Vladimir Putin will take part in the laying of the main temple of the armed forces. Russian Orthodox Church: The main temple of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will embody the memory of the feat of the people Section “Orthodox History”

From the editors of RN: the author Mikhail Yuryevich Kesler is an architect, chief specialist of the Architectural and Art Center of the Moscow Patriarchate ("Archtemple"), a major scientist in the field of temple construction. In the Union of Architects of Russia, he is the chairman of the commission on the architecture of religious buildings, represents Russia in the program of the International Union of Architects "Places of Worship", within the framework of which he initiated the creation of the Brotherhood of Orthodox Architects, and also held a number of international conferences and training seminars for temple architects. M. Kesler— regular participant in Christmas Readings; leads the column “Restoration, construction and preservation of the temple” of the Orthodox economic newsletter “Parish”, has published over 50 articles on issues of temple architecture. He has five children, who also participate in the revival of the traditions of Russian temple architecture.

We present an article by Mikhail Yuryevich, giving a historical overview of the construction of temple-monuments to the defenders of our Fatherland. We have added illustrations of the described temples and monuments to the article. Unfortunately, many churches were barbarically destroyed during the Soviet period and are only now being restored with varying degrees of success.

The history of our Motherland, replete with wars for its independence, is inextricably linked with the history of temple building, since monument churches, chapels, memorial signs and entire complexes were traditionally built in memory of the defenders of the Motherland.

In Ancient Rus', churches dedicated to the memory of soldiers who fell for the Fatherland were practically no different from other churches being built at the same time. Their memorialism consisted, as a rule, in the dedication of thrones in honor of those saints or holidays on the day of celebration of which the battle that determined the outcome of the battle occurred. Starting from the 18th century, in addition to the dedication of the thrones of temple-monuments, the memory of the military feat of the defenders of the Fatherland was consolidated visually, through pictorial means.

One of the first memorial churches in Ancient Rus' was Church of the Intercession on the Nerl, built in 1165 by the holy Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky in memory of the victory over the Volga Bulgars and in honor of his son Izyaslav killed in the battle.

In 1380, after the victory over the Tatars on the Kulikovo Field, Prince Dmitry Donskoy was built in Moscow in memory of the fallen soldiers. Church of All Saints "What's on Kulishki".

In honor of the victory over the Swedes in the Battle of Poltava and in memory of the fallen soldiers, it was built in St. Petersburg in 1709 Sampson Church. Memorial plaques dedicated to the heroes of the Battle of Poltava were installed on the side walls of the lower tier of the bell tower. On the western wall of the main chapel of the temple there was a historical painting related to the plot of the Battle of Poltava. In the cemetery located next to the church, fallen soldiers and veterans of Peter the Great's army were buried.

The first Samsonian Church was made of logs. The layout gives an idea of ​​what it looked like in 1714 (photo: Yuri Goncharenko)

Sampsonievsky Cathedral, modern view.

The first cast iron memorial plaque of Samson's Cathedral

Monument to Peter the Great at Samsonievsky Cathedral

In honor of the victory of the Russian fleet at Gangut (1714) and Grengam (1720), a Panteleimon Church (1735-1739).

Saint Petersburg. Panteleimon Church

On the facades there are memorial plaques in memory of the heroic defenders of the Hanko (Gangut) Peninsula.

Memorial plaque on the facade of the Panteleimon Church building in St. Petersburg

Monument to Russian sailors, who died during the Russian-Swedish war of 1789-1790, was installed in 1988 in Finland on the island of Kuusinen on a ridge of rocks descending to the Rochensalm roadstead, where in 1789 the Russian fleet defeated the Swedes, and a year later they were defeated by them. The monument is a gift from Russia to Finland.

Monument to Russian sailors (the figure of a grieving woman stretching out her hands to the sea with wreaths) who died during the Russian-Swedish war of 1789-1790, by Mikhail Anikushin (photo)

The idea to erect a monument in honor of the Russians who died in both battles arose back in 1975, when the Finns recovered from the bottom of the sea and buried in Kotka, near the walls of the Orthodox St. Nicholas Church, the remains of sailors from the ship "St. Nicholas".

Next to the Temple, on the altar side, there is an old cemetery where the remains of Russian sailors of the frigate "Nikolai", who died in battle in 1790, are buried. It is especially worth noting that, through the efforts of the Finns, the remains of the sailors were reburied in this cemetery in 1975 and the ceremony was attended by the highest leadership of Finland (photo).

Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg, built in 1736 specifically for the miraculous Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, since 1813 it has become a memorial in memory of the victories over Napoleon.

Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg

It contains banners and standards of the defeated French armies, keys to cities and fortresses taken by Russian troops. In 1813, the commander-in-chief of the Russian troops, Field Marshal M.I. Kutuzov, was buried in the cathedral.

The grave of M.I. Kutuzov in the Kazan Cathedral

Monuments to M.I. Kutuzov and M.B. Barclay de Tolly were erected in front of the cathedral.

Monument to M.I. Kutuzov

Fragment of the monument to M.B. Barclay de Tolly at the Kazan Cathedral. B.I. Smirnov

Kazan Cathedral. Panorama

In Novocherkassk, on the day the foundation of the city was founded in 1805, the Temple-monument to the Don Cossacks.

Novocherkassk. Holy Ascension Military Cathedral. May 18 (30), 1805 A celebration took place of the consecration of the site and the foundation of the city of Novocherkassk, as well as a temporary wooden cathedral church in honor of the Ascension of the Lord. The Donskoy troops began construction of the stone cathedral church in October 1811. (photo)

In the choir there was a special hall, painted with scenes from the history of the Don Army, arranged in chronological order.

One of the scenes from the history of the Don Army in the Military Church of Novocherkassk (photo)

In 1911, the remains of the famous Don military leaders of the Battle of Borodino were transferred to the temple.

Platov M.I., Baklanov L.P., Efremov N.G., Orlov-Denisov V.V.

Temple in Novocherkassk. Memorial plaque

M.M. Tuchkova, the widow of General A.A. Tuchkov, who died in the Battle of Borodino, first founded a small stone Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands- a mausoleum in memory of the fallen soldiers in the Battle of Borodino.

Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands of the Spaso-Borodinsky Monastery, Semenovskoye (Borodinsky village) (photo)

Previously, in front of the entrance to the mausoleum there were pyramids of cannonballs. Now there is an obelisk in honor of Konovnitsyn’s 3rd division, erected for the centenary of the Battle of Borodino.

Spaso-Borodinsky Monastery

Nowadays, on the Borodino field around the Spaso-Borodinsky Monastery, the first abbess of which was M.M. Tuchkova, a memorial dedicated to those who died in the two Patriotic Wars has been organized.

Borodino field. Memorial dedicated to those killed in two Patriotic wars (2010)

The cemetery became a temple-monument to the heroes of the Battle of Borodino church in the name of St. Elizabeth at the Dorogomilovsky cemetery in Moscow, when in 1839 a chapel was added to it in honor of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, since the battle took place on the day of the celebration of the Vladimir Icon.

Church of the Venerable Elizabeth at the Dorogomilovskoye Cemetery in Moscow. Dorogomilovskoe cemetery was located on the territory between Mozhaiskoe highway (now— Kutuzovsky Prospekt) and the Moscow River. Burials there continued until the 1930s. In 1948, the cemetery was closed, the Church of St. Elizabeth located there and all the burials were destroyed, and the area was built up with residential buildings. The Jewish cemetery adjacent to Dorogomilovskoye and a significant part of it was also destroyed. The graves that were of value to the state were moved to the Novodevichye and Vagankovskoye cemeteries. We believe that the photo was taken between 1945-1950 (the shooting direction is west) (photo)

At the cemetery there was a monument over the grave of 300 soldiers who died in the Battle of Borodino. The cemetery was destroyed during the development of Kutuzovsky Prospekt in the 1950s.

To perpetuate the memory of the historical victory in the war of 1812 in Moscow, by decree of Emperor Alexander II, a Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The temple was built in 1839-1883 according to the design of the architect K. Ton in the Russian-Byzantine style.

Archive photo, initial view of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, blown up in 1931

For the first time, a combination of liturgical and historical, museum purposes was used in the temple. Thus, in the bypass gallery on the walls there are boards with the names of the main events of the War of 1812, reliefs depicting the main moments of the war, boards with the texts of the most important documents and the names of the dead, wounded, and awarded in battles. According to the author of the project, captured banners, keys of cities that surrendered to the Russian army and other relics were to be placed here. The temple, blown up in 1931, was restored in 1995-2000.

Restored Cathedral of Christ the Savior

Cathedral of Christ the Savior (view from the bank of the Moscow River)

For the 100th anniversary of the victory over the French, in memory of the Russian soldiers who fell on the battlefield near Leipzig in 1813, a temple-monument, in the lower church of which there are plaques on the walls with the names of the fallen grenadiers.

