the design and construction work, information from the 19th century was used, including sketches and drawings. The modern temple is distinguished by its stylobate part (ground floor), erected on the site of the existing foundation hill. In this building, 17 meters high, there is the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the hall of Church Councils, the meeting hall of the Holy Synod, refectory chambers, as well as technical and office premises. Elevators are installed in the columns of the Temple and in the stylobate part.
The walls and supporting structures of the temple are made of reinforced concrete followed by brick cladding. For exterior decoration, marble from the Koelga deposit was used ( Chelyabinsk region), plinth and stairs made of red granite from the Balmoral deposit (Finland).

The Cathedral of Christ the Savior is the largest cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church, it can accommodate up to 10 thousand people. The total height of the building is 103 meters, the internal space is 79 meters, the thickness of the walls is up to 3.2 meters. The area of ​​the temple's paintings is more than 22 thousand square meters.

The temple has three altars - the main one, consecrated in honor of the Nativity of Christ, and two side altars in the choir - in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (south) and St. Prince Alexander Nevsky (north).

Among the main shrines of the temple are a piece of the robe of Jesus Christ and the Nail of the Holy Cross, a piece of the robe Holy Mother of God, the holy relics of Metropolitan Philaret (Drozdov) of Moscow, the head of St. John Chrysostom, particles of the holy relics of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called, Metropolitans of Moscow Peter and Jonah, Princes Alexander Nevsky and Michael of Tver, Venerable Mary of Egypt. In the temple there are miraculous images of the Vladimir Mother of God and the Smolensk-Ustyuzhensk Mother of God.

The Cathedral of Christ the Savior is the Cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church. The rector of the temple is Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus', the key keeper is Archpriest Mikhail Ryazantsev.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novost http://ria.ru/spravka/20130608/941627670.html
RIA Novosti

Restoration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior

On August 19, 2000, an event of historical proportions occurred in Moscow. On this day, in the restored Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Patriarch Alexy II performed the Great Consecration of the Cathedral.
The history of the largest cathedral in modern Russia began in the distant 19th century. At the end of 1812, Emperor Alexander I issued a decree on the creation of a monument church dedicated to the victory in the Patriotic War. But a full 25 years passed from the decree to the foundation, and the temple took almost 44 years to be built and was consecrated only in 1883. The architect of the cathedral was K. Ton, a large group of artists worked on the picturesque design of the temple for 23 years, among whom were famous painters G. Semiradsky, V. Surikov, K. Makovsky and others. At the ground floor level, the building was surrounded by a corridor - the first war museum 1812, where all the battles, distinguished units and their commanders, the names of the dead and awarded officers were immortalized on white marble boards. High reliefs by sculptors A. Loganovsky, N. Ramazanov, P. Klodt were placed on the facades.
By decision of the Soviet government, on December 5, 1931, the temple was blown up, and in its place they decided to build the most tall building on the planet - the Palace of the Soviets. But instead of the Palace, on the site of the Temple, they managed to build only the Moscow outdoor swimming pool, which functioned from 1960 to 1994.
In September 1994, the Moscow government decided to recreate the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in its previous architectural forms. In record short terms In just 5.5 years, the Temple was completely restored. It has become the largest cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church and can accommodate up to 10 thousand people.
Academician M. Posokhin became the main architect and leader of the restoration project. 23 artels of artists under the leadership of the President of the Russian Academy of Arts Z. Tsereteli worked on recreating the artistic decoration. The sculptural decoration of the facades was recreated under the leadership of Academician Yu. Orekhov with the assistance of the Sculptor Foundation.
Now let’s see how accurately the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was restored to the original:
1. The height of the 19th century building was 48.5 fathoms (about 103.5 m), and the height of the restored temple with a dome and cross is 103 m.
2. The planes of the walls of the first temple were plastered, and decorative carvings and sculptures were made from white stone from a quarry in Kolomensky district. Instead of the original white stone cladding, the building received marble, and the gilded roofing of the roofs (except for the domes) was replaced with a coating based on titanium nitride. These changes led to a change in the color scheme of the facade from warm to cooler.
3. Decorative elements of the first temple were made of marble and marble chips, which led to several cases of collapse of parts at the beginning of the 20th century. Artificial stone was chosen for the decoration of the new temple.
4. In the first temple, the floor was made of marble, jasper and stones brought from countries that lost the war of 1812 - France, Italy. For the modern temple, marble was brought from the same quarries.
5. Of the 19th century paintings, only a small part of Semiradsky’s paintings has survived; the image of the Savior by Sorokin remains. And Klages’s painting “Interior View of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior” has been preserved, where you can see some of the paintings. All photos taken at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century are black and white. The temple was recreated using these postcards.
6.K. The tone fulfilled the desire of Emperor Alexander I - the decoration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior became a chronicle of the Patriotic War, the Temple was read like a book. The modern church also traces the history of the Patriotic War of 1812: in the corridor on marble slabs all wartime manifestos are listed, all 71 battles are described in chronological order, and a manifesto on the expulsion of the enemy on December 25, 1812 is placed opposite the altar. On the southern and western sides there are descriptions of 87 battles that took place abroad and manifestos about the capture of Paris, the deposition of Napoleon and the establishment of peace in Europe.
7. On the walls of the restored temple, not marble ones appeared (the originals were preserved in the Donskoy Monastery), but bronze high reliefs.
8. The modern Cathedral of Christ the Savior is a complex of the “upper temple” - the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the “lower temple” - the Transfiguration Church and the Stylobate part, which houses the temple museum, the hall of Church Councils, the hall of the Supreme Church Council, refectory chambers, as well as technical and office premises.
The revival of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior is not only the restoration of a destroyed church building, first of all, it is the restoration of the greatest monument of Russian history and culture, the restoration of gratitude and memory to the courage of Russian soldiers who defended the Fatherland.

Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow - Russian Cathedral Orthodox Church not far from the Kremlin on the left bank of the Moscow River, in a place formerly called Chertolye. The existing structure is an external recreation of the temple of the same name, created in the 19th century, carried out in the 1990s. On the walls of the temple were inscribed the names of officers of the Russian army who died in the War of 1812 and other military campaigns close in time.

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 in commemoration of Our gratitude to the Providence of God, which saved Russia from the death that threatened it.”

It was built according to the design of 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 the dome and cross is currently 105 m (3.5 m higher than St. Isaac's Cathedral). Built in the traditions of the so-called Russian-Byzantine style, which enjoyed broad government support at the time construction began. The painting inside the temple occupies about 22,000 m?, of which about 9,000 m? gilded.

As part of a modern complex Cathedral of Christ the Savior includes:
- “upper temple” - the Cathedral of Christ the Savior itself. It has 3 altars - the main one in honor of the Nativity of Christ and 2 side altars in the choir - in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (southern) and St. Prince Alexander Nevsky (northern). Consecrated on August 6 (19), 2000.
- “lower temple” - Church of the Transfiguration, built in memory of the Alekseevsky women’s 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 monument temples goes back to the ancient tradition of votive temples, erected as a sign of thanksgiving for the victory and in eternal remembrance of the dead. The tradition of temple-monuments has been known since pre-Mongol times: Yaroslav the Wise erected Sophia of Kyiv in Kyiv on the site of the battle with the Pechenegs. During 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's), 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 Highest Manifesto on the construction of a church in Moscow, which at that time lay in ruins:
“The salvation of Russia from enemies as numerous in force as they were evil and ferocious in intentions and deeds, the extermination of all of them accomplished in six months, so that with the most rapid flight, barely the slightest part of them could escape beyond our borders, is clearly a goodness poured out on Russia God, there is a truly memorable incident that centuries 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 destruction that threatened it, We have decided 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! Let it be done! May this Temple stand for many centuries, and may the censer of gratitude of later generations, along with love and imitation of the deeds of their ancestors, be smoked in it before the Holy Throne of God.”- 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.

Also in 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 and a Lutheran at that. The project, according to contemporaries, was truly exceptionally beautiful. Compared to the current one, the Witberg temple was three times larger, it 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, Vitberg was baptized into Orthodoxy. It was decided to locate the building on Sparrow Hills. Huge funds were allocated for construction: 16 million rubles from the treasury and considerable public donations.

