Coordinates : 55°48′01″ s. sh. 37°44′03″ in. d. /  55.80028° N sh. 37.73417° E d. / 55.80028; 37.73417(G) (I)

Temple of Elijah the Prophet (Exaltation of the Holy Cross) in Cherkizovo- Orthodox Church of the Resurrection Deanery of the Moscow City Diocese.

Elias Church was located in a picturesque place, on the banks of the river Sosenka. Sosenka is the right tributary of Khapilovka, its source is located in the Golyanov area, and the length of the entire river is almost nine kilometers. At present, the main part of the Sosenka channel is enclosed in a pipe. Cherkizovsky Pond, on the banks of which the Ilyinsky Church still towers, is one of the few places reminiscent of where the river used to flow on the surface. The river itself flows in a collector along the eastern bank of the pond.

Together with his brother Sergei, Ilya was one of the close servants of Metropolitan Alexy. It was to the metropolitan that Cherkizovo passed from Ilya Ozakov. The picturesque location of the village was to the liking of Metropolitan Alexy, and he made the temple the summer residence of the Moscow Patriarchs. Over time, especially under St. Innokenty (Veniaminov), the residence grew and was rebuilt.

stone church

In -1690, a stone church was built on the site of a burnt wooden church. The temple was consecrated on June 18, 1690, it already had a chapel of St. Alexis, a refectory and a belfry. In the 19th century, the Elias Church was rebuilt twice. After the first reconstruction in 1825, the temple became five-domed for some time. A more serious reconstruction was carried out at the end of the 19th century on the initiative of the rector of the church, Father Pavel, and the church warden, merchant Alexander Zelenyaev, who wrote in an appeal to the diocesan authorities: “The Church of the Holy Prophet of God Elijah, which in the village of Cherkizovo does not correspond to a fairly significant number of parishioners…”. The plan for the reconstruction of the church and the construction of a new bell tower designed by the architect Egorov was approved in 1888. After the work was completed in the late 1990s, the temple was re-consecrated.

Elias Church is surrounded by a cemetery, which is the oldest cemetery in Moscow. This is one of the rare domestic historical necropolises that was not devastated during the Soviet era. In 1861, the famous Moscow holy fool Ivan Yakovlevich Koreysha, who was revered as a saint for a long time, was buried here. Its popularity is evidenced by the fact that the image of Koreysha is depicted in the works of N. S. Leskov (“Little Mistake”) and F. M. Dostoevsky (“Demons”). Ivan Yakovlevich is mentioned by A. N. Ostrovsky (“The Marriage of Balzaminov”).

During the Great Patriotic War, believers and the clergy of the temple collected 1 million rubles for the construction of aircraft and sent them to I.V. Stalin. Stalin responded by sending a telegram of thanks. And the temple survived all the difficult years of Soviet rule. In the middle of the 20th century, icons were brought to the temple from neighboring churches that were to be destroyed. The rector of the temple at that time was Pavel Ivanovich Tsvetkov.

Church of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo Today

On December 30, 2011, he was appointed rector of the temple Archimandrite Savva(in the world Sergei Andreevich Tutunov; February 19, 1978, Vilkren, France) - Archimandrite of the Russian Orthodox Church, Deputy Administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate and Head of the Control and Analytical Service of the Office of the Moscow Patriarchate, member of the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Cherkizovskoye cemetery

Cherkizovsky cemetery is the smallest Moscow cemetery and one of the oldest cemeteries in Moscow. The Cherkizovo cemetery got its name from the village of Cherkizovo, next to which a cemetery was formed in 1380. In 1960, the Cherkizovsky cemetery became part of the Moscow cemeteries run by the State Unitary Enterprise "Ritual". Since 1998, an archive has been maintained at the Cherkizovsky cemetery, in which all burials are recorded. At the cemetery there is a rental point for equipment for the care of graves. Currently, related burials are being made at the Cherkizovsky cemetery. The Cherkizovsky cemetery is open to the public daily from May to September from 9:00 to 19:00 and from October to April from 9:00 to 17:00. Burials at the Cherkizovsky cemetery are carried out daily from 9 am to 5 pm.

Buried in the cemetery:

  • Ivan Yakovlevich Koreysha (-) - the famous Moscow holy fool
  • Bragin Sergey Mikhailovich (-) - Professor
  • Zamyatin Nikolai Mikhailovich (-) - major general
  • Smirnov Pavel Dmitrievich (-) - priest
  • Sokolov Alexey Pavlovich (-) - Archpriest
  • Ilyin Nikolai Ilyich (-) - rector of the temple
  • Glushakov Alexey Vasilyevich (-) - rector of the temple
  • Koroleva Nadezhda Alexandrovna (-) - labor veteran
  • Elkin Ivan Vladimirovich (-) - military pilot

Photos

    Church of Saint Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo 02.jpg

    Ilyinsky temple and the surrounding cemetery

    Church of Saint Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo 41.jpg

    Ilyinsky temple

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An excerpt characterizing the Temple of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo

We'll clean it up for you. - And Timokhin, not yet dressed, ran to clean.
The prince wants.
- Which? Our prince? - voices began to speak, and everyone hurried so that Prince Andrei managed to calm them down. He thought it better to pour himself in the shed.
“Meat, body, chair a canon [cannon fodder]! - he thought, looking at his naked body, and shuddering not so much from the cold, but from disgust and horror, incomprehensible to him, at the sight of this huge number of bodies rinsing in a dirty pond.
On August 7, Prince Bagration wrote the following in his camp at Mikhailovka on the Smolensk road:
“Dear sir, Count Alexei Andreevich.
(He wrote to Arakcheev, but he knew that his letter would be read by the sovereign, and therefore, as far as he was capable of doing so, he considered his every word.)
I think that the Minister has already reported on leaving Smolensk to the enemy. It hurts, sadly, and the whole army is in despair that the most important place was abandoned in vain. I, for my part, asked him personally in the most convincing way, and finally wrote; but nothing agreed with him. I swear to you on my honor that Napoleon was in such a bag as never before, and he could lose half the army, but not take Smolensk. Our troops have fought and are fighting like never before. I held on with 15,000 for over 35 hours and beat them; but he did not want to stay even 14 hours. It's a shame and a stain on our army; and he himself, it seems to me, should not live in the world. If he conveys that the loss is great, it is not true; maybe about 4 thousand, no more, but not even that. At least ten, how to be, war! But the enemy lost the abyss ...
What was it worth to stay two more days? At least they would have left; for they had no water to drink for men and horses. He gave me his word that he would not retreat, but suddenly sent a disposition that he was leaving into the night. Thus, it is impossible to fight, and we can soon bring the enemy to Moscow ...
Rumor has it that you think about the world. To reconcile, God forbid! After all the donations and after such extravagant retreats, make up your mind: you will turn the whole of Russia against you, and each of us, out of shame, will make him wear a uniform. If it has already gone like this, we must fight while Russia can and while people are on their feet ...
You have to lead one, not two. Your minister may be good in the ministry; but the general is not only bad, but trashy, and he was given the fate of our entire Fatherland ... I, really, go crazy with annoyance; Forgive me for writing boldly. It can be seen that he does not love the sovereign and wishes the death of all of us who advise to make peace and command the army to the minister. So, I am writing you the truth: prepare the militia. For the minister in the most skillful way leads the guest to the capital. Adjutant Wolzogen is giving the whole army a big suspicion. He, they say, is more Napoleonic than ours, and he advises everything to the minister. I am not only courteous against him, but I obey like a corporal, although older than him. It hurts; but, loving my benefactor and sovereign, I obey. It’s only a pity for the sovereign that he entrusts such a glorious army. Imagine that with our retreat we lost people from fatigue and more than 15 thousand in hospitals; and if they had attacked, it would not have happened. Say for God's sake that our Russia - our mother - will say that we are so afraid and why we give such a good and zealous Fatherland to bastards and instill hatred and shame in every subject. What to be afraid of and who to be afraid of?. It's not my fault that the minister is indecisive, a coward, stupid, slow and everything has bad qualities. The whole army is crying completely and scolding him to death ... "

Among the innumerable subdivisions that can be made in the phenomena of life, one can subdivide them all into those in which the content predominates, others in which the form predominates. Among these, in contrast to rural, zemstvo, provincial, even Moscow life, one can include life in St. Petersburg, especially salon life. This life is unchangeable.
Since 1805 we have been reconciling and quarreling with Bonaparte, we have made constitutions and butchered them, and the salon of Anna Pavlovna and the salon of Helene were exactly the same as they had been one seven years, the other five years ago. In the same way, Anna Pavlovna spoke with bewilderment about the successes of Bonaparte and saw, both in his successes and in the indulgence of European sovereigns, a malicious conspiracy, with the sole purpose of unpleasantness and anxiety of that court circle, of which Anna Pavlovna was a representative. In the same way, with Helen, whom Rumyantsev himself honored with his visit and considered a remarkably intelligent woman, just as in 1808, so in 1812, they spoke with enthusiasm about a great nation and a great person and looked with regret at the break with France, which, according to the people who gathered in the salon Helen, should have ended in peace.
Recently, after the arrival of the sovereign from the army, there was some excitement in these opposing circles in the salons and some demonstrations were made against each other, but the direction of the circles remained the same. Only inveterate legitimists from the French were accepted into Anna Pavlovna's circle, and here the patriotic idea was expressed that there was no need to go to the French theater and that the maintenance of the troupe costs as much as the maintenance of the whole building. The military events were eagerly followed, and the most beneficial rumors for our army were spread. In Helen's circle, Rumyantsev, French, rumors about the cruelty of the enemy and the war were refuted and all Napoleon's attempts at reconciliation were discussed. In this circle, those who advised too hasty orders to prepare for departure to Kazan to court and women's educational institutions, under the patronage of the Empress mother, were reproached. In general, the whole matter of the war was presented in Helen’s salon as empty demonstrations that would very soon end in peace, and the opinion of Bilibin, who was now in St. think they'll solve the problem. In this circle, ironically and very cleverly, although very carefully, they ridiculed the Moscow delight, the news of which arrived with the sovereign in St. Petersburg.
In Anna Pavlovna's circle, on the contrary, they admired these delights and talked about them, as Plutarch says about the ancients. Prince Vasily, who occupied all the same important positions, was the link between the two circles. He went to ma bonne amie [his worthy friend] Anna Pavlovna and went dans le salon diplomatique de ma fille [to his daughter's diplomatic salon] and often, during incessant moving from one camp to another, he got confused and told Anna Pavlovna that it was necessary to speak with Helen, and vice versa.
Shortly after the arrival of the sovereign, Prince Vasily began talking with Anna Pavlovna about the affairs of the war, cruelly condemning Barclay de Tolly and being indecisive about whom to appoint as commander in chief. One of the guests, known as un homme de beaucoup de merite [a man of great merit], told that he had seen Kutuzov, who was now elected chief of the St. that Kutuzov would be the person who would satisfy all the requirements.
Anna Pavlovna smiled sadly and noticed that Kutuzov, apart from troubles, had given nothing to the sovereign.
“I spoke and spoke in the Assembly of the Nobility,” interrupted Prince Vasily, “but they did not listen to me. I said that his election to the head of the militia would not please the sovereign. They didn't listen to me.

The first wooden temple in honor of Elijah the Prophet appeared here in the second half of the 14th century. It was built by the baptized Tatar Ilya Ozakov, who then owned the village of Cherkizovo near Moscow. From the end of the 14th century, Cherkizovo became the patrimony of the Moscow Chudov Monastery. The stone church with a chapel of St. Alexis, a refectory and a belfry was built in 1689-1690. and consecrated on June 18, 1690. In the 19th century, the Elias Church was rebuilt twice. After the first restructuring of 1821-1825. the temple for some time became five-domed. A more serious reconstruction was carried out at the end of the 19th century at the initiative of the rector of the church, Father Pavel, and the church warden, merchant Alexander Zelenyaev, who wrote in an appeal to the diocesan authorities: "The Church of the Holy Prophet of God Elijah, which in the village of Cherkizovo does not correspond to a fairly significant number of parishioners ..." . The plan for the reconstruction of the church and the construction of a new bell tower designed by the architect Egorov was approved in 1888. After the work was completed in the late 1890s. The temple was re-consecrated and, having opened, has not closed to this day. The well-known Moscow holy fool Ivan Yakovlevich Koreysha, mentioned in the works of Leskov and Dostoevsky, is buried in the cemetery adjacent to the church.

