Old Believer Church at Belarusian opening hours. Old Believer Church of St.

Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker at Tverskaya Zastava (Old Believer) - built on the site of a wooden chapel. Construction of the temple began in 1914 and continued until 1921. On March 16, 1914, the last service was held in the old chapel with the removal of icons and utensils. During construction, the author of the project, architect I.G. Kondratenko, was removed from business affairs, and supervision of construction was entrusted to his colleague, A.M. Gurdzhienko. By the time of the October Revolution, the temple building was almost finished, and the bells were even raised to the bell tower. However, the finishing work took so long that the main altar of the temple (St. Nicholas the Wonderworker) was consecrated in 1921, which is a unique case for those years. A chapel was consecrated in the bell tower in honor of Elijah the Prophet. Life in the temple lasted only 14 years. In 1935 it was closed.

In the 1940s The temple housed an air defense warehouse. Later it housed the workshop of the sculptor S.M. Orlova. It was here that he worked on the monument to Yuri Dolgoruky. Then the workshop of the All-Union Art and Production Plant named after. E.V. Vuchetich.

In 1993, the temple was transferred to the Old Believer Metropolis. The first prayer service in the chapel of Elijah the Prophet took place on August 2, 1995. The largest bookstore in Moscow selling Old Believer literature is located in the church (opened in 1993).

Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker at Tverskaya Zastava - Old Believer temple; built on the site of a wooden chapel on Tverskaya Zastava Square.

Construction of the temple began in 1914, consecrated in 1921. It is an architectural monument. The first design of the temple was carried out by I. G. Kondratenko (1856-1916) in 1908 by order of the Old Believer merchant I. K. Rakhmanov, who owned a plot on the spit of Butyrsky Val and Lesnaya Street in the style of white-stone Vladimir architecture. For Kondratenko, who built dozens of apartment buildings, this was his first project in temple construction. The project was then approved by the city government, but construction was postponed for unknown reasons. Six years later, the community called on another architect - A. M. Gurzhienko (1872 - after 1932), who completed a completely different project. For Gurzhienko, a specialist in road work and reconstruction of old buildings, this was also the first temple project.

Probably, by the time Gurzhienko was called, the zero cycle had already been completed, since the external outlines of the building exactly coincide with Kondratenko’s design. But the temple itself is made in the style of early Novgorod architecture, approaching the historical Church of the Savior on Nereditsa, while inside it is pillarless (Kondratenko’s has six pillars). The temple's tented bell tower also imitates Novgorod belfries. Construction during the First World War was financed by P.V. Ivanov, A.E. Rusakov and others. At that time, there were two more located near the Tverskaya Zastava large temples in Russian style: St. Alexander Nevsky (architect A. N. Pomerantsev, 1915) on Miusskaya Square and the Holy Cross Church at the Yamsky schools (1886). Both were destroyed.

Through the efforts of the community, the temple was completed and consecrated in 1921. Life in the temple lasted only 20 years. In 1941 it was closed by the Soviet authorities. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War in the temple there was a warehouse for local air defense. Later it housed the workshop of the sculptor S. M. Orlov. It was here that he worked on the monument to Yuri Dolgoruky. Then the workshop of the All-Union Art and Production Plant named after. E. V. Vuchetich.

In 1993, the temple was returned to the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church. The first prayer service in the chapel of Elijah the Prophet took place on August 2, 1995. There is an Old Believer bookstore at the temple.

http://tver-msk.ru/

In the mid-19th century, a community of Old Believers was organized near the Tverskaya Zastava on land that belonged to the famous merchants Rakhmanovs. In her possession there were two churches: a wooden chapel and a house prayer room. In 1914, a decision was made to build a new Old Believer church at the Tverskaya outpost. Construction of the temple began in 1914 and continued until 1921. On March 16, 1914, the last service took place in the old chapel with the removal of icons and utensils. On June 29, Archbishop John of Moscow blessed the construction.

Yesterday I was looking through my friend’s feed, and by chance I came across a series of posts by Mikhail Pankratov about the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker at Tverskaya Zastava, which is in the area of ​​Belorusskaya metro station, or Tverskaya Zastava, as this place was called before. I never thought, passing by, that this temple was an Old Believer one, and with a very interesting story. This interested me, and so, today I attended the service, which is held in the temple twice a week, looked around the temple, and learned a lot about the temple and the Old Believers. I think that you will also be interested.

