The Church of St. George the Victorious on Poklonnaya Hill and its creation

Since time immemorial, there has been a tradition in Orthodox Russia to erect temples to remind descendants of the glorious landmarks of history. They were built in gratitude to God for His unceasing help and for the edification of the youth, who still have to create this history. The tradition is still alive today. Its continuation was the Church of St. George on Poklonnaya Hill, which commemorated all those who did not return from the war.

Heavenly patron of our capital

Throughout the centuries-old history of Russian Orthodoxy, this saint patronized Russian warriors and farmers, that is, without whom the life of the people is impossible. In his honor across the vast Rus built and consecrated numerous churches. From the end of the fourteenth century he became a prayer-book about our capital before the throne of God.

Nowadays the coat of arms of Russia and the coat of arms of Moscow are decorated with the image of St. George. On them he is represented in his traditional form - a rider, striking with a serpent's spear. Long before the church of St. George the Victorious appeared on Poklonnaya Hill, the Moscow Patriarchate's decree consecrated the throne of several Moscow churches in honor of St. George the Victorious. They are gathered by all who wish to bow to this defender of the Russian land.

Erection of the temple

In accordance with the plan for the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Victory, it was decided to erect a temple - a monument that is the decoration of the Poklonnaya Hill. It is difficult to imagine a better place to implement this project. A year before the scheduled celebrations, a solemn laying of the building took place.

The Church of St. George on Poklonnaya Hill was built at an unusually fast pace and exactly one year later was consecrated. The author of the project was the well-known in Soviet times architect A. Polyansky. To many, he is remembered for his most famous work - the building of the Museum of the Second World War. Sadly enough, but having created a wonderful project, the author never saw his incarnation. The architect passed away in 1993. The temple became his posthumous monument.

The authors of the decoration of the temple

The Church of St. George on Poklonnaya Hill is a very original architectural solution. In it, simultaneously, without detriment to each other, embodied the classical elements and features of modernism. This trend is evident in the appearance of many modern temples, the construction of which has developed in recent years, but in this case it was the most vivid embodiment. Undoubtedly, its further development will lead to the creation of new interesting projects.

On the walls of the temple were installed bronze bas-reliefs, authored by Z. Tsereteli. They give the general appearance of the temple expressiveness and spirituality. On the western facade of the belfry there is a mosaic panel "Deesis". It is also published by the well-known master Yevgeny Klyucharev. These images, like the whole building, bear the imprint of the fusion of contemporary artistic trends with the traditional canons of Christian art established in the centuries.

The visitors of the church and its interior decorations are not indifferent to the visitors, the main element of which is the three-tiered iconostasis, created on the Sofrino production association, consisting of forty-eight icons of various sizes. All of them are written by the Moscow isographic Alexander Chashkin. The internal painting, executed in eight years, includes, in addition to traditional for the Orthodox church plots, images of martyrs of Russia who suffered during the years of repression.

Church of St. George on Poklonnaya Hill: schedule of services and address

Undoubtedly, the capital acquired another bright sight. But not only a beautiful decoration is famous for the temple on Poklonnaya Hill. The relics of St. George the Victorious are his precious shrine. Since they became the property of the temple, the flow of pilgrims to them has not dried up. Before they got to Moscow, they were in Jerusalem for a long time, and there are a lot of records testifying to their miraculousness. At present, they have free access for all who wish to pray before them.

Already two decades every morning opens the doors for its parishioners. The Church of St. George on Poklonnaya Hill. The schedule of services performed in it informs the visitors of the temple that they begin at 9 am from reading the clock, and then at 10 follows the liturgy. Evening services last usually from 17 to 19 hours, after which the temple is closed. To all those who are going to visit it for the first time, we are informing the address: Moscow, Poklonnaya Gora, the Church of St. George the Victorious. You will be indicated by every Muscovite.