Project by A. Vitberg

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On October 12, 1817, on the 5th anniversary of the French departure from Moscow, in the presence of Tsar Alexander I, the first temple designed by Vitberg was founded on the Sparrow Hills. Construction proceeded vigorously at first (20,000 serfs from the Moscow region took part in it), but soon the pace slowed sharply. During 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 nearly a million rubles in waste).

Upon the accession of Nicholas I to the throne in 1825, construction had to be stopped, according to the official version, due to insufficient reliability of the soil; Witberg and the construction managers were accused of embezzlement and put on trial. The process lasted 8 years. In 1835, “for abuse of the emperor’s trust and for damage caused 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 imprudence. His exile did not last long; subsequently Vitberg participated in the construction of Orthodox cathedrals in Perm and Tiflis.

There was no new competition, and in 1831 Nicholas I personally appointed Konstantin Ton as the architect, 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; the buildings that were there were purchased 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 this 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 ceremonial 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 extended to 15 million rubles. The vault of the large dome was completed in 1849; in 1860 the outer scaffolding was dismantled. Work on the interior decoration continued for another 20 years; The 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 churches were built in Novocherkassk, Baku and a number of other cities. It still stands in the former Cossack capital of Novocherkassk.

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

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

Activities 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 with 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, works by another major church composer A. D. Kastalsky were performed, and the voices of Fyodor Chaliapin and Konstantin Rozov were heard.

IN 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 House of Romanov, the opening of monuments to Alexander III and Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. Main patronal feast church - the Nativity of Christ - until 1917, was celebrated by Orthodox Moscow as the holiday of Victory in the Patriotic War of 1812. A rich library was created in the temple, which contained many valuable publications, and excursions were constantly held.

The last keeper of the temple was the holy martyr Alexander Khotovitsky (August 1917-1922).

Since 1922, the temple came under the jurisdiction of the renovationist Supreme Church Administration of Metropolitan Antonin, and subsequently the renovationist Holy Synod - until its closure in 1931. Abbot Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow in those years, Metropolitan Alexander Vvedensky was one of the leaders of renovationism.

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

On June 8, 1883, 130 years ago, the solemn consecration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior took place. We recall the main facts about the main cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The idea of ​​creating the Cathedral of Christ the Savior

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

The Cathedral of Christ the Savior is a memorial to the soldiers who died in the Patriotic War of 1812. The idea of ​​​​building a temple-monument to the participants in the war, which was first called “Patriotic”, and the outcome of which was decided by a nationwide movement, resurrected the ancient tradition of votive temples, erected as a token of gratitude to God for the victory granted and in eternal remembrance of the dead.

First Cathedral of Christ the Savior

The project of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior proposed by the architect A.L. Vitberg

Quite a long time passed between the defeat of Napoleonic army and the beginning of construction of the Temple in the center of Moscow: almost 27 years. It is not so widely known that during these years an international competition was held for the construction of the Temple, a project was chosen, and even construction began. However, this should have been a different temple - not the one of which we see a copy now on Volkhonka. The competition, which was held by Alexander I in 1814, was won by 28-year-old Karl Magnus Witberg. Witberg was ready to architecturally express the worldwide mission of Russia, called upon to bring the true light of peace, reason and Christian love to fight against the revolutionary infection that had gripped the civilized world in the guise of Bonaparte. The idea was grandiose - to create a large temple complex in the Empire style, with colonnades, slopes to the Moscow River and a wide stone embankment. In 1817, five years after the French arrived from Moscow, the ceremonial laying of just such a Temple took place. However, problems soon arose due to the fragility of the soil, which had underground streams, and immediately after the death of Alexander I, the new autocrat of Russia, Nicholas I, ordered the suspension of all work. In 1826, construction was stopped.

