The monumental yellow church on Bolshaya Ordynka gives the impression of a solid work of art created by one person at one time. However, this impression is deceptive: in fact, it consists of two parts at different times. The discoveries do not end there: upon entering, we can see its interiors almost the same as many years ago.
Initially, in the 16th century, there was a wooden church on this site, which had a completely different dedication - in honor of Varlaam Khutynsky. In the next century, the new temple, also made of wood, was already named Spaso-Preobrazhensky, and the Varlaam chapel was created with it. In 1683 - 1685, the place of the wooden church was taken by a stone temple with the same name. But soon it is from here that the glory of the new miraculous image of the Most Holy Theotokos, called “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” will come. According to legend, after prayers at the icon, the widow Evfimiya Akinfieva, the sister of Patriarch Joachim, who suffered from an ulcer in her side, received healing. This miracle served as the beginning of the glorification of the icon, which quickly spread among the people: in 1713, a second chapel was consecrated in the temple, named in honor of the image of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” after which the entire temple began to be called Sorrowful.
In 1783 - 1791, the refectory part of the church and its bell tower were rebuilt at the expense of the merchant Afanasy Dolgov, whose estate was located opposite (its main house has survived to this day). To carry out the work, the temple builder invited his relative, a famous Russian architect. Upon completion of the work in the refectory, it was planned to rebuild the main part of the temple, but this was not done then. The case of Dolgov and Bazhenov was completed 40 years later, after the fire of Moscow: with the funds of the Kumanin brothers and Dolgov’s sons, the architect in 1832 - 1836, instead of the old church of the 17th century, built a new church in the form of a rotunda with a hemispherical dome. The completion of the temple was carried out very carefully: Bove made a special effort to make his creation look harmonious with Bazhenov’s. As a result, both parts were designed in the same style and color scheme - white details on a yellow background. Bazhenov’s classic refectory, with four-column porticoes from the north and south and round windows of the second light, and his three-tier bell tower do not contrast with the Empire rotunda of Beauvais, which has a subtle decor in the form of medallions with cherubs and plant motifs. Bova also owned the interior decoration. In the rotunda, the original iconostasis in the form of a triumphal arch and a huge rosette of the cast-iron floor have been preserved.
In 1933, services in the Sorrow Church ceased, but it itself retained its interiors, becoming the property of the Tretyakov Gallery. After the war, in 1948, the temple was opened again and was no longer closed. All this allows us today to admire not only the magnificent decoration of its facades, but also the rich interior decoration with an iconostasis and cast-iron floors. Since 2010, the Synodal Choir has been revived at the church, whose beautiful performance of spiritual chants can be heard during services and at concerts.
From June 2012 to November 2013, repair and restoration work took place in the temple in parallel with the divine service. The building has suffered greatly over time - the iron roof is almost completely destroyed, the walls are corroded by fungus, the windows and doors are in disrepair.
During the restoration, through the efforts of the rector, Hieromonk George (Isakov), parishioners and benefactors, the original appearance of the temple was restored. The bell tower was restored on the temple grounds.
In 2014, the object became a laureate of the Moscow Government competition for the best project in the field of preservation and popularization of objects cultural heritage"Moscow Restoration" in the nomination: "For the best organization of repair and restoration work."
At the end of the war, Stalin allowed the persecution of the church to be eased. Change of policy communist party leads to the revival of the spiritual life of the people. The surviving clergy were freed from prisons and camps. Churches that were not destroyed by the Bolsheviks during the years of persecution of Orthodox Christians are beginning to function. Among the churches that resumed services was the “Joy of All Who Sorrow” Church.
Church history
At the beginning of the thirteenth century, the Golden Horde actively invaded the Slavic lands. Ryazan, Kolomna, Moscow become the first cities to fall under the onslaught of the invaders. Mongol-Tatar conquerors rob and burn settlements, Russian people are killed or taken prisoner. Western historian Alan Fisher estimates that nearly three million people were taken into slavery.
The state, church and relatives ransomed the slaves. The ambassadorial order, by decree of Ivan the Terrible, allocated funds from the royal treasury for the release of prisoners whom the Tatars sold. Metropolitan Philip bought a blacksmith master from the Horde with his own money. For a relative you had to pay from 40 to 600 rubles, depending on your status. For example, in the 16th century, a cow or horse cost 1 ruble.
