Temples on the Arbat - schedule of services. Temple of Simeon the Stylite on the cook's

The Church of the Transfiguration on the Arbat is one of the most beautiful works of Moscow architecture, familiar to every Muscovite from childhood from the painting by V.D. Polenov "Moscow courtyard". The area in which it was built was called "Sands" in the 17th century because of the sandy soil. The Church of the Savior on the Sands was founded by archers who settled here during the reign of Mikhail Feodorovich. The archers were settled in regiments, and their settlements stretched in a ring along the fortifications of the Earthen City - the outskirts of Moscow, protected by an earthen fortress. Usually in the center of the streltsy settlement there was a square with the Order's hut, where the command and equipment of the regiment were located. Near the Prikaznaya hut, there was a guardhouse and a church with a cemetery, which existed here already in 1639.
The name of the settlement, and, accordingly, the name of the location of the temple was determined by the name of the head of the streltsy order, i.e. shelf. Therefore, in different time The settlement was called differently, for example, in 1643 the church was listed "in Filippov's order of Onichkov", and in 1657 - "in Streletskaya settlement, in Timofeev's order of Poltev". In 1657 it was still wooden. Streltsy in Moscow had privileges - the right to duty-free trade, getting rid of citywide duties. Therefore, the Streltsy settlement was prosperous, and many "Streltsy" temples became stone in the middle of the 17th century. On the Sands, the archers built a five-domed pillarless church with three apses and a large refectory, a bell tower and a northern chapel in the name of St. Nicholas.

The time of construction of the stone church of the Transfiguration of the Lord is not exactly known. In 1723, when compiling a census of Moscow churches, it was considered built "from the old days", that is, a long time ago. This probably happened at the end of the 17th century, when the regiment settled here was commanded by the stolnik and colonel Grigory Ivanovich Annenkov. At the beginning of the 18th century, the archers of his regiment served in Baturin, the capital of the Hetman of Little Russia Mazepa, and witnessed the dramatic events associated with him.
After the abolition of the streltsy army, the suburban way of life with a homogeneous population gradually began to become a thing of the past. Streltsy households had new owners: nobles, officers, merchants and philistines. With their pious zeal, the Streltsy church was restored after the Moscow fire of 1752, when the roofs burned on it. In 1763, the parishioners wished to arrange a new chapel in the refectory in the name of the Archangel Michael, which has not survived to this day.

A tragic stage in the history of Moscow churches was the fire of 1812. The Church of the Savior on the Sands did not pass the test either. The roofs were burned, the Holy Thrones were desecrated and broken, liturgical utensils were plundered. 18 parish yards and 5 houses of the church clergy burned down.
After the return of residents to the deserted capital, the churches that were damaged and left without parishioners were attributed to others that were better preserved. This fate befell the church on the Sands. "Because of little parishion and inability to serve," she was temporarily assigned to the neighboring Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity on the Arbat. Gradually, the parishioners began to return to their ashes.

Despite the insignificance of the parish, by 1814 the church had been restored. The headman of the church, merchant Grigory Evdokimov, with other parishioners, petitioned Archbishop Augustine to restore the independence of the Church of the Savior on Sands. In 1815-1817 the thrones of the temple were re-consecrated. The parish yards were rebuilt after the fire, and the number of people living in them reached 430 people. The ruin and subsequent revival of the parish and the church took place under the rector Fr. Vasily Nagibin, who served in the church from 1805 to 1836.
Already in 1836, the strengthened parish was able to make another repair of the newly dilapidated church. In 1849, under the rector, Fr. Fedor Velichkina was erected a stone fence. A front gate was placed opposite the main entrance. Later in 1891 they were connected to the bell tower by a vestibule and turned into the main portal of the church. The temple was constantly repaired - oak doors and frames were replaced. In the early 1890s, the artist A.M. Varlamov re-registered the murals of the temple, the famous icon painter M.I. Dikarev updated the temple images. The central dome was gilded, the walls were plastered and painted, and an oven was installed.
All work was carried out on donations from the parishioners: the merchant families Evdokimov, Finogenov, as well as the headman of the church, Sergei Petrovich Turgenev, a cousin of the great writer. At his expense, not only the main chapel was renovated, but also a two-story stone building was built, which housed the church library, as well as a one-story stone house of the parochial school.