According to the book: Weintraub L.R., Dubovenko B.B. Historical and archival materials on the Church of the Prophet Elijah, the almshouse and the bishop's dacha in Cherkizovo, in Moscow. - M., 1993, posted on the website of the Centralized Library System No. 1 of the VAO



The first mention of the village of Cherkizovo dates back to the 14th century. It is named after its owner, the boyar Andrey Serkizov, the son of the serving Tatar prince Serkiz (Serkiz-bey), in the baptism of Ivan, the Kolomna governor. Being the governor of the Pereyaslav regiment, Andrei Ivanovich Serkizov died as a hero in 1380 on the Kulikovo field. Obviously, this village did not belong to the Serkizovs for long, because in the book “Preobrazhenskoe and surrounding places, their past and present”, which was compiled and published in 1895 by P.V. Sinitsyn, another person, Ilya Ozakov (Azakov), was named the first owner of the ancient village of Cherkizovo near Moscow in the 14th century. He was also a native of the Golden Horde, a Tatar who voluntarily converted to Orthodoxy.

The name of the Ozakovs is also found in connection with Metropolitan Mikhail of Kyiv. So, among those who accompanied the appointment of Metropolitan Mikhail (Mityai) to Constantinople in 1377-1379 was Sergei Ozakov, the brother of the owner of Cherkizov, Ilya Ozakov. It is also known that in the 60s of the XIV century, Ilya Ozakov sold his villages and villages near Moscow to St. Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow, an outstanding Russian hierarch. Among them is the village of Cherkizovskoye, given according to the spiritual testament of the metropolitan “to the monastery of the Holy Archangel Chud” in 1378 and “Alymovo tozh”, which has belonged to the Chudov Monastery since the 16th century. It is possible that this village bearing the Tatar name Alymovo, later called the village of Bogorodskoe after the church built in it in the name of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in those years belonged to Cherkizovo. Thus, the village of Cherkizovo on the Sosenka River becomes one of the main estates of the cathedral Moscow Chudov Monastery with an extensive monastic (master's) courtyard and a developed monastic economy.

It is to Ilya Ozakov that we owe the current Cherkizovsky church, which has never been closed, although in Soviet times many churches throughout Russia were barbarously razed to the ground. And the Iliinsky temple survived. From ancient times to the present day, he announces the eastern environs of the capital city with his bell ringing. Initially erected on a high hill by Ilya Ozakov in the name of his heavenly patron, the prophet Elijah, the church was wooden. Like the current white-stone building built much later, it could be seen far around. And on holidays, and on weekdays, the people of God flocked here along the paths trodden from all sides of the hill. Not only from nearby villages near Moscow, but also from Moscow itself, Orthodox Christians went to Cherkizovo on a pilgrimage. This ancient temple gathered especially much on Ilyin's day, on its patronal feast, so that the guests could not breathe.

Probably, the place prayed for centuries and the intercession before God of the holy prophet Elijah bore fruit: having survived wars and revolutions, years of hard times and atheism, the temple survived. After all, by the way, another Moscow church, also named after the prophet of God Elijah, which is located in the center of the capital, in Obydensky Lane, has also never been closed. Someone may consider this a mere accident or a happy coincidence, but believers have their own very definite point of view on this matter. Saint Alexis Metropolitan of Moscow, who ruled from 1354 to 1378, bought this village from Ilya Ozakov with his cell money. Later, this purchase was confirmed by a letter of commendation from Prince Vasily the Dark (1425-1462). It is no coincidence that in the census books of the 17th century the village of Cherkizovo is called "the miracle worker Alexy's patrimony." “From that time, of course, more than one church replaced another, until finally, in 1690, a stone one with a chapel was built in the name of St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow. Recently, a chapel was built in the name of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross of the Lord and a new bell tower was built, ”says P.V. Sinitsyn. According to the same information, Cherkizovo is first encountered in the spiritual charter of St. Alexis, found by Metropolitan Platon in the Miracle Monastery in 1779, where it is said that "the village was bought with my silver."

In those distant years, Cherkizovo was a very distant outskirts from noisy Moscow. Everything here was conducive to solitude and outdoor recreation, surrounded by forest oak forests located along the picturesque Sosenka River, a tributary of the Yauza. A bishop's dacha was built for Metropolitan Alexy, where he usually came in the warm season. This place served as a summer sojourn both for himself and later for his successors. “Tsar John Vasilievich with the princes went to Cherkizovo to hunt in 1564,” P.V. Sinitsyn. Recall that from the very beginning, Metropolitan Alexy bequeathed his village to the Chudov Monastery, which remained with him until 1764.

Since 1764, the church in the name of the holy prophet of God Elijah left the compound and became a parish church. The construction of the stone Cherkizovsky temple dates back to the reign of the ever-memorable Patriarch Adrian, the last patriarch of the pre-Peter era. Under his wise leadership, all the monastery buildings were rebuilt, several churches were erected, and since Cherkizovo in those years was considered the patrimony of this Moscow monastery, then, presumably, appropriate attention was paid to it. In all likelihood, the construction of the Iliinsky temple falls on 1689-1690. So, according to the famous Russian writer of the 17th-18th centuries, Karion Istomin, on June 18, 1690, the newly built church of the Holy Prophet Elijah in Cherkizovo was consecrated by the abbot of the Chudovskaya monastery, Archimandrite Joasaph and cellar Herman Lutokhin, in a conciliar manner and "decorated with all sorts of prettiness." The chronicles of this period also mention the parish cemetery, where a wooden chapel stood.

It must be said that since the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th centuries, there has been an increase in the population of the village of Cherkizovo, in connection with which the number of parishioners increases, and the temple itself becomes more magnificent. According to the inventory of 1701, the church in Cherkizovo looks something like this: “... a stone one in the name of the Prophet Elijah, and in the aisle of Metropolitan Alexei with a meal... there are two windows in the altar, and one glass window in the church... and in the meal in the windows three glass windows, a muramed stove, and a stone bell tower on the refectory wall, and five bells on it.