The path along which the freed slaves returned to Moscow was called the “Horde road,” and the place of their settlement was called Ordynka. In this area, a wooden church was erected in honor of Varlaam Khutynsky, which was rebuilt in the mid-seventeenth century into a stone church with a main altar in the name of the Transfiguration of the Lord.
In 1688, the first miracle happened from the icon “Joy of All Who Sorrow.” The seriously ill sister of the Moscow Patriarch, Euphemia Papina, in prayer to the Mother of God, heard a voice commanding her to find the holy image in the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior and serve a prayer service with the blessing of water. Having fulfilled the order of the Queen of Heaven, the sick woman was healed.
The production of the miraculous icon became famous in St. Petersburg. In 1888, lightning struck the chapel where the list was kept. The holy image was not damaged, but 12 coins from the donation mug were attached to it. Until 1932, the image of the Mother of God was located in the Church of Sorrows on the banks of the Neva. In the fifties of the last century, the icon “Joy of All Who Sorrow” with pennies was transferred to the “Kulich and Easter” church, where it remains today.
A chapel in honor of the miraculous icon was added to the temple in 1713, when an antimension was issued for the altar. In 1770, the church was renovated and improved with donations from G. Lyubovnikova.
In 1783, the Moscow merchant of the first guild Afanasy Ivanovich Dolgov allocated a large sum for the reconstruction of the building. The benefactor's son-in-law, Vasily Ivanovich Bazhenov, took over the restructuring. According to the architect's design, a bell tower and a refectory with two side chapels are being built. The monk of the Sarov Monastery, Boniface, painted icons for the church.
During the famous fire of 1812, the temple was so damaged that the building had to be practically rebuilt. The architect O.I. Bove tried to preserve parts of the surviving Bazhenov building. The renovated rotunda church was consecrated by Moscow Metropolitan Philaret in 1836.
In the thirties, Bolshevik leaders closed the church. Seventy-seven kilograms of gold and silver church utensils were confiscated by Gokhran. The atheists removed and destroyed the bells. The cathedral was saved from complete destruction by storing the reserve funds of the Tretyakov Gallery in its premises.
On Palm Sunday 1948, the Transfiguration Church resumed services, and to this day attracts those who want to join spiritual values in a historical architectural monument of a unique design.
Architectural features
The uniqueness of the Sorrow Cathedral is that it has the shape of a rotunda. Only four churches of this type were built in Moscow. Twelve internal columns support a drum with a dome topped with a golden dome.
The marble walls are decorated with stucco high relief and paintings of gospel scenes. The faces of the archangels and the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the iconostasis belong to the brush of the famous portrait painter V. L. Borovikovsky.
According to the design of the architect Osip Bove, the floor of the central part of the temple is made of cast iron slabs, the surface of which is decorated with ornaments.
Temple relics
In the Church of the Transfiguration shrines revered by Orthodox Christians are preserved:
Rector of the church
Grigory Valerievich Alfeev was born on July 24, 1966. Secondary education boy received at the Moscow Music School named after. Gnesins, majoring in violin and composition. Here he became acquainted with znamenny singing and hook recording of a melody.
At the age of eleven, the boy underwent the rite of baptism. From the age of 15, Gregory served as a reader in the Church of the Resurrection of the Word, and then as a subdeacon under Metropolitan Pitirim of Volokolamsk and Yuryevsk.
After school, the young man enters the Moscow Conservatory, the composition department. Service in Soviet Army interrupts education for two years. In January 1987, the young man left his studies and entered obedience at the Vilna Holy Spirit Monastery. Six months later he was tonsured into monasticism.
From 1988 to 1990, the future metropolitan served as a priest in the churches of the Vilna and Lithuanian diocese. In 1990 he became rector of the Kaunas Cathedral of the Annunciation. As an elected delegate, he took part in the Local Council of the Russian Church, which elected Alexy II to the patriarchal throne.
In January 1991, Soviet troops introduced into Lithuania by Gorbachev, captured the Vilnius television center, which resulted in human casualties. The next military target was Kaunas. Hilarion appears on television and calls on soldiers not to shoot at unarmed people. Criminal bloodshed was prevented.
