As you know, during the years of Soviet power, churches in Russia were blown up, used for industrial purposes, or simply closed. At best, they were turned into art museums.
But there were a small number of churches that God kept active even during the years of atheism, and services in them never stopped. One of them is the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God of the Sign on Rizhskaya in Moscow.
Historical reference
In the 17th century, in Pereyaslavskaya Sloboda there was a wooden church consecrated in honor of John the Baptist. There are references to this in the Scribe books.
It is not known exactly when it was built, probably at the end of the 16th century. In 1712, the first temple was destroyed by fire. Local residents very quickly raised funds, and a year later a new church was erected on this site, consecrated in honor of the Znamenskaya Icon of the Mother of God. Just like the first one, it was made of wood.
But the parishioners wanted to see a stone church. And in 1857, at their request, its construction began and was completed 8 years later. The name of the first architect is not known.
Temple in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”
In 1888 the church was remodeled. The location of the aisles was slightly changed, making them more symmetrical, two extensions were added to the belfry, and a passage connecting the bell tower with the temple. The church yard was surrounded by a stone fence, the style harmoniously combined with the architecture of the temple.
Since the 80s of the 20th century, construction work began again in this place. The temple was repaired and a church house was built next to it. Then, the architectural ensemble was supplemented by two small churches: in 1998 - in honor of the holy new martyr Alexander Khotovitsky, and in 2014 - Holy Cross.
They tried to carry out all modern buildings with special precision in the same style as the main temple - Baroque, in elegant red and white colors.
For reference! Currently, the church on Rizhskaya has four altars. The main one is in honor of the Znamenskaya Icon of the Mother of God, the side ones are dedicated to the Beheading of John the Baptist and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. And there is also an additional throne of the holy martyr Tryphon, added in 1980.
This throne is a gift from one of the church parishioners, Kudinov, who carved it from oak with his own hands.
The main shrines of the Znamensky parish
Since the church on Rizhskaya was active throughout Soviet times, shrines from closed Moscow churches were brought to it. Many ancient icons are collected here.
Iconostasis in the Temple in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”
Several are especially revered by parishioners:
- The image of the Mother of God “The Sign” is the main temple icon. 16th century copy of the miraculous Novgorod image of the Sign of the Mother of God.
- The icon of St. John the Baptist is an image of the southern aisle, painted in the 17th century. One recent miracle is connected with it. On September 11, 2000, when the throne service was celebrated in honor of the Beheading of John the Baptist, the image was miraculously renewed. Many parishioners saw this.
- Icon of the holy martyr Tryphon with a particle of his relics. This miraculous icon has a rather complicated history. In the 16th century, the temple of the Great Martyr Tryphon, highly revered by the residents of the city, was built in Moscow. This church was closed in 1937, but its main image was preserved, as it was transferred to the temple on Rizhsky in time.
- Image of St. Seraphim of Sarov. It was given to the Znamensky Church for storage by the nuns of the Diveyevo metochion, which was destroyed in the 30s. A fragment of the tomb of St. Seraphim is attached to the icon.
- Honest and Life-giving Cross of the Lord. This shrine was once located in the Passionate Monastery. In 1928, she was transferred to the Pimenovsky Church, and then she came here, to the border of John the Baptist. Every Friday an akathist is sung before the cross.
- Cross from the Trinity Gate. It is located in the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross, recently built on the territory of the parish. This cross was placed on the Trinity outpost of the Kamer-Kollezhsky Val in 1652, in memory of the transfer of the relics of St. Philip. Then, a chapel was erected in that place, especially to store this shrine.
Under Soviet rule, the chapel was destroyed, and the cross ended up with the Znamensky parish. For a long time it was kept in the altar, and by 2014 a separate small church was built for it, to replace the destroyed Krestovskaya Chapel. The shrine is now available for worship.
Total 79 photos
The Temple of the Icon of the Mother of God “Znamenie”, which is in the Riga or Pereyaslavskaya Sloboda, always attracts me in an inexplicable way. I often find myself next to him completely by accident and at the right time. This is a special place in Moscow - not only did this temple never close, but numerous miraculous icons and relics of our people from all over Moscow were brought to it - from churches that suffered the fate of desecration and “destruction” in Soviet godless times. This time I was in the Znamenskaya Church on a special occasion - I still wanted to see the famous miraculous Poklonny cross from the Krestovskaya chapel, which was once located at the Krestovskaya outpost.
