The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Khamovniki is considered one of the most beautiful churches in Moscow. From the moment of its construction, the temple was practically not subjected to restructuring and has been preserved in its original form.
The history of the district of Moscow, called Khamovnichya Sloboda, or Khamovniki, begins in the 17th century. Today, Khamovniki is located in one of the central districts of the capital, but in those days it was more of a suburb. In this area, herbs valuable from the point of view of cattle breeding grew over large areas.
Nicholas Church in Khamovniki, 1883
At the beginning of the 17th century, the construction of a convent began, which was named Novodevichy. Then this area began to be populated by ordinary people, mainly peasants and artisans. At that time, the needs of the royal court in linen materials were growing.
It was decided to create in the capital a settlement specialized in the production of fabrics. The choice fell on the vicinity of the Novodevichy Convent. Craftsmen-weavers were resettled here from some surrounding villages. In the old Russian language, flax was denoted by the word "ham", "hamyan". Therefore, the settlement acquired the name Khamovnichya.
Artisans produced products for the needs of the state, therefore they received salaries from the budget and enjoyed some privileges and benefits. Weavers considered one of their patron saints Nicholas the Wonderworker, praying to him, asking for help in work and in everyday life.
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It was customary to ask Saint Nicholas for help in various matters, including work. It was decided to raise funds for the construction of a new temple in honor of this saint.
It can be argued that by 1625 there already existed the original version of the church - a wooden one. Later, in 1657, they decided to build a more reliable, stone temple. It was placed at some distance from the wooden one. This brick building was called the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Khamovniki.
Church of Nicholas the Wonderworker in Khamovniki
At first, the foundation appeared in the form of a church, and a little later, extensions, a refectory and a bell tower were made. But there were historical upheavals ahead.
In 1812, Napoleon entered Moscow, and large fires began in the city. They did not pass the Church of St. Nicholas the Pleasant. Damage affected both the outer and inner sides of the temple. Then the French began to retreat, and it became possible to begin restoration work in this and other churches.
Work was carried out until 1849. Not only was the original appearance restored, but additional decorations were made, such as wall paintings. And in 1896 the first restoration began. A metal fence was erected. But there were new upheavals ahead - the revolution of 1917, decades of Soviet power, negatively disposed towards religion.
The authorities made large-scale plans to change Moscow and other cities; as part of these plans, many ancient churches and monasteries were to be destroyed.
But God took the trouble away from the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, and he did not even close, although he suffered some losses. In addition, two more restorations were carried out in Soviet times - in 1949 and 1972.
Strictly speaking, the church day begins on the evening of the previous date, and ends in the afternoon.
In the church of St. Nicholas, both evening and daytime services are performed daily:
In addition to the prayer appeal to Nicholas the Wonderworker, other shrines are revered in the temple. This is:
Arriving at the temple, you can prayerfully address both these and all Orthodox saints.
In 1872, the project of the chapel was approved, but its consecration took place only on December 6, 1879 by Metropolitan Isidore. Soon the chapel was assigned to the Zion Temple in the Lycian Worlds, where the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker were once kept. Two monks from the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos began to raise money for the restoration of this temple in the chapel, bringing with them particles of the relics of the Great Martyr Panteleimon, the Life-Giving Tree of the Lord, and a list of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God "Quick to Hear".
In the autumn of 1885, the Alexander Chapel burned down, and when it was restored, it passed to the Imperial Palestinian Society, founded three years earlier to support Orthodoxy in the Holy Land, study it and help Russian pilgrims.
The Church in the Worlds could not be restored due to political complications, and in 1910 it was decided to use the collected funds for the construction of a Russian courtyard in Bari (Italy), where the holy relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker still lie, and the cramped capital church, in which century, the chapel was rebuilt, replaced by a building in the Novgorod-Pskov style.