In 1989, Hilarion graduated in absentia from the Moscow Theological Seminary, and two years later from the Theological Academy. And two years later, the young priest graduated from graduate school at the academy. From that moment on, a lot of time was devoted to teaching church disciplines:
- Homiletics - rules for composing a sermon.
- Holy Scripture.
- Patrology - the teaching about the fathers of the church.
- Mystical and dogmatic theology.
Since 1995, working in the Department for External Church Relations, in 2009, Bishop Hilarion was appointed chairman of this structural unit of the Moscow Patriarchate. The following year, Patriarch Kirill elevated Hilarion to the rank of metropolitan.
On April 14, 2009, Hilarion was appointed rector of the “Joy of All Who Sorrow” Church on Bolshaya Ordynka.
Moscow Synodal Choir
Until the 15th century, the choir served first under the Kiev and then under the Vladimir Metropolitan. In 1589, a patriarchate was established in Rus' with a cathedra in Moscow, and the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin was appointed as the place of obedience for the singing sextons united in the Patriarchal Choir. After the abolition of the patriarchate and the formation of the Synod in 1721, the choir began to be called Synodal.
During the reign of Peter the Great, the Court Choir became popular in secular circles, and the Synodal Choir fell into decline. By decree of Empress Catherine, the number of singers was reduced to 26 people.
Despite the difficulties, the choir remained faithful to ancient traditions. Singing sextons study church and vocal sciences under the guidance of the regent and clergy. In 1886, a spiritual singing school was created, and S.V. Smolensky was appointed director. Future composers V. Kalinnikov, A. Grechaninov, S. Rachmaninov received their education under the guidance of a talented leader, an expert in ancient church singing.
At the end of the nineteenth century, the Synodal Choir, consisting of 25 men and 45 boys, performed sacred music by Russian composers and secular works by foreign authors. In 1910, the group successfully toured Europe.
After 1917, when The Soviet government closed churches, The Synodal Singing School was abolished. The choir broke up. The singers had to work in the few Moscow churches that continued worship services.
On September 4, 1943, Stalin invited the three remaining free metropolitans to the Kremlin for a conversation. After this meeting, recovery begins Orthodox Church under the supervision of state security agencies. In 1948, the first service took place in the open Sorrow Church.
From the parish of a village near Moscow Tarasovka regent Nikolai Vasilyevich Matveev is transferred to the cathedral on Ordynka. Along with the musician came the singers who formed the basis of the recreated Synodal Choir. The team revived the traditional performance of P. I. Tchaikovsky’s Liturgy on the day of the composer’s death.
Another significant event was the churching of the “All-Night Vigil” by S. V. Rachmaninov. The work, written in the style of ancient Znamenny singing, was created specifically for the Synodal Choir and dedicated to S. V. Smolensky. The first performance of the work took place on March 10, 1915.
Matveev devoted a lot of effort to the revival of Russian sacred music, which was not an easy task in an environment of strict control by the KGB. The work of the church ascetic was continued by Alexey Puzakov, who worked under Matveev since the 80s of the last century.
A. Puzakov also leads two more choirs that sing in Moscow churches. The united group, including 80 singers, participates in ceremonial services and concert performances. Candidates for vacancies undergo careful selection.
With the arrival of Metropolitan Hilarion, the choir finds a second wind. On the day of remembrance of Moscow Saint Peter, January 3, 2010, His Holiness the Patriarch blessed the revival of the historical name of the Moscow Synodal Choir.
Schedule of services and address of the temple
Pious parishioners and pilgrims strive to visit the Church of the “Joy of the Sorrowful” on Ordynka. Schedule of services indicating the name of the serving priest located on the temple website.
Otherwise called after the main altar - the Church of the Transfiguration on Bolshaya Ordynka (or "in Ordyntsy").
It was first mentioned in the chronicle in 1571, when the temple was named after Varlaam Khutynsky. Founded under Metropolitan Varlaam in 1523. The Throne of the Transfiguration of the Lord has been known since 1625.
The stone church was built in 1683-1685.