To late XIX century, the parish grew significantly - the number of parishioners reached 816 people. At that time, Father Sergei Vasilyevich Uspensky (1882-1922) served in the church. Under his spiritual care, a parish school and an almshouse were opened at the temple. Concerned about the moral state of the people, Father Sergius Uspensky created a special guardianship for the fight against drunkenness. According to the recollections of parishioners at the beginning of the 20th century, the most revered icons in the temple were the images of the Appearance of the Mother of God to St. Sergius of Radonezh and St. Seraphim of Sarov with particles of the relics of the saints. The temple had a wonderful ensemble of bells. It is no coincidence that its bell tower was one of four in Moscow, where the famous bell ringer and musician Konstantin Saradzhev, who had a phenomenal hearing, rang.

1908-1910

After the October upheaval, an era of new trials began for the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord on the Sands. Archpriest Sergiy Vasilyevich Uspensky remained the rector at that time. Known in Moscow for his piety, Father Sergius becomes deputy chairman of the Council of United Parishes of Moscow and the province of A.F. Samarina. This obedience opened the path of confession for Father Sergius, since the Council was created to organize church life in conditions of open persecution. In 1919, on behalf of the parishioners of the Spaso-Peskovskaya Church, a statement was drawn up to the Council of People's Commissars about the insult to the religious feelings of the Russian people, caused by the opening of the holy relics and mockery of them. Soon, in 1919, Father Sergius was arrested along with A.F. Samarin and accused of organizing active resistance to the new government. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but then amnestied. In April 1922, under the pretext of helping the starving people of the Volga region, all significant objects made of precious materials were seized from the church - vessels, robes, crosses, and so on. Father Sergius was again arrested and tried along with other clerics of the Prechistensky forty, sentenced to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property. Due to old age, Archpriest Sergius was conditionally released in the spring of 1923. After the arrest of Father Sergius, Father Vladimir Bogdanov served in the church. In 1923, he was also arrested and exiled to the Zyryansk region. From 1925 to 1931, the well-known preacher Fr. Sergiy Shchukin, a close friend of A.P. Chekhov. In 1917, he was elected a member of the Local Council of the Russian Church from the Taurida diocese. Father Sergiy Shchukin was also loved by his Moscow parishioners. When he died in 1931, all Orthodox Moscow went to say goodbye to him for three days, and during the funeral, the Arbat was crowded with people.

September 19, 1921 on the day of celebrationthe miracle performed by the Archangel Michael in Khonekh, in the temple the Divine Liturgy was celebrated by the saintTikhon (Bellavin),Patriarch of Moscow

In 1929, Father Sergius Mikhailovich Uspensky, nephew of the mitered Archpriest Sergius Vasilyevich Uspensky, was transferred to the Church of the Savior on the Sands. He was the rector of the Church of the Burning Bush in Zubov, which was in the same Prechistensky Magpie, which was closed in 1929.

Father Sergei Mikhailovich Uspensky was the last rector of the church. In 1933, after the closure of the Church of the Savior on Sands, Father Sergius moved to the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker on Schepakh, but was soon arrested. Then, after a short stay at liberty, Father Sergius was again arrested and sentenced to death. On December 19, 1937, he received a martyr's crown at the Butovo training ground, along with other sufferers for the Faith of Christ. Father Sergius, like his uncle, the mitered archpriest Sergius Uspensky, was depicted on the canvases of the artist Pavel Korin, who created a gallery of images of many confessors of the persecuted Church.

Hieromartyr Sergius Uspensky

By decision of the Council of Bishops, Archpriest Sergius Uspensky (junior) was glorified as a Holy New Martyr and Confessor of Russia.

The closed temple was devastated and its shrines plundered or destroyed. In the 1930s, many neighboring Arbat churches were destroyed - the churches of St. Nicholas in Plotniki, St. Nicholas the Apparition on the Arbat, and others. The Church of the Savior on the Sands survived, for several decades it was adapted to the needs of various Soviet organizations - it was partitioned off with numerous partitions, wall panels were destroyed painting. The attitude to national culture that changed in the post-war period helped the temple. It has been declared an architectural monument.

In the 1960s, the architectural restoration of the temple took place, during which the external appearance of the temple was restored. Inside, nothing reminded of the House of God. Since 1956, for almost forty years, the puppet department of the Soyuzmultfilm studio has been located here. The main aisle was divided into two floors, the altar was turned into a carpentry workshop.