The new project was drawn up by the architect S. S. Krichinsky, a prominent modernist architect, the construction was advised by the architect V. T. Georgievsky. Metropolitan Vladimir founded the church on November 8, 1913 on the relics of St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow, in the presence of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, chairman of the Palestinian Society. On December 15, 1915, he consecrated it. The temple immediately received a small parish.
The slender, pointed, with one helmet-shaped dome on a high drum, the ancient Russian church, which originally interpreted the Pskov-Novgorod motifs, was decorated on the outside with a carved pattern and crosses made of white oxbow stone, the roof was covered with green glazed tiles. The design of the temple was laconic, the image turned out to be solid, except that semicircular ledges at the corners raise doubts, and the shape of the cross is not typical for Pskov or Novgorod architecture. The church aroused universal admiration for the picturesqueness of its silhouette.
The inside of the temple was decorated with frescoes in the style of the masterpieces of Dionysius in the Ferapontov Monastery, executed by V. A. Plotnikov and V. S. Shcherbakov. The four-tiered iconostasis, upholstered, as in the Kremlin Assumption Cathedral, with silver basma, was made by Khlebnikov's firm. It was decorated with the most valuable icons of the 16th - 17th centuries from different schools, collected by the chairman of the building committee, an expert and connoisseur of ancient Russian art A. A. Shirinsky-Shikhmatov, the former chief prosecutor of the Synod (since 1910, vice-chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society. Note site ). The royal gates date back to the 16th century, the golden vessels, the Gospel and utensils - to the 16th - 17th centuries. The most revered icon of the Mother of God, the Quick Hearing One, was kept in an icon case carved after the model of the icon case of the Mother of God of Vladimir in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin. There were other shrines in the temple: an olive tree cross with a particle of the Life-Giving Tree of the Lord and the icon of the Ascension of the Lord with a particle of the stone of the Life-Giving Sepulcher (they were sent in 1908 by the Jerusalem Patriarch Damian), a list of the grave image of St. Sergius of Radonezh with a particle of his relics (brought in 1895 year from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra), as well as an icon in the growth of St. Seraphim of Sarov with part of his mantle and a relic of the Hieromartyr Hermogenes.
Under the temple, which accommodated 320 people, there was a chamber of local guardianship, painted in the spirit of Moscow towers, with a tiled stove and a chandelier of the 17th century, next to it were cells for the hieromonks who served in the temple. At the corner of Staro-Nevsky and Poltavskaya streets, in 1903, market vendors placed a two-tiered marble kiot, made in Guidi's workshop, with four icons.
After the revolution, a museum was set up in the church, which kept rare ancient icons and utensils collected by Shirinsky-Shikhmatov. The wonderful temple-museum was blown up on May 20, 1932, despite the vigorous objections of the monument protection services. Now at this place - the carriageway of the intersection. The icon of the Mother of God "Quick to Hear" is now in the Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
Ave. Bakunina, d. 4, corner of Mytninskaya st.
The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Khamovniki has experienced an eventful history: it has never closed and never stopped working. Today it is included in the list of architectural monuments of federal significance in Moscow.
Temple in Khamovniki is also called Church of St. Nicholas, Nikolo-Khamovnicheskaya, St. Nicholas or St. Nicholas Church. The very word "Khamovniki" comes from the name of the profession of royal weavers - Khamovniki, who lived in Moscow at this address.
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The first mention of the temple dates back to 1625: then it was an ordinary wooden church for local residents. But already in 1657 it was rebuilt into a stone version, and in 1677 it was called by its full name, which has survived to this day. However, in the original version, it was not preserved: after 2 years, under Tsar Fedor Alekseevich, it was rebuilt, and in 1682 it was consecrated. After some time, a refectory and a bell tower were completed.
During the Second World War with Napoleon, the church suffered, losing part of the interior. It was restored only by the middle of the 19th century. At the same time, wall paintings appeared, and a fence was erected around. After the restoration was carried out at the end of the century, in 1949 and 1972. Surprisingly, the temple remained active all this time, even the Soviet authorities did not close it, let alone rebuild it for domestic buildings. In 1912-1960, the rector was Archpriest Pavel Lepekhin.