After the glorification of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” in 1688, the name of this miraculous image was assigned to the temple.
At the end of the 18th century. the western half of the temple with a 3-tier bell tower was remodeled by the architect V.I. Bazhenov.
During the fire of 1812 the temple was damaged. Rebuilt again in 1831-1836. architect O. Bove at the expense of the brothers Kumanin and A.A. Dolgova.
The temple was closed in 1930, the bells were torn down and destroyed. During the war, the Tretyakov Gallery storage room was placed inside, thanks to which the interior decoration remained safe and sound. The temple was consecrated again in 1948.
Nearby there are preserved cast-iron fences from the 19th century and a parable house, which are also under state protection.
The classicist appearance of the temple is combined with the traditional 17th-century “ship” layout, in which the temple, refectory and bell tower are located along an east-west axis. The current temple arose as a result of the gradual reconstruction of the church in 1683-1685. and in general retained its planning solution.
First, the bell tower and refectory were rebuilt. The customer for the renovation of the temple was the merchant Afanasy Dolgov, whose house was located on the opposite side of Bolshaya Ordynka (preserved in a rebuilt form). The mentioned merchant was a relative of the outstanding architect Vasily Ivanovich Bazhenov; It is quite understandable that he ordered the restructuring to him. Bazhenov's buildings date back to 1791. The bell tower became round in plan, three-tiered, topped with a dome and a gilded dome. The lower tier is decorated with Ionic columns, the middle one with Corinthian half-columns, the upper one, on which the bells are located, with pilasters of the composite order. On both sides of the refectory, which received a rectangular plan with rounded corners characteristic of classicism, Ionic four-column porticoes were erected. The round windows placed above the entrances and windows of the refectory, in the tympanums of its pediments, as well as on the lower tier of the bell tower look impressive.
Later, in 1828-1836, the main volume of the church was rebuilt by O. I. Bove. From a square plan it became rotundal. In the interior of the rotunda there are 12 Ionic columns around the circumference, supporting a massive drum with rectangular windows. The drum is topped by a spherical dome with four "thermal" semicircular windows at the base. The same lunette windows, framed by powerful archivolts, are located above the large windows of the lower tier of the rotunda. The circle motif, which began in the “Bazhenov” part of the building, is continued by the almost spherical chapter. The temple has no apses; the altar is located in a specially designated eastern part of the rotunda.
On both sides of the rotunda, O. I. Bove added two-column Ionic porticoes, echoing the Ionic Bazhenov porticoes of the refectory, but not literally repeating them. The stucco frieze and cornice with modules decorating them continues along the entire circumference of the rotunda.
During Soviet times (in the early 1930s), the temple was closed, but, fortunately, it escaped destruction - only the bells were thrown down and destroyed. During the war, the storage rooms of the nearby Tretyakov Gallery were located here. Its employees, who understood the artistic value of the church, took great care in preserving the interiors. And soon after the war, the temple was returned to believers and re-consecrated in 1948. All this contributed to the fact that this architectural monument, created by two famous Moscow architects, retained both its external appearance and interiors, including the iconostasis created according to the design of O. I. Bove, and cast-iron floor tiles made according to his own design.
The first mention of the temple of St. Varlaam Khutynsky “in Ordyntsy” dates back to the 70s. XVI century In the XIV century. here was the road leading to the Golden Horde. In addition, Russian captives ransomed from the Mongol conquerors were called “Horde”. There is an assumption that the area where the temple stands was given to them to build houses.
In 1683-1685. In place of the wooden one, a stone Church of the Transfiguration was built. In 1688, the glorification of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” kept there, which was especially revered by the persons of the reigning house, took place. Already in 1713, in the Horde Transfiguration Church, an antimension was issued for the throne in honor of this icon, and in 1770 the chapel was updated with a donation from G. Lyubovnikova - many people joyfully and often donated funds for the improvement of this church.
In 1783, a Zamoskvorechye merchant named Dolgov, who had a house on Bolshaya Ordynka right opposite the church, donated a lot of money for its reconstruction and ordered this work from his famous relative, architect Vasily Bazhenov.
