This time we will make a pilgrimage to Taganka - one of the oldest Moscow districts. There are many ancient temples and monasteries here. Holy Blessed Matrona of Moscow, Venerable Aristoklius of Athos, Hiero-Confessor Roman of Moscow - these amazing saints hear us, help and console us, and make sure that as many people as possible turn to God with all their hearts.
Once I had to spend several days on Taganka. I was on a business trip, at a conference that was held a stone's throw from the Taganskaya metro station, and after work for several days in the evenings I simply wandered the streets and alleys - again from cross to cross. And, despite the fact that it was late autumn, these days were remembered as a wonderful warm time of many discoveries.
Now among the churches where I try to visit again whenever possible is the Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God in Gonchary (Goncharnaya, 29). The very external decoration of the temple can tell a lot about its history: the temple is decorated with many colorful tiles. It was built in Goncharnaya Sloboda, which is one of the oldest Moscow districts that emerged towards the end of the 15th century. Craftsmen settled here, and, as was often the case in Rus', each of the craft communities considered it their duty to build their own temple. The ornate stone Assumption Church was erected in 1654. The famous tile maker Stepan Polubes took part in its decoration. The main shrine of the Assumption Church is the miraculous icon “Three Hands” (list made in 1716). Many believe that it was thanks to the intercession of the Mother of God that the temple was never closed. Since 1948, this has been the metochion of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in Moscow.
Another extremely interesting place on Taganka is the majestic temple of Martin the Confessor. If you look on the map, this is the street. A. Solzhenitsyn, 15. However, the address plaque on the wall of the temple itself indicates the historical name of the street: until 1919 it was called Bolshaya Alekseevskaya. Even though today the church and bell tower are somewhat lost among the new buildings, they can be seen from afar. Experts believe that the Church of Martin the Confessor is one of the most striking monuments of classical architecture in Moscow. It was consecrated in 1806. In 1812 it was badly damaged by fire, but it was here that the first thanksgiving service was held after the French left Moscow. It is interesting that the temple has preserved paintings in the picturesque style of the Italian artist A. Claudo.
In Soviet times, there was a film studio, a book depository, and a computer center here. In the early 1990s, the temple was returned to the Church, and long restoration work began. And a real miracle happened: it turned out that in the 1930s, when the temple was closed, someone hid the painting behind thin sheets of plywood, so it has survived to this day unharmed. The historical iconostasis of the temple in the form of a triumphal arch is also preserved in the storerooms of the State Museum of Architecture. A. V. Shchuseva. Despite the fact that the architecture and paintings of this temple are not typical for Moscow (rather, they are characteristic of imperial St. Petersburg), it makes a very big impression.
Its main shrine is the ancient miraculous copy of the Georgian Icon of the Mother of God. Here, in a separate ark, are shrines associated with the holy blessed Matrona of Moscow: her funeral shirt and belt.
Strength in weakness
It is from the Taganskaya station that, as a rule, the journey of pilgrims to the Intercession Monastery (Taganskaya, 58) begins, to the relics of this amazing saint. On weekdays and holidays, in summer and winter, there are a huge number of people here. The cases of help through prayers to the blessed Matrona are innumerable. During the years of my church neophyte, it seemed wrong to me that people go to her mainly with their earthly problems and concerns, even those who never go to church. There was even a feeling of a kind of jealousy and hostility towards such “petitioners”, from which I was saved... by the saint herself.
One day in late autumn I found myself in line to see her relics. I started looking around. Only a few people stand nearby with books in their hands, reading a life or an akathist. You can immediately see those who came from afar, or those who came in some kind of need, but they are not the majority. What was surprising was that there were many well-dressed women with luxurious bouquets of flowers nearby, and many young men. Even a foreigner with a translator stood in that line. From the appearance of these people one could not suspect that there were insoluble problems in their lives. Why do they go to Matronushka, why do they stand for several hours in the chilly November wind? But when I thought - why? — somewhere in the depths of my soul the words sounded: “The power of God is made perfect in weakness.”
