Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God (Old Believer) Church. Old Believers Church of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God of the Tikhvin Community - alekka4alin2012 - LiveJournal Church of the Tikhvin Mother of God on Serpukhov Val

The Temple of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God (Serpukhov Val, 16) was built in 1912 on Khavskaya Street by a community of ancient Orthodox Christian priests who accept the priesthood of the Belokrinitsa hierarchy (since 1988 - RPSTs). These places have been around since the middle of the 18th century. were inhabited by Old Believers, and in the 19th century. there existed a catacomb prayer house in Mikhailov's house, known for the fact that on December 16, 1898, the Archbishop of Moscow and All Russia John (Kartushin) was elevated to the chair. All the Old Believers-priests of this corner of Moscow prayed in the "Mikhailovskaya Prayer".

In August 1909, a society of Old Believers accepting the priesthood of the Belokrinitsa hierarchy, representing the former parish of the Mikhailovs' prayer house, turned to the Moscow Provincial Board with a request for permission to establish an Old Believer community in Moscow and assign it the name "Tikhvin Old Believer Community".

On Sunday, August 21, 1911, the long-awaited foundation of the church in the name of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God took place. It was made by the Old Believer Bishop of Ryazan and Yegoryevsk Alexander (Bogatenko), a famous polymath and educator. From the building of the old communal prayer house, a procession of the cross went out to the place of laying, a prayer service was served on the spot, after which the hierarch uttered a solemn word. The temple was built according to the project of the famous Old Believer architect N.G. Martyanov, the author of the Moscow Church of St. Nicholas in Lefortovsky lane, as well as the temples near Moscow in Kolomna, the village of Lyubertsy and other places.

His consecration was performed on November 18 by the Moscow Archbishop John, accompanied by the clergy of the Rogozhsky Church. In 1913, the Mikhailov brothers donated the image of the Tikhvin Mother of God in a valuable salary and with jewelry. Two side gilded iconostases were donated to the temple.

The new government, which came in October 1917, handed over to the Tikhvin community "for eternal and free use" everything that it had before. However, in 1922, the following items were withdrawn from the Old Believers' church in the name of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God: 30 silver gilded vestments, one of which was covered with precious stones (with the icon of the Tikhvin Mother of God donated by the Mikhailov brothers), 2 silver gilded bowls, 2 altarpieces gilded silver cross, a silver gilded cover from the Gospel and several other liturgical items, other values. In 1923, the next re-registration of the Tikhvin community took place. It consisted of 60 people who lived mainly in the area of \u200b\u200bDanilovskaya Square and Donskoy Monastery, including several people in the house number 23/16 on Khavskaya Street. There was a spiritual school at the temple.

The famous Old Believer priest Fr. Isaaky Nosov. The first threat of closure loomed over the Tikhvin Church in 1924, when activists of the Danilov Button Factory approached the Moscow City Council with a request to close the church and transfer its premises to a canteen for factory workers. The organizations of the "Armatresta" drilling tools plant, which had their eyes on the building of the temple of the Tikhvin community, asked to close the church and transfer it to the "red corner" of the plant. The Moscow Oblast Executive Committee and the Presidium of the Moscow City Council passed the final verdict on the temple.

And in February 1930, an act was drawn up on the closure of the Tikhvin Church. The community gathered for some time in nearby houses, and then dissolved in other persecuted Old Believer communities. The property, which had not been confiscated earlier, disappeared.

After the closure for the placement of the factory "red corner", the building of the Tikhvin Church changed a number of owners over the course of several decades. In 1967 there was a hardware warehouse inside. Small trucks constantly drove up to the building, from which boxes with nails and other products were unloaded. Subsequently, the building was entered into the register of state protection and was externally put in order. By the end of the 1980s, a dining room was located in the building of the church, which was privatized at the end of 1991 and its premises were sold by the Moscow Property Committee to the ownership of the Ladya joint-stock company. A grill bar was set up within the walls of the temple, which after some time became a "Spanish restaurant". The church inside was divided into two floors. The Orthodox community has repeatedly organized pickets and prayers at the walls of the church, protesting against its desecration.