By decree of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna and by decision of the Most Holy Governing Synod, the monastery of the Miracle of the Holy Archangel Michael in Kolosy from a stauropegial metropolitan monastery with the establishment of the department of the Moscow metropolitan in it is transformed into the cathedral Moscow Miracle Monastery with the residence of the metropolitan of Moscow. In this regard, the importance of the village of Cherkizova also increases. In later times, according to the same researcher P.V. Sinitsyn, the village of Cherkizovo was especially loved by the Metropolitans of Moscow Timofey (Shcherbatsky) and Platon (Levshin).

During its long history, the Cherkizovsky temple was built and rebuilt several times. In 1821, it was renovated with the participation of the famous Moscow architect Matvey Fedorovich Kazakov. Four side cupolas were attached to its central dome. By 1825, the northern chapel was expanded, which was consecrated by Metropolitan Filaret (Drozdov) of Moscow in the name of Metropolitan Alexy of Moscow.

In those ancient times, restructuring was carried out with extreme caution, the fact that this church is the oldest monument of Russian architecture was taken into account. This, in particular, is evidenced by the archival file of 1879 that has come down to our days. Before “raising the bell tower by two sazhens”, it was necessary to collect all the necessary papers for such an alteration. The Moscow Archaeological Society was then responsible for this question, to which the letter of the Moscow Ecclesiastical Consistory was addressed, written on behalf of the clergy, the church warden and parishioners of the Iliinsky church in the village of Cherkizovo near Moscow, which officially belonged to the Moscow district. A few months later, a response was received signed by two architects (unfortunately, the signatures are illegible). We quote: “On behalf of the Moscow Archaeological Society, we examined the Church of the Prophet Elijah in the village of Cherkizovo near Moscow and found that the main middle part of it belongs to the most ancient monuments of Moscow architecture and that the church was rebuilt at least two times, in which the last rebuilding should be called a distortion.”

The original construction, as follows from the inspection report, includes the four walls of the square of the church. But the so-called distortion touched its northern side. “This church, by the time of its construction, dates back to the 16th century, and the remains of it that have survived to our times must be protected from further distortion,” the architects wrote, believing that at the end of the 17th century, an aisle was added to the ancient church on the north side and a refectory in full width this chapel and the ancient church. At the same time, the altar was rebuilt into the present three-part one, with two semicircles making up the altar of the ancient church, and one, northern, the altar of the chapel. On the high place of the main altar, in the wall between the two semicircles, a cavity for the episcopal seat has been made.

According to their assumption, the rebuilding of the altar, simultaneously with the rebuilding of the chapel and the refectory, was carried out in order to expand, since the altar became much larger, arched lintels were removed from the windows, which after that also became larger, taking on a rectangular shape. The latest distortions include the restructuring of the upper part and the tent of the bell tower. “Even later, judging by the style, the northern wall of the temple was distorted - a wide span was pierced in it, divided into 3 parts by Doric columns; the alteration of the roof, in which four wooden pediments with wooden cornices were made, should be attributed to the same time, ”the document noted. At the same time, the architects made comments on the drawings for a new alteration of the church. So, according to their calculations, it is impossible to allow the reconstruction of the southern wall of the temple, where it was supposed to make a large span with Doric columns, similar to the span of the north side, removing the door and window, because as a result of this the final destruction of the ancient monument could occur. According to them, there should not be a “breaking and rebuilding” of the later additions - the northern aisle and the refectory of the 17th century. These structures must be restored to their original form.

However, despite all the comments, in general, the upcoming work to raise the bell tower was supported by the architects. Although with their specific, without any pathos, wishes, in which one can feel the extraordinary personality of these people who are not indifferent to the national history, and their genuine patriotism: “It is desirable that in its new forms the drafter of the project in the decoration of spans and in other architectural decorations, he took as a model the details of the existing church as representing good examples of ancient Russian architecture, worthy of imitation and surpassing modern inventions in their artistic merit; it is also desirable that the wooden pediments and superstructures above the necks of the chapters be destroyed and the former appearance be restored, at least the one that the church had before the last distortion. Later, both in 1888 and in 1894, the temple was again corrected, repaired, changed, as evidenced by the correspondence that has survived to this day, preserved in the Central State Historical Archive of Moscow.

In the first decade after the October Revolution, everything here was the same as before. A rope from one of the middle bells descended into the porch of the temple under the bell tower. Until 1929, until bell ringing was banned, during the service, this bell would strike directly from the porch at the right moments according to the church charter. On one of the Easter celebrations, at the largest bell, which occupied almost the entire space of the central part of the belfry, the tongue broke and fell, with its weight it broke through the floor and got stuck there.

In the thirties, the entire pre-existing selection of bells was withdrawn. But in 2006, the bells cast at the ZIL plant were donated to the Cherkizovsky church, so today the bell ringing again convenes the Orthodox residents of the Eastern District of Moscow for church services. In Soviet times, the temple building was entered, as it should be, through the western doors facing the altar, but the fence of the temple could only be entered through the southern gate, from the side of the Stromynskaya road. Now the same entrance, from the south. In the Soviet years, the Cherkizovsky temple was repeatedly going to be closed, one of such threats hung in the second half of the last century, when a metro line was pulled to the eastern outskirts of Moscow. But by the miracle of God, the temple survived this time.

Since the church was going to be closed every now and then, it was without repair for a long time. But when her condition reached almost critical, the authorities finally remembered this ancient architectural monument, which, as can be seen from the plaque attached to the facade of the building, is protected by the state. In 1982, the efforts of the parish community, under the leadership of the rector of the church, mitered archpriest Alexei Glushakov, began the internal restoration of the Cherkizovsky church, its murals and icons, as well as the construction of a clergy house next to the church. Instead of dilapidated wooden buildings of 1912, a new brick building was rebuilt. Since 1996, it has housed a baptistery with a baptistery for adults. Part of the territory of the temple was paving with granite paving stones. By the way, during the dismantling of old buildings, an icon of the holy prophet of God Elijah, which was lost earlier, was found.