In the summer of 2015, this shrine was transferred from the altar of the Church of the Icon of the Sign, where it had been located for a long time (where, naturally, there was no wide access), to the new church-chapel “In the Name of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross at the Krestovskaya Gate”, which was built in 2007- 2008 in the churchyard to the west of the Church of the Sign for the storage of this ancient memorial cross, which marked the place of the meeting of the relics of St. Philip the Metropolitan in 1652. The chapel was consecrated on August 14, 2014 in memory of the previously existing Krestovskaya Chapel. This cross, to which numerous pilgrims and representatives of royal families making pilgrimages to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra venerated, interested me extremely. I never saw him “live”, but only learned a lot about this shrine.
Since I didn’t know for sure whether this chapel would be open or not, I trusted my intuition and went to the Church of the Sign on this gloomy short winter day. I’ll say right away - I was lucky - I not only saw this miraculous cross, but also got to attend a special chamber church service at this cross in the Vozdvizhenskaya Chapel.
I also want to note that in this material I will not talk in detail about the history of the temple, the icon of the Sign and the numerous shrines of this church - I have already done this in this article about the Church of the Sign... We will examine the church of the icon of the Mother of God of the Sign, We will visit the temple, examine its main shrines and, most importantly, see the Worship Cross from the Krestovskaya Outpost and the internal volume of this new wonderful chapel-temple of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
Photographing architecture in such poor light is not a very rewarding task, but I thought that it might be interesting to photograph this temple complex in winter, without the bright summer sun, and at the same time without the dense greenery of trees and bushes - this way we will have the opportunity to photograph these buildings in a way that is impossible to do in the summer. This will also be a certain feature of this report about the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”, which is located very close to the Rizhskaya metro station.
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The temple complex of the Znamenskaya Church on Rizhskaya is visible from everywhere, attracting the observer with the exquisite combination of red-brick and white colors of church buildings.
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The Church of the Icon of the Sign is very beautiful and evokes visual pleasure, as well as deep awe before entering...
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The Znamensky Church dates back to the end of the 16th century, when “of blessed memory, under the Sovereign and Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich of All Russia, he built the Pereslavl Yamskaya Settlement on Poklonnaya Hill, and there were fifty coachmen.” A wooden church built in the settlement was consecrated in honor of the Beheading of John the Baptist (after the namesake of Tsar Ivan the Terrible). Soon a chapel appeared in the temple in honor of St. Nicholas, whom the coachmen especially revered as the patron saint of travelers. And already in 1638, in the Census Book of the City of Moscow it was written: “In Pereslavskaya, in Gonnaya Sloboda, in the name of the Church of the Sign of the Most Pure Mother of God.” History has not preserved the reason for the renaming. In 1757, “through the diligence of parishioners and outside willing donors,” construction began on a stone church, which was consecrated in 1765 and exists to this day.
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Built in the Baroque style, the building has a symmetrical axial composition, which was finally formed in 1888. Consistent and accurate reproduction in the architecture of the later aisles and extensions of the original Baroque forms allows us to perceive the building as stylistically unified. The red color of the walls and the white color of the details give the temple a strict and at the same time elegant look.
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The main shrine of the temple is the icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”.
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The Icon of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos (Our Lady of the Sign) is an Orthodox icon with an image belonging to the “Oranta” icon painting type. One of the most revered icons in Russian Orthodoxy.
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Reports of miracles attributed to the icon of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary date back to 1170, when the troops of Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky and his allies besieged Novgorod the Great. The forces were unequal, and the Novgorodians began to pray to the Lord for a miracle. According to legend, on the third night of the siege, Archbishop John of Novgorod heard a voice commanding him to take out the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos from the Church of the Transfiguration on Ilyin Street and enclose the fortress wall with it.
During the religious procession, the besiegers fired a cloud of arrows, and one of them struck the face of the Virgin Mary. Tears flowed from the eyes of the Mother of God, and she turned her face to the people of Novgorod. At this time, the enemies became overwhelmed with inexplicable horror, threw down their weapons and, beating each other, began to hastily retreat from the city. The Novgorodians pursued the enemy and won a complete victory
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One of the main shrines of the church is the miraculous icon of St. Tryphon with his three particles of relics, to which people come for help not only from all over Moscow and from very far away. The icon was transferred to the Znamensky Church from the closed Church of St. Tryphon in Naprudny in 1931.
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In honor of the martyr Tryphon, an additional altar was consecrated in 1980, made from 250-year-old oak by cabinetmaker V.I. Kudinov. The people of the Znamensky Temple are now better known as Trifonovsky.
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Another significant Orthodox shrine is the life-giving crucifix from the Passionate Convent, which once stood on what is now Pushkin Square.