In 1996, with the blessing of the Old Believer Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia Alimpy, the Tikhvin Old Believer community was revived, and it was headed by the hereditary Old Believer Andrei Sergeevich Pryakhin. Community members began a difficult struggle to get the temple back. The Moscow Property Committee does not return the building to the community, since in this case it will have to buy out the building from the current owners in order to return it to the original owners, but it is in no hurry to refuse, since in this case the community can achieve the return of the temple through the courts. In 1997, the community was forced to appeal to the government of the Russian Federation. Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Sysuev, who received this appeal, forwarded it to Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, who in turn forwarded it to the Moscow Property Committee.

Meanwhile, in the Moscow circles of the clergy of the ROC-MP, a myth began to circulate that the building of the Tikhvin Church had allegedly been returned to the Old Believers long ago and the latter themselves lease it to a restaurant for the purpose of profit. At the same time, the crafty accusation of the Old Believers of "inaction" in the return of the temple began to spread, which was heard on the radio station "Radonezh", which clearly did not coincide with the first ("rent").

However, when issuing a decree on the phased transfer of "places of worship" to religious organizations, the ROC MP did not submit an application for an Old Believer church. At that time, the Old Believers also lost time, and they were asked to buy the temple for $ 2 million.

In 2004, the restoration of the temple began. In the summer, in the Old Believer church, some work began quietly, the walls were plastered, new copper domes were brought in, stored for the time being in the courtyard. Some people were walking about the temple, dressed in robes and looking like monks. More than once a certain priest of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, who was called "Father Stephen", and also some "monks from near Pskov" appeared among the workers. The Private Business Support Fund provided assistance in financing the restoration work.

To the questions of the Old Believers in the ROC-MP, they answered that the Moscow diocese had refused to take the church. Then there were rumors that it was decided to turn the building of the illegally taken away Old Believer church into a "museum" of Tsar Nicholas II and those who suffered from the Bolshevik persecution. All attempts to agree further were unsuccessful.

The issue of transferring the temple to the Old Believers was repeatedly raised at various levels, including at the meeting of Metropolitan Andrian with Metropolitan Kirill (Gundyaev) in 2004. Metropolitan Kirill assured Metropolitan Andrian that the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate does not claim the temple, and the current owner does not want discuss the fate of the building with the DECR.

According to unconfirmed information until the end, the owner of the building was going to open a courtyard of the Yekaterinburg diocese of the ROC MP in the church and organize an exposition dedicated to Tsar Nicholas II. And to the Old Believers, he said: "You should be grateful to me that there is no restaurant there."

(The material is taken from the portal "Our Credo", I cannot say anything about its reliability. The temple is almost restored, but to whom it belongs and what will be in it, I do not know).

This temple has a difficult fate. After the USSR, he somehow fell into private ownership and was a pub. There was a bar in the altar.
mu_pankratov Temple of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God on Khavskaya Street.

Few people know, but on Khavskaya Street, there is an Old Believer Tikhvin Church.
Here's a little reference:
Historically, the area near Khavskaya Street was the place of residence of the Old Believers. In the 19th century, there was a prayer room in Mikhailov's house, in which in 1898 Archbishop of Moscow and All Russia John (Kartushin) was elevated to the cathedra. In August 1909, to the Moscow Provincial Board, the society of Old Believers accepting the priesthood of the Belokrinitsa hierarchy (now the RPSTs) from the Mikhailovs' parish asked for permission to establish an Old Believer community in Moscow with the assignment of the name “Tikhvin Old Believer Community”. The temple was founded on August 21, 1911.
The author of the project was a construction technician N.G. Martyanov.

The temple was consecrated in honor of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God - on November 18, 1912 by Archbishop John in the presence of the Moscow mayor N.I. Guchkov.