1. Briefly about the Old Believers. Church reform, undertaken in the 1650s - 1660s by Patriarch Nikon and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the goal of which was proclaimed unification liturgical rite Russian Church from Greek Church, caused a schism in the Russian Church. Adherents of the Old Believers before April 17, 1905 in Russian Empire officially called “schismatics” and persecuted by church and secular authorities. In the 20th century, the position of the Moscow Patriarchate (ROC) on the Old Believer issue softened significantly, but the Old Believers, as before, consider only themselves to be fully Orthodox Christians, qualifying the ROC of the Moscow Patriarchate as heterodox. Old Believers consider New Believers to be heretics, and in order to be accepted into prayer communion, those who convert to the Old Believers must be baptized anew.

"Nikita Pustosvyat. Dispute about faith." (Vasily Perov, 1880-1881). Illustration historical event XVII century - the so-called “debate about faith”, which took place on June 5, 1682 in the Faceted Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin in the presence of Princess Sophia.

2. The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was founded in 1914 on the site of a wooden chapel, erected after the Highest Decree “On strengthening the principles of religious tolerance,” which, among other things, abolished legislative restrictions on schismatics. The decree gave the Old Believers the opportunity to openly organize religious processions and have bell ringing, organize communities. The consecration of the foundation stone of the Old Believer Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker at the Tverskaya Zastava was carried out by Archbishop John (Kartushin) of Moscow, and took place on June 29, 1914. It is surprising that the temple itself was consecrated after the October Revolution, in 1921. They say that this became possible due to the high position of a relative of one of the parishioners. Interior decoration was carried out until 1926.

3. The first design of the temple was carried out by I. G. Kondratenko (1856-1916) in 1908 by order of the Old Believer merchant I. K. Rakhmanov, who owned a plot on the spit of Butyrsky Val and Lesnaya Street in the style of white-stone Vladimir architecture. For Kondratenko, who built dozens of apartment buildings, this was his first project in temple construction. The project was then approved by the city government, but construction was postponed for unknown reasons. Six years later, the community called on another architect - A. M. Gurzhienko, who completed a completely different project. Probably, by the time Gurzhienko was called, the zero cycle had already been completed, since the external outlines of the building exactly coincide with Kondratenko’s design. But the temple itself is made in the style of early Novgorod architecture, approaching the historical Church of the Savior on Nereditsa, while inside it is pillarless (Kondratenko’s has six pillars). The temple's tented bell tower also imitates Novgorod belfries. Construction during the First World War was financed by P.V. Ivanov, A.E. Rusakov and others.

Photo from pastvu.com

4. The policy of the Soviet government towards the Old Believers changed dramatically at the end of the 1920s, when, during the collectivization of agriculture carried out in the USSR, a campaign was launched to “eliminate the kulaks as a class.” The majority of the Old Believer peasant economy was prosperous, and this gave N.K. Krupskaya grounds to say that “the fight against the kulaks is at the same time a fight against the Old Believers.” As a result of mass repressions against Old Believers in the 1930s, all monasteries and churches were closed, and the vast majority of clergy were arrested. When churches and monasteries were closed, icons, utensils, bells, vestments, and books were completely confiscated, and many libraries and archives were destroyed. In the mid-20s, part of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker at Tverskaya Zastava was taken away from the Old Believers, and in 1941 the church was finally closed. In 1947, the domes were cut off, but the temple in the very center of Moscow survived. IN different times here were: an air defense warehouse, a workshop of the sculptor S. M. Orlov (it was here that he worked on the monument to Yuri Dolgoruky), a workshop of the All-Union Art and Production Plant named after. E. V. Vuchetich.

Photo from pastvu.com

5. In 1993, the temple was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church. Over the course of 2 years, restoration work was carried out, and on August 2, 1995, the first prayer service took place in the chapel of Elijah the Prophet. There is an Old Believer bookstore at the temple. The rector of the temple is Priest Alexey Lopatin. Deacon - Vasily Tryfan. The chairman of the community is Alexander Vasilyevich Antonov. In the 2000s, the historical buildings next to the temple were destroyed and their place was taken by multi-story buildings of new architecture.

6. Of course, my wife and I went inside the temple. During the service it was not crowded, only Old Believers can enter the temple, New Believers can watch the service, listen to the chants, and light candles in the St. Nicholas narthex. The territory is divided into women's and men's. Many were with children. Girls and women are dressed in traditional Russian clothes, their heads are covered with scarves. Photography can only be done with the approval of the rector of the temple, but he was not there today.

7. Interested? On Saturday the service runs from 16:00 to 21:00, on Sunday from 7:30 to 12:00. The rest of the time the temple is closed and it is impossible to get inside. On holidays it is performed religious procession, which is performed clockwise, and not against, as in canonical (new rite) Orthodox churches.

You can watch all the latest things on my website.

