Pokrovskoe-Streshnevo, Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

The temple in Pokrovsky-Streshnevo is one of the current cultural sites. On its basis, many different events are held aimed at spending leisure time in the capital of our country. The temple attracts guests of the city as a unique monument of architecture and culture; its visit is included in almost all excursion programs in Moscow. In addition, it is the center of spiritual life, a place where believers meet and services are held.

The history of the creation of the temple

On the site of the estate, where today the Church of the Intercession of the Virgin in Pokrovsky-Streshnevo is located, in the past there was a wasteland of Podelka, which was first mentioned in documents dating back to 1585. In those distant times, the place belonged to Elizar Blagovo, a fairly well-known person. The name of the wasteland, in all likelihood, received from the dense spruce forests that prevailed in this area.

The first temple in Pokrovsky-Streshnevo was built at the beginning of the 17th century on the initiative of the deacon M. F. Danilova. This church was first mentioned in 1629. According to some scholars, the church was built in 1620, when M. F. Danilov purchased these lands from relatives of the boyar A. F. Palitsyn. There is a version that the temple in Pokrovsky-Streshnevo was built several decades earlier, and in 1629 a refectory was only added to it.

The owners of the estate, who owned it much later, also agreed with this version. However, the exact date of construction of the temple is still unknown. In the period from the beginning of the 18th to the end of the 19th century, the temple in Pokrovsky-Streshnevo was rebuilt many times and almost lost its original architecture.

Studies that were carried out during restoration work in the thirties of the last century made it possible to restore its alleged appearance in the 17th century.

Temple Features

Unlike many religious buildings of that time, the Intercession Church in Pokrovsky-Streshnevo does not have an altar ledge on the eastern facade. The quadrangle closed with a vault ended with a “slide” of kokoshniks, which were crowned by one chapter. Wide blades evenly divided its facades into three strands; a doorway was arranged in the center of the northern facade.

Another feature of the church is small narrow ventilation windows, which were located on the eastern facade, adjacent to the light windows. One of these lancet windows has survived to this day on the eastern facade of the temple between two light windows, which were later expanded.

Archaeologists during excavations discovered under the floor of the temple the foundations of two brick pillars, which are structurally unjustified for such a volume. This allowed the researchers to assume that the initial larger project was changed during construction for unknown reasons. The walls of the temple were plastered much later, so initially the color of the red brick contrasted with the white architectural details.

The most interesting is the ancient part, which dates back to the beginning of the 18th century. Here and today you can see the elements inherent in the time of Peter the Great. While maintaining the composition that developed in Russian architecture at the end of the 17th century, the detailed development of architectural and decorative forms continued, which clearly emphasizes the dependence on Western European influence.

Church rebuilding

P. I. Streshnev - the owner of the estate - in 1750 began the restructuring of the Church of the Intercession in Pokrovsky-Streshnev, during which the building acquired baroque features. However, the planned configuration of the building at that time remained the same. Ten years later, a bell tower (three-tiered) was attached to the temple. After that, the church almost did not change its external appearance until the end of the 19th century.

Temple in the 19th century

During the French invasion, Pokrovskoe-Streshnevo was the last to be captured. The temple was desecrated - they made a stable in it. After the victory over the invaders (1812) it was re-consecrated. A little later, the bell tower was rebuilt, or rather its upper tier.

Ten years later (1822) the church was rebuilt intoempire style. Eclectic elements appeared in the architectural appearance of the building in 1896.

The Streshnevs are the owners of the estate

In the second half of the 19th century, the parish increased significantly. At that time, Princess E. F. Shakhovskaya-Glebova-Streshneva owned the estate. She did not plan to expand the ancient temple, and therefore she made attempts to secure part of the parishioners to another parish. However, she failed to do so.

It should be noted that the Streshnevs were the owners of the estate for two and a half centuries. This was a noble family until 1626. But then Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, the Russian Tsar, married E. L. Streshneva. Ten children were born in this marriage, including Alexei Mikhailovich, the future Russian Tsar. Since then, the family has taken a prominent place in the court hierarchy.

E. P. Streshneva - one of the owners of the estate - married F. I. Glebov. In 1803, she managed to obtain for her family the right to bear a double surname: the Streshnevs-Glebovs. Thus, the village received another name - Pokrovskoye-Glebovo.