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The Crucifixion of the Lord, depicting Golgotha, is skillfully carved from wood. Behind the Cross is a view of Jerusalem.
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The image of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga was previously in the emergency department of the children's hospital, which was located in Orlovo-Davydovsky Lane and was called Olginskaya. The buildings of this hospital have survived to this day. It was built with funds from S.V. Orlova-Davydova in memory of his mother, Olga Ivanovna Orlova-Davydova (née Baryatinskaya; †1876), a famous Moscow philanthropist. After the revolution, the icon, naturally, could not remain in the hospital and was brought to the Church of the Sign...
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This is the Predtechensky chapel. In the iconostasis of the chapel there is an image of the holy righteous Philaret the Merciful from the Church of the Martyr Tryphon in Naprudny.
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In fact, I only mentioned the most significant shrines - almost fifty unique icons of the Temple of the Icon of the Sign - this is a completely different story. In general, it is better to visit once than to read and look at pictures.
Now we will examine the Znamensky Temple, and then the entire temple complex.
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Mosaic icon "The Sign".
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Mosaic icon of the Archangel Michael.
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Mosaic icon of the Archangel Gabriel.
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Mosaic icon of St. Sergius of Radonezh.
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The southern porch of the temple, made of cast iron.
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Mosaic icon of St. John the Baptist.
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Mosaic icon of the Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus.
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Mosaic icon of St. Nicholas.
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We go around the northern side of the main volume of the church.
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Mosaic icon of the holy martyr Tryphon.
By the way, in my previous material about this church, these wonderful icons glared strongly in the bright summer sunlight, but now, thanks to cloudiness, the light was diffused and the images were clearly visible without distortion.
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These are outbuildings on the territory of the temple complex.
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In the foreground is the Sunday School building.
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To the left of the temple, if you look at its main facade, is the baptismal church of Alexander Khotovitsky in Pereyaslavskaya Sloboda. It was consecrated on February 8, 1998. WITH Construction of the temple began in 1995 with the help of donors and benefactors. The temple design is a gift from the architect V.S. Vasilyeva. The paintings on subjects related to Epiphany were made by the artist A. Shishkin. The compositional center of the temple is the font for performing the Sacrament of Baptism with complete immersion.
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Next to the baptismal church there is an ancient bell of the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God "The Sign".
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Church house parable.
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Now we are heading to the Church-Chapel of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Pereyaslavskaya Yamskaya Sloboda. This is a large brick octagonal chapel under a domed roof with apsidal extensions. Built in 2007-2008. in the churchyard to the west of the Church of the Sign for the storage of an ancient memorial cross, marking the place of the meeting of the relics of St. Philip Metropolitan in 1652.
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This is a view of the temple courtyard of the Church of the Sign from the side of the Church of the Vozdvizhenskaya.
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Next to this church there is a one-story building for icon painting and restoration workshops.
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In the old days, the square of the Rizhsky Station was called Krestovskaya Zastava. The memory of this is still preserved in local toponyms - Krestovsky Bridge, Krestovsky Lane, Krestovsky Department Store. These names owe their origin to the Cross, which was kept in a special chapel at the outpost of the Kamer-Kollezhsky shaft.
The origin story of the Cross is as follows. In 1652, it was decided to transfer the relics of three saints to the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin: Patriarch Job from Staritsa, Patriarch Hermogenes from the Chudov Monastery and Metropolitan Philip from the Solovetsky Monastery. Novgorod Metropolitan Nikon, the future patriarch, was sent for the relics of St. Philip.
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On June 9, 1652, Moscow solemnly greeted the honorable relics of the holy martyr. The procession with holy relics walked along the street, which is now called Prospekt Mira, but as soon as they crossed the Kaplya River, it was forced to stop on the occasion of the sudden death of Metropolitan Varlaam. In memory of these events, the oak Cross was built. At the meeting place of the relics of St. Philip, a special chapel was built for the Cross. Numerous pilgrims prayed in it as they walked along the Trinity Road to the Lavra of St. Sergius. Crowned pilgrims - Russian sovereigns - also stopped near the chapel. Here they listened to a prayer service and changed into traveling clothes.
Mosaic icon of the Savior.
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The chapel was destroyed in the 1929s, and the Cross was brought to the Church of the Holy Trinity “on Drops”, and after its closure - to the Znamensky Church, where it was kept from that time in the altar of the Baptist chapel. In 1997, through the efforts of the church council, the temple territory was increased and it became possible to recreate the Krestovskaya chapel, so that the Cross located in the altar of the temple would become available for worship by believers, and so that it would stand at the Krestovskaya outpost, as before.With the blessing of the late His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, it was decided to build not just a chapel, but a temple in honor of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.Major construction work was completed by the end of 2008. An image of the Holy Trinity appeared on the western wall of the temple - a tribute to the memory of the ancient Trinity outpost.