The only "robbery" was the removal of the bells, and then the unique Latygin bell was transferred to the collection of the Historical Museum of Moscow - in 1992 it was returned to its place.
In 2008, the temple celebrated its 160th anniversary. Before that, in 2002, in Kiselevsk, the Church of the Mother of God "Quick Hearing" was built, the prototype of which was the temple in Khamovniki.
Another interesting fact is connected with the name of Leo Tolstoy: the count lived in Moscow not far from the temple and was his parishioner. The church is mentioned by him in some works.
The temple is made in the Russian patterned style, which was popular at that time and came from Yaroslavl. This is a snow-white church with 5 domes with a green roof and multi-colored decorations, it is connected with a hipped bell tower by a refectory.
The church looks very "popular": she looks both modest and elegant, evoking associations with peasant festive clothes. Its architectural uniqueness was recognized even in the USSR - it is not for nothing that the building was not touched and even restored.
Inside, murals of the 18th century (more precisely, the 1840s) have been preserved: all the walls, columns and ceiling are decorated with them. On the images you can see the earthly life of Christ, scenes from the Old Testament, seraphim and many other saints. The iconostasis is four-tiered, it is crowned with the Crucifixion. It is made in blue and gold colors.
Saint Nicholas, after whom the temple got its name, was a Byzantine bishop in the 3rd-4th century. He is the patron of travelers, orphans and prisoners. The saint became the prototype of Santa Claus, and the story from his life about the gift of dowry to 3 poor girls turned into a tradition of Christmas gifts.
In Russia, Nicholas is one of the most significant and revered saints: the number of churches dedicated to him is second only to the churches of the Virgin. HE is considered the eldest among all saints, and in some traditions they are even included in the Trinity: Christ - Mother of God - Nicholas.
There are no icons dedicated to the saint in the Khamovniki Church in Moscow - its name is more "fashionable".
The main shrine of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is icon of the Mother of God "Guide of sinners"(Guarantee for sinners before the Lord, mediator between God and people). The image was created in the middle of the 18th century in the Odrino-Nikolaev Monastery (Oryol province).
The icon was immediately noted for several healings, including from cholera, the epidemic of which flared up at that time. The first miracles occurred in the year of writing: the young epileptic son of a local resident was healed (she saw the icon in a dream), the paralyzed son of the landowner got to his feet, and the 3-year-old merchant's daughter began to see. All the miracles happened almost at the same time, after which the icon was transferred to their churches near the gate to the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
In the 1920s the monastery was destroyed, icons were handed out to local residents. The "guarantor of sinners" went to a resident of the village of Staroe (today it is part of the Oryol region). In the 1970s, the image was given to a parishioner, Raisa, who in 1994 went with him to a monastery near Odessa and took the veil there as a nun. But a year later, Raisa returned and settled in the Nikolo-Orda monastery, but the icon remained on the territory of Ukraine.
Schemamonk Macarius from Optina Hermitage took care of her return. The return of the image turned out to be a difficult matter: firstly, Macarius himself was an invalid with paralyzed legs, and secondly, the icon was in a private collection. But still, in 1996, the “Guest of Sinners” returned to the monastery.
However, in the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, there is not the original icon, but its list (copy), however, no less miraculous. 3 years after the painting of the original icon, it was sent to Moscow to create a chasuble. This time, "Sboruchnitsa" spent in the house of Lieutenant Colonel Boncheskul. After the icon was returned to the monastery, a copy was sent to the lieutenant colonel in gratitude.
The owner of the house put it in the home iconostasis, but soon the family noticed an unusual reflection on the icon, and after a while an oily liquid began to stand out. She was gathered and anointed several sick people, who were immediately healed. After that, other sufferers began to come to the list.
