In the Basmanny district of the capital, at the corner of Podsosensky and Barashevsky lane, there is an ancient Svyato-Vvedenskaya church, the photo of which is presented in the article. Built and consecrated in honor of the memorable gospel event - the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos, it has been inextricably linked with the life of Moscow and all of Russia for almost three and a half centuries.
Temple built in Barashevskaya Sloboda
There is reliable information about the temple, which was the predecessor of the present Vvedenskaya church. A number of historical documents allow us to conclude that it was built and consecrated in 1647. In addition, it is known that in the mid-60s there was an elementary school at the temple, opened at his own expense by priest I. Fokin. It was located in the Barashevskaya Sloboda exactly at the place where the church is now located, which is discussed in our article, and, therefore, was its predecessor.
In passing, we note that the settlement got its name from the old word "barashi", whichthe royal servants who were in charge of the manufacture, storage and installation of his tents were designated. They also acted as army quartermasters and, due to their large number, settled in a separate settlement. In addition to the Holy Vvedensky Church, another one was erected nearby - the Resurrection Church, which is also mentioned in documents of that era.
Building and consecrating the current church
In 1688, by order of Tsar Ivan V Alekseevich, preparations began for the construction of a new building of the Presentation Church. To this day, economic documents have survived, indicating that 100 thousand baked bricks were made to build its walls, as well as many other materials needed for the cause.
The construction of walls and roofing continued for a whole decade, and in 1698, that is, already during the reign of his half-brother, Tsar Peter I, the chapel of St. Longinus the Centurion, who was considered the patron of the reigning house, was solemnly consecrated. A year later, the chapel of Elijah the Prophet was consecrated. The final finishing of the entire building was completed on October 11, 1701.
Architectural features of the temple
According to art historians, the Vvedenskaya Church built in Moscow is a vivid example of the style that is commonly called Moscow baroque. This is evidenced, in particular, by the abundance and nature of the decorations used in the exterior decoration of the building. The creators of the temple decorated it with decorative kokoshniks crowning the walls, picturesque groupscolumns located at the corners of the main quadrangle, as well as lush and very exquisite window frames.
They did not stint on the creation of a huge number of small details that harmoniously fit into the overall appearance of the building. It is known that in connection with the temporary ban of Peter I on the use of iron in roofing, the roof of the Vvedenskaya Church had a special coating made of colored tiles and white stone, which gave it a festive look. By 1770, it had fallen into disrepair, and since the ban had been lifted by that time, it was replaced with ordinary sheet iron.
The fire of 1737 and subsequent restoration work
One of the first disasters experienced by the temple was a fire that engulfed it in 1737 and caused significant damage to both the walls of the building and its interior decoration. During the restoration work, which lasted for several years, a new element was added to the overall architectural composition, which was a multi-tiered bell tower, which has survived to this day without significant changes. It is characteristic that its appearance is close to the bell tower of the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist, built in 1741 on Varvarka, one of the streets in the center of Moscow.
Repair and reconstruction of the temple, carried out in the first half of the XIX century
During the period of the Napoleonic invasion and the associated fire that engulfed Moscow, the Holy Presentation Church was significantly damaged, which is why, three years later, its restoration and reconstruction began, which lasted until 1837. DuringThe work, which was led by the Moscow architect P. M. Kazakov, took into account the shortcomings of the previous architectural project.
In particular, to improve the illumination of the interior, several additional oval windows were cut through the walls of the building. The western part of the refectory vault was dismantled and re-laid out, and inside it two heavy quadrangular supports were replaced with light columns, round in section, between which wide gaps were left. In addition, a new iconostasis was installed, the author of the sketches of which was also the architect P. M. Kazakov. In this renewed form, the Holy Presentation Church existed until 1917, when the coming to power of the Bolsheviks caused the greatest tragedy in the history of Russian Orthodoxy.
In the setting of militant atheism
Until the beginning of the 1930s, the parish of the Holy Vvedensky Church continued its religious life, although it was repeatedly attacked by the city authorities. But in 1931, it was announced that, according to the wishes of the workers of the Russolent factory, the church should be closed, demolished, and the site occupied by it transferred to the construction of a multi-storey residential building.
In those years, such acts of vandalism, which became quite commonplace, deprived Russia of many monuments of its cultural and historical heritage. The verdict was also signed by the Vvedensky Church in Barashevsky Lane. However, fate was pleased to dispose of otherwise. The church parish was abolished, but the building itself was not demolished. What caused it– unknown.
Perhaps the construction of a residential building on this site did not correspond to the general urban plan or sufficient funds were not allocated, but the church survived, and a hostel was set up in it for the very workers who allegedly petitioned for its closure. A few years later, the God-fighting workers were evicted, and until 1979, one of the workshops of the Moscow Electrical Products Plant was located in the vacated premises.
The Silent Keepers of Treasures
A very curious case belongs to this period. In 1948, to install new equipment in the workshop, it was necessary to break through the wall. When the workers went deeper into the thickness of the brickwork, they suddenly discovered a vast cavity in which three human skeletons and many different gold items were found, including royal coins.
Who were those people whose remains rested for many years in the church wall, and who owned the treasures found there, remained unknown. At least, this information has not been made public. The workers were ordered to keep quiet, which they did, fearing the undesirable consequences of excessive talkativeness. Only during the perestroika years did this case become public knowledge, but even then it did not receive any convincing explanation.
First steps towards the revival of the shrine
In 1979, the "Electrical Products Plant" left the building of the Vvedenskaya Church, and the city authorities handed it over to the scientific and restoration plant, which placed itsworkshop. Thus, the well-known statement that “a holy place is never empty” has found its real confirmation. We must pay tribute to the scientists-restorers: unlike their predecessors, they not only did not destroy the temple building, adjusting it to their immediate needs, but even attended to its restoration.
They began complex restoration work, as a result of which, soon the cupolas that once crowned the side aisles returned to their places, and a cross appeared on the bell tower, which disappeared from it many years ago. The building itself was covered with scaffolding, which was removed from it only in 1990, when the bulk of the work was completed, and the Vvedenskaya Church regained its former appearance.
Temple returned to the ownership of the Russian Orthodox Church
The process of perestroika, which swept the country in the last decade of the last century and touched all areas of its life, radically changed the attitude of the government towards religious issues. The Church began to return its movable and immovable property illegally taken from it. Among other objects, believers received at their disposal the Vvedensky Church, restored by that time. The schedule of divine services, which replaced government-issued signs on its doors indicating those located inside state institutions, most eloquently testified to the changes that had come.
The current state of the temple
From now on, every day at 8:00, its doors open for everyone to attend the Divine Liturgy or special prayers,associated with various calendar dates. At 18:00, evening services are held in it, on the eve of the holidays, accompanied by the reading of akathists. Parishioners learn about various unscheduled events from announcements placed at the entrance to the temple or on its website.
At present, not all the values that once belonged to the church community and taken from it by the Bolsheviks have returned to their places. Many icons of high artistic value are still in the collections of the State Tretyakov Gallery. However, even today, visitors can venerate such shrines as the miraculous image of the Kazan Mother of God, the icons of the Annunciation, the Presentation of the Lord, and the relics of many Orthodox saints kept in the church.
In early September 2015, by decision of the leadership of the Moscow Patriarchate, the temple was provided to accommodate the representative office of the Orthodox Church of Moldova and Metropolitan Vladimir (Kantaryan) of Chisinau was appointed its rector. Thus, being owned by the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, it is under the administrative control of the Chisinau-Moldavian Metropolis.
For everyone who wants to visit the services held in it, we inform you the address: Moscow, Barashevsky lane, house 8/2, building 4.