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Back in the 16th century. outside the Zemlyanoy town, the Pereyaslavskaya Yamskaya settlement was founded. Soon there appeared a wooden “Church of John the Baptist of the Beheading of the Honest Head, along the Pereslavl road, behind the Ustretensky Gate, in Gonnaya Sloboda” (first mention - 1625). In the 18th century In connection with the liquidation of the settlement way of life, the territory of the former settlement was inhabited by representatives of various classes.
In 1712, the temple burned down, but the following year it was rebuilt with money from benefactors and parishioners. The main altar was consecrated in honor of the icon of the Mother of God of the Sign. And in 1757-1766. Instead of a wooden one, a stone temple was built in late Baroque forms.
In 1888, the church was rebuilt: on the sides of the double-height, single-domed quadrangle, two identical chapels were erected (Beheading of John the Baptist and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker) with faceted apses, and the refectory was enlarged from the west with two additional volumes and built on with a narrow passage from the second tier of the bell tower to the choir. Inside the church, on the southern wall of the refectory above the candle box, a memorial marble plaque has been preserved, informing about this reconstruction. The temple building has acquired a modern appearance. Due to the fact that on the extensions of the late 19th century. The original Baroque forms were accurately reproduced, the temple did not lose its stylistic unity, although it acquired compositional complexity. Before the revolution, there was an almshouse and a parochial school at the Znamensky Church.
After 1917 the church remained active. Iconostases from the 2nd floor have been preserved in the interiors. XIX century There is a feeling of prayer here.
During Soviet times, a large number of icons and shrines from closed Moscow churches were transferred here. In particular, in the Znamenskaya Church there is a cross from the destroyed chapel at the Krestovskaya outpost, erected in 1652 in memory of the meeting of the relics of St. Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow, as well as a wooden crucifix from the 18th century. from Strastnoy Monastery. From the north, on the choir of the main church there is an icon of the Mother of God of the Sign with particles of the relics of St. Tryphon (a 19th-century copy from a Novgorod icon of the 16th century), transferred from the Church of Tryphon in Naprudny. Another shrine - the icon of Saints Adrian and Natalia - was moved here from the closed church of Sts. Adrian and Natalia in Meshchanskaya Sloboda.
The old bells have been preserved in the bell tower. The church fence, built in the 19th century, has also been preserved.
In 1979, the temple was externally renovated. In 1980, with the blessing of Patriarch Tikhon, the side altar was consecrated in the name of St. martyr Tryphon. The new altar was made from 250-year-old oak by a parishioner - cabinetmaker V.I. Kudinov. A few years later a new church house was built. In 1997, a stone baptismal church was consecrated in the name of Sschmch. Alexander Khotovitsky.
The temple community provides care for the regional society of the blind.
The church is a cultural heritage site of federal significance and is under state protection.
The Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” is a unique complex of buildings, distinguished by its external beauty, combining snow-white and brick colors in its color. The temple contains icons from various churches in the capital, which were closed with the establishment of Soviet power. The Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Znamenie” has never been closed for many years of its existence.
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Story
Built on the site of a church made of logs that had fallen into disrepair. The fire instantly destroyed the building. With the help of parishioners and benefactors, another temple was erected from wood on the ashes, consecrated in honor of the “Sign” icon and the image of the Mother of God. A stone structure appeared at the end of the eighteenth century. A century later, the area of the Church of the Mother of God was increased due to extensions and the construction of the second tier of the bell tower. The carved fence completed the construction. At the turn of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the Baptismal Church, which became the decoration of the temple complex, and the church house were erected. A single Baroque style unites the buildings.
Temple shrines
The main shrine of the temple is the icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” is an icon of the Mother of God, located in a place of honor in the cathedral. It is framed by the faces of saints. The unique icon was copied from an original dating back to the sixteenth century. Sign photo.
The main altar of the temple is consecrated in honor of the “Sign” icon and the image of the Mother of God. On the opposite wall from the majestic iconostasis there is a fragment of a battle that took place in ancient times under the walls of Novgorod. Then the Russian princes, united, approached the walls of the city to take it in battle. Residents prayed to the Lord God for mercy day and night, hoping for a miracle. And, while beating out prayers in the church, the Metropolitan heard the voice of God, who ordered the parishioners to take the icon of the Mother of God and lift it to the fortress wall.
