The Assumption Church in Sergiev Posad, one of the outstanding examples of Russian church architecture, was erected in the period from 1757 to 1769. The place of its construction was the village of Klementyevo, which was the specific property of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Somewhat later, it, along with other monastic villages, was included in the city of Sergiev Posad. Today, the Assumption Church is rightfully considered its true decoration.
Wooden temple predecessor
The predecessor of the Dormition Church erected in Sergiev Posad was a wooden church that had the same name, but was located about forty meters from the current building. The first mention of it is found in the economic book of the monastery, dated to the end of the 16th century. The church was repeatedly burned and rebuilt, until finally it gave way to a memorial pillar erected to commemorate the future construction of a stone church.
Building a stone temple
The second half of the 18th century was an extremely unfavorable period for the Russian Orthodox Church, andespecially monasticism. The reason for this lies in the large-scale secularization (withdrawal and transfer to the state fund) of the monastic lands, which Empress Catherine II carried out since 1764. As part of her decree, the village of Klementyevo ceased to be the property of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and became part of the city of Sergiev Posad.
However, even before gaining legal independence from their owners, the villagers wished to have their own stone parish church, in connection with which they announced a fundraiser for its construction. Their pious initiative found a response among the widest circles of society, and donations began to come not only from nearby cities and villages, but also from Moscow itself. In 1757, when a rather large amount had already been collected, work began, which lasted for 12 years and ended with the construction of the Assumption Church in Sergiev Posad, which has survived to this day and has earned fame for its architectural appearance.
Highest Visit
In 1775, the Empress Empress Catherine II, who shortly before that took away the lands that belonged to her from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, made a pilgrimage to her shrines. There is a lot of documentary evidence of this day preserved in the history of the monastery. They describe an extraordinary gathering of people who came from all over the area to see the Russian autocrat with their own eyes, as well as the solemn procession with which Metropolitan Platon (Levshin) of Moscow met the distinguished guest. At the gates of the monastery she appeared accompaniedbells and cannon fire.
The Empress deigned to personally inspect the recently built Assumption Church in Sergiev Posad, the service in which was celebrated that day with special solemnity. Together with her, many members of the royal House who accompanied her venerated the ancient icons placed in the temple.
Temple Features
At that time, the Assumption Church in Sergiev Posad had two thrones, one of which was consecrated in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, and the second in the name of John the Baptist. At the beginning of the 19th century, another throne was installed in the altar of the temple in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring".
For all the architectural merits of the building, its disadvantage was that the main volume of the interior, in which the main altar was located, remained unheated at that time and, accordingly, could be used for worship only from May to September.
Merchant Mamaev's generosity
In the second half of the 19th century, the main donor of the Assumption Church in Sergiev Posad (on Bolotnaya Street) was its permanent headman ─ the merchant of the first guild Ivan Pavlovich Mamaev. He personally contributed a huge amount for those times - 30 thousand rubles, sufficient for the construction of a two-story mansion. With these funds, the design of the interior of the temple was completed.
In particular, new iconostases covered with wood carvings and gilding were made, salaries and icon cases were ordered for icons, and wall paintings were updated and supplemented. Besides,the floors were paved with marble and bells weighing 5.5 tons were made at the donation of a pious merchant.
The well-being of the temple in the pre-revolutionary years
Extremely rich in those years were both church utensils and priestly vestments, also purchased at the expense of voluntary donors. Among them, according to the memoirs of contemporaries, numerous silver-gilded vessels and candelabra especially stood out. The real treasure was a panagia adorned with precious stones, received as a gift from St. Petersburg Metropolitan Nikanor. She, according to his will, was invariably near the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. It is known that at the beginning of the 20th century, the temple owned significant land for rent.
For a long time, the church "The Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles", located at the Klementyevsky (now Nikolsky) cemetery of Sergiev Posad, was attributed to the temple. It was built with donations from the parishioners of the Assumption Church and other pious citizens. In the years that followed the October Revolution, it was destroyed, and rebuilt only during the years of perestroika. It is now an independent parish.