1962

In 1991, by decision of the Moscow government, the temple was transferred to the Patriarchy. The appointed rector, Archpriest Alexander Turikov, cleric of the Church of Philip the Apostle, was to return the temple Orthodox Church. A confrontation began with the former tenant, which ended only in 1993 with the entry of the Orthodox community into their church. This happened on December 21, on the eve of the celebration of the icon of the Mother of God "Unexpected Joy". The chapel of St. Nicholas was the first to be freed for worship, and only in 1995 the Church of the Savior on the Sands was completely freed from tenants. The gradual opening of the temple space itself began. When the ceilings and partitions were dismantled, the initial dispensation of the church was revealed to the eyes of the believers. The new restoration began with strengthening the foundations and walls. By the grace of God, the efforts of the community were supported by a variety of benefactors - from ordinary parishioners who contribute their mite to such state institutions as the Federal Security Service, which donated about 100 icons to the temple through the Tretyakov Gallery. The Musical Theater of Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko donated ten bells to the temple from the blown up Strastnoy Monastery.

According to the plan of the rector of the temple, Archpriest Alexander Turikov, the interior decoration had to correspond in style to the time of its construction - the end of the 17th century. Carved iconostases, floor icon cases, wall paintings create a single ensemble that adorns the House of God. Icon painters, carvers and gilders worked for ten years. By the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ in 2004, the painting of the temple was completed.
A significant stage in the history of the revived church was its visit by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, which took place on April 30, 2005 on the eve of Holy Pascha on Great Saturday. Having inspected the temple, His Holiness, in his First Hierarchal Oration, noted the zeal of the rector and the flock, who completed the difficult task of restoring the desecrated shrine. His Holiness the Patriarch pointed to the great joy of service and prayer in the renovated church.

Visiting the temple by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II on Great Saturday 2005.

On December 24, 2006, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia led the rite of great consecration and the Divine Liturgy in the renovated Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior on Sands. His Holiness was co-served by Archbishop Arseniy of Istra and Bishop Ambrose of Bronnitsa. Archpriest Alexander and the parishioners of the temple presented His Holiness with an 18th-century icon with images and particles of the relics of Saints Gury, Barsanuphius and Herman of Kazan, which belonged to the holy Patriarch Tikhon and was in the collection of M. Gubonin. His Holiness the Patriarch presented awards to the participants in the revival of the temple. The Order of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Olga of the III degree was awarded to the headman of the church N.A. Pankratova and the regent of the temple A.A. Turikova. Member of the Parish Assembly L.L. Shevchenko and the head of the Administration of TU "Arbat" A.V. Sadikov. Neklyudova O.V., Dombrovskaya M.V., Sokolov A.V., Alekseev B.A., Laninsky Yu.B., Zhilin A.V. - medals of Rev. Sergius of Radonezh I degree.

Great consecration of the temple in 2006

For diligent pastoral service and work on the revival of the temple, the rector of the temple, Archpriest Alexander Turikov, was awarded a high liturgical award - the right to wear a mitre.

February 5, 2012, there was another significant event in the life of the temple. On the week of the publican and the Pharisee, the feast of the Synod of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia celebrated the Divine Liturgy. His Holiness was co-served by: Metropolitan Varsonofy of Saransk and Mordovia, head of the affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate; Metropolitan Lev of Novgorod and Starorussky; Bishop Sergius of Solnechnogorsk, head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Moscow Patriarchate; Bishop Savva of the Resurrection, abbot of the Novospassky stauropegial monastery, clergy of the city of Moscow. During the Liturgy, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church and the hierarchs who concelebrated with His Holiness consecrated Archimandrite Ephraim (Barbinagra) to the bishopric of Borovichi and Pestovsk.

Having survived fires and wars, devastation and desecration, the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord on the Sands regained its original purpose, becoming the House of Prayer.

Its bells again call Orthodox Muscovites to the spiritual joy of communion with God.

Shrines of the temple: revered icons of the Mother of God "Unexpected Joy" and "Sign", icons: Transfiguration of the Lord, St. Nicholas in his life, schmch. Sergius of the Assumption, icons with particles of holy relics: St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, St. Mitrophan of Voronezh, St. Luke of the archbishop of Simferopol and Crimea and others

This street is one of the main sights of Moscow. It is believed that it is one of the few that has retained its historical appearance. But few people know how many temples were destroyed here.