In fact, if you think about it, who was Matronushka during her lifetime by the standards of today’s world? A helpless disabled person who has never seen sunlight? A homeless, persecuted wanderer? But now they come to her for help - both during life, and after death, and before her glorification as a saint, and, of course, now - millions of people who are much more prosperous from an everyday point of view. And she helps, consoles, instructs, and most importantly, brings her to the temple, to God...
Next to the saint, you clearly experience inner peace, a desire to pray, reverent spiritual silence and some special warmth come somewhere in the depths of your heart. For me, all this is irrefutable evidence of the truth of the shrine, which will again and again make me strive for it.
One more fact may be important for pilgrims from Saratov. In 1923-1929, the rector of the Intercession Monastery was Archimandrite Veniamin (Milov), the future archpastor, one of the most revered ascetics of the Saratov land. A large Poklonny cross was erected on the territory of the monastery in memory of the deceased brethren.
Getting to the Intercession Monastery is not difficult: from the Taganskaya or Marksistskaya metro stations, which are located on the other side of Taganskaya Square, it’s a 15-minute walk or two stops on any trolleybus running along Taganskaya Street. Near “Marxistskaya”, at a public transport stop, drivers of special minibuses “to Matrona” will beckon you, but using their services is five times more expensive, and I think there is no need for this.
Athos in the center of the capital
No less amazing discoveries can be made if from the exit from the Taganskaya Koltsevaya station you head in the other direction - along Goncharnaya and Nizhnyaya Radishchevskaya streets to the Yauza River. At Goncharnaya, 6 there is a courtyard of the Russian Monastery of St. Panteleimon on Mount Athos. Before the revolution, the Athonite courtyard was located on Bolshaya Polyanka (then the buildings were requisitioned, churches and chapels were destroyed). In 1991, the building of the Church of the Great Martyr Nikita on Shvivaya Hill (1595) was transferred to house the metochion. Today this is also a significant center of pilgrimage: people come here not only to touch Athos and its shrines (there are icons with particles of the relics of the Great Martyr Panteleimon, the Apostle Andrew the First-Called, and the Venerable Silouan of Athos), but also... to visit the venerable elder Aristoclia. They say that many people came to him during his life; the path to his grave at the Danilovsky cemetery was never overgrown in godless times. In 2004, the elder was glorified as a locally revered saint, and recently, in 2016, by decision of the Council of Bishops, his name was included in the calendar for church-wide veneration. While the name of St. Aristoclius is not as well known outside of Moscow as in the capital itself, but believing Muscovites treat him with great love and warmth.
Hieromonk Aristokliy, in the world Alexey Alekseevich Amvrosiev, was born in Orenburg in 1848. In 1876 he went to Holy Mount Athos and entered the Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery, and in 1880 he was tonsured a monk. For many years he was rector of the metochion in Moscow: from 1891 to 1894 and from 1909 until his death in 1918. People saw that the elder had exceptional spiritual gifts. He received hundreds of visitors every day, visited the sick, and generously helped the poor. There are known cases of amazing healings through the prayers of an elder: a boy born blind, a paralyzed girl. And the main thing is that, having received help, people no longer retreated from the Church, because they saw in the life of the priest a living example of life in Christ. He radiated quiet joy. His words to his spiritual children are known: “I have no greater concern than to lead you to the Lord. And there is no more serious matter on earth than the salvation of the soul. The whole world is not worth one soul working for the Lord.” And today people feel his love and go to the monk with their sorrows or spiritual questions, as if they were alive...
Divine services at the Athos Compound have their own characteristics: Sunday services (all-night vigil and early Liturgy) are celebrated here at night (beginning at 10:30 p.m.). The singing during the service is special, monastic: artless, but very concentrated.