Magazine "Church" №47 1912

in 1917 the church was transferred to the Tikhvin community "for eternal and free use"

in 1922 valuables were confiscated in the temple (vestments, crosses, liturgical vessels)

in 1923 60 people were officially registered in the community. There is a religious school at the temple.

in 1924, the Moscow City Council considers the requests of the workers of the Danilov Button Factory with a request to close the church and transfer its building to the dining room and the plant of drilling tools "Armatrest" with a request to close the church and organize a red corner of the plant in it.

in 1930, the temple was closed “for transfer to the“ Armatrest ”plant for the red corner.
In February of that year, the royal gates were taken to the museum fund, more than 30 images of the 17th century,
folding three-tiered marching iconostasis and 15 large icons ”.
The central chapter was broken, four decorative domes with a crate from poppies remained at the corners of the temple.
Iron was stripped from the wooden tent of the bell tower, only the crate survived.

in 1967 a hardware warehouse in the temple building
photo 1975

in the 1980s, a dining room in the building of the temple, in the early 1990s, the building was privatized in violation of the law and sold by the Moscow Property Committee to a commercial organization for a grill bar

In 2003, the church was bought by the "Orthodox businessman" Konstantin Akhapkin.
The new owner categorically refused to transfer the building to the historical owners and began restoration with the aim of transferring the church to the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. It was planned to open a museum of Nicholas II in the building. However, the Russian Orthodox Church refused to accept the church after the meeting of the Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Orthodox Church Andrian (+ 2004) with the head of the DECR MP Metropolitan Kirill. The situation turned into a stalemate. The conflict around the church was covered by the media, but no constructive solution was found.

2006

2007

Today, the church is under lock and key. Fresh photos, you can see- http://mittatiana.livejournal.com/15827.html

And now, it is no longer a tavern, it was restored, crosses were erected.
Let's see what it was and what it has become. I will voice my opinion about what I saw at the end of the post.
Photos "before" from here.

Writing critical reviews is never easy, and when it comes to work done by people you know it is doubly difficult. But what if no one writes anything about new architectural ceramics? Therefore, please, do not be offended, but hear.

Architectural ceramics are so different from all the rest, that you cannot hide them in a closet if you don't like them. No matter how it is made, it will live for a very long time, and this obliges the author to a lot. Especially when it comes to the restoration of an architectural monument. The restorer has no right to gag.Clearing, strengthening and preserving is the real meaning of restoration.

The highest skill of restoration can be seen in Greece and Italy, where no one seeks to rebuild the ancient ruins. Of course, ancient ruins are not the same situation as ours. Both the Hellenes and the ancient Romans have long disappeared as civilizations, and there is no need to ensure the viability of the Parthenon precisely as a temple, because the parishioners of that temple remained only in black and red-figured silhouettes on amphoras and kilikas. Our churches should function not only as monuments, but also as churches, because it has not been possible to destroy parishioners in 75 years and they need not only to pray somewhere, but to pray exactly where their fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers prayed. Therefore, we will not limit ourselves to conservation. The temple must function fully and it cannot snow on the head during the service. This means that the restorer must raise all the archives, study all the author's drawings, find authentic materials and recreate the lost in the form in which it was created and lived during its heyday. Ideally, this work should be carried out to such a depth that even the door hinges correspond to the era.

And what happened on the Serpukhov shaft? Why did ceramics suddenly appear there, if it was never even in the plans? I still understand, if nothing remained of the temple, except for the foundation, and reconstruction would be carried out, not restoration. Such works are often accompanied by architectural improvisations due to lack of materials, but all of them can only be performed on the basis of analogs. Those. one could see how Martyanov built other structures and, on the basis of this material, suggest what he could do here. Or to draw parallels with the peculiarities of the direction of the New Russian style of a particular period and region, and on the basis of this material make some replicas. At least to develop reliefs and ornaments by analogs. But you can't take it like that and invent everything your own way. This is an amateurish approach to business.

I do not know what is happening with this church now - whether it is still in private ownership or has passed into a different status, but even if in private and this whole venture belongs to the owner, then you cannot follow the lead of such a customer. Reputational losses from such work are incomparably higher than the possible profit.