The restoration of the main iconostasis of the central Holy Cross chapel was carried out by the restorer Venedikt Stepanovich Suvorov from St. Petersburg and the artist Sergei Leonidovich Zakharenkov (+2004). For three years, starting in 1986, the iconostasis was completely, row after row, dismantled. It turned out that it was completely preserved in its original form. With the blessing of Archimandrite Innokenty (Prosvirnin), who during this period was sent to help the rector of the church of Elijah the Prophet, the dome vaults of the ancient quadrangle were repainted using the wall fresco technique of the late 17th century. At the beginning of the new millennium, the temple was surrounded by a forged fence on brick pillars with two gates, which was here at the end of the 19th century.



The village of Cherkizovo in the XIV century. belonged to St. Metropolitan Alexy, bought by him “for sob silver” from Ilya Ozakov, who built the original church in the village of Cherkizovo in the name of St. the prophet Elijah, in honor of his angel. Then Cherkizovo was in the patrimony of the Chudov Monastery, according to the spiritual testament of St. Metropolitan Alexis. According to scribe books of 1573-74. Moscow district, Vasiltsov Stan, it appears: “the patrimony of the Chudov Monastery, the village of Cherkizovo, on the Sosenka River, arable lands of the monastery’s middle land 15 four, and peasant arable land 106 four in the field, hay 140 kopecks, groves between villages and villages 30 acres, and church arable land bad land 12 four in the field, hay 10 hay, and a mill under the village.

At the beginning of the XVII century. church of st. Prophet Elijah in the village of Cherkizovo was destroyed. In scribe books of 1623-24. it says: “the patrimony of the Chudov Monastery is the village of Cherkizovo, and in the village there was the church of Elijah the Prophet, and in the same village the monastery courtyard, and in it live monastery cubs, 4 peasant and bobyl yards, there are 7 people in them.”

In the incoming salary book of the Patriarchal State Order for 1678, it is written: “in the past 1677, according to a note on the extract of the clerk Perfiliy Semenikov, the church of St. the prophet Elijah in the Moscow district, in Vasiltsovo I will camp, on the patrimony of the Chudov Monastery, in the village of Cherkizovo, and tribute was imposed on that church ... according to the decree article 18 altyn 4 money, hryvnia arrivals; and according to that salary, that money was ordered to be taken from 1657 to 1678.

According to the watch of Roman Ivanovich Vladykin in 1680 and according to the tale of the church of Elijah the prophet, priest Ivan with clerks, “that church was built from ancient times, and to that church of the church land there were 6 arable lands in the field, hay 10 heaps of drag, not measured; the rest of the arable land and hay meadows are owned by the Chudov Monastery authorities.

Ilyinskaya Church in the 1701 census book is described as follows: “in the village of Cherkizovo, a stone church in the name of the prophet Elijah, and in the chapel of Metropolitan Alexei with a meal; and in the church of Elijah the prophet, the royal doors are painted on paints, the frame and silver crowns are gilded ... in the refectory in the windows there are three glass windows, a muramed stove, and on the refectory wall there is a stone bell tower, and five bells on it.

Kholmogorov V. I., Kholmogorov G. I. "Historical materials about churches and villages of the 16th - 18th centuries" Issue 5, Radonezh tithe of the Moscow district. Publication of the Imperial Society of Russian History and Antiquities at Moscow University. Moscow, at the University Printing House (M. Katkov), on Strastnoy Boulevard, 1886

The Church of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo, also called the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, is located on a hill. Small, indescribable beauty, with a rich history, it attracts many people. Here it is - Bolshaya Cherkizovskaya street with a noisy road, with a seething life. But he turned a little, went up the hill, went over the fence and ended up in another dimension. Centuries-old silence, the oldest cemetery in Moscow, grace…

By the way, once the street on which the monastery is located was called Shtatnaya Gorka. It started from Bolshaya Cherkizovsky, which in the 19th century passed a little to the south than now, went perpendicular to it to the north, along the eastern shore of the Cherkizovsky (Bishops) pond. Ended up right next to the church. Currently, due to anthropogenic changes in the relief, the street has disappeared. And the previously listed house 17 (the temple itself) on Shtatnaya Gorka is now listed on Bolshaya Cherkizovskaya Street with the same number.

It should be noted that at the present time only a double-height quadrangle has been preserved from the original structure - the throne of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Its three-part apse, side aisles - the thrones of Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow and All Rus', the miracle worker and the prophet Elijah, the refectory and the bell tower, forming a symmetrical composition, were erected in several stages - in 1856, 1883 and 1899 in forms imitating the architecture of the 17th century.

At the same time, the original five-domed completion of the temple was replaced by the currently existing dome on a cylindrical drum. Instead of a wide belt of kokoshniks that ran along the top of the walls, stucco archivolts appeared; windows of the second light received an arched configuration. The bell tower is a 3-tier tent-shaped one, it stands out for its enlarged relief interpretation of architectural details. Rumor windows at the base of the tent, corner pilasters-pods and keel-shaped frames of openings give the bell tower a plastic, almost sculptural appearance.

Changes were made with great care.

In those ancient times, restructuring was carried out with extreme caution, the fact that the church is the oldest monument of Russian architecture was taken into account. This, in particular, is evidenced by the archival file of 1879 that has come down to our days.

Before “raising the bell tower by two sazhens”, it was necessary to collect all the necessary papers for such an alteration. The Moscow Archaeological Society was then responsible for this question, to which the letter of the Moscow Spiritual Consistory was addressed. It was written on behalf of the clergy, church warden and parishioners of the Iliinsky church in the village of Cherkizovo near Moscow, which officially belonged to the Moscow district.

A few months later, a response was received signed by two architects (unfortunately, the signatures are illegible). We quote: “On behalf of the Moscow Archaeological Society, we examined the Church of the Prophet Elijah in the village of Cherkizovo near Moscow and found that the main middle part of it belongs to the most ancient monuments of Moscow architecture and that the church was rebuilt at least two times, in which the last rebuilding should be called a distortion.”