It should be noted that the rules at the Athos courtyard are quite strict. For example, the use of a mobile phone is not allowed throughout the territory; men wearing shorts or women without the traditional skirt and headscarf are not allowed into the temple. Today we have almost lost the habit of such strictness, but here it is perceived as something natural: it is felt that the monks are strict, first of all, with themselves in order to preserve their monastic dispensation in the very center of a bustling metropolis.
I think many will also be interested in the fact that right opposite the holy gates of the courtyard there is a Museum of Russian Icon (Goncharnaya, 3). This is the richest private collection of Byzantine and ancient Russian art, transformed into a public museum: visiting the museum is free, the day off is Wednesday.
The main thing is the life of the soul
...And I “met” this saint at the Vladimir Naval Cathedral in Sevastopol. In one of the icon cases I saw an icon of a priest-new martyr with a particle of relics. On the scroll in his hand are the words: “Deny your little things, and the Lord will reward you with His great things.” There was a feeling of meeting a like-minded person who told you something very important. Therefore, upon returning home, I began to look for the life of this saint - the priest Roman of Moscow (the Bear). It turned out that his relics are now in the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on Lyshchikova Mountain (Lyshchikov Lane, 10, p. 1). After checking the map, I went to look for him somehow from the same beloved Taganskaya.
At the seminary, Roman Medved was a student of the future Saint Tikhon, then, during his years of study at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, he became the spiritual child of Righteous John of Kronstadt. From him I learned the attitude towards shepherding as a service to which one must devote all one’s spiritual and physical strength. In 1907-1917, Archpriest Roman was rector of the Vladimir Admiralty Cathedral in Sevastopol and dean of the churches of the coastal commands of the Black Sea Fleet. Many sailors sincerely loved and respected him, and when in December 1917 the revolutionary tribunal decided to shoot the priest, they helped him escape persecution and move to Moscow. Here Father Roman served first in St. Basil's Cathedral, and then, after its closure, in the Church of St. Alexis in Glinishchevsky Lane.
Surprisingly, in the terrible, grief-filled post-revolutionary years, people were especially drawn to the temple, and a number of vibrant church brotherhoods and communities operated in Moscow (we already talked about this when getting acquainted with the St. Nicholas Church on Maroseyka, where the righteous Alexy Mechev served). One of the parishioners left the following memories: “The years 1919-1921 passed and everything that was connected with them: hunger, cold, unemployment, darkness on the streets - a complete disorder of life. And in the church of St. Alexis there was a deep, intense life. Each person was doing deep spiritual work on his own soul.” Divine services were held daily, in the evenings there were akathists with public singing, conversations were held, the Gospel and patristic literature were read. The parishioners read and sang in the choir, completely maintained and equipped their church. Father Roman paid special attention to confession, calling for a life of conscience, a conscious renewal of baptismal vows. The same righteous Alexy Mechev told him: “You have a hospital, but I have only an outpatient clinic.”
In 1930, the priest was arrested and the temple was destroyed. Father Roman was sentenced to 10 years in the camps on Solovki. There he became seriously ill with tuberculosis, and his prison term was reduced. In 1936 he settled in Maloyaroslavets, where he continued to serve as long as he could. On September 8, 1937, the confessor died and was buried in the local cemetery. In 1999, his relics were found, transferred to Moscow and placed in the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on Lyshchikova Mountain (it was built in 1696 and was also not closed during Soviet times)…
This is how intense a pilgrimage through a very small Moscow region can be - although we were only able to see a few of its many shrines. And how I wish that as many people as possible from that living river that flows daily along Taganka would remember them, turn to the saints who can have the kindest influence on our lives, help in troubles - and discover the joy of life with God.
To be continued...
Photos from open Internet sources
Newspaper "Orthodox Faith" No. 21 (569)
One of the oldest religious buildings in Moscow.
The area in Zayauzye, in which representatives of various crafts lived, was limited by Zemlyanoy Val, and the only gate was located on the site of Taganskaya Square. The population density in this part of Moscow was one of the highest.