Now for the details.
The main question for an architect, if any, is: why did he close up his pants?
Fly, this is not a niche for a tile. This is a caisson, which has become a decorative means of architecture. And plugging it with a tile means depriving architecture of expressiveness.
Compare.
It was:

What for? Why then not like this? So it's even larger in area:

If we were to sculpt tiles there, then it could be at least somehow so in scale and there would be several times fewer questions:

Why such a dead blue palette? Because blue is the color of the Theotokos' vestments of priests or what? Such an argument of the customer is reflected in elementary photographs of other churches in honor of the Mother of God holidays or icons. At least the Intercession Cathedral in Izmailovo:

If in the 17th century there was enough taste to replace the blue background, traditional for the peacock's eye, with brown for the sake of using in red-brick architecture, then in the 21st it should be even more so. The liturgical symbolism of color lives by its own laws, and one should not weave it so literally into the architecture of the temple.

The shape of the window gables and pilasters is beyond comprehension. The geometry that looks organic in the brick version does not work at all in the tiled version. Yes, and some vignettes on them. And the Harlequin rhombuses on the pilasters, the capitals of which for some reason now crawled out from under the curb.

Bobrovka on the tent. Why is she so thin? I don’t remember any analogs of using such a beaver on the tents of churches in the New Russian style. I remember a beaver on the chapel of the Church of All Sorrows of Joy, near the glass factory, but there the module is much smaller, and the thickness is greater and not with solid scales, but in rows. A ploughshare would be much more appropriate in this context than a beaver.
I'm not an expert in carpentry, but the new door looks dubious and shallow. The scale of the carving on the old door is much more convincing.

In general, instead of restoration, some senseless collective farm tuning turned out, as a result of which the temple turned into a big top. I hope that not a single brick was torn out or drilled for his sake.

There are a couple of remarks to the masonry. Old brick is good because it was made without extrusion. Those. it was not squeezed out like a paste from a tube, but stuffed into molds by hand. And therefore, each brick has its own texture. Very beautiful and different. And they fired it not in tunnel ovens with a computerized 125-zone temperature control, but in coal or wood-burning ones, like this.

Because of this, all old bricks also have a different color and tone. And so there is absolutely no need to cover it up "for beauty" with some kind of paint. "Razoton" annoys only modern imbeciles-perfectionists who are ready to make sandwiches for themselves with a spectrometer and a caliper, while normal people enjoy the living textures of old bricks. In order for the masonry to heal in a new way, it is necessary to clear the brick of soot and dirt, replace the losses with authentic brick (fortunately, there are no problems with this) and stamp the seams, while throwing away the curly joints that turn any masonry into a shovel-barracks farce. Particularly painstaking restorers still paint over all the seams with a lime mortar to hide the presence of cement in the current mortars, and then a beautiful, living and natural wall is obtained, and not a decoration for the series. Soshin's guys coped with this task best of all on Solovki. Whoever saw the restoration of the Kremlin wall in the northern courtyard understands what I mean.

There is an opinion that I deliberately seek out their unsuccessful works from different manufacturers and then talk about them in my magazine as part of the competition. But this opinion is wrong. Do a great job, tell me about it - and I will write about it, even if you are my competitor three hundred times. Only, in the light of recent events, I will first come to see it with my own eyes. I'll even be glad to do it. In the meantime, I myself stumble here and there on different ceramic-facade opuses and what I see, I sing about that.

The authorship of the ceramics at the Tikhvin Church belongs to the Pallada firm, most of whose employees have long written me as the enemy by default because of my past publications. And on this occasion, I want to make a small remark to clarify. Firstly, I am not a competitor to Pallada. I don’t do any restoration at all and I don’t think that I will ever do it. Secondly, we have completely different formats. I have a small creative workshop where I do what I want and participate only in those projects that are interesting to me, and they have a large enterprise with a huge staff that requires constant workload. By the way, in this sense I admire Pallada. To organize such an enterprise is a very difficult task, and they do an excellent job with it. I also warmly support the initiative to create a museum of architectural ceramics, which recently arose from the head of Pallada, Konstantin Likholat. But I consider the creation of works like this a serious mistake, which is better not to make. Thirdly, I will easily write about some brilliantly beautiful work of Pallas as soon as I see her. Well, fourthly, the absence of criticism relaxes and discourages, so I myself am always open to criticism and I never delete anything except spam. Write, do not hesitate.