The original construction, as follows from the inspection report, includes the four walls of the square of the church. But the so-called distortion touched its northern side. “This church, by the time of its construction, dates back to the 16th century, and the remains of it that have survived to our times must be protected from further distortion,” the architects wrote, believing that at the end of the 17th century, an aisle was added to the ancient church on the north side and a refectory in full width this chapel and the ancient church. At the same time, the altar was rebuilt into the current three-part one, with two semicircles making up the altar of the ancient church, and one, northern, the altar of the chapel. On the high place of the main altar, in the wall between the two semicircles, a cavity for the episcopal seat has been made.

The first owners of the village of Cherkizovo

Interestingly, the history of the temple begins long before the appearance of the walls themselves and is closely connected with the history of the Golden Horde. Let's move the clock back to the distant XIV century.

It was to that time that the first mention of Cherkizovo dates back. Then lived the Tatar prince Serkiz-bey. A real miracle happened, there is no other way to say it. Serkis voluntarily accepted baptism with the name Ivan. And he became the Kolomna governor. In the same way, his son Andrei Ivanovich faithfully served Rus'. He was already a boyar Serkizov. He owned a village that was named after him. Being the governor of the Pereyaslav regiment, he died in 1380 on the Kulikovo field.

Apparently, this area did not belong to the Serkizovs for long. In the book of 1895 by the Muscovite Peter Sinitsyn “Preobrazhenskoye and surrounding places, their past and present”, another person was named the first owner of the ancient village of Cherkizovo near Moscow in the 14th century - Ilya Ozakov (Azakov). And he, too, was a native of the Golden Horde, a Tatar who converted to Orthodoxy. Being a pious person, it was he who built the first wooden church on a hill in Cherkizovo in honor of his heavenly patron Elijah the Prophet.

The village was given under a spiritual will

Somewhere in the 60s of the XIV century, Ilya Ozakov sold his villages and villages near Moscow to St. Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow. Among them, Cherkizovskoe is mentioned, given, in turn, according to the spiritual testament of the metropolitan "to the monastery of the Holy Archangel Chud" in 1378. Thus, the village becomes one of the main patrimonies of the cathedral Moscow Chudov Monastery with an extensive monastic (master's) courtyard and a developed monastic economy.

Cherkizovo was a very distant outskirts from noisy Moscow. Everything here was conducive to solitude and outdoor recreation, surrounded by forest oak forests located along the picturesque Sosenka River, a tributary of the Yauza. A bishop's dacha was built for Metropolitan Alexy, where he usually came in the warm season. This place served as a summer sojourn both for himself and later for his successors. “Tsar John Vasilievich with the princes went to Cherkizovo to hunt in 1564,” Pyotr Sinitsyn mentions in his book.

Construction of a stone church

During the Time of Troubles of the Polish-Lithuanian attack on Rus', the Ilyinsky temple was burned by the enemy, but was soon restored. The construction of the stone Cherkizovsky temple dates back to the reign of the ever-memorable Patriarch Adrian, the last patriarch of the pre-Petrine era.

Under his wise leadership, all the monastic buildings were rebuilt and several churches were erected. Since Cherkizovo in those years was considered the patrimony of this Moscow monastery, it must be assumed that appropriate attention was paid to it. In all likelihood, the construction of the Iliinsky temple falls on 1689-1690. So, according to the famous Russian writer of the 17th-18th centuries, Karion Istomin, on June 18, 1690, the newly built church of the Holy Prophet Elijah in Cherkizovo was consecrated by the abbot of the Chudovskaya monastery, Archimandrite Joasaph and cellar Herman Lutokhin, in a conciliar manner and "decorated with all sorts of prettiness." The chronicles of this period also mention the parish cemetery, where a wooden chapel stood.

It must be said that since the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th centuries, there has been an increase in the population of Cherkizovo, in connection with which the number of parishioners increases, and the temple itself becomes more magnificent. According to the inventory of 1701: “... a stone one in the name of the Prophet Elijah, and in the aisle of Metropolitan Alexei with a refectory ... there are two windows in the altar, and one glass window in the church ... and in the refectory in the windows there are three glass windows, a muramed oven, and a bell tower on the refectory wall stone, and on it are five bells.

By decree of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna and by decision of the Most Holy Governing Synod, the monastery of the Miracle of the Holy Archangel Michael in Kolosy from a stauropegial metropolitan monastery with the establishment of the department of the Moscow metropolitan in it is transformed into the cathedral Moscow Miracle Monastery with the residence of the metropolitan of Moscow. In this regard, the importance of the village of Cherkizova also increases.

Since 1764, the church in the name of the Holy Prophet of God Elijah left the farmstead and became a parish.

new time

For the first decade after the October Revolution, everything was the same here. A rope from one of the middle bells descended into the porch of the temple under the bell tower. Until 1929, until bell ringing was banned, during the service, this bell would strike directly from the porch at the right moments according to the church charter. On one of the Easter celebrations, at the largest bell, which occupied almost the entire space of the central part of the belfry, the tongue broke and fell, with its weight it broke through the floor and got stuck there.

In the thirties, the entire pre-existing selection of bells was withdrawn. But in 2006, the bells cast at the ZIL plant were donated to the Cherkizovsky church, so today the bell ringing again convenes the Orthodox residents of the Eastern District of Moscow for church services. In the Soviet years, the Cherkizovsky temple was repeatedly going to be closed, one of such threats hung in the second half of the last century, when a metro line was pulled to the eastern outskirts of Moscow. But by the miracle of God, the temple survived this time.

Million for a plane

I would like to mention a very important and revealing fact. During the Great Patriotic War, the parishioners and clergy of the temple collected one million rubles for the construction of an aircraft and sent it directly to the Supreme Commander Joseph Stalin. In response, they received a telegram of thanks from the leader. Maybe that's why, although they were going to close the parish several times, services here never stopped.

But the church was without repair for a long time. But when her condition reached almost critical, the authorities finally remembered this ancient architectural monument, which, as can be seen from the plaque attached to the facade of the building, is protected by the state. In 1982, the efforts of the parish community, under the leadership of the rector of the church, mitered archpriest Alexei Glushakov, began the internal restoration of the Cherkizovsky church, its murals and icons, as well as the construction of a clergy house next to the church.

