Epiphany Church China city schedule. Stories of monasteries

Date of publication or update 02/01/2017

Epiphany Monastery.

Address of the Epiphany Monastery: 103012, Moscow, Bogoyavlensky lane, 2 (metro station “Revolution Square”).

At the beginning of the 18th century, when Peter I was on the Russian throne, craftsmen from Switzerland decorated the Epiphany Church with beautiful alabaster sculptures. And recently, documents were discovered in the archives indicating that great-grandfather A.S. may have stayed at the Bogovyalensky Monastery upon his arrival in Moscow. Pushkin and the godson of Peter the Great, the then young Abram Hannibal. But it was in the Petrine era, after the death of Patriarch Adrian, that the first secularization was carried out: now monastic incomes went to the Monastic Order, and the monks were paid a meager salary, which was barely enough to live on. When the archimandrite turned to the king with a request to increase the amount of this salary, he was refused. But despite the difficulties, there were also joyful events in the life of the Epiphany Monastery. So, after the fire of 1731, Archimandrite Gerasim managed to restore the monastery and build another gate church over the second gate with a bell tower in the name of Boris and Gleb, which was consecrated in 1742. On this bell tower there were 9 bells, each of which was cast to commemorate the soul. By the end of the 18th century, the Epiphany Monastery in Moscow became the seat of the suffragan bishops of the Moscow Metropolitan.

The reign of Catherine II brought absolute secularization to the Epiphany Monastery. Basically, the monastery existed due to the fact that members of many noble Russian families found their final rest here, making donations for the commemoration of the souls of their loved ones. Almost from the moment of its inception, the Epiphany Monastery was the main boyar tomb after the Kremlin. This church-burial vault contained more than 150 graves with unique tombstones that were destroyed during the Soviet years. The Sheremetevs, Dolgorukies, Repnins, Yusupovs, Saltykovs, Menshikovs, Golitsyns were buried here, and an associate of Tsar Peter the Great, Prince Grigory Dmitrievich Yusupov, was also buried.

Before Napoleonic troops entered Moscow, the archimandrite of the Epiphany Monastery managed to remove the sacristy of the monastery, and the treasurer and the monks hid the remaining treasures in the church wall. Neither threats nor torture helped the French soldiers find out where the monastery's valuables had gone. The Epiphany Monastery was saved from ruin and destruction by the fact that one of Napoleon’s marshals stayed here. After Napoleon's army left Moscow, the Epiphany Monastery was in pretty good condition.

In the second half of the 19th century, the icon of the Mother of God “Quick to Hear” was brought to the city from the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Athos, as well as parts of the relics of the healer Panteleimon, a cross with a particle of the Life-Giving Tree, and a piece of the stone of the Holy Sepulcher. People from all over Russia flocked to the Epiphany Monastery to venerate these shrines. In 1873, a chapel of St. Panteleimon was built in the monastery, and the Athos Chapel was also built on Nikolskaya Street. The chapel was small and could not accommodate all the visitors, so in 1880 the brother of the abbot of the Athos Panteleimonov Monastery donated a plot of land on Nikolskaya Street to the monastery for the construction of a new chapel.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a number of works were carried out at the Epiphany Monastery to repair and improve churches and premises, which... On the one hand, they brought comfort and beauty, but on the other hand, they destroyed rare architectural values. When steam heating was installed inside the temple, ancient burials and remains of ancient structures were destroyed, but this was only the beginning. In 1905, despite violent protests from the Moscow Archaeological Society, the gate church of the Nativity of John the Baptist was demolished, and in its place it was decided to build an apartment building. In 1919, the Epiphany Monastery was closed, and the cathedral and Spasskaya Church were made parish - they continued their activities for some time. In 1922, all the silver was removed from the monastery. And seven years later the Epiphany Cathedral was closed. At different times, his tribute included a flour warehouse, a Metrostroy warehouse, and even a metalworking shop. The most valuable items were transferred to various museums, while the rest was damaged and desecrated. Various disorderly additions disfigured the appearance of the temple, and the building began to collapse. In 1941, a downed German bomber fell near the cathedral, and the shock wave demolished the upper part of the temple. After the end of the Second World War, an administrative building of the NKVD was built on the territory of the monastery, and of all the valuable buildings, only the Epiphany Cathedral was more or less preserved.

