Church of the Resurrection (Moscow Kremlin): description, history and interesting facts

The Church of the Deposition in Moscow appeared at that time in the history of Russia, when Orthodox Christianity passed to independent development, independent of Byzantium. The troubled times were coming to an end, and the country was beginning a new turn of its history.

Legend

The Church of the Deposition of the Deposition (Moscow Kremlin) was consecrated by the decree of the first metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church, Jonah, in 1451 in memory of the miracle that occurred. This year the Tatar hordes of Mazowshi stood near Moscow, the suburbs were already destroyed by fire, and the walls of the Kremlin were besieging the enemy's troops. Residents took up defense, fought in hand-to-hand combat, falling under the arrows of the enemy. While the battle was going on, Metropolitan Jonah made a procession around the walls of the city, earnestly praying for the salvation of Moscow from the invaders.

According to the legend, during the prayer, Jonah met the monastery of Chudov monastery Antonia and asked him to pray for the city and residents, to which the elder replied that Moscow would be saved by a miracle and there would be only one killed in the battle - Antonius himself. Having said this, the old man immediately fell pierced with an arrow. Towards evening the invaders retreated from the walls, and residents and the metropolitan prayed all night, preparing for the decisive battle. When it was light, it turned out that the Tatar hordes left the field of battle in a hurry, abandoning all the loot.

What caused the flight - it is not known, scientists believe that Mazovsh received some information, on which he decided that it was useless to fight, or perhaps the unaccountable fear of the whole army was being swept away, and having dropped the booty, they withdrew from the battle site. This fact has already happened under the walls of the Kremlin with the army of Khan Baty. Metropolitan Jonah believed that the miracle of God saved the city and country from ruin and murder.

Dream of a stone church

According to some documents, the metropolitan courtyard on the Cathedral Square of the Kremlin was being built for a long time. In the year of the invasion of Mazovshi, the church was already built, but not consecrated. After miraculous rescue, Jonah decided to consecrate the temple in honor of the holiday in which the salvation occurred. So there was a church of the Deposition of the Deposition (Moscow Kremlin). The first building was wooden and stood on a high basement, where, according to ancient customs, the treasury of the metropolitan and other valuables were kept.

The temple stood until 1479 and died in a big fire. To revive the shrine was decided already in the stone embodiment, for which the masters from Pskov were invited, where the traditions of stone construction were preserved and flourished. The artel was headed by Ivan Krivtsov and Myshkin. Traditions of building stone houses at that time in Russia fell into decay after centuries of dominance of the Tatar-Mongols - only in Pskov were found masters.

They were instructed to erect not only the Temple of the Deposition of the Resurrection on the Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin, but also to build several cathedrals of a much larger scale. One of them, Ouspensky, they set, but he had a roof. In the annals it is told that "the coward was great", which led to destruction, today it is not clear. Summoned experts said that the fault was poor quality mortar used for construction, as far as the estimate was correct, history is silent.

The Pskov trace

It so happened that the Assumption Cathedral was built by the Italian architect Aristotle Fioravanti, caused by Tsar Ivan III, and the further arrangement of the architectural ensemble was nevertheless risked to entrust Myshkin and Krivtsov.

Their works grew the Annunciation Cathedral and the Church of the Deposition of the Deposition (the Moscow Kremlin), which became a home church of the Russian patriarchs. It is believed that the Pskov masters, according to the law of their time, became pupils of the Italian architect and took from him all the knowledge, adding their own luggage. As it was in fact, it is not known, there are only assumptions why the craftsmen were left without punishment and entrusted with further construction, but this is how history developed.

The Temple of the Deposition in the Moscow Kremlin was consecrated in August 1486. The church was a home place for the prayers of the patriarchs until the ecclesiastical throne was occupied by the patriarch Nikon. At that time she was called "the house-master", her inner junctions were connected with the patriarchal court, having received the "affirmation", the lords of the church came out to the people through the canopy of the Kremlin's Risopolozhskaya church.

Temple painting

Against the background of other structures of the Cathedral Square of the Kremlin today, the temple looks miniature and light, but at the beginning of Orthodoxy in Russia it was almost the main church of the whole country. The interior design is dedicated to the celebration and glorification of the Mother of God.

The frescoes of the upper level depict the life of the Virgin, the two lower tiers are dedicated to the akathist of the Virgin. The painting was performed by the royal isografs - Osipov and Borisov, and the main temple image "The Position of the Robe of the Mother of God" belongs to the brush of the famous icon painter Nazar Istomin (XVII century).

To the Church of the Deposition of the Deposition (Moscow Kremlin) in the XVII century on the south side adjoined the chapel dedicated to the Pechersk Icon of the Mother of God, where the list of the wonderworking icon, made in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, was kept. The icon was considered the defender of the Russian metropolia and accompanied the patriarchs of the church from Kiev, first to Vladimir, and later to Moscow.

The Tsar's House Church

In troubled times, the patriarch's court burned down, as well as much during the fire. Nikon arrived, launched a large-scale construction in the yard of Boris Godunov, presented to him by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, where he built a new house church. So the Church of the Deposition in the Kremlin passed to the royal family. The gallery was connected to the sovereign's chambers, and the list of the Pecherskaya Icon of the Mother of God after the construction of the Terem Palace was opposite the windows of the Queen's Chambers. The list was lost after the revolution together with the chapel, when large-scale restoration work was carried out.