The icons for the iconostasis were painted in 1788 by Hieromonk Boniface from the Sarov Hermitage. The mourning chapel was consecrated on the day of the feast of the temple image, October 24, 1790, by Metropolitan Platon (Levshin).
During the Moscow fire of 1812, the temple was badly damaged and in 1831-1836. was almost rebuilt by the architect O.I. Beauvais, who, however, preserved the surviving fragments of the Bazhenov building. O.I. Bove drew up a drawing of the cast-iron floor slabs that decorated the temple; and images of archangels and St. Nicholas in the iconostasis are by the famous V.L. Borovikovsky. In September 1836, the new Empire-style rotunda church was re-consecrated to St. Filaret. This is evidenced by the memorial date under the cross of the temple.
The miraculous icon “Joy of All Who Sorrow” is located in the left aisle. One beautiful detail, unusual for Moscow churches, is that the candlesticks are located at the top, like small chandeliers, and in order to light a candle, you need to climb portable wooden ladders.
In the early 1930s, the temple was closed, the bells were torn off and destroyed, but the ancient interior was well preserved, since the temple housed the Tretyakov Gallery storeroom and the museum staff tried to do everything to preserve the decoration of this priceless monument of architecture and art.
The Church on Bolshaya Ordynka became one of the first Moscow churches opened in the capital after the restoration of the Patriarchate - in 1948. In those years, the day of glorification of the icon, October 24 / November 6, was celebrated with particular solemnity, and every Sunday evening a prayer service was held in the church with the reading of the akathist. Here the church choir of regent N.V. Matveev was created - at that time the best not only in Moscow, but also in Russia. In the 1960s, his recordings were even released on records by the Moscow Patriarchate. The wonderful choir gave the temple the opportunity to especially celebrate the anniversaries of the death of great people glorified in the history of Russian sacred music. So, on Saturday, closest to the day of death of S.V. Rachmaninov (March 28, 1943), his “All-Night Vigil” was performed in the church, and on the anniversary of the death of P.I. Tchaikovsky (October 25, 1893) his “Liturgy” was performed.
You can get more detailed information about the history of the temple from the book by E. A. Musorina and S. I. Vystrelkov, dedicated to the temple of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow.” The book is always available in the church and candle shop, as well as the church library.
http://ordynka.com/history
The Church of Sorrows on Bolshaya Ordynka acquired its current appearance after the fire of 1812. There was no opportunity to save the main temple of the 17th century, but the refectory and bell tower built by Bazhenov were not damaged so much, and O.I. Beauvais, who was entrusted with the reconstruction of the church, treated them very delicately, organically fitting his rotunda church with a dome crowned with a low light drum into the existing architectural context. Speaking about “Bazhenov’s elements,” it should be noted that in this case, Bazhenov for the first time gave the type of refectory that later became so widespread in Moscow church architecture: a low, almost square volume with rounded corners. The bell tower corresponds to this “roundness” of the refectory - “perfect in form,” as Sabashnikov’s guidebook attests to it. It is composed of three successively smaller cylinders stacked on top of each other. Thus, Bove only brought to its logical conclusion the rounded outlines of the temple set by Bazhenov, revealing both high taste and sensitivity to architectural material. As a result, the Mother See received one of the outstanding monuments of “its” - Moscow - Empire style. By the way, about the Empire style. We are used to seeing the Church of the Sorrows in the classic empire style - ocher-white - attire. Meanwhile, this type of color is not the only possible one. There were eras when the temple appeared to Muscovites as pale pink with white details. That is, such a coloring, from a historical point of view, is quite acceptable now. But, given that the Horde church is located between two “only red” churches - St. Clement in Klimentovsky Lane and the Resurrection of Christ in Kadashi - it was decided not to use pale pink coloring. The stucco work of the Sorrowful Church is extremely elegant and restrained. The system of stucco decorations consists of medallions with cherub heads and floral ornaments. In comparison with the ornamental riot of Baroque churches, the decor of the Horde temple even looks “sparse.” The dome rests on a low light drum cut through by large windows. At the top of the drum there is a frieze decorated with thin stucco with plant motifs. A significant feature of the dome are the four semicircular windows at its base. The large windows of the temple itself, decorated with pilasters and carved cornices, are open to sunlight, thanks to which the space of the main temple is always, even on a not too bright day, very well lit. In addition, the windows also perform a decorative function, defining the vertical division of the facades of the rotunda, which without this would look too squat. On the southern and northern sides of the rotunda we see porticoes resting on columns of the Ionic order. The doorway is decorated with pilasters.