The first myth about the Cathedral of Christ the Savior

Photo by A.A. Ton. Cathedral of Christ the Savior

Although work on the Sparrow Hills was curtailed, Nicholas I did not abandon the very idea of ​​​​building the Temple, but personally chose the place for it - Alekseevsky Hill on Volkhonka, near the Kremlin; and the architect - the author of the pompous “Russian-Byzantine” style, Konstantin Ton. But there was still one circumstance that could confuse any Orthodox person: in order to build a new temple, it was necessary to demolish the buildings of the Alekseevsky convent located on this site. In connection with this circumstance, an old Moscow belief arose that Abbess Claudia expressed herself as follows: “There will be nothing here besides a large puddle.” So, Muscovites believed, the abbess “predicted” the construction here in the future outdoor swimming pool"Moscow" with heated water, operating all year round. This legend is unlikely to be plausible. After all, Metropolitan of Moscow Filaret (Drozdov), who performed a service on October 17, 1837 on the occasion of the transfer of the Alekseevsky Monastery to Krasnoye Selo, met on that day with Abbess Claudia. It is unlikely that Claudia could burst into curses at such a moment. Another event related to the closure of the Alekseevsky Monastery seems more reliable. On the very first day of demolition, a worker who was removing a cross from the monastery church fell from the dome and fell to his death in the presence of a huge number of spectators. It is clear that the people took this as a bad omen.

Second Cathedral of Christ the Savior

F. Klages. Interior view of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. 1883

Construction of the Temple lasted almost 44 years: it was founded in 1839 and consecrated in 1883. It was unique: 103.5 m high, it could accommodate up to 10 thousand people. Its walls were decorated with high reliefs on religious and historical themes, the painting inside was done by Vereshchagin, Surikov, Kramskoy, Vasnetsov. The Temple was a living chronicle of the struggle of the Russian people against the conqueror Napoleon, and the names of the valiant heroes, through whom God showed salvation to the Russian people, were inscribed on marble plaques located in the lower gallery of the Temple. Until then, there had been no such grandiosity in Moscow church architecture. The temple was visible from anywhere in the city, its ringing echoed far beyond the borders of Moscow. A large library was collected at the temple. The temple existed in its original form for 48 years. In 1931 it was blown up.

The Second Myth about the Cathedral of Christ the Savior

Ill. The cross thrown from the Temple did not fall down, but got stuck in the reinforcement of the dome

Before blowing up the Temple, testimony was taken from the scientific community that it had no artistic value. Architectural academics publicly swore that it was not a work of art. Among the few defenders of the Temple remained an expert and connoisseur of Moscow antiquity, the artist Apollinary Vasnetsov. The paintings, bas-reliefs, and columns were distributed to Moscow institutions and new museums. Myth or truth, but they say that “the chapel-altar was bought from the Bolsheviks by the wife of the American President Eleanor Roosevelt and presented to the Vatican,” the Sverdlov Square and Okhotny Ryad metro stations were decorated with cathedral marble, and the benches decorated the Novokuznetskaya station.

Temple Destruction

Ill. Project of the Palace of Soviets

In an atmosphere of anti-religious hysteria, the Soviet leadership decided to demolish the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and build in its place a grandiose building of the Palace of Soviets, which should simultaneously become a monument to Lenin, the Comintern and the formation of the USSR. The temple was to be replaced by a gigantic "Tower of Babel", topped with a colossal statue of Lenin. The total height of the Palace of the Soviets would be 415 meters - it should have become the tallest not only in Moscow, but throughout the world. A very advantageous location from an urban planning point of view - the Temple stood on a hill, was easily visible from all sides and was located near the Kremlin, as well as a combination of some anniversary dates, became the reason for the haste with which the decision to demolish the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was made. In 1932, it was 120 years since the Patriotic War of 1812 - 1814 and the 100th anniversary of the Temple itself - the Bolsheviks were haunted by these memorable dates. The temple was treacherously destroyed. But the construction of the Palace of the Soviets, which actually began only in 1937, was not destined to be completed: after the start of the war, the frame of its foundation made of heavy-duty steel was used to make armor for T-34 tanks. Then, on the site of the temple, the Moscow outdoor swimming pool functioned since 1960. The current Cathedral of Christ the Savior has not allowed this space to disappear: it houses the lower church, the Temple Museum, a parking lot, the hall of church cathedrals and other premises.