Each craft community had its own church for worship. Pottery masters were no exception.
History of the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Goncharnaya Street
The first mention of the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Goncharnaya Street, still wooden and built in Goncharnaya Sloboda, dates back to the very beginning of the 17th century.
In 1654, the Assumption Church was built of stone. At first he was one-throne.
In 1702, a refectory with a chapel was added to the church in honor of the Bishop of Amafunt, Tikhon. Between 1764 and 1774, a three-tier bell tower was built, made in the post-Petrine Baroque style. At the same time, the temple was first painted in colors that have been maintained to this day.
The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Gonchary turned out to be small and cozy. The tiles that have survived to this day were made by Stepan Polubes, a master of this art.
The main shrine of the church is the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, known as the “Three-Handed One”. This name was given to the icon in memory of the miracle performed - the healing of John of Damascus and his severed hand. The list of icons has been here since 1716, and the original itself is located in the Hilendar Monastery on Mount Athos.
In addition to the miraculous icon, the shrines of the Assumption Church in Gonchary include:
- a stone taken from the Holy Sepulcher;
- part from the Tree of the Life-Giving Cross;
- relics of saints of the Orthodox Church.
Napoleon's troops looted and destroyed the Temple in 1812. It was possible to restore it only in 1836: the internal premises were radically rebuilt, and the territory was surrounded by a stone fence, which has survived to this day.
During the Soviet era, despite the persecution of believers, the Church of the Assumption did not close and managed to preserve not only the interior decoration, but also the exterior design.
In 1948, the Assumption Church became the courtyard of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. This was done with the blessing of Alexy I, the then His Holiness Patriarch.
The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Gonchary is located at the address: Moscow, Goncharnaya, 29 (metro station Taganskaya).
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The golden-domed capital of Moscow is truly rich in holy ancient monasteries and temples. One of these historical monuments that adorns it is the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Gonchary. The address points specifically to this historical district of Taganka, or rather to Goncharnaya Street, 29. This Orthodox church of the Moscow city diocese of the Intercession Deanery belongs to the Metochion of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The altar of the church was created and consecrated in honor of the great feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, and the chapel is in memory of St. Tikhon of Amafunt.
Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Gonchary: photos, history of the area
Bolshoi Tagansky Hill is one of the oldest Moscow districts, which began to be populated around the 15th-16th centuries, and all thanks to artisans who were evicted from the city because of their flammable craft (most of them were potters and blacksmiths). First, in the 17th century, a wooden Assumption Church was built in the potters' settlement, which was located across the Yauza River.
The so-called Zayauzye from the east was fortified with Zemlyanoy Val. The first and only gate was located there, so this place became one of the most crowded in Moscow. The palace craft settlements were located very conveniently and compactly here, each of which built its own temple. For the same reason, next to the Assumption Church there was also the St. Nicholas Monastery, dated 1632.
Time of construction of the temple
In 1654, local potters decided to rebuild the shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The temple in Gonchary was made of stone, but for now it was single-altar. Then in 1702 it was rebuilt again, and then a refectory with a chapel of Tikhon, Bishop of Amafuta, appeared. Construction of the temple did not stop in the period from 1764 to 1774. At this time, a three-tier bell tower, made in the post-Petrine Baroque style, was added to the architectural ensemble. The temple turned out to be small, but very beautiful and cozy. It was also significant that its decoration was done by Stepan Polubes, a rare master of tiles. He lived at that time in that same Goncharnaya Sloboda not far from the temple. His workshop was also located there, where he made panels and friezes.
The Most Holy Theotokos in Gonchary in Moscow has still preserved all this unique beauty. Of particular interest is the head of the chapel in honor of St. Tikhon of Amafunt. It is here that one of the favorite subjects of the Half-Bes is located - a panel depicting four evangelists.