After 2 years the lieutenant colonel handed over a copy to the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The liquid continued to ooze: the deacon wiped it off with paper, which he gave to the parishioners. And although myrrh-streaming soon ceased, visions of stars began to appear in the altar.
Today there is a list of officially registered miracles and healings performed by the icon, some of which happened to pagans and non-believers.
Other shrines are:
The schedule of services can be found on the church website. On weekdays and Saturdays, parishioners can attend:
On Sunday the schedule changes:
Depending on church holidays, the schedule may be changed.
St. Nicholas Church is not limited to holding services: today it has a Sunday school and a youth group. The school has been operating for more than 20 years, it teaches children aged 6-16 in 4 groups. Recruitment takes place at the beginning of the school year, classes begin with the Divine. Subsequently, students not only study at electives, but also participate in confession and communion.
The following classes are held at the school address:
On Saturdays there are additional classes:
For children 2-5 years old, there are separate classes in music and arts and crafts. There is also a youth circle in the temple: it is aimed at communication, watching thematic films, visiting exhibitions, pilgrimage, staging performances.
There is also a social service at the address of the temple.. It provides assistance to people in a difficult life situation, helps with housing, treatment and maintenance. Nikolskaya Church is involved in the work:
Every Sunday from 12:00 to 15:00, parishioners are received at the address of the temple, and those who wish can get help by phone from the priest on duty by phone.
The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Moscow is well known to the residents of the capital, located in Khamovniki on the street. Leo Tolstoy House 2. Where Komsomolsky Prospekt begins, and Park Kultury metro station is nearby. The first evidence of it, then still related to wooden architecture, is found in 1625.
After 22 years, she became a stone. And after 50 years, it received its famous historical name of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker near the Metropolitan's stables. Weavers took part in the construction of the shrine, and they gave it the name of the saint, whom they considered their patron. Muscovites have always loved everything elegant. The monastery of St. Nicholas in Khamovniki turned out to be bright, sunny, like a painted Moscow gingerbread. To this day, it is an adornment of patriarchal Moscow.
The Russian people have always had and still have love for Archbishop Mir of Lycia. Since he was once a man who stood up for the truth and defended the weak when they were in danger.
Merchants, by the nature of their activities, often faced deceit on the one hand, and on the other hand, they themselves could be tempted to incorrectly submit something, sell it.
And so they, wishing to avoid both, having Nicholas the Wonderworker as their patron, prayed to Him that the Lord would save them from sinful encroachment (fall).
The saint was unmercenary. The cult of the golden calf has long flourished in the world, which is why examples of selflessness are so important today for Orthodox people. The saint could give the last to a person if he needed. There was a case when one desperate father of three daughters was ready to give them to the panel, since there was nothing to feed and clothe them, much less to marry. When the saint found out about this, he threw a bag of gold out the window to the poor man and quickly left unrecognized. The family was saved.
Note! In Russia, believers call the saint the Helper, especially revering the icons and churches dedicated to him.
In its appearance, the church of St. Nicholas in Khamovniki, upon closer examination, resembles a ship. This method of building Orthodox churches was typical for that time.
Architectural historians attribute the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker to the Moscow baroque tradition of the late 17th century. True, at the same time, the structure retains the features of ancient Russian architecture, but already very stylized. During its construction, the principle of ancient architecture was preserved - to paint architectural details in different colors.
The most ornate bell tower is richly decorated. This is a typical two-tier building, but the tallest in all of Moscow. The bell calling people to worship weighs 108 tons. In Soviet times, all the bells were seized by the authorities so that church bells would no longer be heard throughout the country. But already in 1922 one of them was returned, the rest were irretrievably lost. Since then, he has been announcing the most important moments of the church service, has an amazing timbre of sound. Other bells are relatively young and were installed much later.
In 1812, when the French ruled the territory of Khamovniki , Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Moscow was thoroughly destroyed. Here the conquerors set up an infirmary and a stable, defiled the holy place with drunkenness. After such abuse, the church had to be not only restored, but also re-consecrated. This was done by St. Philaret of Moscow.