___________________________

it's a pity, People's Artist of Russia Georgy Aleksandrovich Leman is an elderly man and cannot stand up for his grandfather's honor, and he doesn't need to be nervous at all. And it would be very nice to create a precedent and sue for violation of the author's intention of Nikolai Yegorovich Martyanov with huge compensation - once, and the restoration of the temple at the expense of the violator (at the expense, but not by force, of course) - two. And the compensation should be used for the restoration of other buildings of the architect who need it. Maybe it would be a lesson to someone? Memorial doesn't want to connect? - would do a really good deed.

Moscow Church of the Old Believer Community in Honor of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God (the current status of the temple is unknown)

In August, a society of Old Believers accepting the priesthood of the Belokrinitsa hierarchy (now RPSTs) from the Mikhailovs' parish addressed the Moscow provincial government with a request for permission to establish an Old Believer community in Moscow with the assignment of the name Tikhvin Old Believer Community.

The temple was laid on August 21, and consecrated on November 18 by the Old Believer Archbishop John in the presence of the Moscow mayor N.I. Guchkov. The author of the project was a construction technician N.G. Martyanov. Historically, the area near Khavskaya Street was the place of residence of the Old Believers.

At the beginning of the year, the temple was closed "for transfer to the" Armatrest "plant under the red corner". In February of that year, the royal gates, more than 30 images of the 17th century, a folding three-tiered marching iconostasis and 15 large icons were taken to the museum fund. The central chapter was broken, four decorative domes with a crate from poppies remained at the corners of the temple. Iron was stripped from the wooden tent of the bell tower, only the crate survived. In the year, a hardware warehouse was set up here. From a year on, the building was empty and destroyed, there was no protection of the territory. The abandoned church was surrounded by a construction fence. After a year, the church building was privatized, and an internal reconstruction was carried out for the needs of the restaurant. Instead of the building fence, a brick fence was rebuilt. The restaurant operated here until the early 2000s.

In the year, it was decided to close the restaurant and return the temple to the faithful. New frames of poppies and domes were delivered. But the restoration work never started. The church was again surrounded by a building fence and without security.

In January of the year, representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church (?) Appeared at the site with the intention of restoring a temple for believers. A permanent guard in the form of a police station is located. New scaffolding was installed around the building to its full height. Preparatory work has begun for the complete restoration of the temple. In the dark, the construction site is brightly lit by several floodlights.

Used materials

"The Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God Old Believers Church" // Page of the site "Russian Churches"

The project of the temple in 1912 (from the magazine "Church")

The Church of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God on Khavskaya Street in Moscow is a temple built in 1911-1912 by the Old Believer community.

Historically, the area near Khavskaya Street was the place of residence of the Old Believers.

In the 19th century, there was a prayer room in Mikhailov's house, in which in 1898 Archbishop of Moscow and All Russia John (Kartushin) was elevated to the cathedra. In August 1909, to the Moscow Provincial Board, the society of Old Believers accepting the priesthood of the Belokrinitsa hierarchy (now the RPSTs) from the Mikhailovs' parish asked for permission to establish an Old Believer community in Moscow with the assignment of the name “Tikhvin Old Believer Community”. The construction of the temple began in 1911. The temple was consecrated in honor of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God.
Temple in Soviet times

in 1917 the church was transferred to the Tikhvin community "for eternal and free use"
in 1922 valuables were confiscated in the temple (vestments, crosses, liturgical vessels)
in 1923 60 people were officially registered in the community. There is a religious school at the temple.
in 1924, the Moscow City Council considers the requests of the workers of the Danilov Button Factory with a request to close the church and transfer its building to the dining room and the plant of drilling tools "Armatrest" with a request to close the church and organize a red corner of the plant in it.
in 1930 the temple was closed
in 1967 a hardware warehouse in the temple building
in the 1980s, a dining room in the building of the temple, in the early 1990s, the building was privatized in violation of the law and sold by the Moscow Property Committee to a commercial organization for a grill bar
In 2003, the temple was bought by "Orthodox businessman" Konstantin Akhapkin

The new owner categorically refused to transfer the building to the historical owners and began restoration with the aim of transferring the church to the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. It was planned to open a museum of Nicholas II in the building. However, the Russian Orthodox Church refused to accept the church after the meeting of the Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Orthodox Church Andrian (+ 2004) with the head of the DECR MP Metropolitan Kirill. The situation turned into a stalemate. The conflict around the church was covered by the media, but no constructive solution was found.
Now, before the transfer to the ROC, the baths are being changed and the interior decoration is being made.

