In the Basmanny district of the capital, on the corner of Podsosensky and Barashevsky Lane, there is an ancient Holy Vvedensky church, a photo of which is presented in the article. Built and consecrated in honor of the memorable gospel event - Introduction to the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it has been inextricably linked with the life of Moscow and all of Russia for almost three and a half centuries.
The temple built in the Barashevskaya settlement
There is reliable information about the temple, which was the forerunner of the current Vvedensky church. A number of historical documents allow us to conclude that it was built and consecrated in 1647. In addition, it is known that in the mid-60s, a primary school operated at the church, opened at its own expense by priest I. Fokin. It was located in the Barashevskaya settlement exactly at the place where the church is located, which is discussed in our article, and, therefore, was its predecessor.
Along the way, we note that the settlement got its name from the ancient word "barash", which designated the royal servants who were in charge of the manufacture, storage and installation of its tents. They also performed the duties of the army quartermaster and, in their numbers, settled in a separate settlement. In addition to the Holy Vvedensky church, another one was erected nearby - the Resurrection, which is also mentioned in documents of that era.
Construction and consecration of the existing church
In 1688, by order of Tsar Ivan V Alekseevich, preparations began for the construction of a new building of the Vvedensky church. To this day, economic documents have been preserved that testify to the fact that 100 thousand burnt bricks were made for the construction of its walls, and many other materials needed for the business were prepared.
Work on the construction of walls and roofing continued for a whole decade, and in 1698, that is, already in the reign of his half-brother, Sovereign Peter I, the aisle of St. Longin Sotnik, considered the patron of the reigning house, was solemnly consecrated. A year later, the chapel of Elijah the Prophet was consecrated. The final decoration of the entire building was completed on October 11, 1701.
The architectural features of the temple
According to art critics, the Vvedenskaya church built in Moscow is a vivid example of the style that is commonly called the Moscow Baroque. This is evidenced, in particular, by the abundance and nature of the decorations used in the exterior decoration of the building. The creators of the temple decorated it with decorative kokoshniks crowning the walls, picturesque groups of columns located at the corners of the main fours, as well as lush and very elegant window frames.
They did not stint on the creation of a huge number of small parts that harmoniously fit into the overall appearance of the building. It is known that due to the temporary ban of Peter I on the use of iron in roofing, the roof of the Vvedensky church had a special coating made of colored tiles and white stone, which gave it a festive look. By 1770, it had deteriorated in order, and since the ban had been lifted by then, it was replaced with ordinary sheet metal.
Fire of 1737 and subsequent restoration work
One of the first disasters experienced by the temple was a fire that swept it in 1737 and caused significant damage to both the walls of the building and its interior decoration. During the restoration work, which lasted for several years, a new element was added to the overall architectural composition, which became the multi-tiered bell tower, which has survived to this day without significant changes. It is characteristic that with its external appearance it is close to the bell tower of the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist, built in 1741 on Varvarka - one of the streets in the center of Moscow.
Repair and reconstruction of the temple, carried out in the first half of the XIX century
During the Napoleonic invasion and the associated fire that swept Moscow, the Vvedensky Church suffered significant damage, which is why, three years later, its restoration and reconstruction began, which lasted until 1837. In the course of the work, which was led by the Moscow architect P.M. Kazakov, the shortcomings of the previous architectural design were taken into account.
In particular, to improve the illumination of the interior, several additional oval-shaped windows were cut into the walls of the building. The western part of the refectory was disassembled and re-laid, and inside it two heavy quadrangular supports were replaced by light round columns in cross section, between which wide gaps were left. In addition, a new iconostasis was installed, the author of the sketches of which was also the architect P.M. Kazakov. In this updated form, the Holy Vvedensky Church lasted until 1917, when the Bolsheviks came to power caused the greatest tragedy in the history of Russian Orthodoxy.
Amid militant atheism
Until the beginning of the 30s, the parish of the Holy Vvedensky Church continued its religious life, although it was repeatedly attacked by the city authorities. But in 1931 it was announced that, according to the wishes of the workers of the Russolent factory, the church should be closed, demolished, and the plot occupied by it transferred to the construction of a multi-storey residential building.
In those years, such acts of vandalism, which became quite commonplace, deprived Russia of many monuments of its cultural and historical heritage. The sentence was also signed by the Vvedensky church in Barashevsky Lane. However, fate was pleased to order otherwise. The church parish was abolished, but the building itself was not demolished. What caused this is unknown.
Perhaps the construction of a residential building on this site did not correspond to the general urban planning plan or sufficient funds were not allocated, but the church survived, and a hostel was arranged in it for the very workers who allegedly requested its closure. A few years later, the God-fighting workers were evicted, and one of the shops of the Moscow Electrical Products Factory was located in the vacant premises until 1979.
Silent Treasure Keepers
A very curious case belongs to this period. In 1948, to install new equipment in the workshop, it was necessary to break through the wall. When the workers plunged into the thickness of the brickwork, a vast cavity suddenly appeared in it, in which three human skeletons and many different gold items, including royal coinage, were found.
Who were those people whose remains rested for many years in the church wall, and who owned the treasures found there, remained unknown. At least the information about this was not publicized. The workers were ordered to remain silent, which they did, fearing the undesirable consequences of excessive talkativeness. Only during the years of perestroika did this incident become public, but even then it did not receive any convincing explanation.
The first steps to the revival of the shrine
In 1979, the Electrical Plant left the Vvedensky Church building, and the city authorities placed it at the disposal of the scientific and restoration plant, which housed its workshop in it. Thus, the well-known assertion that “a holy place does not exist empty” found its real confirmation. We must pay tribute to the restoration scientists: unlike their predecessors, they not only did not destroy the temple building, fitting it under their immediate needs, but even took care to restore it.
They began comprehensive restoration work as a result of which, soon the chapters returned to their places, crowning the once side chapels, and a cross appeared on the bell tower, which disappeared from it many years ago. The building itself was covered with scaffolding, which was removed from it only in 1990, when the bulk of the work was completed, and the Vvedensky church regained its former appearance.
Church returned to the ownership of the Russian Orthodox Church
The process of perestroika, which swept the country in the last decade of the past century and touched all areas of its life, radically changed the government’s attitude to religious issues. The return of the Church began to be illegally taken from her movable and immovable property. Among other objects, believers received at their disposal the Vvedensky Church, which had been restored by that time. The schedule of services, which replaced government bills on its doors indicating the inside of government offices, eloquently testified to the changes that had come.
The current state of the temple
Since then, every day at 8:00, its doors open for everyone who wants to attend the Divine Liturgy or special prayers, dedicated to various calendar dates. At 18:00, evening services are held there, on the eve of the holidays, accompanied by a reading of akathists. Parishioners will learn about all kinds of unplanned events from ads placed at the entrance to the temple or on its website.
At present, not all the values that once belonged to the church community and were taken from it by the Bolsheviks have returned to their places. Many icons of high artistic value are still in the funds of the State Tretyakov Gallery. However, even today visitors can worship such shrines as the miraculous image of the Kazan Mother of God, the icons of the Annunciation, the Presentation of the Lord and the relics of many Orthodox saints stored in the church.
At the beginning of September 2015, by the decision of the leadership of the Moscow Patriarchate, the temple was provided for hosting the representative office of the Orthodox Church of Moldova, and the Chisinau Metropolitan Vladimir (Kantaryan) was appointed its rector. Thus, being owned by the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, it is under the administrative management of the Chisinau-Moldavian Metropolis.
For everyone who wants to attend the services held in it, we inform the address: Moscow, Barashevsky Lane, house 8/2, building 4.