The main altar was consecrated in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Aisles - in honor of St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow and the icon of the Mother of God "Guide of Sinners". The main iconostasis contains an icon of the late 17th century of St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow, depicting the Kremlin with the Spassky Gates, by the tsarist painter Ivan Maksimov.
The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Khamovniki has other revered shrines:
St. Nicholas Church has never been closed, even in the most atheistic times, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated in it, baptized, married, buried here. It was always possible to pray for those who needed God's help. And as before, so now, those who come to the church kneel before the greatest cathedral shrine - the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos "The guarantor of sinners", which turned out to be here in a truly unusual way.
In the middle of the 19th century (1846), a hieromonk arrived in Moscow from the Nikolo-Odrinsky Monastery to order a robe for the miraculous icon. He stopped at a military Bancescu. Later, in gratitude for his hospitality, the hieromonk sent him a copy painted from a miraculous icon. The colonel placed the image in his house, but very soon it became known to many people who flocked from everywhere. Praying before the image, people were healed of mental and other diseases.
Once an unusual brilliance and drops of an oily liquid of precious myrrh were noticed on the icon. They began to anoint the sick, who recovered safely. Amazed at the miracles that came from the image, Lieutenant Colonel Dimitri Bancescu donated the icon to the church, where it remains to this day.
It is believed that one of the most famous parishioners of St. Nicholas Church at one time was Count L.N. Tolstoy, who acquired the estate in the former Dolgo-Khamovnichesky Lane. Today it is Leo Tolstoy Street.
At one time, the writer regularly attended church, fulfilling all its instructions. It was only later that in a number of works he rejected the Divine nature of Christ, who, according to the writer, is not a redeemer, but only a great moral teacher.
It is a striking historical phenomenon that Tolstoy was excommunicated for the same heretical statements that the apostate Arius preached in the first centuries of Christianity. The saint then, as we remember, resolutely did not accept the views of Arius. Later, the church in Khamovniki, where the saint became a patron, also rejected the writer's judgment.
Cultural and educational activities are widely carried out in the church. Young people who visit the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Khamovniki are uniting.
Note! The schedule of the Sunday school, the youth group is available on the Internet, where the official website operates.
Looking at it, you can find out a lot of other useful information:
On the church website you can find out where the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Khamovniki is located, the schedule of services, as well as read the Orthodox calendar, the lives of the saints, various videos, audio materials about events in the life of the church and its teachings.
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This is a place of pilgrimage and holy faith, the city where St. Nicholas the Wonderworker preached. Every year it is visited by thousands of tourists from different countries.
When the city of Myra was founded is not exactly known, but the ruins and rock tombs around Demre, with Lycian inscriptions dating back to the fifth century BC, shed light on the ancient history of the city. The city was located just five kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea and had its own harbor - Andriake. According to historical data, Mira was a member of the Lycian Union and was one of the largest cities in Lycia. The city was of strategic importance, and in the III-II centuries BC, it received the right to mint its own coins. During the Roman period, Myra became the capital of a Roman province. St. Paul, on his way to Rome in 60 AD, stopped in this city and replaced the ship. In the fourth and fifth centuries, Myra becomes an important religious and administrative center under the control of Byzantium, but after the invasion of the Arabs in the seventh century AD, the city lost its importance, and later suffered greatly from the floods of the Myros River. Most of the ancient city of Myra has not yet been excavated, but the theater and rock tombs with inscriptions in the Lycian language always attract many tourists.