St. Alexis Church-Monument of Russian Glory in Leipzig

Memorial plaque from the Monument Temple in Leipzig (photo)

In 1902, on the initiative of the Russian military attache in Holland and Belgium, Lieutenant Colonel de Muller, a marble Cross was erected in Bergen in memory of Russian soldiers who died in 1799 in battles with the French. Since 1999, the Russian Embassy has annually held a flower-laying ceremony at the monument.

Cross in memory of Russian soldiers who died in 1799 in battles with the French in Bergen, Rosenweg (Russian) street (photo)

The monument to Russian soldiers who died in 1814 at the Battle of Morman (France), was erected in 1999.

France. Morman. Monument to Russian soldiers who fell in 1814 (photo)

After the Crimean War of 1853-1856 in Sevastopol, by order of Emperor Alexander II, two temple-monuments were built as part of the memorial complex "Brotherly Cemetery for the Defenders of the Defense of Sevastopol 1854-1855." and the Sevastopol Defense Museum, created on the initiative of P.V. Alabin, a participant in the battle on Malakhov Kurgan.

St. Vladimir's Cathedral called the "Cathedral of Admirals".

Sevastopol. St. Vladimir's Cathedral—tomb of the admirals (photo)

Admirals Lazarev, Kornilov, Nakhimov, Istomin, Shestakov, Karpov, Pereleshin are buried there. Marble plaques are embedded in the outer walls of the temple, indicating that these admirals are buried here. Inside the upper church, the names of all the naval officers who fell during the defense of Sevastopol are carved on marble plaques.

Another The temple-monument is dedicated to St. Nicholas- patron of seafarers.

St. Nicholas Church (Sevastopol)

In front of the entrance to the temple, built in the form of a pyramid, on the side ledges the names of all units that participated in the defense of Sevastopol, the time of participation and losses incurred were carved in stone, and 7 fortress guns were installed in front of the temple. In the interior of the temple, 943 killed generals, admirals, headquarters and chief officers are named on 38 black marble plaques. The complex includes an extensive underground system of transitions from St. Nicholas to Vladimir Church under the bottom of the Sevastopol Bay, which have defensive significance, built by the architect A.A. Avdeev at the behest of Emperor Alexander II.

In memory of the 36 thousand soldiers of the Russian army who died from wounds and illnesses during the Crimean War (1853-1856), on the initiative of Empress Maria Alexandrovna and Emperor Alexander ΙΙΙ, a cemetery was built in Simferopol chapel in the name of St. Mary Magdalene and an obelisk was erected near the chapel in 1887. By the 30s of the last century, the necropolis was virtually destroyed. After the Great Patriotic War, the DOSAAF motor racing track was located here.

The restoration of the cemetery for Russian soldiers, in which Ukraine and Russia took part, began in 1994. On the Day of Remembrance of the soldiers who fell in the Crimean War of 1853-1856 (September 9, 2004), the memorial complex, including the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, was completely restored and transferred to the Simferopol and Crimean diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Restored Chapel of St. Magdalene. At Petrovsky Heights, the fraternal cemetery of Russian soldiers from the Crimean War has been restored and is open to the public! On the topographical survey of Simferopol in the 70s, this cemetery is not indicated at all. But in 2004 it was restored, ennobled and a memorial church, a chapel of St. Mary Magdalene. And a memorial sign from the residents of Simferopol (photo)

In 2004, the Republican Committee for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, as part of the anniversary events, installed five memorial plaques (four in Simferopol, one in the village of Kashtanov, Simferopol district). All of them are dedicated to hospitals where Russian army soldiers were treated during the Crimean War.

Dedicated to the memory of the fallen soldiers in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878 chapel in the name of the holy noble prince Alexander Nevsky, built in 1883 in Moscow on Manezhnaya (formerly Moiseevskaya) Square.

Left— The corner of the National Hotel is perhaps the only anchor connecting this view with the modern situation. In the foreground— the chapel of Alexander Nevsky in memory of the victories of Russian weapons in the Russian-Turkish war, then the Church of Paraskeva-Pyatnitsa in Okhotny Ryad (17-18 centuries). 1910s (photo from the Gautier-Dufayer collection)

The chapel was made in the form of a cast-iron pyramid, decorated with images of military armor and crowned with a cross. On both sides there were stone pillars with double-headed eagles. Inside the chapel was placed the image of the holy noble prince Alexander Nevsky, the patron saint of the army. The income from the chapel went to the maintenance of the shelter for crippled soldiers, located in Vsekhsvyatsky. The chapel was destroyed in 1922, but today the question of its reconstruction is being raised.

The Church of St. Nicholas the Mokroy, being restored in its historical place. In the background: the Alexander Nevsky Chapel, which was previously located on Manezhnaya Square, is being restored (photo)

Dedicated to the feat of Russian soldiers-liberators of Bulgaria Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevskoth, built in 1880-1890 in Sofia. On the memorial plaques in front of the entrance to the cathedral there is an inscription: “a sign of brotherly love and gratitude to the great Russian people for the liberation of Bulgaria in 1878.”

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia

In memory of the fallen soldiers in the Russian-Turkish war, they also built monuments in Plovdiv (1881), Sofia (1884), village of Garmen(Romania, 1888), temple-monument on Shipka And church-tomb in San Stefano near Constantinople.

Plovdiv. Hill of Liberators. Monument to the heroes of the Russian-Turkish war 1877-1878, to the soldiers of General Gurko, who defeated the Turkish army near the city and liberated Plovdiv in 1878.

Plovdiv. Hill of Liberators. A few meters from the monument to the heroes of the Russian-Turkish war there is a monument to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War— monument "Alyosha"(photo)

"Big" Russian monument on Shipka

Monument to Freedom. Shipka

Bulgaria. Sofia. Doctor's monument. This monument is dedicated to Russian doctors who participated in the Russian-Turkish war and died on the territory of Bulgaria in 1877-1878. The surnames of doctors are written with two initials, the surnames of paramedics with one, and nurses and orderlies are simply written by their surname, without a first name or patronymic. This monument was built by the Italian Luigi Farabosco according to the design of the architect A. I. Tomishko in 1884. The monument is made of granite and sandstone. This is a quadrangular pyramid made of white stone blocks on which the names of Russian medical officials are written. On the top of the four sides are written the names of Bulgarian settlements where there were many victims: Plevna, Mechka, Plovdiv and Shipka. (photo)

Church-tomb in San Stefano near Constantinople. Near the town of San Stefano, on the site of a former infirmary, and 17 versts from Constantinople, on December 6, 1899, a grandiose temple-tomb for Russian soldiers was opened, built of granite, more than twenty-two fathoms in height and occupying an area of ​​up to twenty square fathoms , in three tiers, with a chapel. The dome was reminiscent of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. Under the arches of the temple there was a tomb of 5,000 Russian officers and lower ranks who fell on the battlefield. On November 14, 1914, at 8:30 p.m., three days after the Ottoman Empire entered the Great War, the Russian Memorial tomb was blown up in front of a large crowd of local residents. Apparently, the explosion was planned long before this. The historical moment of preparation and the explosion itself were filmed in the first Turkish documentary film, which was shown in Turkey in 2004. After the October Revolution, the Turkish side repeatedly made attempts to correct the situation. S. Kapustin writes that in subsequent years the Turkish government proposed to discuss the issue of the Memorial: first with Frunze, and then with Voroshilov, but there was no response. Will it be possible to restore this historical monument today? (photo)

Dedicated to the grenadiers who fell in the battle near Plevna chapel-monument, installed in Moscow in 1887. Outside, high reliefs and words of the Savior are installed on the walls.

Moscow. Chapel-monument to the grenadiers who fell near Plevna (photo)

Inside, the names of 18 officers and 542 soldiers who fell near Plevna and the names of donors for the construction of the monument are engraved on memorial plaques.

For the guardsmen of the Preobrazhensky Regiment in Moscow in 1743-1750 it was built Transfiguration Church.

Moscow Church in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord on Preobrazhenskaya Square (photo). The Church of the Transfiguration in the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow was built in 1768 and became the successor to the wooden church of Peter the Great's time. Historically, it was the main temple of the Preobrazhensky Regiment - the first regiment of the Russian guard, created by Peter I. Under Soviet rule, the Transfiguration Church remained one of the few operating churches in Moscow and until 1960 served as the cathedral of the popular Metropolitan of Krutitsky and Kolomna Nikolai (Yarushevich). In 1964, the Transfiguration Church was closed and prepared for demolition under the pretext of creating conditions for the construction of a metro line. The parishioners of the temple desperately fought for its preservation - they sent letters to the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Moscow Soviet, and even tried to build a living ring around the doomed building. On the night of July 17-18, 1964, the church was blown up. At the beginning of 2010, work began on the restoration of the temple.

The ancient banners of the regiment were kept in the temple. Near the walls of the temple there was a cemetery for regiment officers. There was also a Transfiguration Regimental Church in St. Petersburg. In honor of the victorious end of the Russian-Turkish war in 1829-1830, a fence of captured Turkish cannons connected by chains was built around it, and 12 guns and two unicorns were placed in front of the gate. In 1916, on the eastern side of the temple, it was planned to begin the construction of a tomb for the officers of the regiment who died in the First World War. The temple was blown up in 1964.