Third Cathedral of Christ the Savior

Ill. Nail of the Holy Cross

From 1994 to 1997, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow was rebuilt on the same site and consecrated on August 19, 2000. The Temple constantly houses such shrines as the Robe of the Lord and the Nail of the Holy Cross.

Until the 17th century, the Robe of Christ was kept in the Patriarchal Church of the city of Mtskheta - ancient capital Georgia. In 1617, Georgia was captured by the Persian Shah Abbas, whose soldiers destroyed the temple and handed Riza over to the Shah. In 1624, he offered it to Tsar Mikhail Romanov. Soon the Riza was taken to Moscow and placed in the Patriarchal Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin. From that time on, the celebration of the Position of the Honorable Robe of Our Lord Jesus Christ was established in Moscow, which takes place on July 23.

The life-giving cross of the Lord, together with four nails, was acquired by Queen Helen, Equal to the Apostles, in the 4th century. Over time, nails were distributed throughout Europe. Since the first centuries of Christianity, numerous copies were made from these nails, into which genuine particles were also inserted, and as a result, new nails were also revered as shrines. The nail, kept in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church from the storerooms of the Moscow Kremlin museums on June 29, 2008.

Cathedral of Christ the Savior (Russia) - description, history, location. Exact address and website. Tourist reviews, photos and videos.

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The Cathedral of Christ the Savior today is Cathedral and essentially the main temple of Russia. The Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' holds divine services here, Bishops' Councils and other church forums meet here. The dramatic fate of the temple made it not only a monument to those who fell in 1812 (as originally intended), but also evidence of the complex vicissitudes in the history of Russia in the 20th century. The Cathedral of Christ the Savior is on the balance sheet of the Moscow City Hall, which transferred the temple to the Russian Orthodox Church for indefinite use.

The Cathedral of Christ the Savior is a monument church; it was erected in honor of the victory and in memory of those who fell in the War of 1812. According to tradition, such votive churches were built in honor of church holidays or in honor of a saint. But this temple was erected in the name of the Savior himself. According to the idea of ​​Alexander Vitberg, the first architect of the cathedral, the temple should have been majestic and colossal, and its glory should have surpassed the glory of Peter's Cathedral in Rome. Initially, they planned to build the temple on Vorobyovy Gory, the foundation was laid, but the architect was accused of inflating the estimated costs and was exiled to Vyatka. A special commission banned construction on the Sparrow Hills due to fragile soil that would not have supported such a heavy structure. A new location was chosen near the Kremlin.

Cathedral of Christ the Savior

Construction according to the design of Konstantin Ton began in 1839 and was completed only in 1881. During the Stalinist regime, the temple was blown up, and in its place the Palace of the Soviets was to appear - a huge building topped with a sculpture of Lenin. The implementation of the grandiose idea was prevented by the war, and after it ended there were no more funds for the Palace, and from a political point of view, the building lost its relevance. In 1960, an outdoor swimming pool “Moscow” appeared on the site of the cathedral, which existed until 1994. In connection with this pool, the water in which was not particularly clean, they recall the legend of a nun who, having opposed the construction of a temple on the site of the Alekseevsky Monastery, cursed the construction and predicted that there would be a huge dirty puddle on the site of the temple.

In the early 90s, already in new Russia, they decided to rebuild the temple. Restorer Alexei Denisov carried out painstaking work to restore the historical appearance of the cathedral based on surviving drawings, drawings and measurements, but due to disagreements that arose regarding the appearance of the cathedral, he was removed from work. The completion of the temple was supervised by Zurab Tsereteli, who decided to finish the external walls in bronze, although in the history of Russian church architecture there is not a single example of metal being used in this case. The temple was completed, but it is no longer the same temple that stood here a hundred years ago, despite the external similarity. The decoration of the temple was conceived by Ton as a chronicle of the Patriotic War of 1812 in the stories of the Gospel, but now this peculiar stone book is impossible to read without referring to archival sources.