At the turn of the eras
The coming XX century and marked its coming to power of the Bolsheviks brought incalculable troubles to the entire Russian Orthodox Church. They fully touched the Assumption Church in Sergiev Posad (address: Bolotnaya St., 39). Like all other buildings, it became the property of the state andIn 1929, it was provided for the use of believers on the basis of a lease agreement concluded with them.
This document was drafted in such a way that it allowed the authorities to terminate it at any time, based on violations allegedly committed by the tenants. This is exactly what they did in 1936, when they transferred the temple to the use of the Renovationists, representatives of the internal church schismatic movement led by Archpriest Alexander Vvedensky, who advocated the modernization of worship and cooperation with the Soviet authorities.
Years of trampling on shrines
However, the newly appeared schismatics did not perform their services in the temple for long. In the late 1930s, the Assumption Church was finally closed, and its building was transferred to the disposal of the city bakery. From that time began its destruction as an architectural monument. In accordance with the needs of production, the interior of the building was refurbished, and the building itself has undergone many changes.
An insignificant step towards the restoration of the trampled and desecrated shrine was made in 1960, when the temple was included in the register of historical monuments of Russia and, at the same time, was taken under state protection. Its internal premises were vacated, providing the enterprise located in them with a new building. However, that is where it all ended. No restoration and restoration work was carried out during that period.
Time to "gather stones"
The real era of the revival of the Assumption Church was the years of perestroika, in which coolthe policy of the government towards the church changed. This was the time when, according to the biblical expression, the time has come to “gather up the scattered stones,” and during the reign of the communists a great many scattered them. Throughout the country in those years, the restoration of previously destroyed temples and the construction of new ones began.
In 1990, immediately after the transfer of the temple building to the possession of the Russian Orthodox Church, a religious community arose under it. Soon, by order of the diocesan leadership, a staff of clergy was established, headed by the rector of the church, Archpriest Vladimir (Kucheryavy). By his labors, on June 28 of the same year, the first liturgy after a long break was performed in the premises of the Assumption Church. A prayer service was also served for the sending down of God's help in restoring the shrine, devastated during the years of spiritual darkness and desolation.
The period of active revival of the temple
In the next decade, a large amount of restoration and restoration work was carried out, which included the installation of marble flooring, roof repairs, the creation of iconostases and the writing of the required number of icons. In addition, the bell tower, which was destroyed by the authorities in the late 1930s, was rebuilt. At the same time, an evening school and a religious library began operating at the temple.
In 2001, by the decision of the Holy Synod, the Assumption Church (Sergiev Posad), the photo of which is presented in the article, became the center of the Sergiev Posad deanery. At the same time, a prominent religious figure was appointed its new rectormodernity, scientist, candidate of theological sciences, Archpriest Alexander (Samoilov), who later took monastic tonsure and since 2005 has been known as Abbot John.
The following years became a period of further improvement of the temple and the increase of its shrines. This, as before, showed the generosity of many parishioners who were not stingy with making significant sums for the purchase of church utensils, priestly vestments and liturgical books, which made it possible to fully resume the spiritual life interrupted for many years in the church.
Assumption Church (Sergiyev Posad): service schedule
Currently, divine services in the temple are held in full, provided for by the Charter of the Russian Orthodox Church. Morning services, both weekdays and holidays, begin at 7:40 a.m. with confession, followed by the Hours and Divine Liturgy. Evening services begin at 4:50 pm. Only in the Saturday schedule of services in the Dormition Church of Sergiev Posad, some changes have been made: the morning service these days begins at 8:00. In general, this order of services corresponds to the work schedule of most Russian churches.
And last. For those who wish to visit this Orthodox shrine revived from oblivion, we inform you how to get to the Assumption Church of Sergiev Posad. To do this, you should take an electric train departing from the Yaroslavsky railway station of the capital to get to Sergiev Posad. Further from the railway station, go along Kooperativnaya Street, and then go down the Red Army Street. She will bring outdirectly to Bolotnaya Street, where the temple is located. The total length of the route does not exceed one kilometer.