Built for the Izmailovsky Regiment in St. Petersburg Trinity Izmailovsky Cathedral (1828-1835).

Petersburg. Trinity Izmailovsky Cathedral

The regiment particularly distinguished itself in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, and captured Turkish banners and keys to captured cities were mounted on the walls of the cathedral, and the names of fallen officers were engraved on marble plaques. In 1886, a monument in the form of a column of 108 Turkish cannons with a figure of Glory on top was unveiled near the cathedral. On the pedestal there are memorial plaques with a list of battles and regiments that participated in the war.

It was built for military sailors in St. Petersburg St. Nicholas Cathedral (1753-1762).

Cathedral in the name of St. Nicholas, St. Petersburg (Nikolsky Naval Cathedral) (photo)

In 1907, in memory of the sailors who died in the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905, marble plaques were installed in the southern wall of the cathedral. In front of the temple there is a granite obelisk in memory of the sailors of the battleship "Emperor Alexander III", who died in the Battle of Tsushima in 1905.

Another temple-monument to the sailors who died in the Russian-Japanese War was built on the shore of the New Admiralty Canal in the name of the Honorable Trees of the Holy Cross and St. Nicholas "Savior on the Waters" (1910-1911). A soldier's St. George's Cross was placed in the foundation stone, and St. Andrew's flag was used as the altar curtain. The names of lost ships are carved on the internal walls and supporting pillars of the temple. Surviving icons from lost ships were placed nearby. Carved below were the dates of their deaths, the number of dead and their names. The banner of the former Kwantung naval crew was kept in the temple. The temple was connected by a covered gallery to a real museum, where photographs of almost all the dead soldiers and documentary evidence of their exploits and the events of the Russian-Japanese War were collected. After the sinking of the frigate Pallada in 1914-1915. A marble plaque was placed in the temple in his memory.

Petersburg. Cathedral of Christ the Savior in memory of the Battle of Gethsemane (Spas-on-Vodakh). The temple was built in the likeness of ancient churches of the 12th century. Its creation was the first attempt to scientifically reproduce the architecture of ancient Russian cathedrals. The new temple, according to the plan of the builders, was to resurrect the traditions of Vladimir-Suzdal architecture of the pre-Mongol style. Demetrius Cathedral in Vladimir was one of the models for the Savior on Waters project. The project also used motifs from the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl River. In 1931, the Oktyabrsky District Council of Leningrad and the Presidium of the Leningrad City Council, on the initiative of the management of the Sudomekh plant and the Inspectorate for Religious Affairs, decided to demolish the temple-monument under the pretext of expanding the production area of ​​the enterprise. On March 8, 1932, the temple was blown up, despite thousands of signatures collected. Along with it, the bridge across the Novo-Admiralteysky Canal was destroyed. The rector of the church, Father Vladimir Rybakov, died from beatings in the prison hospital. Other temple servants were also arrested, and the temple defenders were sent to camps. According to one version, boards with the names of those killed in the Russian-Japanese War were thrown into the Neva. According to another legend, a strong explosion scattered them throughout the surrounding streets, where local residents collected their fragments and hid them in their homes. But some boards, according to eyewitnesses, were removed from their fastenings and carried away before the explosion. There was a persistent legend among the residents of Leningrad that they were used to cut up meat carcasses in stores near the Big House on Liteiny (administrative building of the OGPU-NKVD). According to rumors, stones from the bombed “Tsushima Church” were also used for the construction of this house. In the 1970s, the foundation of the temple was partially built up with an industrial building, and a road was built above the altar of the lower temple (photo)

Chapel of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, 2012 on the site of the temple being restored (photo)

Naval Cathedral dedicated to the Russian fleet and its dead members, built in 1903-1913 in Kronstadt.

Naval Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Kronstadt (photo)

As in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the walls of the cathedral's bypass gallery are embedded with marble slabs telling about the events of Russia's naval history.

Monument churches were built in memory of the defenders of the Fatherland not only from external enemies, but also from internal ones. Thus, in memory of the victims of the 1905 revolution, a temple-monument in honor of the Vatopedi icon of the Mother of God, called “Consolation and Consolation”.

Temple of the Icon of the Mother of God "Consolation and Consolation" (photo)

On the interior walls of the temple, 2,000 names of victims of the 1905 revolution are carved on marble plaques.

In memory of those who died in the German war in 1915, a cemetery was built in the Sokol area of ​​Moscow. Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord at the Fraternal Cemetery, founded by the Venerable Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna.

In the 1920s, the cemetery was preserved as a war memorial. The pilots who died during testing were buried here. Nowadays, on the site of the devastated cemetery, monuments have been erected to Russian soldiers who died for their faith and Fatherland in various wars.

Modern chapel on the site of the destroyed Temple

Symbolic tombstone “To the soldiers of the Russian army and the troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who died in Chechnya for a united and indivisible Russia,” erected in June 1995 on the territory of the Fraternal Cemetery, with the participation of representatives of General Lev Rokhlin— moved to the Church of All Saints on Sokol in 1998.

Orthodox memorial "Reconciliation of the peoples of Russia, Germany, Japan, Austria, Belgium, France, England, USA, China, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Serbia, Hungary, Italy, Finland, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria and other countries that fought in 2 's World Wars and Civil Wars", dedicated to the memory of 100 million fallen soldiers and civilians, created in 1991-98 by the Public Council and a group of WWII veterans at the Church of All Saints on Sokol. (photo)

In 1916, in the Josefov fortress (Czech Republic) in a camp for Russian prisoners of war, a monument to those who died in captivity.

Archive photo of the monument

The head of Jesus Christ wearing a crown of thorns is carved into a cement block resembling a rock. The monument is crowned with a cross. In front of the rock is a figure of a crying boyar’s daughter on her knees, symbolizing Russia. Nearby are figures of a knight with a sword and two children. Above the Savior’s head is the inscription: “There is no greater love than to lay down your life for your friends.” Above the children's heads there is an inscription carved: "May the memory of the Russian soldiers who fell for the Tsar and the Motherland in the great European War be preserved forever in the hearts of future generations."

Restored monument. On June 7, 2012, a memorial event dedicated to the opening of the restored Russian section of a military cemetery from the First World War took place in the town of Jaroměř, Central Bohemian Region. In 1914-1918, in the local military fortress of Josefov there was a prisoner-of-war camp of the Russian army, through which more than 40 thousand people passed, and one and a half thousand found their final refuge here. Speakers at the opening expressed gratitude to everyone who helped recreate the memorial; noted that the activities currently underway both in Russia and the Czech Republic to restore the graves of Russian soldiers and Czechoslovak legionnaires symbolize the affirmation of the historical truth about the close intertwining of the destinies of the two friendly peoples. For many years, the Russian site at the Josefov cemetery was in disrepair. The only reminder of its existence was the monument “To Those Who Died for the Fatherland,” built in 1916 by the prisoners of war themselves under the direction of the sculptor (also a prisoner of war) N.A. Sushkin. Thanks to the efforts of the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Russian Embassy in the Czech Republic, the authorities of Jaromer and the Central Bohemian region, the Russian site was completely restored, including the names of all 1,524 Russian soldiers and non-commissioned officers. The history of the Josef camp is told in the book of the Czech eyewitness of those events, K. Kratsik, “From the life of Russian prisoners with us,” published in 1930. In 2008, on the initiative of organizations of Russian compatriots in the Czech Republic, it was republished with a translation into Russian. (photo)

In 1935, in Belgrade (Serbia), with funds from Russians living in Yugoslavia, a cemetery was built at the Novo Groblje cemetery. monument-chapel dedicated to the memory of Russian soldiers and officers who died in battles on the Thessaloniki front during the First World War.

On the pedestal is a five-meter tall Archangel Michael, the patron saint of the army. Only twenty years passed between the world wars, and people were already dying for completely different ideals. (photo)

The monument-chapel represents an artillery shell, topped with a winged angel with a sword, below is the coat of arms of the Russian Empire. At the foot is a Russian officer, who has drawn his saber, defending the white banner. The date “1914” and the inscription: “To Emperor Nicholas II and 2,000,000 Russian soldiers who gave their lives for the freedom of Serbia” are engraved on the pedestal.

The Second World War claimed more than 20 million lives in the multinational Soviet Union. In memory of the soldiers who defended the independence of the Motherland 60 years ago and defeated a terrible enemy at the cost of incredible sacrifices and feats, many Orthodox churches, chapels, memorial signs and entire memorial complexes have already been built throughout Russia. Let's name just a few of them.

The memorial complex "Brest Hero Fortress", opened in 1971 on the territory of the Brest Fortress, included St. Nicholas Church, transferred in 1994 to the Brest-Kobrin diocesan administration. Every year on June 22, a liturgy is served there for those killed on this land.

St. Nicholas Church destroyed during the war

The restored temple of the Brest Hero Fortress

On the site of the tank battle on the Prokhorovsky field in 1992-1995, the Kursk Bulge memorial complex was built with temple in honor of the holy apostles Peter and Paul And church-belfry in the name of St. George the Victorious.

