St. Nicholas Church (Moscow, Ordynka): history and features

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

One of the churches in Moscow built in the 17th century is St. Nicholas Church in Pyzhi. Once upon a time, another church stood in its place, cut down from wooden logs and consecrated in honor of the Annunciation. At that time, this place belonged to the Streltsy settlement, and the money for the construction of a new temple was allocated by the Streltsy regiment of Bogdan Pyzhov.

Construction and renovation works

It was decided to leave the main throne of the new church Blagoveshchensk. And the chapel in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker belonged to the refectory, which was built together with the bell tower only in 1692, that is, twenty years after the consecration of the main altar. When the construction of the second altar was completed, the temple was popularly referred to as St. Nicholas Church. Moscow, like all of Russia in general, was distinguished then, and today too, by a special veneration of this saint. There are not so many temples dedicated to any saint of God as to this legendary bishop from the World of Lycian.

In 1796 St. Nicholas Church was renovated. Her first paintings date back to this time. In 1812, during the Russian-French war, the temple wasruined. Subsequently, it has undergone several repairs and renovations. For example, the St. Nicholas Church was restored in 1858 with donations from the Lyamins family. The same thing happened in 1895 at the expense of donations from the Rakhmanin family. In 1878, another chapel was consecrated in the church in honor of the holy reverends Anthony and Theodosius of the Kiev Caves.

Temple style

The architectural style in which the temple is made is called "Russian pattern". At its core, this is a quadrangular box that does not have pillars inside. The altar part is a three-part ledge. Decorative elements are made in the form of brick bas-reliefs. The western portal is decorated with carved columns and garlands framing the arched opening. Five domes of the church rest on a pyramid of tiers of kokoshniks. As for the bell tower, it is a tented type of church building. It has three tiers, the lower of which is an open porch. The original decoration has not been preserved. The interior of the iconostasis of today is made in the Old Russian style, which was presumably the St. Nicholas Church before the revolution. Moscow now looks very colorful in this respect: there are temples of various architectural styles: classicism, baroque, rococo, neo-gothic and others. But the temples, sustained in the traditions of ancient Russian, are a relative rarity.

Temple after the revolution

After the revolution, religious organizations were repressed andpersecution. During the events of 1922, the seizure of church valuables was announced, as a result of which about fifteen pounds of gold and silver jewelry and church utensils were lost only to St. Nicholas Church. Moscow lost at that time not only many church relics, but also works of art that had artistic, historical value. But the temple continued to function. It was closed in 1934. Many shrines of the church went to museums. For example, the image of the Savior in 1674 was sent to the Tretyakov Gallery. The bell, cast in 1900, ended up in the Bolshoi Theatre. Then the Yelokhovsky Cathedral bought it for its own needs, as the cathedral bell cracked. In general, very strong repressions raged in the 1930s, many churches were closed. Among them was St. Nicholas Church. Moscow lost many temples, where warehouses, cafes, factories, archives, theaters and anything else were built. In the case of the St. Nicholas Church, its building was used first as a workshop, then as an acoustic laboratory, then as a research institute, until finally it was taken over by Rosmonumentiskusstvo. Under Soviet rule, the temple was once restored. It was in the 1960s.

The Return of the Temple

Almost immediately after perestroika, restitution began, and the former place of worship again became a church building. In July 1991, divine services began to be held there again. To date, there are three altars in the church: the main one, the Annunciation, the second - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. And here is the throne in memorySaints of the Kiev Caves Anthony and Theodosius was abolished. Instead, the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, headed by Hieromartyr Vladimir of Kyiv, were elected patrons of the church.

Address of St. Nicholas Church

There are some shrines in the temple, including particles of many relics. But even if you are a non-believer, this is a memorable place that is worth visiting while strolling through the sights of the Russian capital. The address where the St. Nicholas Church is located: Moscow, Ordynka (Bolshaya), 27a/8.