The people raised the icon to the wall and placed it facing the enemies. But this did not stop the attackers; their arrows flew even more fiercely. One of the arrows hit the face on the icon, tears flowed from the eyes of the Mother of God, and she turned her face to the city. A miracle happened— the enemies retreated in panic and even began to kill each other. The army of Novgorodians defeated the enemy squad. Since then, the icon has become especially revered in Rus'. And today in December there is a day of veneration of the icon, on which the Mother of God helped the Novgorodians defeat the enemy. Parishioners of Russian churches pray, turning to the face of the Mother of God, for peace and tranquility, for an end to wars, they ask to prevent fires, to heal from blindness and other ailments, and to protect from criminals.
The main shrines of the Znamensky Temple include icon of the holy martyr Tryphon. Since childhood, he was distinguished by his ability to perform miraculous deeds. Having healed the sovereign’s daughter, he came under his protection. After the death of the ruler, he was betrayed and suffered martyrdom. The miraculous icon and parts of the great martyr were transported to the temple from closed capital churches.
Tryphon is considered the protector and patron of Moscow and is especially revered by Muscovites. Believers turn to him with requests for healing of ailments, protection from evil spirits, and deliverance from troubles. The side altar of the temple, made of three-century-old oak wood, was consecrated in honor of the martyr Tryphon. In honor of the great martyr, chants and prayers are held daily, glorifying the miracle worker. A large service is held on the day of veneration of the martyr Tryphon.
Impressive size Cross, made of wood, is installed in one of the chapels of the temple. Initially, it was located at the entrance gate to the capital, where Orthodox believers met the relics of Moscow Metropolitan Philip, transferred from a church that had fallen into disrepair. Travelers stopping at the Holy Cross on their way to the Trinity - St. Sergius Lavra.
At the entrance to the church on the north side, on a pedestal depicting Golgotha, there is a miraculous Life-Giving Cross – Crucifixion, skillfully made of wood. The wall behind it is decorated with a picturesque view of Jerusalem. This shrine was moved from the closed Pimenovsky Monastery.
Orthodox parishioners of the capital's churches especially venerate the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God. It is located on the left side of the choir, in an icon case decorated with exquisite carvings. In honor of the icon, on special days, services are held and
Iconostasis
The iconostasis is a real masterpiece, which presents icons painted by the capital’s masters of icon painting. It is made of wood, decorated with ornate carvings and gilding. Its central part consists of five tiers, the sides - of two. The icons are placed in round medallions, framed by flame-shaped kokoshniks, and the upper part is decorated with carved angels.
Interior
Many whales located on the floor and suspended on the walls are made in the same style as the iconostasis. The carvings that frame them are unique and inimitable. In the temple there are a large number of faces of the Most Holy Theotokos, many icons of saints.
In the interiors of the Northern and Southern aisles, consecrated in honor of Saints Nicholas and John the Baptist, Stories from their lives were used. The iconostasis of the Northern chapel contains images of Saints Cyril and Methodius, the founders of writing in Rus'. The image of John the Baptist in the southern aisle is placed in a carved gilded icon case.
Sunday School
The church successfully operates a Sunday school, which anyone can attend. There are groups for both adults and children. They study: the law of God, iconography, Orthodox worship, and there are also creative activities: clay modeling, cutting and sewing. Training is free.
Address
The church is located at:
- Moscow city, 2nd Krestovsky lane, building No. 17,
- zip code 129110.
- Directions by Metro – Rizhskaya station.
The Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” does not have an official website. Information about the temple can be obtained on other sites.
Conclusion
Znamenskaya Church on Rizhskaya The fifth century does not cease to exist. The threat of demolition of the building existed quite recently, during the construction of the Riga overpass. But this time too, heavenly forces and the mercy of the Mother of God helped her to resist.
Even the bells on the bell tower, which consists of three tiers, have been preserved in their original form. She survived wars and revolutions. The Soviet government was tolerant of its existence. The unusually warm atmosphere, creating enlightenment and awakening good feelings, attracts parishioners. The plaque commemorates the architect who brought expansion and convenience to the structure.
The temple amazes with the elegance of its architecture. The walls are decorated with icons of Saints, made of smalt. On the south side there is a gate cast of cast iron with a beautiful ornate pattern. In the interior one cannot fail to mention the face of the Holy Princess Olga, who always during her life helped the suffering and disadvantaged. Her image was placed by her son in a children's hospital, from where it came to the temple. The threat of demolition of the building existed quite recently, during the construction of the Riga overpass. But this time too, heavenly forces and the mercy of God helped her to resist.