“The round main temple is magnificently ornamented,” reported the “Walks around Moscow” guidebook, published in 1917 by the Sabashnikov publishing house, “its doors (from the courtyard) are completely “secular” in nature of the decoration... Inside the temple there is extraordinary wealth... Entering from sides of the bell tower into the refectory (winter church), we see on the right and left the side chapels of St. Barlaam of Khutyn and the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow”, one of which is now called the entire temple. On both sides of the central arch leading to the summer church, there are marble choirs. with two pairs of marble angels; the choirs are decorated with bronze; the work is very rich, but the impression from these choirs is not at all Orthodox. Let us note on the right side of the entrance to the summer church a good Flemish painting - an image of Christ going to the cross (Christ); , for example, in a beard, with a shaved mustache) are taken unusually realistically, portrait-style, with an attempt to convey the mood (this picture is now in the State Museum fine arts them. A.S. Pushkin). Through the arch we enter the summer temple. Before us is a solemn round colonnade with an overhead light, giving an elegant, even magnificent impression, but not made at all in the spirit of Orthodox church; the magnificent iconostasis has nothing in common with the ancient Russian iconostasis in the sense of the canonical distribution of icons and tiers. This is a beautifully executed architectural task in the classical spirit: the iconostasis evokes magnificent exits, gazebos, triumphal arches late XVIII- early nineteenth centuries. Finally, the cast-iron floor is interesting, made of individual slabs folded into a beautiful pattern."
It is worth adding that previously the cold and warm temples were separated by a glass partition with a glazed door. The partition was dismantled when the temple was a “gallery”. However, there is no practical need for it now, since both parts of it are heated. The eastern part of the church (the rotunda itself with a magnificent iconostasis, cast-iron floors and an Empire chandelier), the iconostases of the chapels, and the beautifully crafted candlesticks in front of the icons of the Mother of God remained intact (after the regional executive committee made a decision in 1933 to close the church and transfer the building to the Tretyakov Gallery for an architectural office). Joy to all who mourn" etc. Varlaam Khutynsky. During the renovation work of 1947-1948, the paintings were partly whitened because there was not enough money for their full restoration. The Church of the Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Joy of All Who Sorrow” on Bolshaya Ordynka acquired its present appearance in two stages. In the 1780s V.I. Bazhenov built the existing refectory with two chapels and a bell tower. And in the 1820-1830s O.I. Beauvais built the eastern part of the temple, the rotunda. Since 1948, the regent of the temple choir was N.V. Matveev (he is called the “great regent of the twentieth century”). He created a choir that received recognition not only in church, but also in professional musical circles. Connoisseurs of church music especially tried to get into the Sorrow Church on November 8, when the Matveev choir performed the “Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom” by P.I. Tchaikovsky, which was not heard anywhere else in the Soviet era - neither in other churches, nor in secular concert halls. A magnificent choir sounded inside, but outside the temple was silent. In 1961, residents of a writer's house in nearby Lavrushinsky Lane demanded that the bell ringing be removed. Removed. In 1974, the temple building was restored. In particular, the stucco frieze of the rotunda received the missing details.
From the magazine "Orthodox Temples. Travel to Holy Places." Issue No. 89, 2014
Sorrow Church on Ordynka, for several centuries now it has attracted many thousands of people with the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow.”
Story Church of the Sorrow on Ordynka begins in the dark, almost impenetrable depths of centuries. In church records, the construction of the temple dates back to 1685; but this should be understood about the stone church, because the wooden Church of the Transfiguration with a chapel in the name of St. Varlaam of Khutyn was mentioned in scribe books in 1657.
The wooden Sorrow Church was very poor. In its original form, it existed until 1685, when a certain widow Evdokia Vasilievna Akinfova replaced the wooden building with a stone one - but also very modest.
However, only three years passed, and the unremarkable Zamoskvoretsky church became famous: in 1688, the first miracle took place from the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” residing in it.