It was built at the beginning of the 20th century (1914-1921) in the style of ancient white stone Novgorod churches. From 1935 to 1993 it was not used for its intended purpose. Then work began on the restoration and painting of the temple, which was carried out competently and successfully (as you know, Old Believers are excellent restorers, due to their veneration of ancient icons).
The walk was led by a local historian Alexander Frolov, and took us around the temple itself headman Alexander Vasilievich, a very colorful man with a certain degree of charisma, unobtrusively preaching what is right" old faith"Alexander Vasilyevich was dressed in a caftan, in his hands was a ladder - an Old Believer rosary (not only monks, but also lay people are required to pray the rosary incessantly among the Old Believers).
It is curious that the Old Believers do not use electricity (with the exception of utility rooms and the vestibule); during services only candles and lamps are lit. Our excursion took place in the evening, the sky was overcast with clouds, it was raining, so it was dark inside, and even my rather powerful flash, alas, was not enough to provide full illumination during photography. This must be the worst architectural photography of my life, but other visitors did not have DSLRs with external flashes at all, so I still decided to show my shots. They are not distinguished by their artistry and technicality, but you can get a general idea of ​​them, especially if you have never visited an Old Believer church.
It would not be easy for a secular person and a non-specialist to immediately figure out what church of which denomination he was in, if not for the notices hung in the vestibule, saying "If you are not an Old Believer, during the service you should not: go into the main room of the temple; venerate icons; perform external prayer actions (cross yourself, bow); photograph and video only with the permission of the rector of the temple".

There are almost no ancient icons in this church (the oldest is this one, of Saints Zosima and Savvatius, 19th century; the foundation of the 17th century is almost invisible),

The iconostasis is a remake (not yet completely filled), so from afar it may seem that you are in an ordinary Orthodox church, which is at the recovery stage.

However, if you start to look closely, you notice images not of three fingers, but of two fingers, the inscription of the name of Christ not with two letters “and”, but with one, indispensable eight-pointed cross, specific icons (for example, the holy martyr Avvakum) and so on.

The space of the main aisle has no pillars; the vault is supported by the ceilings.

Benches, carpets and stacks of prayer rugs (“rugs”) create a homey feel.

The handyman is " in a special way a square sewn from scraps of fabric, quilted and stuffed horsehair or other material used to rest one's hands on bows to the ground, since hands must be kept clean during prayer. The pattern according to which the flaps are sewn symbolizes nine angelic ranks. Hand rests can be equipped with a handle to make it more convenient to lift the hand rests from the floor without touching the floor or the dirty side of the hand rest" (footnote).



They also took us to the chapel of the Holy Prophet. Elijah, although it was almost dark.

This is precisely what was painted (in the 1990s). The northern wall was given over to the ascension of the prophet Elijah to heaven on a chariot of fire,

on the south - Transfiguration,

I forgot to take a picture of the western one. :)

In the dome is the Pantocrator with the 12 Apostles.

The aisle is very small, you can’t really turn around. Under the icons of the local row there are fabrics embroidered with patterns.

Personally, I really liked the floral black-red-white ornament around the icons of the iconostasis.

Work to restore the temple continues, but slowly.

In general, if I didn’t know that this was an Old Believer church, I would have decided that the parish was quite poor for Moscow. For example, here are the prices for candles:

But I don’t know how things stand in the Russian Orthodox Church.

There is a church shop, and the selection of literature on the Old Believers is the widest in Moscow.

A few more shots. Icon of the Crucifixion in the narthex:

Stairs to the second floor (there must be the rector’s room, choir, etc.):

At the entrance to the temple there is an eve and an icon of selected saints (St. Sergius of Radonezh, Prophet Elijah, St. Nicholas, St. Anna Kashinskaya):

And this is our guide Alexander Vasilyevich Antonov, the head of the temple.

Next to him is the charter member Olga Ivanovna. According to the custom of Old Believer women, her scarf is not tied around her neck, but pinned under her chin with a pin. (I am perplexed how these pins do not stick into the throat when the Old Believers perform “throwings” - bows to the ground...).

Outside, the temple is now surrounded by three huge office monsters. As Alexander Vasilyevich said, this picture is apocalyptic...

UPD. For comparison.

BC "White Square" - this place is incredibly attractive to me. Here it is as if you find yourself abroad for a few minutes. The spirit of the West really lives here. In the White Square Business Center, office blocks of various sizes are rented by such well-known companies as: PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte & Touche, McKinsey, Microsoft, Swedbank.

• Address: st. Lesnaya, 5SS
• How to get there:
  
  1) By metro:
  m. "Belorusskaya" Circle line, exit to Tverskoye-Yamskiye streets. To exit the metro onto the street, take the steps to the right. Once on the street, you will see the buildings of the Business Center in front of you.