The main shrines of the temple
What else interesting can be said about the monastery of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary? The temple in Gonchary has the most important shrine - the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, which is called the Three-Handed One. It received this name in honor of the memory of one amazing event - the healing by the Mother of God of St. John of Damascus, whose hand was cut off. In Russia, this icon has been revered for a very long time, and there are also many lists of the first-revealed image, but some of them are also miraculous.
In 1661, one of these lists was sent from the Hilendar Athos Monastery as a sacred gift to the Russian Patriarch Nikon, which was placed in the Resurrection New Jerusalem Monastery in 1963 on Istra in the Moscow region.
In 1716, the list was again removed from this icon of the Mother of God of the Three-Handed One, which was placed in the Assumption Church from the very moment of its appearance. There is still an opinion that it was thanks to the intercession of the great shrine that the Assumption Church was never closed, even at turning points in Russian history. All of its bells are still preserved.
Today, in order for people to have free access to the icon, another list of the shrine in a tiled icon case is placed on the outer wall on the western side of the temple.
A little more history about the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Temple in Gonchary: interesting facts
Be that as it may, Napoleon’s troops in 1812 still walked through the Church of the Assumption and took everything they could out of it, and burned the courtyards of the parish. Only by 1836 it was possible to partially restore and rebuild it, new structures, domes and crosses appeared, and a southern portal was attached to the bell tower. A fence dating from the beginning of the 19th century has survived to this day. However, in 1898, the architect L. O. Vasiliev was involved in the reconstruction of the temple. The unique iconostasis, decorated in the style of the 17th century, consists of very ancient icons of the 17th-18th centuries. In some amazing way, the temple was preserved under Soviet rule.
In 1948, according to an agreement between the Orthodox Russian and Bulgarian Churches, as a living connection between the two native churches, the Compound of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was created in the church.
This is the history of the monastery of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - the temple in Gonchary. It can be added that in 2015, the rector of the church, Archimandrite Feoktist, said that there are few Moscow Bulgarian parishioners left here, the bulk of them mainly live in the area of the street. Red Poppy, where a new church began to be built in honor of St. Cyprian. Therefore, the bulk of visitors to this temple are Russians.
Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God in Gonchary, Spasskaya Sloboda
Goncharnaya st., 29, corner of Uspensky, now 5 Kotelnicheskogo, lane, 3
“The name “Goncharnaya Street” was given after the settlement of potters that was here in the 17th century. The memory of this settlement is preserved in the name of the Church of the Assumption in Gonchary, standing at the end of the street, built in 1654 (the bell tower - 1790) and decorated with beautiful tiles the work of the potters of this settlement."
"The church is listed in 1625. In 1632 it was restored after the Polish devastation."
“The church existed before the Romanovs, as it received rule. After the Poles, it was not restored for about 20 years, which is why in 1632 it was recorded as a newcomer. The stone church was consecrated on March 15, 1654. In 1702, a one-sided refectory with the throne of Tikhon of Amafunt was built from the west, consecrated in November of this year. In 1802, the side altar was moved forward into a newly built extension, adjacent to the main church from the south. The bell tower is from the mid-18th century. Inside, the main iconostasis of the mid-18th century, renewed in the 19th century, contains individual icons from the 17th century. including Tikhon of Amafuntsky."
“Apparently, the original wooden church on this site was built in the first quarter of the 17th century, for in 7140 (1632) it was listed in the scribe books as a “newly arrived.” The stone single-altar church has been known in documents since 1654. In the beginning XVIII century, a chapel named after St. Tikhon of Amafuntsky was attached to it on the southern side ("November 2, 1702, an antimension was issued for the newly built church of Tikhon the Wonderworker, which is in the chapel of the present Assumption Church, in Gonchary behind the Yauza" - according to the book .) In 1773 there was a fire on Goncharnaya Street, from which the church was somewhat damaged. In 1812, the Church of the Assumption was desecrated by the French, and the 11 courtyards located in the parish were all set on fire.