Temple complex on the Kursk Bulge in the village of Prokhorovka (photo)

7,000 names of fallen soldiers are carved on marble slabs inside the Peter and Paul Church.

The memorial complex on Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd includes Church of All Saints, in the stylobate part of which there will be a memorial exhibition.

Church of All Saints on Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd

Built in memory of all those who died during the Great Patriotic War monument churches in the name of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious in St. Petersburg in 1995 and in 1993-1995 in Moscow on Poklonnaya Hill. A memorial cross was erected in Victory Park on Poklonnaya Hill as part of the memorial complex.

Petersburg, Kupchino. Church of St. St. George the Victorious and the monument to those killed in Afghanistan (photo)

Church of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious on Poklonnaya Hill

In addition to these well-known memorials, small memorial churches and memorial chapels are also built in memory of the inhabitants of small towns and villages who died in recent wars. That's how temple-monument in the name of the Holy Great Martyr Dmitry of Thessalonica in the village of Snegiri near Moscow.

Chapel-monument to Dmitry Solunsky in Snegiri arch. A.A. Anisimova (photo)

In the outer wall of the temple there is a white stone plaque with a memorial inscription.

Built in the city of Balashikha, Moscow region temple-monument in the name of the holy noble prince Alexander Nevsky. The laconic appearance of the temple with narrow loophole windows and a helmet-shaped dome perfectly matches its dedication. A memorial stone was placed in front of the temple with an inscription dedicated to the deceased residents of the city.

Temple of Alexander Nevsky in Balashikha

On the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Victory in the capital of Kalmykia, Elista, a temple-monument in the name of St. Sergius of Radonezh in memory of Kalmyk soldiers who died for the Fatherland in all wars, starting with the war of 1812. Inside the temple on the walls there are lists of Kalmyk soldiers who participated in the War of 1812 and other wars.

Temple in the name of St. Sergius of Radonezh in Elista. Kalmykia

In 2004, at the memorial complex of the Long-Range Aviation of the Russian Air Force in Moscow, on the initiative and at the expense of the personnel of the Commander’s Office, a chapel-monument in the name of St. Elijah the Prophet in memory of the fallen pilots who defended the Fatherland. The memorial complex, in addition to the chapel, includes a memorial hall and a museum for the command of the commander of Long-Range Aviation. There is a “Book of Memory” of Long-Range Aviation with the names of soldiers who died in the line of duty, starting in 1914. The Holy Prophet Elijah is the heavenly patron of aviators. According to legend, he was taken by God to heaven alive in the flesh. This miraculous ascent of the prophet Elijah to heaven took place on a fiery chariot, which has a special symbolic meaning for the aviator warriors.

Moscow. Long-Range Aviation Headquarters of the Russian Air Force. Chapel of Elijah the Prophet

After the Afghan and two Chechen wars, our Fatherland lost many soldiers, the memory of whom has yet to be traditionally captured in the construction of memorial temples and monuments. One of them was memorial in the temple in the name of St. George the Victorious in Vologda, consisting of 12 marble slabs with 176 names of dead Vologda residents on the territory of the Chechen Republic and the Republic of Afghanistan.

Vologda. The military temple of Alexander Nevsky on Kremlin Square. The temple houses a memorial complex in memory of those killed in the Chechen and Afghan wars.

In 1561, one of the most famous churches in Russia was consecrated - the Intercession Cathedral, or, as it is otherwise called, St. Basil's Cathedral. The portal "Culture.RF" recalled interesting facts from the history of its creation.

Temple-monument

The Intercession Cathedral is not just a church, but a temple-monument erected in honor of the annexation of the Kazan Khanate to the Russian state. The main battle, in which Russian troops were victorious, took place on the day of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And the temple was consecrated in honor of this Christian holiday. The cathedral consists of separate churches, each of which is also consecrated in honor of the holidays on which the decisive battles for Kazan took place - Trinity, the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem and others.

A huge construction project in record time

Initially, a wooden Trinity Church stood on the site of the cathedral. Temples were erected around it during the campaigns against Kazan - they celebrated the loud victories of the Russian army. When Kazan finally fell, Metropolitan Macarius suggested that Ivan the Terrible rebuild the architectural ensemble in stone. He wanted to surround the central temple with seven churches, but for the sake of symmetry the number was increased to eight. Thus, 9 independent churches and a belfry were built on one foundation; they were connected by vaulted passages. Outside, the churches were surrounded by an open gallery, which was called a walkway - it was a kind of church porch. Each temple was crowned with its own dome with a unique design and original drum decoration. The 65-meter-high structure, grandiose at the time, was built in just six years - from 1555 to 1561. Until 1600 it was the tallest building in Moscow.

Temple in honor of the soothsayer

Although the official name of the cathedral is the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat, everyone knows it as St. Basil's Cathedral. According to legend, the famous Moscow miracle worker collected money for the construction of the temple, and then was buried near its walls. The holy fool St. Basil the Blessed walked the streets of Moscow barefoot, almost without clothes, almost all year, preaching mercy and help to others. There were also legends about his prophetic gift: they say he predicted the Moscow fire of 1547. The son of Ivan the Terrible, Fyodor Ioannovich, ordered the construction of a church dedicated to St. Basil the Blessed. It became part of the Intercession Cathedral. The church was the only temple that was always open - all year round, day and night. Later, by its name, parishioners began to call the cathedral St. Basil's Cathedral.

Louis Bichebois. Lithograph "St. Basil's Church"

Vitaly Grafov. Moscow wonderworker Blessed Basil. 2005

The royal treasury and lectern at Lobnoye Mesto

The cathedral has no basements. Instead, they built a common foundation - a vaulted basement without supporting pillars. It was ventilated through special narrow openings - vents. Initially, the premises were used as a warehouse - the royal treasury and the valuables of some wealthy Moscow families were kept there. Later, the narrow entrance to the basement was blocked - it was found only during the restoration of the 1930s.

Despite its colossal external dimensions, the Intercession Cathedral is quite small inside. Perhaps because it was originally built as a memorial monument. In winter, the cathedral was completely closed, as it was not heated. When services began to be held in the church, especially on major church holidays, very few people could fit inside. Then the lectern was moved to the Place of Execution, and the cathedral seemed to serve as a huge altar.

Russian architect or European master

It is still not known for certain who built St. Basil's Cathedral. Researchers have several options. One of them, the cathedral, was erected by the ancient Russian architects Postnik Yakovlev and Ivan Barma. According to another version, Yakovlev and Barma were actually one person. The third option says that the author of the cathedral was a foreign architect. After all, the composition of St. Basil's Cathedral has no analogues in ancient Russian architecture, but prototypes of the building can be found in Western European art.

Whoever the architect was, there are sad legends about his future fate. According to them, when Ivan the Terrible saw the temple, he was struck by its beauty and ordered the architect to be blinded so that he would never repeat his majestic construction anywhere. Another legend says that the foreign builder was executed altogether - for the same reason.

Iconostasis with a turn

The iconostasis for St. Basil's Cathedral was created in 1895 according to the design of the architect Andrei Pavlinov. This is the so-called iconostasis with a turn - it is so large for a small temple that it continues on the side walls. It is decorated with ancient icons - Our Lady of Smolensk from the 16th century and the image of St. Basil, painted in the 18th century.

The temple is also decorated with paintings - they were created on the walls of the building in different years. Here St. Basil and the Mother of God are depicted; the main dome is decorated with the face of the Savior Almighty.

Iconostasis in St. Basil's Cathedral. 2016. Photo: Vladimir d'Ar

“Lazarus, put him in his place!”

The cathedral was almost destroyed several times. During the Patriotic War of 1812, French stables were located here, and after that the temple was going to be blown up. Already in Soviet times, Stalin's associate Lazar Kaganovich proposed dismantling the cathedral so that there would be more space on Red Square for parades and demonstrations. He even created a model of the square, and the temple building was easily removed from it. But Stalin, seeing the architectural model, said: “Lazarus, put it in its place!”

The Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God (St. Basil's Cathedral) is the main temple of Red Square and all of Moscow. It was built in the middle of the 16th century by decree of Ivan the Terrible in honor of the capture of the Kazan Khanate - part of the former Golden Horde. On October 1, 1552, on the feast of the Intercession of the Mother of God, the assault on Kazan began, which ended in victory for the Russian army.

An old Moscow legend says that when in a camp church near Kazan at a lunch service the deacon proclaimed the Gospel verses: “Let there be one flock and one shepherd,” part of the fortress wall of the enemy city, under which a tunnel was made, flew into the air, and Russian troops entered to Kazan.

Two years later, the Church of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary was founded on Red Square in Moscow. Initially, here, on the edge of the Moscow River, on a hill next to the moat that surrounded the medieval Kremlin and was filled in in the 19th century, there stood a white stone temple in the name of the Life-Giving Trinity, where the most revered holy fool in Rus', St. Basil the Blessed, was buried. The legend said that he himself collected money in the floor for the future Church of the Intercession, brought it to Red Square and threw it over his right shoulder - nickel to nickel, kopeck to kopeck, and no one, not even thieves, touched these coins. And before his death, in August 1552, he gave them to Ivan the Terrible, who soon ordered the construction of a temple on this site.