In 1980, they gradually began to restore the surviving Epiphany Church; it was handed over to the choir. A.V. Sveshnikov, a rehearsal and concert hall were set up here. In 1991, the temple was returned to believers. A new era has begun in the life of the ancient temple. Restoration work even affected what was damaged during the Napoleonic invasion. In the upper church, the multi-tiered iconostasis, stucco molding, sculptures from the Peter the Great period, and the royal doors in the form of a cross were restored. The restored upper church was consecrated in 1998 by Patriarch Alexy II. In 1998, the Moscow Regent and Singing Seminary began to operate at the Epiphany Monastery, and the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker "Red Bell" and the Church of Cosmas and Damian in Starye Paneh, which survived in Kitay-Gorod, were assigned to the Epiphany Cathedral. By 2014, it is planned to complete the restoration work, which is carried out using funds from the state budget. During the project, the fence will be restored and the surrounding area will be landscaped.

On May 31, 2007, a bronze monument to the enlightenment monks brothers Likhud was erected near the temple, funds for which came from the Greek government.

In contact with

The Novgorod Chronicle tells the following about the foundation of the monastery:

“From 1296 to 1304, the monastery of the miraculous god of God, in the aperture of the Annunciation of the Prechy Virgin in Moscow, the abode of God, God's blessing and the structure of the noble and pious great prince Daniil Vladimirskago and the Moscow and the Moscow and All Rus', this of the Perempically, the Perempolous abode of the Epiphany in the days of the state, it's done<…>».

Church traditions tell that one of the abbots of the monastery was Stefan, the elder brother of St. Sergius, abbot of Radonezh, and that the future Metropolitan Alexy took monastic vows here and labored for a long time.

Cultural heritage

Object of cultural heritage of the Russian Federation No. 7710079000

How to get there

From the Ploshchad Revolutsii metro station

(Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line):

There are two exits from the station. You need an exit marked with the following sign: “EXIT TO THE CITY: TO RED SQUARE, NIKOLSKAYA, ILYINKA STREETS, CHAMBER MUSICAL THEATER, STORES: GUM, “CHILDREN’S WORLD”, “GOSTINY Dvor”. You go up the escalator, get out of the metro - and right in front of you is a tall, beautiful temple.

From the Kitay-Gorod metro station

(Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya or Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya lines):

Two different lines converge at this station. Regardless of which line you arrived on, you need to turn to the exit with the stairs (as opposed to the opposite exit with the escalator) under the sign: “EXIT TO THE CITY: TO NEW SQUARE, STREETS: ILYINKA, MAROSEYKA, POLYTECHNIC MUSEUM, GOSTINY Dvor” . Go up the stairs, turn left and go to the escalator. Having climbed the escalator and exited the station, you find yourself in a long passage - you need to turn left and walk to the end, then go up the right exit to the street. Ilyinka Street begins right next to the metro exit. You need to follow it to Bogoyavlensky Lane. He will be second on the right side. Landmarks: Exchange Square, Gostiny Dvor (corner large blue building), apricot-colored building of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation. Turning right into Bogoyavlensky Lane, you will immediately see the golden dome of the temple.

From Lubyanka metro station

(Sokolnicheskaya line):

Arriving at the station, go to the exit indicated by the sign: “EXIT TO THE CITY: AT THE SQUARE: LUBIANSKAYA, NOVAYA, TO THEATER PROJECT, TO THE STREETS: PUSHECHNAYA, ROZHDESTVENKA, NIKOLSKAYA, B. AND M. CHERKASSKY LANES, CHAMBER MUSICAL TE ATRU, HISTORY MUSEUM MOSCOW, POLYTECHNIC MUSEUM, AIRLINE CASSES, PHARMACY No. 1, DETSY MIR DEPARTMENT STORE.” After taking the escalator, turn left and walk until you exit to the street. When you go outside, you will see Lubyanka Square in front of you. Turn left again onto Nikolskaya Street, which starts right next to the metro station, and follow it to Bogoyavlensky Lane (second left turn). Soon you will see the Church of the Epiphany.

Abbots

• Prokhor (1456-1471)
• Nile (Safonov) (1506-1508)
• Cyprian
• Theodosius - his signature is, among others, on the permission to enter into a fourth marriage for Ivan the Terrible
• Ambrose - in 1613 he signed the act of electing Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov as king
• Elijah (1621-1631)
• Jonah (1638-1642)
• Paphnutius
• Ignatius (Resin) (1709-1712)
• Iakinthos - signed the Spiritual Regulations of the Holy Governing Synod in 1720
• Damascene (Semyonov-Rudnev) (from April 1778)
• Serapion (Alexandrovsky) (February 17, 1779-1799?)
• Victor (Antonsky-Prokopovich) (1800-1801)
• Augustin (Winogradsky) (July 1801-1801)
• Irakli (Evreinov) (1804-1811)
• Abraham (Shumilin) ​​(June 26, 1816-1817)
• Apollos (Alekseevsky) (1817-1820)
• Nikodim (Bystritsky) (June 16 - July 15, 1828)
• Filaret (Gumilevsky) (March 9, 1837-1841)
• Eusebius (Orlinsky) (April 9, 1842-1845)
• Ignatius (Rozhdestvensky) (October 25, 1863-1866)
• Nikodim (Belokurov) (from March 10, 1867)

The Church of the Epiphany, the former Epiphany Monastery, in Kitai-Gorod is located near the Moscow Kremlin, between Ilyinka and Nikolskaya streets.