Instead of dilapidated wooden buildings of 1912, a new brick building was rebuilt. Since 1996, it has housed a baptistery with a baptistery for adults. Part of the territory of the temple was paving with granite paving stones. By the way, during the dismantling of old buildings, an icon of the holy prophet of God Elijah, which was lost earlier, was found.

Healing of Khansha Taidula

In the temple there is a very rare icon - "The Healing of Khansha Taidula by Metropolitan Alexy, Wonderworker of All Rus'." Believers flock to her and pray for the healing of eye diseases. There are many versions of historians, legends and legends about Alexy's trip to the Horde. Khan Dzhanibek's mother, Queen Taidula, suffered from blindness and other illnesses for three years.

He, having heard about Alexy, sends (in August 1357) a letter to the Grand Duke, in which he asks him to send him a man of God so that he would pray for the granting of insight to his mother. “If,” the khan wrote, “he heals through his prayers, then you will be at peace with me; if you do not send him to me, then with fire and sword I will pass through your land. Such a message from the Khan put the Saint in difficulty. Naturally, he was aware of his weakness for such an extraordinary task, and at the same time, he was afraid of the Khan's threats.

At the intensified requests of the Grand Duke, the Prelate decided to go to the Horde. Getting ready to go, first of all, with all the clergy, they served a prayer service in the cathedral church of the Assumption of the Mother of God. When he was praying, the candle at the tomb of Saint Peter lit up by itself in the sight of everyone. This appearance served him as an omen that the Lord would arrange his way to salvation. Blinding a small wax candle from a candle that miraculously lit up, St. Alexis set off on his journey with complete hope in the mercy of God. Before he reached the place where the khan lived, Taidula saw in a dream St. Alexis in the vestments of a bishop, along with the priests.

Historians to this day decide whether it was so ...

Waking up, she immediately ordered to make a precious vestment for the Hierarch with the priests according to the cut, as she saw in a dream. When St. Alexis entered the city, the khan met him with great honor, as a man of God; takes him into his room. The saint, having begun to sing a prayer service, ordered to light a candle, which he had blinded. After the prayer service, he sprinkled the queen with holy water; she immediately brightened up. This miracle amazed everyone with surprise and filled with joy. Taidula, in memory of her healing through the prayers of St. Alexis, presented him with a ring, which is kept in Moscow in the patriarchal sacristy. Khan, showering him with gifts, let him go to Russia in peace.

How reliable this fact is, how embellished, is not for us to judge. Even learned historians have been debating for centuries. To come to a common denominator is hindered by the fact that a fire in 1812 burned down many archives, including chronicles of those times. But people believe in a miracle, pray and receive healing by faith.

Ivan Yakovlevich Koreysha

As mentioned above, the cemetery near Ilyinsky Church is the oldest in Moscow, and the smallest. The flow of people here does not dry out. One of the reasons for this is the grave of the famous Ivan Yakovlevich Koreysha. This is a Russian holy fool, revered by many contemporaries as a clairvoyant, soothsayer and blessed. He spent over 47 years in hospitals as a mental patient, of which almost 44 years in the Moscow Preobrazhensky Hospital.

After his death, the body of the elder could not be interred for five days, since several monasteries claimed the right to bury him at once. It was proposed to do this at home in Smolensk or in the Alekseevsky convent. A certain colonel Zalivkin intervened in the matter, who managed to persuade Filaret to allow the body of Ivan Yakovlevich to be buried in the village of Cherkizovo, while the colonel fully assumed all the costs of burial. The reason for the colonel's zeal was that he, a former zealous Catholic, had visions of Koreysha three times, after which Zalivkin (Zalevsky) accepted the Orthodox faith and was subsequently anointed by Metropolitan Philaret himself.

Another weighty reason for the decision of the metropolitan was the request of the niece of the blessed - Mary, who was married to the deacon of the church of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo. The coffin with the body of the deceased holy fool from the hospital was taken out of the back stairs, accompanied by staff in order to avoid complications from the mentally ill, who considered Koreysha their benefactor. Many carriages accompanied the deceased, despite the long and dirty path, a large number of followers of the blessed one followed in the procession. Buried on the right side of the main entrance.

happy temple

The temple of Elijah the prophet has one feature. Historians, journalists, believers in their reviews often use the epithet - happy. So they say, a happy temple. With a happy story. With a happy atmosphere. With happy parishioners. Let it be so!

The village got its name from its owner, Tsarevich of the Golden Horde Serkizi, who after baptism became Ivan Serkizov. Ivan Serkizov owned the village for a short time and then sold it to the same native of the Golden Horde, Ilya Ozakov. Ilya Ozakov was a baptized Tatar and a very pious person. It was he who built in the XIV century. in Cherkizovo a church in honor of his heavenly patron - Elijah the Prophet.

Elias Church was located in a picturesque place, on the banks of the river Sosenka. Sosenka is the right tributary of Khapilovka, its source is located in the Golyanov area, and the length of the entire river is almost nine kilometers. At present, the main part of the Sosenka channel is enclosed in a pipe. Cherkizovsky Pond, on the banks of which the Ilyinsky Church still rises, is one of the few places reminiscent of where the river used to flow on the surface. The river itself flows in a collector along the eastern bank of the pond.

Together with his brother Sergei, Ilya was one of the close servants of St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow, who ruled from 1354 to 1378. Metropolitan Alexy liked the picturesque place and in 1378 he bought from him "the village of Cherkizovo with his silver", as it is said in his spiritual diploma, i.e. on private money, and by will left the Moscow metropolitanate, in the possession of the Chudov Metropolitan Monastery in the Kremlin. Later, this purchase was secured by a charter granted by Prince Vasily the Dark (1425–1462). It is no coincidence that in the census books of the 17th century the village of Cherkizovo is called "the miracle worker Alexy's patrimony." Subsequently, he made the temple the summer residence of the Moscow Patriarchs. Over time, especially under St. Innokenty (Veniaminov), the residence grew and was rebuilt.

stone church

In -1690, a stone church was built on the site of a burnt wooden church. The temple was consecrated on June 18, 1690, it already had a chapel of St. Alexis, a refectory and a belfry. In the 19th century, the Elias Church was rebuilt twice. After the first reconstruction in 1825, the temple became five-domed for some time. A more serious reconstruction was carried out at the end of the 19th century on the initiative of the rector of the church, Father Pavel, and the church warden, merchant Alexander Zelenyaev, who wrote in an appeal to the diocesan authorities: “The Church of the Holy Prophet of God Elijah, which in the village of Cherkizovo does not correspond to a fairly significant number of parishioners…”. The plan for the reconstruction of the church and the construction of a new bell tower designed by the architect Egorov was approved in 1888. After the work was completed in the late 1990s, the temple was re-consecrated.