During the campaigns against Kazan, Ivan the Terrible ordered the erection of votive wooden churches around the Trinity Church in honor of those saints on whose memory days victories were won in the battle with the enemy. So, on August 30, on the day of the three Patriarchs of Constantinople - Alexander, John and Paul - a detachment of the Tatar cavalry of Prince Epanchi was defeated. On September 30, on the day of memory of Gregory of Armenia, the fortress wall of Kazan was taken along with the Arsk Tower. On October 1, the Feast of the Intercession, the assault on the city began, ending victoriously the next day, October 2, on the Feast of Cyprian and Ustinya.

Other temples, according to researchers, were associated with the reigning dynasty or with local Moscow events: for example, Vasily III took monastic vows under the name Varlaam in December 1533 before his death. The Church of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem was founded, probably, in honor of the victorious return of Ivan the Terrible with his army to Moscow, which was symbolically expressed in the Moscow icon of the 16th century “Church Militant”.

All these altars were originally part of the nine chapter-churches of the Intercession Cathedral, when St. Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow advised the Tsar to build one cathedral here in stone. He was the author of the brilliant idea of ​​the new temple. At first it was planned to build seven churches around the central eighth, but during the construction process “for the sake of symmetry” a ninth southern aisle was added, later consecrated in honor of Nikola Velikoretsky.

The Intercession Church was erected in 1555-1561 by Russian architects Barma and Postnik Yakovlev (or perhaps it was the same master - Ivan Yakovlevich Barma). There is a well-known legend that, having seen the temple, Ivan the Terrible ordered the craftsmen to be blinded so that they could not build such a miracle anywhere else. As if when the king asked whether the master could build another equally beautiful temple or an even better one, he answered defiantly: “I can!” - and angered the king. "You are lying!" - Grozny cried and ordered to deprive both eyes so that this temple would remain the only one. Popular rumor spread the rumor that Ivan the Terrible supposedly built this temple in honor of his father, Grand Duke Vasily III: “People will remember me even without churches for a thousand years, but I want my parent to be remembered.” That’s why the temple is supposedly called St. Basil’s.

The throne of the central tent was consecrated in the name of the Intercession of the Mother of God, and the cathedral completely began to be called the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God, “which is on the Moat.” (The celebration of the Intercession was introduced into the Russian church calendar by Saint Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky). The temple was consecrated by Metropolitan Macarius in July 1557 in the presence of the tsar, but construction was continued by the son of Ivan the Terrible, Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, under whom the relics of St. Basil the Blessed, and subsequent sovereigns of the Romanov dynasty.

The small northeastern Church of St. Basil, later built on the grave of the holy fool revered in Moscow, later gave the whole temple another, more common name - St. Basil's Cathedral. However, it, together with the chapel of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, built on the site of the discovery of the relics of the holy fool John of Moscow, was not included in the main ideological and compositional plot of the cathedral, but only seemed to accompany it.

The unique Intercession Cathedral became a military temple and at the same time a complex symbolic embodiment of the Moscow national idea of ​​the Third Rome, representing an architectural image of the biblical New Jerusalem - the Kingdom of God, described in the Revelation of John the Theologian (Apocalypse). They not only prayed in it - it itself was an icon imprinted in stone.

The design of the Intercession Cathedral is based on the apocalyptic symbolism of the Heavenly Jerusalem. The eight chapters, located around the central ninth tent, form a geometric figure in plan from two squares combined at an angle of 45 degrees, in which it is easy to see an eight-pointed star.

The number 8 symbolizes the day of the Resurrection of Christ, which according to the Hebrew calendar was the eighth day, and the coming Kingdom of Heaven - the Kingdom of the “eighth century” (or “eighth kingdom”), which will come after the Second Coming of Christ - after the end of earthly history associated with the apocalyptic number 7.

The square expresses the firmness and constancy of faith and is a cosmic symbol of the Universe: its four equal sides mean the four cardinal directions, the four winds of the Universe, the four ends of the cross, the four canonical Gospels, the four evangelist apostles, the four equilateral walls of Heavenly Jerusalem. The combined squares symbolize the preaching of the Gospels to the four cardinal directions, that is, to the whole world.

The eight-pointed star - a reminder of the Star of Bethlehem, which showed the Magi the way to the infant Christ, the Savior of the world - symbolizes the entire Christian Church as a guiding star in human life to the Heavenly Jerusalem. The eight-pointed star is also a symbol of the Most Holy Theotokos - the Lady of the Church and the Queen of Heaven: in Orthodox iconography, the Mother of God is depicted in a maforia (veil) with three eight-pointed stars on her shoulders and on her forehead as a sign of Her Eternal Virginity - before, during and after the Nativity of Christ.

All these symbols express the eschatological idea underlying the architectural cathedral - the main temple of the Third Rome. The throne in honor of the Intercession of the Mother of God is located in the central tented church, which unites the remaining chapters, as if gathering them around itself. This symbolizes the primacy, protection and intercession of the Mother of God over the Church of Christ and over the entire Russian land. The tent in Russian temple construction symbolizes the canopy, which from ancient times was erected over a sacred place as a sign of its God-protectedness and holiness. A well-known ancient example dates back to Old Testament history, when over the throne of King Solomon there was a canopy (canopy) made of ivory and gold. In the ancient Christian church, the Eucharist was celebrated under the canopy.

The altars in three churches on the main “west-east” axis are consecrated sequentially: in honor of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem (the chapter closest to the Kremlin’s Spassky Gate), the Intercession of the Mother of God (the central tent) and the Holy Trinity in the eastern chapter of the cathedral, that is, in the most important parts of it, because in Orthodox churches the altars are oriented to the east. The famous scientist M.P. Kudryavtsev, whose unique theory of urban planning of medieval Moscow is recognized by Orthodox Moscow scholars, believed that it was the Trinity Church-altar that was the main thing in the ideological composition of the cathedral. In the 16th century, the entire cathedral was called Trinity and after it the adjacent Trade Square was then named Trinity, which later received the name Red, which in ancient Russian meant “beautiful”.

In the composition of the Intercession Cathedral, one can trace the development of a deep plot on this axis: from the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, where He accomplished His redemptive Feat to the Church founded by Him, which, under the Protection of the Mother of God, stands before the Throne of the Holy Trinity, and only through the Church of Christ is the path to the Kingdom open Holy Trinity - to Heavenly Jerusalem.

Initially, the Intercession Cathedral was crowned with 25 chapters: 9 main and 16 small ones, located around the central tent, chapels and bell tower. Its color was also different from the modern one: it was red and white with golden bulbous heads. This was a symbolic expression of the apocalyptic image of the Heavenly Throne, surrounded by 24 elders with golden crowns on their heads and dressed in white robes. There is a version that this also symbolized the 13 kontakia and 12 ikos of the Praise of the Mother of God - the statutory akathist, which was read during Great Lent to the glory of the Mother of God. The internal bypass gallery of the cathedral, painted with intricate floral patterns to resemble the Garden of Eden, has a twelve-pointed cross in plan, which corresponds to the 12 gates in the walls of Heavenly Jerusalem.

For all the splendor of its external appearance, the Intercession Cathedral is quite small inside. Few people could fit there during the service. When services were held on Red Square during major church holidays, it was completely filled with people, the clergy occupied the Place of Execution, where they placed a lectern, and the Intercession Cathedral became the altar of a huge open-air Temple. The ideological composition of Red Square, where the Church of the Intercession dominates, represents a solution to the most difficult problem - the creation of the image of the Temple of the City of God Not Made by Hands in an earthly city (in Heavenly Jerusalem there is no temple, but “there is only His Throne”). Red Square is such a Temple, where the altar, throne and canopy is St. Basil's Cathedral, the pulpit is the Place of Execution, the naos is the space of the square itself, the entrance is the Resurrection Gate, and the role of the dome is played by the open sky.

In favor of this theory proposed by M.P. Kudryavtsev, is also evidenced by the pre-Petrine custom of celebrating the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday). The praying people of Moscow gathered on Red Square, and a religious procession headed there from the Assumption Cathedral through the Spassky Gate. A service was held in the Intercession Church, and the procession returned to the Kremlin. Ahead of the procession rode the patriarch on a white horse, which the king himself led by the bridle - in remembrance of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. The square really turned into a huge praying Temple, and its ideological composition developed from the entrance through the Resurrection Gate (from the 17th century past the chapel of the Iveron Mother of God - Goalkeeper and Intercessor) through the Kazan Cathedral - the image of the Church Militant to the Place of Execution - the Moscow symbol of Golgotha, and from there rushed to the Intercession Cathedral - to Heavenly Jerusalem.

This temple was the main symbol not only on Red Square, but throughout Moscow, being the geometric center of its urban planning ensemble. Its forty-six-meter tent was the highest in the medieval capital until the end of the 16th century, when Boris Godunov completed the bell tower of the Kremlin Church of St. John Climacus to 81 meters, and Ivan the Great appeared in Moscow.