On the site of the church - "Leninka"

We will start our journey almost from the walls of the Moscow Kremlin. At the intersection of Mokhovaya Street and Vozdvizhenka (which was once considered part of the Arbat), where the complex of buildings of the Russian State Library now rises, there was an amazingly beautiful tent church, consecrated in honor of the Great Martyr Irina. It was the home temple of the boyar Streshnev, known since 1629. After the Napoleonic invasion, it was abolished, and apartments for rent were arranged in the building. Later, all the manor buildings were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and after the scientific restoration of the ancient church, divine services resumed in it. Soon after the Bolsheviks came to power, the church was closed again, and in the early 1930s it was demolished in connection with the start of the construction of the library.

Saltykov-Shchedrin got married here

Let's go a little further along Vozdvizhenka towards Arbat Square and stop at the underpass next to Voentorg. Pay attention to a small wasteland among historical buildings - once there was an entrance to one of the oldest monasteries in the capital - Krestovozdvizhensky, which gave the name to this part of the street. According to legend, it was founded by Prince Khovrin in his court in the 15th-16th centuries. The main Exaltation of the Cross Church has been known since the time of Ivan the Terrible (then it was still made of wood). Under Peter I, the monastery was decorated with a new baroque stone cathedral. After the invasion of the French, the plundered monastery was no longer revived, and its main temple became a parish. In these holy walls M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin married Elizaveta Boldina. In 1934, the majestic temple was destroyed by the godless authorities. Until 1979, the monastery gates were still preserved, but soon they were lost due to the construction of an underground passage.

Where Ivan the Terrible prayed

After leaving the Arbat Square, go to a small commemorative sign of the chapel. It was installed in 1995 in memory of the destroyed Borisoglebskaya church, which had previously stood in the place where the underground passage is now located next to the Khudozhestvenny cinema. The first stone temple appeared here in 1527. Ivan the Terrible loved this church very much and often prayed in it. When the building fell into disrepair, in its place, according to the project of the architect Karl Blank, a new church was erected with aisles of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God and the Resurrection of the Word. He lasted until 1930 ...

In 1997, the Moscow government decided to restore the church, but not on a historical site and according to a different project. On August 6 of the same year, the solemn consecration of the chapel was performed by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II.

Initially, the current Vozdvizhenka was called Arbat Street, but then the part of the Smolensk road between the Smolensk and Arbat gates began to be called Arbat.

At the Arbat Gate

Quite close to the previous temple, on the site of the ground vestibule of the Arbatskaya metro station of the Filevskaya line, until 1934, there was the Tikhonovskaya Church, which is at the Arbat Gates. The first temple appeared here in 1689. It had two chapels - Tikhon of Amaphunt and Nicholas the Wonderworker. In the middle of the next century, the temple was expanded and a chapel was built in its new part in honor of the Resurrection of the Word. During the Napoleonic invasion, the temple was plundered. However, the very next year, the Tikhonovskaya church was consecrated again, and it acquired a three-tiered bell tower (its exact copy has been preserved at the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker on Shchepnoy Dvor, in First Smolensky Lane).

Your pedestrians -
small people,
knocking with heels -
business is in a hurry.

Nikola Appeared

Having examined the Arbat Square, we head to the old Arbat and between houses 14 and 16 we again see the interruption of the historical development of the street. The fact is that until 1931 there was one of the most beautiful churches Moscow - the temple of St. Nicholas the Manifested, on the Arbat. Its foundation is attributed to Boris Godunov himself. It was erected in 1593 and became the first stone church on the Arbat. They called him "New Forgiveness" or "Revealed". Nearby was the Church of the Intercession, on the site of which a chapel later appeared, which later became the chapel of St. Nicholas Church (during the next reconstruction). Some time later, the temple acquired a chapel of the Akhtyrskaya Icon of the Mother of God. This icon was donated to the parish by Empress Elizabeth. In the 19th century, a new refectory was built in the church, and then the chapel of St. Mitrofiy of Voronezh was consecrated. After the demolition, it was planned to build a polyclinic of the People's Commissariat of Defense on the site of the temple, but the holy place is still empty to this day. Relatively recently, the priest of the St. Nicholas Church, Vasily Sokolov, was canonized, his memory is celebrated on May 13.