From the Ploshchad Revolyutsii metro station (Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line):
Exit to the city “to Red Square, Nikolskaya, Ilyinka streets, Chamber Musical Theater, shops: GUM, Detsky Mir, Gostiny Dvor.” The temple is located opposite the metro exit.

From the Kitay-Gorod metro station (Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya or Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya lines):
Exit to the city “To New Square, streets: Ilyinka, Maroseyka, Polytechnic Museum, Gostiny Dvor.” Go up the stairs, turn left and go up the escalator. In the long passage, turn left and go to the end, then go up the right exit to the street. Walk along Ilyinke Street to Bogoyavlensky Lane (second on the right side). Landmarks: Exchange Square, Gostiny Dvor (corner large blue building), apricot-colored building of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation.

From Lubyanka metro station (Sokolnicheskaya line):
Exit to the city “on the square: Lubyanskaya, Novaya, to Teatralny Proezd, to the streets: Pushechnaya, Rozhdestvenka, Nikolskaya, b. and metro station Cherkassky Lanes, Chamber Musical Theatre, Museum of the History of Moscow, Polytechnic Museum, airline ticket offices, pharmacy No. 1, Detsky Mir department store.” Exit to Lubyanka Square, turn left onto Nikolskaya Street, which starts right next to the metro, and follow it to Bogoyavlensky Lane (second turn to the left).

Divine services
Tuesday: 17.00 - Evening Worship.
Wednesday: 8.00 - Confession; 8.30 - Hours and Divine Liturgy; 17.00 - Prayer singing with an akathist before the icon of the Mother of God of Kazan and Prayer singing for the increase of love - alternately.
Thursday: 17.00 - Evening Worship.
Friday: 8.00 - Confession; 8.30 - Hours and Divine Liturgy; 17.00 - Evening service.
Saturday: 8.00 - Confession; 8.30 - Hours and Divine Liturgy; 17.00 - All-night vigil.
Sunday: 8.00 - Confession; 9.30 - Hours and Divine Liturgy (from May to October - 8.30).
On the eve of church holidays at 17.00 - All-night vigil (from May to October - at 18.00), on the very day of the holidays at 8.00 - Confession, at 8.30 - Divine Liturgy.

All church requirements are fulfilled.

Thrones:
Upper Temple:
Epiphany of the Lord (main altar); Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called; Holy Hieromartyr Vladimir, Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galicia.
Lower Temple:
Kazan Icon of the Mother of God;
Saint Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow.

Patronal holidays:
Epiphany of the Lord - January 19 (high altar);
Saint Apostle Andrew the First-Called - December 13;
Holy Hieromartyr Vladimir, Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galicia - February 7;
Kazan Icon of the Mother of God - November 4;
Saint Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow - June 2.

Story

The Church of the Epiphany of the former Epiphany Monastery was built in 1693–1996 in the “Naryshkinskoe Baroque” style, as the main temple of the Moscow Epiphany Monastery, founded in 1298–1299 by the Venerable Prince Daniil of Moscow. The trustees of the monastery, starting from the 14th century, were St. blg. Prince John Kalita and the Moscow boyars Vorontsov-Velyaminov, Pleshcheev, Dolgorukov and Galitsyn. The ancestral necropolis of the trustees was also located here. The Monk Stefan, the brother of the Monk Sergius and the Monk Dionysius the Svyatogorets, the Monk Gabriel (Zyryanov), and the Rev. Confessor Leonty (Stasevich) labored in the monastery. In 1313, the future Saint Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow, took monastic vows in the monastery.

The monastery was closed in 1919, but services in the temple continued. In 1929, the temple was closed, the building was used as a warehouse, dormitory, printing house, and later the temple was transferred to the State Academic Russian Choir of the USSR. A. Sveshnikova.