In 1737, the Church of the Intercession was badly damaged by fire and was restored, and the altars of fifteen churches from Red Square were moved under its arches. Then the throne in the name of the three saints. Patriarchs of Constantinople was reconsecrated in the name of John the Merciful, and the throne of Cyprian and Justinia - in the name of St. Adrian and Natalia. In total, the cathedral now has 11 thrones, including the throne of Alexander Svirsky. In the second half of the 18th century, under Catherine II, the cathedral was reconstructed: 16 small chapters around the towers were demolished, preserving the octal symbolism at the base, and the hipped bell tower was connected to the cathedral building. At the same time, the cathedral acquired a modern multi-colored coloring and became a real Moscow miracle.

The temple was preserved by the special providence of God - more than once it found itself on the brink of destruction and each time remained intact. According to legend, Napoleon wanted to transfer the Moscow miracle to Paris, but for now the horses of the French army were stationed in the temple. The technology of that time turned out to be powerless against this task, and then, before the retreat of the French army, he ordered the temple to be blown up along with the Kremlin. Muscovites tried to extinguish the lit wicks, and suddenly pouring torrential rain helped stop the explosion.

In the 19th century, after Neglinka was closed into a chimney, the fence of the Intercession Church was made from an openwork cast-iron lattice from its embankment.

After the revolution, the temple almost became a victim of Bolshevik lawlessness. In September 1918, the authorities shot the rector of the cathedral, Archpriest John Vostorgov, the property of the temple was confiscated, all the bells of its belfry were melted down, and the temple itself was closed, but not demolished. In 1936, Lazar Kaganovich proposed demolishing the Intercession Cathedral to make way for festive demonstrations and traffic on Red Square. There is a legend that he made a special model of Red Square with a removable Intercession Church and brought it to Stalin, showing how the cathedral interfered with demonstrations and cars. “And if only for him - r-time!..” - and with these words he jerked the temple off the square. Stalin looked, thought and slowly uttered the famous phrase: “Lazarus! Put it in its place!..”

The demolition of the temple was stopped primarily by the personal courage of the architect P.D. Baranovsky, a martyr and devotee of Russian culture. When he was ordered to prepare the temple for demolition, he flatly refused and threatened to commit suicide, and then sent a very harsh telegram to the top. There were rumors that supposedly Baranovsky, invited to the Kremlin on this issue, knelt before the assembled Central Committee, begging not to destroy the temple, and this had an effect. Something really stopped Stalin - the decision to demolish it was canceled, and Baranovsky paid with several years in prison.

And in the Intercession Cathedral they opened a museum and began to conduct excursions. In the 70s, during restoration, a spiral wooden staircase was discovered in the wall. Museum visitors now take it to the central temple, where they can see a magnificent tent soaring into the sky, a valuable iconostasis, and walk through the narrow labyrinth of the internal gallery, entirely painted with marvelous patterns.

In November 1990, the first all-night vigil and liturgy were held in the church, and its bells rang at the consecration of the Kazan Cathedral. On the patronal feast of the Intercession, October 13–14, a service is held here. The stunning impression of the candles burning in it, so unusual for us, who from childhood remember only a museum in this famous temple...

Municipal educational institution of the district municipal institution "Khomutovskaya secondary school No. 2"

Regional scientific and practical conference

Cyril and Methodius

Theme: “Temples - monuments in honor of military victories”

Section “Orthodox History”

Work completed

a history teacher

Petrova A.I.

Irkutsk 2015

Abstracts

The thousand-year history of the Russian state will be empty and insignificant without Orthodoxy and the feat of Russian weapons for the glory of the Fatherland. These two concepts are inseparable and are united in temple-monuments in honor of military victories. The bloodiest events in Russia took place in the European part of Russia, especially around its two capitals - Moscow and St. Petersburg, which met the victors, burned, and were reborn from the ashes like a phoenix. On the eve of the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, I would like to remember those pages of Russian history with which the glory of Russian weapons is associated, which was remembered at all times, regardless of state policy and social system.

Orthodox churches in Rus' and in Russia are built in honor of military victories according to the inner conviction of the Russian Grand Dukes, Tsars, Emperors, with public donations and do not have a statute of limitations or oblivion.

There were 932 churches in Moscow, and if you count the boundaries and chapels, then there were 1714 of them. Of these, 1114 -65% were churches built according to a vow, to commemorate victories over the enemy. Military votive churches were divided according to their location into churches in settlements,

The first wooden church was built with the contribution of Prince Dmitry Pozharsky in 1626 -1632. It burned down in 1635, and in its place a stone cathedral was erected in two years. After construction was completed, a smooth wooden pavement was laid from the temple to Lobnoye Mesto, which was first called “Red Bridge” and then “Red Square”.

In the Alexander Nevsky Lavra rest the relics of the outstanding commander and statesman of the 13th century, Alexander Nevsky, recognized by the Russian Orthodox Church as the heavenly patron of St. Petersburg.

Temples built with public donations cannot be destroyed in the people's memory. In Moscow, St. Petersburg, on the Kulikovo Field, temples and monuments to the glory of Russian weapons are located in architectural ensembles. Like heavenly warriors, churches stand on Russian soil, setting an example of the firmness of the Orthodox faith and service to the Fatherland.

1.Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………4

2. Main part. Temples - monuments in honor of military victories…………………………5-13

2.1.Moscow. …………………………………………………………………………………..5-12

2.2. The Most Holy Theotokos – protectors of the Russian land………………………………...6-7

2.3. Scheme of the Kremlin and Red Square……………………………………………………..8-10

2.4.Last tribute. …………………………………………………………………………………. 10-13

3. St. Petersburg and Russian military glory reflected in Orthodox churches………………………………………………………………………………………..13 -14

3.1.In the Alexander – Nevsky Lavra………………………………………………………14

4. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………..14

5. Literature………………………………………………………………………………14

1. Introduction.

The relevance of the problem in all centuries has been at the forefront of the spiritual and moral view of life in Russia. The thousand-year history of the Russian state will be empty and insignificant without Orthodoxy and the feat of Russian weapons for the glory of the Fatherland. These two concepts are inseparable and are united in temples-monuments in honor of military victories. The bloodiest events in Russia took place in the European part of Russia, especially around its two capitals - Moscow and St. Petersburg, which met the victors, burned, and were reborn from the ashes like a phoenix. On the eve of the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, I would like to remember those pages of Russian history with which the glory of Russian weapons is associated, which was remembered at all times, regardless of state policy and social system. Respect for the Orthodox traditions of Russia, the talent of architects and architects, became temples of military glory. They remind us that we cannot be Ivans who do not remember kinship, otherwise an entire people can lose their spiritual core and become a thief in the hands of others.

Target:

Consider in various written sources, photographic materials, reproductions the most significant temples - monuments in honor of military victories that influenced the formation of Russian identity.

Tasks:

Describe the temples of military glory in Moscow and St. Petersburg;

Determine the public attitude towards the construction of Orthodox churches associated with the victories of Russian weapons.

Object of study:

Russian Orthodox churches - monuments of military glory

Subject of study:

Orthodox churches in Moscow and St. Petersburg, built in honor of military victories.

Hypothesis:

To prove that Orthodox churches in Rus' and in Russia are built in honor of military victories according to the inner conviction of the Russian Grand Dukes, Tsars, Emperors, with public donations and do not have a statute of limitations or oblivion.

2. Main part.Temples are monuments in honor of military victories.

One of the first memorial churches in Ancient Rus' was Church of the Intercession on the Nerl, built in 1165 by the holy Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky in memory of the victory over the Volga Bulgars and in honor of his son Izyaslav killed in the battle.

2.1.Moscow.

Moscow is the embodiment of Russian history and culture: in the 17th century. There were 932 churches in Moscow, and if you count the boundaries and chapels, then there were 1714 of them. Of these, 1114 -65% were churches built according to a vow, to commemorate victories over the enemy. Military votive churches were divided according to their location into churches in settlements,

those who took part in this battle, and churches built in the most revered places (the Kremlin, Red Square, China - the city, monasteries).

The tradition of honoring great victories over foreign enemies in Moscow has changed over time. In ancient times, the national victory was celebrated with a church celebration, under Peter I state triumphs appeared, later civil monuments and military memorials were created, but over the centuries a stable symbol of the victory holiday has been preserved - thanksgiving and memorial churches.

The first victory immortalized in a monument, known in the history of Muscovite Rus', was a diplomatic victory. After the Tver uprising of 1327 against the khan's tribute collectors, in which the khan's nephew Shevkal was killed, the Tver prince took refuge in Pskov. Khan Uzbek assembled a punitive campaign and put the Moscow prince Ivan Kalita at the head of the army. However, on the eve of the feast of St. John the Climacus, the litigation, with the help of St. Theognostus, Metropolitan of Moscow, was resolved peacefully, without bloodshed. In gratitude for the peaceful victory, Ivan Kalita founded in 1329 a church in the name of John Climacus - the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. The traditional version of historians that the reason for its founding was the birth of Ivan Kalita’s son, named Ivan, was refuted by Ivan Zabelin: the heavenly guardian of the baby was Saint John, Patriarch of Jerusalem, and not John Climacus.