In the Carpenter's Sloboda

Further, our path lies to the five-story gray building at number 45. In its place, until 1932, there was another St. Nicholas Church. The first wooden church appeared here in 1625, when the Royal Carpenter's Sloboda was located in this corner of the capital. Later, a single-domed stone temple was built. Among the parishioners were the Pushkin and Khomyakov families. During the years of the October Revolution, Archpriest Vladimir Vorobyov, the grandfather of the current rector of the Orthodox St. Tikhon's Theological Institute, Archpriest Vladimir Vorobyov, was the rector of the Church of St. Nicholas in Plotniki.

You flow like a river.
Strange name!
And transparent asphalt
like water in a river.
Ah, Arbat, my Arbat,
you are my calling.
You are my joy
and my trouble.

The fate of this temple was tragic as well. Soviet power. In 1929, it was closed and later demolished in order to build a residential building in its place - many Muscovites are familiar with this building from the Diet store.

Among the parishioners - Pushkin and Andrei Bely

The line of Arbat shrines was closed by the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity, which stood at the corner of the Arbat and Denezhny Lane. The church was erected by the masters of the mint and the archers who lived in this part of the street. In 1650, the first wooden temple was replaced by a stone one, erected through the efforts of Colonel Leontiev's archers. Already in the first half of the next century, according to the project of I.F. Michurin built a new building, which in turn has experienced more than one reconstruction. Among his parishioners were the family of Alexander Pushkin, Andrei Bely and Sergei Rachmaninov.

From your love
won't heal at all
forty thousand others
bridge loving.

Trinity Church shared the fate of other Arbat temples and was demolished in 1931. In its place, the house of the Society for Proletarian Tourism and Excursions grew, which was later built into the northern wing of the high-rise building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Daniel Silenko

The first mention of the church dates back to 1625, but it is assumed that it arose at the end of the 16th century. Most likely, her dedication is due to the fact that the wedding of Boris Godunov to the kingdom in 1598 fell on the day of St. Simeon the Stylite. In memory of this, two Simeon churches appeared in Moscow - one behind the Yauza, and the other in Povarskaya Sloboda. The wooden building burned down Time of Troubles but was soon rebuilt. The stone temple was erected at the expense of the treasury by decree of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich in 1676–1679.

The structure of the church is traditional: a hipped bell tower from the west adjoins a wide refectory with two single-domed aisles, and from the east there is a quadrangle with three altar apses. The main part of the temple was crowned with five domes resting on a hill of kokoshniks. Attention is drawn to the cornice: it is made of bricks set at an angle to each other. In the southern and northern walls of the church, several white stone tombstones of the 17th-18th centuries have been preserved - a reminder of the parish cemetery that existed here.

After the creation of the stone temple, only one of the chapels in the refectory became Simeonovsky. The main throne of the temple was consecrated in honor of the Feast of the Introduction Holy Mother of God to the Temple. Another aisle was originally Nikolsky, and in 1759 it turned out to be re-consecrated in the name of St. Demetrius of Rostov.

The church is known as the wedding place of many figures. Russian history and culture: in 1816, the writer S.T. Aksakov and O.S. Zaplatin, in 1866 - the future chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod K.P. Pobedonostsev (his grandfather was a priest of the Simeon Church) and E.A. Engelhardt. But the most famous wedding took place here in 1801: the count and his serf, actress P.I. Zhemchugova-Kovalev. The ceremony had to be carried out secretly: the young did not want the scandal associated with such an "unequal marriage" among the Russian nobility.

There were also famous parishioners near the Simeonovskaya church. First of all, N.V. Gogol: he lived in the Tolstoy house on Nikitsky Boulevard and before his death in 1852 he was communed by the rector of the church. AT wooden house, which stood from the north of the church until the 1960s, lived the famous Russian actor P.S. Mochalov. In 1829-1832, he lived on Malaya Molchanovka with his grandmother - today the museum is located in this house.

In 1938, the church of St. Simeon the Stylite was closed and scheduled for demolition. These plans were not implemented, but the building was badly damaged, having lost its domes and the hipped completion of the bell tower. Inside is a carpentry workshop. During the construction of Novy Arbat in 1961-1964, the church was almost demolished again, but, as a result of the intervention of cultural figures, on the contrary, they even started restoration. By 1966, the Simeonovsky temple acquired its historical appearance, but without crosses on the heads. They were restored only in 1990, when the process of returning the building to the community of believers began. Soon the church was repainted from the inside, the iconostases of the main church and side chapels were recreated, services resumed. Today, the church of St. Simeon the Stylite is left alone on Povarskaya Street - all its other churches were destroyed in the 20th century. The historical environment of the temple is also almost lost - it is surrounded by Novy Arbat.