In 1990, the temple was transferred to the Orthodox community of the Russian Orthodox Church, and on January 19, 1991, the first divine services were held there. On May 31, a small consecration of the chapel was performed in honor of St. Alexis of Moscow; On April 25, 1992, the side altar was consecrated in honor of the Hieromartyr Vladimir of Kyiv; On January 14, 1998, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus' performed the Great Consecration of the main altar of the upper church in honor of the Epiphany of the Lord; On October 31, 2003, a throne was consecrated in honor of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called in the northern gallery of the upper church; On March 6, 2011, the main altar of the lower church was consecrated in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God.

In 1995–1999, work was carried out to recreate the drum and dome of the temple, destroyed during Soviet times, and the facades of the temple. The altar parts of the Alekseevsky and Alfeyevsky chapels of the lower church were rebuilt, the iconostases of the upper and lower churches were restored.

Shrines

External Cross with part of the Honest and Life-Giving Tree of the Cross of the Lord;

Reliquary cross with a cathedral icon and particles of relics: Saints Apostle and Evangelist Luke, Apostle Barnabas, Saint Basil of Ryazan, Saint Mitrophan of Voronezh, Saints Agapit the gratuitous physician and Damian the healer of the Kiev-Pechersk, Venerable Euphrosyne of Suzdal;

Kasperovskaya Icon of the Mother of God with particles of holy relics: Shchmch. Dionysius the Areopagite, Bishop of Athens, St. Innocent of Irkutsk, military center. Barbarians, St. John Climacus, prmcc. Book Elizabeth and nun Varvara, St. bgg. Book George Vladimirsky and Prince. Peter and Prince Fevronia Muromsky; and with particles of the Holy Sepulcher, the oak of Mamre and a stone from Mount Golgotha.

Icons with particles of holy relics:
o Apostle Andrew the First-Called;
o Apostle Barnabas;
o VMC. Catherine;
o Vmch. Demetrius of Thessalonica;
o 14,000 infant martyrs, killed by Herod in Bethlehem;
o Rights warrior Feodor Ushakov;
o Rights Martha;
o Prmcc. led book Elizabeth and nun Varvara;
o St. Alexy Zosimovsky;
o St. Aristocleus of the Elder of Moscow;
o St. Varlaam of Suzdal;
o St. Gabriel of Spain, Melekessky;
o St. Herman Zosimovsky;
o St. Herman Zosimovsky;
o St. John Climacus;
o St. Job Pochaevsky;
o St. Lavrentiy of Chernigov;
o St. Maxim the Greek;
o St. Pimen the Great;
o St. Roman Kirzhachsky;
o St. Sofia of Suzdal;
o St. Stefan Makhrishchsky;
o St. Theodore of Sanaxar;
o St. Alexander (Orlov) isp., presbyter of Maccabees;
o St. Blg. book Oleg Bryansky;
o St. blgv. led book Andrey Bogolyubsky;
o St. blgv. led book Georgy (Yuri) Vsevolodovich Vladimirsky;
o St. blgv. book Alexander Nevsky;
o St. blgv. book Daniil of Moscow;
o St. blgv. Tsarevich Dimitri, Uglich and Moscow;
o St. Blessed Andrey Simbirsky;
o St. Blessed Vasily, Christ for the sake of the holy fool, Moscow;
o St. VMC. Barbarians;
o St. Sergius (Pravdolyubov) isp., presbyter of Kasimovsky;
o St. blgv. book Konstantin (Yaroslav) and his children Mikhail and Theodore, Muromsky;
o St. blgv. book Peter, in monasticism of David, and Prince. Fevronia, in monasticism Euphrosyne, Murom miracle workers;
o St. blgvv. knn. Theodore of Smolensk and his children David and Konstantin, Yaroslavl;
o St. Innocent, bishop Irkutsk;
o St. Innocent, Bishop of Penza;
o St. Innocent, Metropolitan Moscow;
o St. John, Bishop of Suzdal;
o St. Luke isp., archbishop. Simferopol;
o St. Nikita, recluse of Pechersk, bishop. Novgorodsky;
o St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia;
o St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus';
o St. Theodora, bishop Suzdalsky;
o St. Theodosius of Chernigov;
o St. Feofan, the Recluse of Vyshensky;
o St. Philareta, Metropolitan Moscow;
o Sschmch. Vladimir, Metropolitan Kievsky and Galitsky;
o Sschmch. Dionysius the Areopagite, bishop. Athens;
o Sschmch. Sylvester, Archbishop. Omsk.

Icons with particles of coverings from holy relics:
o St. Ilya of Muromets, Pechersky;
o St. Spyridon of Trimifuntsky;

Reliquary with particles of holy relics: St. James of Nizibia, St. Ignatius, bishop Rostov, the venerable fathers of Chozroes who were beaten, the martyrs of Nicomedia, the martyrs of Jordan,

Equal Apostles icon. Nina, enlightener of Georgia with a particle of the Cross of the Equal Apostle. Nina.