Over time, miracles did not dry up, the Horde Sorrow Church became increasingly famous, and they decided to rebuild the temple more thoroughly. According to the project, the temple received a refectory with two chapels - St. Varlaam and the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” - and a three-tiered bell tower. By the end of the 1780s, the reconstruction was completed, the interior decoration was completed, and on October 24, 1790, the very day when the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” is honored, the church was consecrated.
Not for long, however, the Horde Sorrow Church delighted the residents of Zamoskvorechye with its newly created beauty. In 1812, it suffered so much that it turned out to be easier to build a new main temple, which was done in the 1820-1830s. The project was compiled by Osip Ivanovich Bove, unforgettable in the history of post-fire Moscow.
The construction of the new Sorrow Church lasted almost fifteen years. Its consecration in 1836 became a memorable event in life.
Sasha Mitrakhovich 26.09.2017 07:47
In its history, the Sorrow Church on Bolshaya Ordynka has known different things. But she was always loved by Muscovites. For how many parishioners the temple has become a home, how many have received consolation here - now I can’t even count...
The Church of Sorrows on Bolshaya Ordynka acquired its current appearance after the fire of 1812. There was no opportunity to save the main church of the 17th century, but the refectory and bell tower, built by Bazhenov, were not damaged so much, and O. I. Bove, who was entrusted with the reconstruction of the church, treated them very delicately, organically fitting his rotunda church into the existing architectural context with a dome crowning a low light drum.
Speaking about “Bazhenov’s elements,” it should be noted that in this case, Bazhenov for the first time gave the type of refectory that later became so widespread in Moscow church architecture: a low, almost square volume with rounded corners. The bell tower corresponds to this “roundness” of the refectory - “perfect in form,” as Sabashnikov’s guidebook attests to it. It is composed of three successively smaller cylinders stacked on top of each other. Thus, Bove only brought to its logical conclusion the rounded outlines of the temple set by Bazhenov, revealing both high taste and sensitivity to architectural material. As a result, the Mother See received one of the outstanding monuments of “its” - Moscow - Empire style.
People are used to seeing the Church of Sorrows on Ordynka in classic empire style - ocher-white - attire. Meanwhile, this type of color is not the only possible one. There were eras when the temple appeared to Muscovites as pale pink with white details. That is, such a coloring, from a historical point of view, is quite acceptable now. But, given that the Horde church is located between two “only red” churches - St. Clement in Klimentovsky Lane and the Resurrection of Christ in Kadashi - it was decided not to use pale pink coloring.
Sasha Mitrakhovich 26.09.2017 16:08
The Sabashnikov guide describes the interior of the Sorrow Church on Ordynka:
On both sides of the central arch leading to the summer church, there are marble choirs with two pairs of marble angels; the choirs are decorated with bronze; the work is very rich, but the impression from these choirs is not at all Orthodox. Let us note on the right side of the entrance to the summer church a good Flemish painting - an image of Christ going to the crucifixion; purely Flemish peasant faces are taken in an unusually realistic, portrait manner, with an attempt to convey the mood.
Through the arch we enter the summer temple. Before us is a solemn round colonnade with an overhead light, giving an elegant, even magnificent impression, but not at all made in the spirit of an Orthodox church; the magnificent iconostasis has nothing in common with the ancient Russian iconostasis in the sense of the canonical distribution of icons and tiers. This is a beautifully executed architectural task in the classical spirit: the iconostasis evokes magnificent exits, gazebos, triumphal arches of the late 18th - early 19th centuries. Finally, the cast-iron floor is interesting, made from individual slabs folded into a beautiful pattern.”
Let us add that previously the cold and warm temples were separated by a glass partition with a glass door. The partition was dismantled when the temple was a “gallery”. However, there is no practical need for it now, since both parts of it are heated.
It should be noted that, in general, museum workers treated with care what the Bolsheviks did not confiscate. The eastern part of the temple (the rotunda itself with a magnificent iconostasis, cast-iron floors and an Empire chandelier), the iconostases of the chapels, beautifully crafted candlesticks in front of the icons, etc. remained intact. During the renovation work of 1947-1948, the paintings were partly whitened because there was not enough money for their full restoration.