Temple of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God on Khavskaya Street mid-90s

There are more than 500 functioning churches in the capital of Russia. Skeptics say that this is too much (on the last Easter, a little more than 100 thousand people visited the temples of Moscow, that is, only 200 per temple). Fundamentalists, on the other hand, demand that new churches be built in dormitory areas using budget funds. To all appearances, the official church leadership sympathizes with the skeptics - too much with “unprofitable” churches. Perhaps that is why the privatized churches - shrines that fell into private hands in the era of “predatory privatization” - dropped out of sight of the church community? Today, few people are seriously worried about their fate, so sometimes the most unexpected stories happen to them. We will only talk about a few.

Where did the “Rook” go?

“Grill-bar“ Ladya ”- such a sign, illuminated by a red lantern, several years ago“ adorned ”the entrance to the Church of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God, which is at the corner of Serpukhov Wall and Khavskaya Street. It was built at the beginning of the twentieth century by the Old Believers of the Danilovskaya Sloboda, an ancient center of Old Belief, where, according to legend, the son of the archpriest Avvakum himself was hiding from Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. There was a warehouse in the church in Soviet times, and in 1990 it was privatized.

The grill bar had a bad reputation - its first owner was killed, but the new owner continued his business. Meanwhile, in 1991, the Old Believer community of the church emerged, headed by the physicist Andrey Pryakhin. Officials hinted to the community about a bribe, and the owner offered the Old Believers to buy out the temple for 2 million dollars.

At the turn of the century, the owner changed again - the new owner of the temple was Konstantin Akhapkin, a businessman from Moscow region and president of the Orthodox-patriotic organization Warriors of the Spirit. He finally closed the tavern and offered to open a museum of Nicholas II in the temple. The Moscow Patriarchate did not support Mr. Akhapkin, and they do not exclude that he again resold the temple. In any case, the restoration and construction work, which began there a year ago, is being carried out by the Silver Master jewelry (!) Firm, headed by a certain Vavilov. Hieromonk Stephen, who is now serving in the church, bears the same surname, who, according to the Moscow Patriarchate, was never appointed there. The Federal Registration Service refuses to name the official owner, citing the fact that "the temple is constantly changing hands."

Father Stefan (Vavilov) arrived in the capital from Perm and, as the patriarchy supposes, wants to create a courtyard of the Perm diocese at the church. Former officer, Fr. Stefan has followed a winding church-commercial path. In the mid-90s, he took part in operations with "humanitarian aid", under the guise of which vodka and cigarettes were imported to Russia through one church department. In 1999, "Komsomolskaya Pravda" discovered him at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, where he set up a small factory - not a candle, but alcohol. Distillery equipment and tons of pure alcohol were received from Russia to the name of the hieromonk. As a result, Fr. Stefan became the target of an international scandal and thundered into a Tanzanian prison. The Russian ambassador Doku Zavgayev had to get him out of there, who recalls that story with great displeasure. Returning to his homeland, the hieromonk “lay low for a while”. But not for long ... The temple on Khavskaya is located in a strategically important place - near Danilov (the official residence of the patriarch) and Donskoy monastery, Danilovsky market. No matter what courtyard you open there, profitability is guaranteed.

Moscow Old Believers complain that they got the most from the privatizers. The Church of the Intercession of the Assumption in Lefortovo was privatized by the Trud sports club, which placed a boxing ring in it, and hung a huge red sign on the fence: “Aikido. Freestyle wrestling. Boxing". The club even restored the temple (only did not install crosses on the domes) and uses its bright appearance for advertising: “It's easy to find us ... The snow-white building of the former church can be seen from afar”.