Church in the name of John Climacus

(Ivan the Great belltower)

The first military victory of Muscovite Rus' was won in the Battle of Kulikovo. Then the first military memorials appeared in Moscow: St. George's Church in Kolomenskoye, founded, according to legend, by Dmitry Donskoy himself, when he stopped in Kolomenskoye, returning with victory to Moscow - dead soldiers were buried near this temple; and the Church of All Saints on Kulishki - in memory of all those who fell on the Kulikovo Field. (There is a version that a wooden temple of the same name stood on Kulishki since 1367, and the Donskoy army, going to battle, served a prayer service near it). At his beloved Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Stary Simonovo, Dmitry Donskoy buried the Sergius Moscow Church of All Saints on Kulishki

monks-warriors of Peresvet and Ooslabya ​​and established Dmitrievsky parental Saturday for

church commemoration of the dead. The mother of the hero of the Battle of Kulikovo, Prince Vladimir Serpukhovsky, founded the Nativity Monastery, since the victory was won on this holiday, and after the death of Dmitry Donskoy, his widow Grand Duchess Evdokia founded, according to a vow, the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Senya at her Kremlin chambers

At the walls of the Spaso-Andronnikov Monastery in 1380, Muscovites met soldiers returning from the Kulikovo field. In the wooden church of the monastery, built by the disciple of Sergius of Radonezh, the Monk Andronnik, a prayer service was served in honor of the victory, and those who died on the banks of the Don were buried in the fence. Between 1410 and 1427 the old church was dismantled and the white-stone Spassky Cathedral was erected in its place. The monastery was devastated by the Mongol-Tatar (XIV-XV centuries), Polish-Lithuanian (1611) and Napoleonic (1812) troops, but each time it rose from the ruins. The relics of Andrei Rublev, who was canonized on July 17, 1989, rest in the monastery.

Cathedral of the Savior Not Made by Hands

2.2. The Most Holy Theotokos are the protectors of the Russian land.

More than a thousand years of history of the Russian state takes place under the cover of miraculous images of the Mother of God, who created the sacred geography of the Russian land.

Our Lady of Vladimir defender of Moscow, guards the very center, the heart of our state - the Kremlin, China - the city. Such decisive events for our Fatherland as the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380. and Borodinskaya in 1812. occurred on the days of the Nativity of the Mother of God and her Vladimir icon.

Tikhvin Mother of God. The Tikhvin icon protects the northern borders of the state.

Kazan Icon of the Mother of God Since the time of Ivan the Terrible, he has defended Russia from the east.

Russia's western borders were defended Smolensk Mother of God, called Hodegetria (“Guide”). In difficult times for the country - in 1395, 1482 and 1612, 1812 and 1941 - the icons of the Mother of God stood as an unbreakable wall in the path of those who sought the destruction of the Russian land.

Spiritual shield on the southern borders of the Fatherland - Don Icon of the Mother of God. The Don Cossacks presented this saving image as a gift to Prince Dmitry Ivanovich (Donskoy) after the victory on the Kulikovo Field.

The monument to the miraculous salvation of Moscow from the invasion of Timur became Sretensky Monastery, based on the meeting place of the miraculous Vladimir Icon, brought by order of Grand Duchess Evdokia from Vladimir to protect the Russian capital. And the Holy Cross Monastery was founded in memory of the deliverance of Moscow from the invasion of Khan Mehmet in 1440 - it was demolished under Soviet rule. This monastery was founded by the treasurer and favorite of Prince Vasily the Dark, Prince Khovrin, who had a house here. After the Khan left, he built a stone temple in his yard, which was then converted into a monastery, of which today only the name of Vozdvizhenka Street remains.

The largest military triumph of medieval Rus' was the conquest of Kazan. The monument to this victory was the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat (1555 -1561) on Red Square - a symbolic embodiment of the idea of ​​God's chosen Third Rome and the architectural image of the Heavenly Jerusalem. On the Feast of the Intercession on October 1, 1552, the victorious assault on Kazan began. The remaining eight temple-altars surrounding the central tent of the Intercession are reminiscent of the old white-stone Trinity Church, in which St. Basil the Blessed was buried, and of the battles that preceded the conquest of Kazan. They are consecrated in the name of those saints, on whose memory days victories were won in the battle with the enemy.

In the late autumn of 1552, all of Moscow, led by Saint Macarius, met Ivan the Terrible and the army at the walls of the Sretensky Monastery. The king dismounted and fell on his face in front of the monastery. After a prayer of thanks, he took off his armor, put on royal clothes and went to the Kremlin with a procession of the cross. After the service in the Assumption Cathedral, a grandiose three-day feast followed in the Faceted Chamber. The Tsar and the Metropolitan made speeches that emphasized not only the national, but also the Christian meaning of the victory over the infidel Tatars who were tormenting the Russian land. The Tsar says that the victory was won only thanks to Divine help, thanked the Metropolitan, all the clergy and all the Russian people for their prayers, thanked his army, generously granting the winners sable fur coats, golden cups, horses, estates. The Tsar promises to build a temple in honor of the victory over the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates

If you look at the Intercession Cathedral from above, you can see an eight-pointed star. Eight churches - rays - are closely pressed against each other around the largest central tented temple - a figure of two squares, shifted relative to each other by 45 0 and forming an eight-pointed star. A little apart, under a hipped dome, there is a bell tower. This is not just a temple, but a town of temples connected by galleries and ceilings (the 10th tent is located above the burial place of St. Basil). The architects of the temple were masters Barma and Postnik Yakovlev.

2.3.Scheme of the Kremlin and Red Square

Cathedral of Christ the Savior

St. Basil's Cathedral

Intercession of the Virgin Mary on the Moat Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God on Red Square

The victory over the Poles was celebrated with churches. In honor of the victory of 1612, a thanksgiving Kazan Cathedral was founded on Red Square in honor of the shrine of the second militia of K. Minin and D. Pozharsky - the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God - and religious processions from the Kremlin with the participation of king On October 22, 1612, the squads solemnly, with a procession of the cross, went to the Kremlin, carrying in front of them the icon of the Kazan Mother of God. At Lobnoye Place, the religious procession led by the Kazan icon was greeted by Archbishop Arseny, who emerged from the Kremlin. He carried the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, which he had preserved in captivity. In front of the shocked people, a meeting of two miraculous icons of the Mother of God took place.

The first wooden church was built with the contribution of Prince Dmitry Pozharsky in 1626 -1632. It burned down in 1635, and in its place a stone cathedral was erected in two years. After construction was completed, a smooth wooden pavement was laid from the temple to Lobnoye Mesto, which was first called “Red Bridge” and then “Red Square”. In 1936, the cathedral began to be destroyed. In 1937 At the site of the demolition of the temple, a pavilion was erected in honor of the Third International, designed by B. Iofan. Later, a toilet was installed here, which was popular among GUM visitors. Half a century later, in 1989, a public movement arose for the restoration of the Kazan Church. On November 4, 1993, on the day of the Icon of the Kazan Mother of God, the doors of the cathedral were again opened to believers.

A grandiose celebration in Moscow took place in honor of the Battle of Poltava (1709), which became not only a radical turning point in the Northern War, but also the collapse of the occupation plans of Charles XII, who had already appointed a Swedish governor-general of Moscow. That is why the Poltava victory was celebrated in Moscow with special triumph. Petervelel ordered to compose a rite of thanksgiving church service “about the great God-given victory.” In the same summer of 1709, by order of Peter and with his personal funds, the Bolshoi

Temple of John the Warrior on Yakimanka

In Yakimanka, construction began on the stone temple of John the Warrior, the patron saint of warriors for the Fatherland. According to legend, the sovereign himself drew up a sketch of it and allocated a priceless brick to the architect Ivan Zarudny.

On the feast of the Nativity of Christ, December 25, 1812, when the last Napoleonic soldier left Russia, Alexander I signed a Manifesto on the construction of the thanksgiving Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. And after Paris was taken in March 1814 and the war ended, Alexander I issued a decree to the Holy Synod to henceforth serve in all churches on Christmas after

Cathedral of Christ the Savior

festive liturgy, a thanksgiving prayer in “memory of the deliverance of the Church and the Russian state from the invasion of the Gauls and with them twenty languages.” So that the memory of that victory - “both the deliverance of Russia and the salvation of all of Europe” - would be preserved from generation to generation. In Russia, the day of victory over Napoleon was established on December 25. It was no coincidence that the Emperor chose as the date of celebration not the March capture of Paris, but the expulsion of the enemy from Russia, since this liberation was attributed to Divine Providence, which preserved the state. On the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, a prayer of thanksgiving to the Savior was especially appropriate. The Emperor approved the Sparrow Hills for the construction of the temple, where the last Napoleonic redoubt stood in October 1812. After the death of Alexander I, construction was stopped due to financial troubles; the national idea of ​​a thanksgiving church already required implementation in national forms of architecture. That is why in the second competition for the creation of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the project of Konstantin Ton, who turned to the Russian-Byzantine style, won. The temple was founded again in 1839 on Prechistenskaya embankment and was built with funds from the treasury and public donations. On May 26, 1883, in the presence of Emperor Alexander III and with a large crowd of people, the temple was consecrated. It became the tallest building in Moscow and the largest temple in Russia (height 103.5 m, capacity 10 thousand people).