Elias Church is surrounded by a cemetery, which is the oldest cemetery in Moscow. This is one of the rare domestic historical necropolises that was not devastated during the Soviet era. In 1861, the famous Moscow holy fool Ivan Yakovlevich Koreysha, who was revered as a saint for a long time, was buried here. Its popularity is evidenced by the fact that the image of Koreysha is depicted in the works of N. S. Leskov (“Little Mistake”) and F. M. Dostoevsky (“Demons”). Ivan Yakovlevich is mentioned by A. N. Ostrovsky (“The Marriage of Balzaminov”).

During the Great Patriotic War, believers and the clergy of the temple collected 1 million rubles for the construction of aircraft and sent them to I.V. Stalin. Stalin responded by sending a telegram of thanks. And the temple survived all the difficult years of Soviet rule. In the middle of the 20th century, icons were brought to the temple from neighboring churches that were to be destroyed. The rector of the temple at that time was Pavel Ivanovich Tsvetkov.

Church of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo Today

On December 30, 2011, he was appointed rector of the temple Archimandrite Savva(in the world Sergei Andreevich Tutunov; February 19, 1978, Vilkren, France) - Archimandrite of the Russian Orthodox Church, Deputy Administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate and Head of the Control and Analytical Service of the Office of the Moscow Patriarchate, member of the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Moscow Church of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo was built in 1690. Previously, in this place in 1370 there was a wooden church that burned down.

Foundation of the temple

The history of the church is connected with the history of the village itself - Cherkizovo. It is known that it was built in the XIV century. The village was named after its owner, Tsarevich Serkiz, who after baptism became Ivan Serkizov. He was a native of the Golden Horde. However, Serkizov did not own his village for long, as he soon sold it to his fellow tribesman, Ilya Ozakov. The story says that he was a very pious man. Out of respect for his heavenly patron - Elijah the Prophet, he ordered the construction of a temple. So the Iliinsky church in Cherkizovo was built.

It was located on the banks of the Sosenka River, in a very picturesque place. The Sosenka River is a right tributary of the Khapilovka, its source is in the Golyanov area. Its length is 9 kilometers. Nowadays, the main part of the channel is enclosed in a pipe. Only thanks to which the church stands on the bank, people remember where the river once flowed on the surface. Now it flows in a collector along the eastern shore of the reservoir.

Wooden church. stone temple

The stone church in Cherkizovo was built on the site of a wooden church, when there was still a suburban dwelling of Metropolitan Alexy. Until 1764, the village was the property of the Moscow metropolitans, after a while the church became a parish.

In 1883, aisles and a refectory were added to it, in 1899, a hipped bell tower with three tiers. Iconostases of the 19th century were involved in the decoration, the fence of a small cemetery - also of that time. On it is the grave of Ivan Yakovlevich Koreysha - a famous Moscow seer, a local holy fool and saint (years of life: 1783-1861). At that time, the temple was not closed; it had a Sunday school for all residents of the village.

Cherkizovsky Metropolitan and Patriarchal Dacha

Metropolitan Alexy, a minister of Moscow and all Rus', liked the village very much, namely: its picturesque location, surrounding open spaces, proximity to Moscow. In 1360, he decided to acquire the village not only for himself, but also for his successors in rank. Since that moment, Cherkizovo has become one of the main estates of the Moscow Cathedral Chudov Monastery, an abbey with a large and spacious courtyard, as well as a well-developed monastery economy.

For Metropolitan Alexy, the church of Elijah the Prophet became a place of rest and solitude. In it, he could calmly look back at his life path, restore his strength, which would be useful to him in the future, or simply see people close to him. When the Metropolitan of All Rus' died, Cherkizovo remained for a long time the summer bedchamber of the Moscow metropolitans.

When the Patriarchate was restored, the Moscow Metropolitan, Saint of Kolomna and Wonderworker Tikhon became the Patriarch of All Rus'. He began to call the dacha the Patriarch.

Throughout the history of its existence, the courtyard of the temple was rebuilt many times. The saint and Metropolitan Innokenty is connected with its history, on whose orders another restructuring was made in the middle of the 19th century.

In Soviet times, most of the churches in Moscow were completely destroyed, but survived. During the Great Patriotic War, all the believers of the temple were able to collect one million rubles for the construction of aircraft and sent them to Stalin. He sent a thank-you note in response. Why aircraft? The fact is that the Prophet Elijah is the defender of aviation.

In the middle of the 20th century, icons from all neighboring churches were brought to the church of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo, which were supposed to be destroyed. At that time, the rector of the church was Archpriest Pavel Ivanovich Tsvetkov.

Ilyinsky temples of Moscow

The prophet Elijah is considered one of the most respected saints of the Old Testament. Three temples in Moscow are dedicated to him: the temple on the Vorontsovo field, the temple of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo, and in any of them there are many holy relics, various objects that Christians revere, as well as icons.

Services are held here:

  • everyday liturgy - daily from 9:00 to 17:00;
  • on great holidays and on Sunday - from 7:00 and 10:00, from 17:00 - evening service.

The church has a Sunday school.

A few words about the Cherkizovsky cemetery

Equally, like the church of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo, the cemetery has its own ancient history. It is the oldest burial place. It got its name from the village near which it was formed. There is a cemetery near the church. Or rather, it surrounds her. The cemetery is a very ancient historical necropolis. It was not ruined in Soviet times. Since 1998, they began to maintain an archive, which indicates the registration of all burials, even related ones. On the territory there is a place for the rental of agricultural equipment for the care of the graves. Cherkizovskoye cemetery is open daily from 9:00 to 19:00 (from May to September) and from 9:00 to 17:00 (from October to April). Funeral rites are performed from 9:00 to 17:00 daily.