A petition to the Moscow Spiritual Consistory for the expansion of the church was submitted in 1894 by the parishioners of Pokrovsky-Streshnev. The temple began to be rebuilt: the old refectory was dismantled, two new chapels were built - the apostles Peter and Paul and Nicholas the Wonderworker. Funds for these works were allocated by the we althy merchant P. P. Botkin, a respected person in the city, a member of the Peter Botkin and Sons partnership, which was engaged in the tea trade. In 1905 the church walls and ceiling werepainted.

Post-revolutionary period

In the twenties of the last century, a museum was equipped in the estate. But less than ten years later, both the museum and the temple were closed, the bell tower was partially destroyed. A little later, the building was transferred to the Ministry of Aviation. In 1931, the Moscow Regional Executive Committee decided to close the Church of the Intercession in Pokrovsky-Streshnevo. Father Peter, the rector of the church, was arrested, and his further fate is unknown.

After the war with Nazi Germany (1941-1945), the temple in Pokrovsky-Streshnevo was given to the fuel laboratory belonging to the Civil Aviation Research Institute. From that moment until the end of the eighties of the last century, the appearance of the temple changed significantly: the head of the temple and the original interior design were lost, the uppermost tier of the bell tower was dismantled, a little later, experts discovered the weathering of the surface of the brickwork on the facades, the elements of the facade decor changed noticeably.

Return of the temple to the Russian Orthodox Church

The Government of Russia, by its decision in 1992, transferred the temple to the Russian Orthodox Church. At this time, a large-scale campaign began to collect donations for the restoration of the Church of the Intercession in Pokrovsky-Streshnevo. In December 1993, the temple was consecrated with a full rite.

The parishioners have invested a lot of money, as well as physical and spiritual strength, in the revival of their city church. Only during the winter of 1994, the roof was completely replaced and a cross and a dome were installed. As early as Christmas 1995, for lonely elderly people at the temple, aperformance by children's bands, as well as presentation of gifts.

The parishioners also remembered the feast of the Holy Theophany, which was held in the temple in 1995. After the Liturgy, the parishioners proceeded to the Jordan, and Father Gennady (Trokhin) consecrated a spring in the park.

Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo, Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary: restoration

Restoration work began in the temple in the late eighties under the patronage of the Rosrestavratsiya company. The restoration project was developed by the famous Russian architect S. A. Kiselev. During the work, key architectural fragments of the building, most of the decor elements were restored.

The iconostasis (two-tiered) that exists today in the temple is decorated with icons that were painted at the Artistic Enterprise of the Russian Orthodox Church in Sofrino, in the style of color lithographs imitating ancient Russian painting. The iconostasis was installed in 1996. The interiors were repainted between 1988 and 2000.

Restoration and restoration of the ancient temple does not stop at the present time. In May 2006, Belarusian specialists headed by S. I. Byshnev completed work on the last of the three magnificent mosaic frescoes located on the facade of the temple.

In 2015, the contractor LLC Promproekt, using funds allocated from the Moscow budget, strengthened the waterproofing of the foundations, restored the white stone plinth, returned the facades to their historical colors, restored marble self-leveling floors,restored oak windows and doors.

The temple in Pokrovsky-Streshnevo changed its appearance many times. But despite this, it is an invaluable historical and architectural monument, an example of a patrimonial temple dating back to the beginning of the 17th century. The Church of the Intercession in Pokrovsky-Streshnevo today is under the protection of the state as the most valuable architectural monument. He entered the cultural and educational complex "Pokrovskoye-Glebovo-Streshnevo".

In the fall of 2011, Patriarch Kirill awarded the ancient temple the honorary status of a patriarchal residence. Shrines are kept in the church:

• icons of the Intercession of the Virgin and the Wonderworker Nicholas;
• Riza of the Intercession of the Virgin;
• relics.

Address and opening hours

The temple is located at the address: Pokrovskoe-Streshnevo, Volokolamsk Highway, 52, building 1 (next to the Schukinskaya metro station). The temple is open daily from 8.00 to 20.00. Sunday morning service starts at 7.00.