Oh, Temple of the Savior Christ

Your appearance is strong for a reason -

You are freedom incarnate.

On victorious blood

You are the memory of fiery love

And the glory of the Russian people.

Yuri Konetsky “Shrine”

On December 5, 1931, on the initiative of L.M. Kaganovich and the personal order of I.V. Stalin, the temple was blown up. On the site of the destroyed temple, it was planned to build the Palace of the Soviets with a height of 480 m, but this project was not implemented, and in 1960. The Moscow swimming pool was opened in a deep pit. And on January 7, the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, 1995, an artillery salute rang out while the bells were ringing. In the presence of Patriarch Alexy II, government officials, Moscow authorities, and the public, a capsule and memorial plaque were laid into the foundation of the recreated temple-monument. On April 14, 1996, on Easter Day, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior opened its doors to believers. The next day, the canonization of the royal family (Nicholas II) took place in the temple.

2.4. Last tribute. Spaso-Borodino Monastery. A few weeks after the Battle of Borodino, the mournful figure of the widow of the murdered Major General A.A. Tuchkov appeared on the battlefield. Accompanied by an elder monk, Magarita Mikhailovna looked for her husband’s body, but did not find it. In 1817 MM. Tuchkova asked for the highest permission to build a memorial church - a chapel in the name of the Savior Not Made by Hands. This temple became the first and main monument to the fallen heroes of Borodin. Opposite him, Margarita Mikhailovna built a small gatehouse for herself, in which she began to live alone after the death of her only son Nikolenka. Widows began to come and live with the Borodino hermit. In 1840, Margarita Mikhailovna was tonsured a nun with the name Maria and elevated to the rank of abbess of the Spaso-Borodinsky monastery.

Abbess Maria (Tuchkova) General A.A. Tuchkov

Temple - tomb of the Savior - Image Not Made by Hands

(Photograph from the early 20th century)

There the land is baptized,

The blood on it was holy;

There, saving the Throne and Rus',

The whole army lay down,

Saved both the Throne and Rus'

Vasily Zhukovsky

Chapel-monument to the heroes of Plevna

The Russian-Turkish War of 1877–1878 left two Orthodox monuments in Moscow. The first to appear was the memorial chapel of Alexander Nevsky on Moiseevskaya Square, built according to the design of D.N. Chichagov in 1883 in memory of the fallen Russian soldiers. Four years later, exactly the same monument - to the heroes of Plevna - was erected at the Ilyinsky Gate for the 10th anniversary of the great battle on the initiative of the grenadiers and the Russian Archaeological Society. Its author was V.O. Sherwood, architect of the Historical Museum. Both monuments are made in the form of a chapel, which is connected with the task of the competition announced for the selection of the project - “to express the goal for which Russian soldiers died in battle”, and with its dedication: in Bulgaria there was a tradition of erecting chapel monuments. The shape of the monument-chapel is purely Russian - a tent topped with a cross, a crescent and kokoshniks. Reliefs on the monument to heroes The monument was opened with a military parade, in the presence of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, Moscow Governor-General Prince V.A. Dolgorukov and mayor N.A. Alekseeva.

Tomb of Russian admirals in Sevastopol. The Cathedral of Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir is located on the Central City Hill of Sevastopol. Built in the Byzantine style according to the design of architecture professor K.A. Ton. The project was finalized and changed by academician A.A. Avdeev. Laid down on July 15, 1854. During the war of 1854-1855. work was suspended and continued only in 1858. The lower church was consecrated on October 5, 1881 in the name of St. Nicholas. The upper church was consecrated in 1888 in the name of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir. The cathedral is the tomb of the Russian admirals M.P. Lazarev, V.A. Kornilova, V.I. Istomina, P.S. Nakhimov. Inside, marble slabs with the names of 33 heroes are installed on the walls.

Tomb of Russian Admirals

First defense awarded the Order of St. George. In 1932, the cathedral was looted and the graves were desecrated. The cathedral was closed, and in subsequent

for years it housed workshops

Aircraft Construction Society Restoration of St. Vladimir's Cathedral

then the warehouse of the political department of the Black Sea Fleet. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941 -1945. the cathedral building was heavily damaged. After restoration in 1972, the building was transferred to the Museum of the Heroic Defense and Liberation of Sevastopol. September 19, 1991 The consecration of the cathedral took place.

The ashes of Russian admirals will serve as a shrine for all present and future sailors of the Black Sea Fleet, a monument to the heroes of the defense of Sevastopol in 1854-1855.

Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Maryin the village of Monastyrshchina.

The Russian army, having driven the remnants of Mamai's horde across the Mecha River, returned to the battlefield and buried the warriors who had fallen in battle on the high bank of the Nepryadva, at its confluence with the Don. This place was called Green Oak and consisted of an oak forest. An oak church was built on the bones of the slain soldiers in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrated on September 8 (Old Style). i.e. on the day of the battle.

Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary

This is how a memorial structure of ancient Russian architects arose on the Kulikovo Field. A village was soon built near the church, called Rozhdestvenskoye. This village was assigned to the Moscow Donskoy Monastery, from which it received its second, now more well-known name - Monastyrshchina. Over the centuries, the church burned down more than once, but was always rebuilt.

Ivanovka. Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh on the Kulikovo Field.

Church of St. George the Victorious on Poklonnaya Hill, on the territory of the Victory Park memorial complex, built in honor of the victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Built in 1993-1995 for the 50th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
Architect A.T. Polyansky.

Temple of St. George the Victorious

3. St. Petersburg and Russian glory,

reflected in Orthodox churches.

On Nevsky Prospekt there is the Kazan Cathedral, which became a monument to the victory of Russian weapons over Napoleonic France. Field Marshal M.I. Kutuzov is buried here. A monument with his image, as well as a monument to the hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, M.B. Barclay de Tolly, are installed in front of the northern facade.

One of the shrines of Russian Orthodoxy, the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, is kept in the Temple.

Kazan Cathedral. Architect

A.N. Voronikhin.

Grave of Field Marshal M.I. Kutuzov

One of the churches in St. Petersburg associated with the naval glory of Russian weapons was the St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral. The first solemn service in the cathedral took place on September 14, 1770. after the victory over the Turkish armada near Chesma. In the cathedral there is an icon of St. Nicholas, one of the most beloved saints of the Russian people. He was named Nicholas the Wonderworker, the patron saint of sailors.

St. Nicholas-Epiphany Naval Cathedral

Icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

3.1. In the Alexander Nevsky Lavra rests the relics of the outstanding commander and statesman of the 13th century, Alexander Nevsky, recognized by the Russian Orthodox Church as the heavenly patron of St. Petersburg. Under his command, Russian troops won a victory over the Swedes on the banks of the Neva in 1240. The relics of Alexander Nevsky rest in the Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Also in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra there is the grave of A.V. Suvorov, where it is written on the tombstone “Here lies Suvorov.”

Holy Trinity Cathedral

Reliquary with the relics of Alexander Nevsky

4. Conclusion.

Having examined written sources, photographs, reproductions, and video materials about temple-monuments built in honor of military victories, we can conclude that temples built according to vows made before battles or after their victorious outcome played a large role in the formation of Russian identity. And the great princes, and the kings, and the emperors considered it their moral duty to the memory of those who fell for their Fatherland, to perpetuate their feat of arms in cathedrals, chapels, monasteries, where Orthodox Russians could read a prayer of remembrance for them from the soul, coming from the heart. Temples built with public donations cannot be destroyed in the people's memory. In Moscow, St. Petersburg, on the Kulikovo Field, temples and monuments to the glory of Russian weapons are located in architectural ensembles. Like heavenly warriors, churches stand on Russian soil, setting an example of the firmness of the Orthodox faith and service to the Fatherland.

5. Literature.

1. Marina Anashkevich Temples of Russia Publisher: AST Astrel M., 2007.

2. Moscow Panorama of centuries. AST Astrel M., 2005

3. St. Petersburg and suburbs N. Popova, N. Kutov. Album edition “P-2”, St. Petersburg, 2005.

4.//Foma. OPK basics of Orthodox culture for teachers, parents and children. Special issue 2014, M., Publishing House "Foma"

5. S. Chekhov The fate of the Russian capital, Enlightenment M., 2010

6. http/www/ [email protected].

7. http/www/rossiyanavsegda.ru

8. http://pravoslavnie.gorojane.tv/usypalnica-russkix-admiralov/#sthash.LF36nLPs.dpuf

9. http://www.pravnov.ru