Two monuments of the Ascension of the Lord - a temple on the Great Nikitskaya and a church in Kolomna

At the end of forty days after the miraculous resurrection of the dead, Jesus ascended with his disciples to the Mount of Olives, near Bethany, blessed them and ascended to heaven so that he could sit on the right hand of his Father. From this moment His earthly labors gave way to a stay in the Heavenly Church, created to save the souls of all who believed in it. In honor of this event, numerous churches were built and consecrated in Russia. About two of them is our story.

In memory of the autocrat

Many Russians know the address: Moscow, st. Bolshaya Nikitskaya, 18. There is one of the ancient metropolitan churches, called "Small Ascension". Its history dates back to the beginning of the reign of the sovereign Fedor Ioannovich - the last of the Rurik dynasty, who ruled Russia for more than seven centuries. On the occasion of his accession to the throne, a temple was built. It happened in the distant 1584 year. At first they built a wooden church, taking a place for it in the center of the settlement, inhabited by Novgorodians and Ustyugans, brought here by the order of Ivan the Terrible.

As it often happened in the old days, the Church of the Ascension of the Lord repeatedly burned and rebuilt. Did not spare her fire and after in 1680, after another fire, erected for her a stone building. During the following centuries, its appearance underwent significant changes. Consecrated in honor of the Ascension of the Lord, the temple on Bolshaya Nikitskaya was repeatedly completed.

Subsequent architectural changes

So, in 1680 the southern limit was built, dedicated to the memory of Saints Procopius and John of Ustyug. The choice was not accidental, because the village where the church was located was inhabited by residents of Ustyug and Novgorod. Ten years later, a northern limit was added to it in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

But a little more than half a century has passed, and again the fire is destroyed by a monument built in honor of the great event - the Ascension of the Lord. The temple on Bolshaya Nikitskaya is again restored and partially rebuilt. In 1739, the newly erected northern limit was consecrated in the name of beheading of the head of John the Forerunner. A quarter of a century later, another architectural innovation changed the face of the temple - an octagonal drum was erected above the building, crowned with a command post.

The further destiny of the Church of the Ascension

The temple on Bolshaya Nikitskaya during all subsequent time, right up to the revolution, was repeatedly built and restored. The Holy Synod did not spare money for maintaining this architectural and historical monument in due respect. Heavy times for him came with the arrival of a new power, which established atheism as its ideology.

In those years, worship services in the temples were either stopped altogether or conducted under extremely difficult conditions. Many church holidays ceased to be celebrated due to the closure of churches. Soon, the Day of the Ascension of the Lord fell in their number. The temple on Bolshaya Nikitskaya was abolished, the bells were removed and sent to the remelting, and the building itself was used for many years for various economic needs. Only with the advent of democratic change it was returned to the church.

Another Church of the Ascension

The temple on Bolshaya Nikitskaya, for all its historical value, is not the oldest monument of the great biblical event erected in the capital. In Kolomenskoye on the bank of the Moskva River stands a church, also consecrated in memory of the Ascension of Jesus Christ and built in connection with one of the most important episodes of the history of Russia - the birth of the future Tsar Ivan the Terrible.

Historians are inclined to think that the construction of the church was started long before the birth of the heir to the Russian throne. This is indicated by a comparison of the dates of the birth of the baby John and the consecration of the church. Between them the difference is only two years. In such a short time it was impossible to erect such a structure. Consequently, it refers to the category of "prayers" - that is, those whose construction was carried out in conjunction with prayers for the gift of something very important. In this case, Grand Duke Vasily III and his wife Elena Glinskaya asked God for the gift of a son.

Innovative architectural style

It is known that for the sin of bigamy the Grand Duke bore two years of penance, after which he sent ambassadors to Rome with a request to Pope Clement VII to send to Moscow an expert architect for the erection of the temple. The Pontiff sympathized with his needs and sent to Moscow the architect Pietro Anibale, who became the author of the project.

It should be noted that the Church of the Ascension of the Lord is built in a pioneering style for that era. The vertical composition realized at its construction was not used before in Russia and was characteristic only for the temple architecture of the countries of Western Europe. Researchers believe that Anibale brought a ready-made project, which he tested in Italy.

Source on the site of the future church

When choosing the location of the future building, the spring played a decisive role, which beat from the ground near the river bank. Since ancient times, such magical properties have been attributed to such natural sources. This was fully consistent with the Italian treaties, in which their presence was considered an extremely favorable factor for the erection of nearby religious buildings.

In the years following its consecration, the church was repeatedly repaired, but its appearance remained without significant changes. At present, there is a serious problem associated with the appearance of axial cracks in the volume of the building caused by soil slides. Urgent work was undertaken to prevent their further expansion. However, the solution of the problem depends on a serious and systematic study of the general condition of the building.