The once majestic Pokrovsky Cathedral on Abelmanovskaya Street houses the hostel of the local DEZ, and in the Nikolsky Church on Malaya Andronievskaya - the House of Culture.

Military industrial complex

A rare passer-by, walking along Butyrskaya Street, will guess that the pink office building (house 26) is a rebuilt Orthodox church. It was built by a student of the famous architect Ton in 1891-1892. at an orphanage and became the only one in Russia consecrated in honor of St. Alexander of Constantinople. In Soviet times, when the laboratories of the Chemical-Technological Institute were located in the temple, both the paintings and the mosaic floor were preserved here. They were destroyed only in the early 90s, after the mysterious privatization of the temple by a certain commercial structure close to the military-industrial complex.

In 1993, the Moscow City Council decided to transfer the church to the ROC community. However, the Mossovet soon passed away, and in 1994 MAPO-bank entered the building and opened the settlement offices in the altar. This bank was quite powerful - it served the interests of the MAPO corporation, which produces the famous MiGs, and Rosvooruzheniye, the head of which, Evgeny Ananiev, was at one time the president of the bank. A source close to the Moscow Patriarchate claims that Ananyev's representatives secretly agreed with the patriarch that the Russian Orthodox Church would not seek the transfer of the church - in exchange for “donations” from the bank. In 2000, the bank was declared insolvent, and the temple was resold to the Siberian-European transport company, the manager of which calls himself a "completely churchly" person. But opening a church in the office complex is “simply unrealistic,” the owners say.

Not far away, on Butyrsky Val, there is another church - a victim of privatization. She looks much more traditional and rather pathetic. The ancient (built in 1682!) Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos was cut in half by the workshop of the Znamya Moscow Mechanical Plant. Only the stump of the bell tower - peeling and lopsided - goes onto the busy street. The main church is hiding in the factory yard, and it is impossible to look at it without shuddering: pipes are attached to the ancient walls, dotted with cracks, and trees grow from holes formed in the brickwork. The parishioners turned the stump of the bell tower into the church of St. Dimitri Donskoy, they added an altar and cabins to it, fenced off the territory, and even built a small belfry. They no longer hope for the return of the main part of the temple. On the wall of the workshop that pierced the temple, there is a huge poster: "Rent". A supermarket "The Seventh Continent" has already been located in the adjacent workshop.

Sacred samovar

Speaking about the privatized churches of Moscow, it is difficult to ignore the largest religious site in the city - the Cathedral of Christ the Savior (CHC). Of course, it cannot be in private hands, but no one handed it over to the ROC either. XXS is a whole complex, which, in addition to two churches (main and lower), includes a large Hall of Church Cathedrals, five refectory rooms, the chambers of the Patriarch, the Synod and a hotel, a museum, 18 elevators, a garage for 350 cars, rooms for engineers and security services. Its maintenance requires almost one and a half million dollars a year.

The official asset holder of the HHS is the Main Directorate for the Protection of Moscow Monuments, which is part of the structure of the Moscow government. It recently insured a $ 200 million “facility” with a Moscow Insurance Company, which is blocking shares by the same government. Previously, the Moscow government funded HXS from an extra-budgetary fund, but now the law prohibits such a scheme, and the burden on the maintenance of the complex is distributed among several government departments. His officials no longer hide the fact that the HHS has become a big headache for them. The patriarchy demands that it be handed over, but does not cover the maintenance costs, the huge premises of the complex are empty. The valuable tourist site is used absolutely inefficiently. Only the lease of the Hall of Church Cathedrals brings income, where dance groups dance against the background of a fresco with 12 apostles, singers sing and managers of different companies meet. The hall has become a fashionable secular place, but the income it brings is still paltry. The government is thinking about opening a restaurant like “Danilovsky” or a closed club in the empty refectory halls, but the Russian Orthodox Church is categorically against it. In Luzhkov's entourage, they say that the mayor is already secretly repenting that he succumbed to Tsereteli's persuasions and “blinded the samovar”.

Another thing is cozy departmental churches, which, contrary to Russian legislation, were opened under various ministries and departments. The Law on Freedom of Conscience explicitly prohibits the creation of religious communities at enterprises and organizations, especially military and regime ones. However, the ministries of defense and internal affairs built their churches with departmental funds.