The main shrine of the temple is the image of the Mother of God “Three-Handed”, which is a good copy of the miraculous image of the same name, located in the Hilandar monastery on Athos. Believers extraordinarily revere this icon, and daily prayer in front of it belongs to the long-standing traditions of the Church of the Assumption in Gonchary."
"According to the book, the inscription on the icon of the Three-Handed Mother says that on June 28, 1661, a copy of the icon of the Three-Handed Mother was sent to Moscow from Mount Athos from the Hilendar Monastery as a gift from Archimandrite Theophan on behalf of the Patriarch of Antioch Macarius to the Patriarch of All Rus' Nikon. This list was put in 1663 in the Resurrection New Jerusalem Monastery. In 1716, a list was made from him, which is now in the church of the Bulgarian courtyard, where his feast day is celebrated on June 28, Art.
“On July 17, 1948, a new chapter in the history of the temple begins: with the blessing of Patriarch Alexy, it was transferred as a metochion of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, and Archimandrite Methodius (Zherev) was appointed rector.”
“During the repair work in the summer of 1949, attention was paid to the small dome above the southern aisle. The vestibule and its drum were covered with two layers of oil paint, from under which some relief images protruded. It turned out that under the paint there were works of skilled craftsmen of Goncharnaya settlement, who at one time decorated the temple with artistic tiles, also located along the northern wall of the temple. When experts cleared the oil paint, underneath it was a rare example of the Moscow “tsenin business” that flourished in the Goncharnaya Sloboda at the time of the construction of the church. In the discovered monumental ceramics. Along with ornamental and architectural motifs, there are images of human figures. Each of them is composed of three large square tiles measuring 40x40 cm, on which four evangelists are depicted. The tiles give a peculiar interpretation of the evangelists in bright green and red clothes, with white faces and hands - on. against a deep blue background, with yellow halos, holding Gospels and inscriptions, framed by very distinctive tiled pilasters. The cylinder of the head, placed on an octagon, is covered with a continuous ornamental carpet of tiles of various profiles. This carpet depicts a field strewn with flowers. Under the iron visor covering the octahedron on top, tiles were also found that form a ceramic coating connecting the octahedron to the cylinder. The faces of the evangelists are remarkable - these are real Russian folk faces, with Russian beards and hair that is characteristically cut into brackets.”
“The refectory on the street side is also decorated with a frieze of colored tiles. Most of them were made by the “sovereign treasury master” Stepan Ivanov Polubes.”
“The second rector of the metochion from 1950 to 1955 was Archimandrite Maxim, the future Patriarch of Bulgaria. On November 1, 1973, the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Bulgarian metochion took place in his presence.”
“On June 4, in connection with the stay of Patriarch of the Bulgarian Maxim in Moscow in 1978, the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Bulgarian metochion took place in Moscow, in the Church of the Assumption in Gonchary. The rector of the metochion, Archimandrite Naum (Shotlev), was awarded the award of the Russian Orthodox Church - the Order of St. Prince Vladimir II degree." "In 1988, the farmstead celebrated its 40th anniversary."
In the 1930s the temple did not close. The bell tower has preserved bells that are rung regularly. Outside on the street on the western wall of the temple there is a copy of the “Three-Handed” icon of the Mother of God. The church, together with the “fence and gates of the early 19th century,” is under state protection under number 86.
“At the initiative of the revived Moscow Consolidated Cossack Regiment, on March 31 (old style), on the day of the death of General Lavr Kornilov, a memorial service was served in the Church of the Assumption in Gonchary for all Cossacks, leaders and soldiers of the Russian army, “who laid down their lives for the faith and the Fatherland.” For the first time in many years, the slandered historians Kornilov, Kolchak, Kaledin, Denikin, Dutov, Yudenich, Shkuro, Mamontov, Drozdovsky and other commanders of the Russian Army were mentioned.”