At the temple there are:
Sunday School for children and adults, choral singing and painting studios(Registration for Sunday School is carried out on Sundays in September);
Parish library;
Lecture hall on topics devoted to spiritual life, the foundations of Christian morality and the principles of building relationships in an Orthodox family - on Wednesdays at 19.00, conducted by Archpriest Gennady Nefedov;
Evening singing and regency courses(one-year education in the specialty of a church liturgical choir singer) and amateur choir(training the skills of church choral singing for everyone, registration in September of each year based on the results of the interview);
Icon studio(3-year training for those interested in the basics of icon painting; recruitment based on the results of an interview, testing of professional skills and viewing of works - once every 3 years).

The huge Epiphany Cathedral has not lost its significance in modern Moscow. There is no longer a monastery as such, new buildings have appeared nearby, but it still rises among its surroundings, claiming central importance in Kitai-Gorod. Its powerful dome is clearly visible from Zamoskvorechye and can even compete with the Intercession Cathedral on Red Square.

The Epiphany Monastery is rightfully considered one of the oldest in Moscow: it was founded by the first Moscow prince Daniil Alexandrovich in 1296 - only the Danilov Monastery is older than it. At first, all the buildings of the monastery were wooden, but in 1342, with the donations of the boyar Protasius, the first stone Cathedral of the Epiphany was erected. Subsequently, all reconstructions were carried out on the basis of this building: in 1571 after the invasion of the Crimean Khan Devlet Giray, then in 1624 at the end of the Time of Troubles. Finally, in 1693-1695, the existing building was erected on the foundations of the old cathedral. Subsequently, it was updated several times, but the structure no longer changed.

Built in the style of the Naryshkin Baroque, the Epiphany Cathedral is oriented vertically: an octagon is placed on the quadrangle, which in turn is crowned with an elongated drum with an octagonal dome. The facades are lavishly decorated with white stone carvings; the large window frames with figured columns and ridges look especially magnificent. The sides of the octagon are also crowned with ridges, and the corners of the quadrangle are decorated with stylized vases. The upper half of the quadrangle is cut through from the north and south by double windows; the basement windows are smaller in size and decorated more modestly, but also with elements of the Naryshkin baroque. The refectory and the quadrangle are connected by a wide gallery, on which additional chapels later appeared. A bell tower topped with a spire was built above the western entrance. In the interior, attention is drawn to the large sculptural compositions “Coronation of the Mother of God,” “Nativity” and “Baptism.”

In the lower church, consecrated in the name of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, there was previously a vast necropolis: here were the tombs of the most noble families of Russia - the Golitsyns, Sheremetevs, Dolgorukovs, Saltykovs and many others. The cathedral was badly damaged during the fire of 1812: from the explosion that occurred in the Kremlin, iron connections in the building burst, glass and frames flew out, and the cross on the bell tower was bent in half. Over the next few years the building was refurbished.

The Epiphany Monastery was also one of the centers of education in Russia in the 17th century. In 1685, scholar-monks from Greece - the brothers Sophronius and Ioannikis Likhud - settled there. Here they founded their own school, where they taught Greek, grammar, literature, rhetoric, logic and other sciences. Two years later, in 1687, the school moved to the neighboring Zaikonospassky Monastery and was transformed into the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy - this was the first higher educational institution in Russia.

In addition to the cathedral, there were two more gate churches in the monastery: the first, in the name of the Nativity of John the Baptist, was dismantled in 1905 (despite the protests of the Moscow Archaeological Society) for the construction of an apartment building on Nikolskaya Street; and the second, the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands, was lost in the early 1920s after the closure of the monastery.

Divine services in the cathedral ceased after the revolution, its decoration was badly damaged, and it itself was successively used as a dormitory, industrial premises and a rehearsal hall. Some tombstones from the lower church and basement were moved to the Donskoy Monastery, which then belonged to the Museum of Architecture.

During the Great Patriotic War, the cathedral was almost lost: a German bomber fell in the immediate vicinity of it, on the corner of Nikolskaya and Bogoyavlensky Lane. The buildings that stood on this site were completely destroyed, and the cathedral itself lost its head with a drum - they were demolished by a plane during the fall. After the war, the area was cleared and built up with a massive building in the Stalinist Empire style.

Since 1991, a gradual process of revival of the Epiphany Cathedral began. Monastic life was not restored, so the cathedral acts as a parish church. In 2007, a monument to the Likhud brothers was erected in front of the altar of the cathedral on Bogoyavlensky Lane.