Date of creation: 1688 Description:

Story

It is known that in the place where the Church of the Resurrection of the Word on the Arbat is now located, in the second half of the 16th century. there was a wooden church of St. Philip the Apostle. The current stone church was consecrated in 1688.

The church was badly damaged during Patriotic War In 1812, the heavily dilapidated church was supposed to be abolished, but in 1817 a decision was made to open at the church of St. app. Philip's representation. This event was connected with the appeal of the Patriarch of Jerusalem Polycarp to Emperor Alexander I with a request to grant the Jerusalem Patriarchate a Moscow compound, where the monks of the brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher could stop to collect donations for the restoration of the Church of the Resurrection that burned down in 1808.

After the opening of the courtyard, the main altar of the church was re-consecrated in honor of the Resurrection of the Word (Renewal of the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem), two chapels were also arranged - in honor of St. app. Philip and in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Jerusalem". Overhaul, restoration and restoration of the iconostasis were completed by 1851. In 1852 the temple was solemnly consecrated by St. Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow.

In 1918 the farmstead was abolished; the temple itself was not closed in Soviet times. The activity of the farmstead was resumed in 1989.

Thrones

The main altar was consecrated in honor of the Resurrection of the Word (Renewal of the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem), the aisles - in honor of St. app. Philip and the icon of the Mother of God "Jerusalem", a side throne in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

shrines

Part of the Tree of the Life-Giving Cross, the right hand of the Great Martyr. Eustathius Plakida, the ark with the relics of Sts. Universal Church: St. app. Jacob, ssmch. Charalampia, martyr. Panteleimon, vmts. Barbarians, mch. Galaktion, mch. Tryphon, mch. Nikita, vmts. Paraskeva Fridays, St. unmercenary Cosmas, St. Alypy the Stylite, St. John the Merciful.

Revered icons of the Mother of God "Jerusalem", "Quick to Hearing", "Akhtyrskaya".

divine service

Divine Liturgy is celebrated daily at 9:00 am, on the days of great holidays, an all-night vigil is performed at 6:00 pm the day before.

On weekdays, the Liturgy is preceded by Matins at 8:00.

Between the Old and New Arbat there is a small square, as they used to say, a playground. It is named after the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior, "which is on the Sands", - Staropeskovskaya. The stone church that we see now was built at the beginning of the 18th century on the site of an old wooden church. If you carefully look at the title photo, then a very famous painting by the famous Russian artist will surely pop up in your memory - a real symbol of Moscow, which does not exist. And this church is one of the survivors on the Old Arbat. You probably already guessed what this picture is.
It is this church that is depicted in Vasily Polenov's painting "Moscow Yard" - but only at the beginning of summer. Polenov described the history of the painting as follows: "I went looking for an apartment. I saw a note, went to look, and right out of the window I had this view. I immediately sat down and wrote it." Then the sketch was rewritten on canvas.

V.D. Polenov. Moscow courtyard, 1877. Tretyakov Gallery

But the church, which is visible in the distance on the right, really does not exist. This is the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, in Plotniki, a lost Orthodox church, located on the Arbat, on the site of the current residential building at No. 45/24.

Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Plotniki, 1881

The Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior was built in 1711. Previously, this place was a wooden church streltsy settlement, known since 1642.

During the fire of 1812, the roof was partially burned, and the church was looted by marauders. But two years later the temple was restored.

In 1849 a church fence was built. In 1891, the pseudo-Gothic church gates were connected to the bell tower by a vestibule and became the main portal of the church.

This traditional Moscow five-domed temple with a hipped bell tower was one of the last completed before the ban on stone construction introduced by Peter I.

The architecture of the temple is typical for Moscow churches of the end of the 17th century. The chetverik (main volume) with five domes and the hipped bell tower are connected by a low refectory. The aisles of the temple are located asymmetrically. This is a classic example of a Moscow Posad church at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries.

The decor elements of the church correspond to the spirit of the 17th century

The Church of the Savior was closed in 1933. The church building was given over to the workshops of Soyuzmultfilm. In 1991, by order of the Government of Moscow, the temple was transferred to the Patriarchate.