The problem of privatized churches is wider than the situations described. After the collapse of the USSR, Russia found itself between two legal chairs. It seems that the nationalization of church property was recognized as erroneous, but it still remains nationalized and is handed over to believers, as under the Soviets, “for use,” for rent. According to the law, the state is not obliged to transfer anything to believers. The latter are trying to sue and even seize churches by force (as was the case with the Church of the Resurrection in Kadashi in the center of Moscow), but the legal truth is not on their side. Is there a way out of this situation? Is restitution of even church property possible in Russia? Answers to these questions are a topic for a separate large study ...

If you walk along the boulevard of the Serpukhovsky Val to the south-west, leaving behind the Serpukhovsky Zastava Square and the famous Danilovsky Market, then in a block from Shabolovka, at the intersection of the embankment with the narrow Khavskaya Street, a low, neat red-brick church built in the Russian architectural style will appear on the right ... A temple with two churches - the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostolic Prince Vladimir and the icon of the Tikhvin Mother of God.

Historically, the area near Khavskaya Street was the place of residence of the Old Believers. In the XIX century. in the house of Mikhailov there was a prayer room, in which in 1898 Archbishop of Moscow and All Russia John (Kartushin) was elevated to the cathedra. In August 1909, to the Moscow Provincial Board, the Society of Old Believers accepting the priesthood of the Belokrinitsa hierarchy (now the RPSTs) from the Mikhailovs' parish asked for permission to establish an Old Believer community in Moscow with the assignment of the name Tikhvin Old Believer Community. This temple was founded on August 21, 1911. The author of the project was the construction technician N.G. Martyanov. The Church of the Tikhvin Mother of God - this is how the new temple of the Tikhvin community of Old Believers was named almost a century ago - was consecrated on November 18, 1912 by the Old Believer Archbishop John in the presence of the Moscow mayor N.I. Guchkov.

At the beginning of 1930, the temple was closed “for transfer to the“ Armatrest ”plant under the red corner. In February of that year, the royal gates, more than 30 images of the 17th century, a folding three-tiered marching iconostasis and 15 large icons were taken to the museum fund. The central chapter was broken, four decorative domes with a crate from poppies remained at the corners of the temple. Iron was stripped from the wooden tent of the bell tower, only the crate survived. Broke down the old Russian tent over the church porch. Only a small cupola above the altar remained. In 1967 a hardware warehouse was set up in the church. In 1978-1980, the building was empty, no one guarded it, inside - a complete destruction. But even in that wounded form, the church adorned the street.

In the 1990s. was privatized against the law and turned into a grill bar by the executive committee of the Moscow City Council. In 2003 it was to be returned to the Church. Unfortunately, this did not happen, the temple is still privately owned.

The temple with two side-altars - the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostolic Prince Vladimir and the icon of the Tikhvin Mother of God. Historically, the area near Khavskaya Street was the place of residence of the Old Believers. In August 1909, to the Moscow Provincial Board, the Society of Old Believers accepting the priesthood of the Belokrinitsa hierarchy (now the RPSTs) from the Mikhailovs' parish asked for permission to establish an Old Believer community in Moscow with the assignment of the name Tikhvin Old Believer Community. The temple was founded on August 21, 1911, consecrated on November 18, 1912 by the Old Believer Archbishop John in the presence of the Moscow mayor N.I. Guchkov.

In 1967 a hardware warehouse was set up here. 1978 to 1991 the building was empty and destroyed, there was no protection of the territory. The abandoned church was surrounded by a construction fence.

After 1991 the building of the church was privatized, and the internal reconstruction was carried out for the needs of the restaurant. Instead of the building fence, a brick fence was rebuilt. The restaurant operated here until the early 2000s. In 2003, it was decided to close the restaurant and return the church to believers. New frames of poppies and domes were delivered. But the restoration work never started. The church was again surrounded by a building fence and without security. 10 years have passed ...

In January 2013, representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church appeared at the site with the final intention of restoring the temple for believers. Preparatory work has begun for the complete restoration of the temple.