The history of the Church of the Deposition of the Resurrection in the Moscow Kremlin is full of many events, it survived not one fire, the worst of them happened in 1737, when even the Tsar Bell was damaged. In 1917, the Kremlin was fired from artillery, and the church was badly damaged. Restored and restored it as many times as destroyed, but more attention was paid to the appearance, the interior paintings were repeatedly painted over and new ones were painted.

Architecture

Today, the Temple of the Deposition is located on the Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin in a not very favorable place, adjacent to the Faceted Chamber, the Terem Palace and the Assumption Cathedral. Against the backdrop of these structures, the church is almost invisible, and yet its age is much larger than that of the other grandiose buildings.

The church belongs to the traditional cross-domed structures. It is made of bricks, which in the 15th century the white stone, which was in high demand, was replaced. All four sides of the temple are divided into three parts, before such a division was called a spindle. The peculiarity is that the central church line is much larger than the two lateral ones. Above each wall of the wall, the traditional for Russian architecture keeled zakomar (vault) stands out as an end. The altar ledges on the outside are also divided into three semi-circular pieces.

The Church of the Deposition in the Moscow Kremlin is a single-domed church with a helmet-shaped dome, above which stands the light drum of the cupola. The dome part of the drum is decorated with a special author's ornament of the frieze, referring to the Pskov northern school of Russian architecture. Of the bricks lined with decorations - a curb, a runner.

Ornaments and details

The eastern part of the church is accessible for inspection from the Cathedral Square. The central apse of the altar wall is more noticeable than the two lateral, narrower ones, which is due to the architectural structure of the cross-domed churches. Along the entire perimeter of the temple in the upper part is a decorative frieze, which serves as a sign of Russian church architecture of the early period.

The facades in the lower part are decorated with semicolumns, which, connecting to the upper level, repeat the pattern of the keeled zakomar. On the three walls of the church are visible shallow niches in which icons were previously exhibited. Now only one fresco of the 17th century has been preserved on the northern facade, it was opened during the restoration works in 1996, it depicts the patronal feast of the church - the position of the Robe of the Blessed Virgin.

The entrances to the Church of the Resurrection (the Moscow Kremlin) are located on all sides. From the east and south you can get directly into the inner room. The southern entrance is decorated with a keeled portal and a high staircase, and the eastern one leads to the gallery of the palace palace. The entrances, located on the western and northern sides of the temple, lead the visitor to the covered galleries.

Interior

The interior of the temple forms a single space, in its volume chamber and designed for a small number of parishioners, as befits a house church. The vault is supported by four columns. The space of walls and pillars is covered with a religious painting.

The main part of the plots is dedicated to the Mother of God, the painting style is close to the frescoes of the Assumption Cathedral. Coincidence is not accidental: the works in 1644 were performed by well-known masters Pospev Sidor and Abramov Semyon. The pillars depict Russian princes and metropolitans.

As the painting of the XVII century looks, it became clear in 1956, when under later stratifications historical plots were discovered and cleared. In the same period, a complete restoration of the old iconostasis was carried out, which did not leave the Church of the Deposition of the Moscow Kremlin. Description of the general composition of the painting and the iconostasis indicates that it was the basis of the color solution of painting.

Iconostasis

The iconostasis is made of silver, richly and artfully decorated with ornaments. The inserted icons are painted with joyful, bright colors, where blue, cherry, white colors predominate. The iconostasis was the first, created after the Time of Troubles and the ruin that befell the country. The customer was the father of the first tsar of the Romanov family - Patriarch Filaret.

The top three rows of icons were written by workers in the workshop of the iconographer Nazarii Istomin Savin in 1627. The lower row was written by the master himself, his hand belongs to two central icons - "The Trinity of the Old Testament", "The Virgin Hodegetria".

Restoration works of the mid-50's confirm that frescoes on the walls supported color combinations. In the picturesque decoration noticeable influence of earlier periods of Christianity, when Russia was the metropolis of Byzantium.

The majestic figures in the upper tiers and pillars depicting the apostles and grand dukes coexist with images in which the master adheres to strict canons and expresses his respectful attitude to the heroes of the frescoes and endows the atmosphere around them with joy and light.

Modernity

In the early 90's, the Church of the Deposition was open to visitors, and in the days of the patronal temple feast, services and liturgies are held here. From the utensils there were only a few items left. Large antique candlesticks are installed in front of the iconostasis, in the old days they were called "lean candles" - hollow inside. The candlesticks were given to the temple as a gift by Patriarch Joseph in 1649. They are decorated with carvings, silvered pallets and lean against the stylized figures of lions. The second unique subject of 1624 is the silver panic, covered with the gilding of the authorship of the boiler works of the master D. Sverchkov.

In the temple it is worth to come to see the frescoes of the 16th century and visit the exhibition of wooden Old Russian sculpture, located in the covered gallery. One of the most ancient high reliefs with the image of St. George XIV century meets the visitor right at the entrance to the exposition. In the old days, such works were inserted into the iconostasis and served as icons. Of great interest are the Novgorod icon "Descent from the Cross" and "Our Lady of the Sign" (Rostov).

In Rizopolozhenskaya church, at the exhibition, there is also a wooden sculpture of the first metropolitan of Russia - Iona, who laid the church in ancient times. The wooden icons of the Solovetsky Monastery, an image of Nikolay Mozhaisky with a sword in the image in which he appeared to defend the city of Mozhaisk from the invaders, are exhibited in the exposition. No less interesting are other rarities - the crucifix from the Chudov Monastery, the folds, icons of the period of the XV-XIX centuries.