Nowadays, Mira can be reached by passing through houses, greenhouses and orange fields along Demre. Having reached the area, first of all, the largest and best preserved theater of Lycia, located on the southern slope of the acropolis, catches the eye. Situated on a hillside, the Greco-Roman theater consists of two concentric semicircles. There were 29 rows for spectators and 6 more rows at the top. The theater had a capacity of nine to ten thousand people. The stage has been preserved up to the second floor. The stone blocks in the place of the orchestra, which are in the form of a pile, testify to the existence of an ostentatious facade at one time, decorated with statues and unique architecture. The vaulted galleries serve as an entry-exit and a cool spot for visitors on summer days.
Historical data says that Saint Nicholas - in Orthodoxy Nicholas the Wonderworker, and in the Catholic religion Santa Claus - came from a wealthy noble family. He was born around the year 270 in the city of Patara, not far from Mira. Mother and father were very pious people and from childhood accustomed Nikolai to spiritual culture, to the study of religious books. He attended church. When his parents died, he began to help people on behalf of God, and devoted himself entirely to spiritual life. Around the year 300, Nicholas was elected Bishop of Mira, and became famous for his justice, holiness and infallibility, spending all his time in prayer and giving all his strength and knowledge for the benefit of people. Saint Nicholas died around 345. His relics were placed in a marble sarcophagus and buried in the church of the city of Mira, where he served all his life, and they were kept incorrupt for a long time, and the parishioners received healing from them. During the Arab raids on Byzantium (VII-VIII centuries), the church was repeatedly destroyed. In the eleventh century, Italian merchants brought the relics of the saint to Italy, where they are kept in the church of Saint Eustathius in the city of Bari. Fortunately, part of the relic was not looted, and some fragments of the skull are now stored in the Museum of Archeology. In Christianity, St. Nicholas is revered as a miracle worker, is the patron saint of sailors, travelers, prisoners and orphans.
In the second century there was a strong earthquake. The sanctuary of the Greek goddess - Artemis in the city of Peace was destroyed. The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was built in the fourth century by Byzantine architects on the site of an ancient temple of the goddess Artemis. After the Arab raids, the church was destroyed and fell into disrepair. In the VIII - X centuries, when the Byzantine emperor Constantine ruled, and then the Empress Zoya, the temple was rebuilt anew, and high walls were also erected. Not only wars brought destruction. The Church of St. Nicholas the Pleasant was completely flooded with waters near the flowing Miros River. (Therefore, the floor of the church is now seven meters below ground level). A lot of time passed before the church was accidentally rediscovered. In 1850, the Russian traveler A. N. Muravyov visited the ruins and initiated an initiative to raise funds for the restoration of the temple. With the collected funds, the territory of the temple was purchased from the Ottoman government and the chapel was restored. The final excavations and restoration of the church began only closer to the nineties.
The temple looks like an Orthodox basilica, in the shape of a cross. The building contains: courtyard; two vestibules; large, domed room; two small halls on the sides; two round and one square small rooms. Initially, the roof of the church was crowned with a dome, but after the restoration, it was replaced by a vault. In the semicircular part, connected with the large hall, along the walls, benches carved from stone descend to the altar. The central hall is separated from two small halls by openings in the form of arches. In the main hall there is a corridor with columns. The corridor is arranged in such a way that even a whisper can be clearly heard from all sides. Therefore, the ancient clergy during prayer easily communicated with each other. Vaulted gates lead to other rooms built during the Byzantine period for various purposes. The floor of the church is lined with ornaments of various types of stone. According to historians, some of these mosaics were left from the Temple of Artemis, where a church was subsequently built. The niches of the church are decorated with the faces of saints. In one of the niches there is a white marble sarcophagus, where, presumably, the relics of the saint were located. Behind the rooms of the church there is a garden, which is surrounded by high walls. In the corner of the garden is a quadrangular stone water tank. Ancient stone sarcophagi, decorated with beautiful plant-patterned reliefs, are scattered around.
Every year, on December 6, on the day of the death of St. Nicholas, Christians from all over the world gather in the temple for memorial services and to venerate the holy relics. To this day, they pray to St. Nicholas for happiness, a good life, for loved ones who are away, for the health of children.
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