  2) By car:
  - when driving along 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya Street towards the region, you must turn right onto Lesnaya Street. The White Square business center will be on the left as you move.
  - when driving along Leningradsky Prospekt to the center, having crossed the bridge over the Belorusskaya Railway, you need to turn right onto Tverskaya Zastava Square, then make a left turn, as if going around the square. At the traffic light (intersection with 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya Street), keep the left lane and move towards Butyrsky Val. 400 m after the intersection, on your right, immediately after the church, the White Square Business Center will be located.
  - you can park your car either on Lesnaya Street or on Butyrsky Val Street.

Church on Belorusskaya.

The triumphal gate stood for a little over a hundred years. But in 1936, the area near the Belorussky Station was completely redesigned and the arch was dismantled. According to the plan for the reconstruction of the square, it was assumed that it would be reassembled there, but for some reason the plan was not implemented in this part. In disassembled (and, naturally, stolen) form, it lay somewhere in warehouses for 30 years. Only in 1966–1968. it was finally decided to restore it, but in a different place, on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, next to the panorama museum of the Battle of Borodino. We had to work hard: at the Mytishchi plant, 12 columns were cast from the only surviving column. The Belorussky Station itself is also interesting from an architectural point of view. Its first building was built in 1871. During Soviet times, it bore the name “Gateway to Europe.” From here trains went to Berlin and Paris.

In the coming years, the large-scale area will undergo changes again. It is expected that there will be a small park area and an impressive underground shopping complex. If you leave the metro station following the signs to Lesnaya Street, you will see a very beautiful, strict Old Believer church of the early twentieth century. With a picturesque ornament unusual for Moscow churches.

Well, what about others! Due to the loss of all my collections of our St. Nicholas Church, in common parlance - “in Belarusian”, I will begin to re-post old and not so old photographs. I'll try to give some explanations.

First, a little information: The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker at Tverskaya Zastava, built on the site of a wooden chapel on Tverskaya Zastava Square. Construction of the temple began in 1914.
The first design of the temple was completed by I. G. Kondratenko (1856-1916) 1908, commissioned by the Old Believer merchant I. K. Rakhmanov, who owned a plot on the Butyrsky Val spit of Lesnaya Street in the style of white-stone Vladimir architecture. For Kondratenko, who built dozens of apartment buildings, this was his first project in temple construction. The project was then approved by the city government, but construction was postponed for unknown reasons. Six years later, the community called on another architect A. M. Gurzhienko, who completed a completely different project. For Gurzhienko, a specialist in road work and reconstruction of old buildings, this was also the first temple project.

Probably, by the time Gurzhienko was called, the zero cycle had already been completed, since the external outlines of the building exactly coincide with Kondratenko’s design. But the temple itself is made in the style of early Novgorod architecture, approaching the historical Church of the Savior on Nereditsa, while inside it is pillarless (Kondratenko’s has six pillars). The temple's tented bell tower also imitates Novgorod belfries. Construction during the First World War was financed by P.V. Ivanov, A.E. Rusakov and others.

Through the efforts of the community, the temple was consecrated in 1920. In the 30s, the Old Believer community was “densified”... there were communal apartments all over the country, and so they decided. The basement was given over to the 7th Day Adventists, where Protestant services were held. Life in the temple lasted only 20 years. Before the Second World War in 1940. was closed, the temple housed a warehouse for the Local Air Defense. Later it housed the workshop of the sculptor S. M. Orlov. It was here that he worked on the monument to Yuri Dolgoruky. Then the workshop of the All-Union Art and Production Plant named after E. was located here. V. Vuchetich.
In 1993, the temple was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church. The first prayer service at the chapel of Elijah the Prophet took place on August 2, 1995. There is an Old Believer bookstore at the temple. The rector of the temple is Fr. Alexy Lopatin.

1916 (probably the oldest photo)

1917."L. G. Kornilov went to Mogilev through Moscow, where the State Meeting was being held in those days. On August 13, on the second day of the meeting, General Kornilov was greeted at the Alexander Station. The arrival of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief was solemnly arranged. He lined up on the platform with an unfurled banner and in a choir of music, a guard of honor from the Alexander Military School stood on its left flank. Next were the deputations of the Union of Army and Navy Officers, the Union of St. George Cavaliers, the Union of Cossack Troops, the Union of Soldiers who had escaped from captivity, the 6th School of Ensigns, The women's battalion of death included Ataman Kaledin of the Don Army, generals, the mayor, members of the State Duma, and the commissioner of the Provisional Government in Moscow. A review of cadets from the Alekseevsky School was held.

Magazine "Prozhektor" No. 4 for 1923.
Meeting of the liberated people by the Moscow proletariat Soviet government from Polish prisons 23 communists led by comrade. Dombalem.

1928 Newsreel of Tverskaya Zastava.

Tverskaya Zastava. View from the roof of house No. 12 on Leningradskoye Shosse, 1930

Guard house near the Belorussky train station, 1931