Temple of the Ascension on a pea field. Church of the Ascension in a pea field Schedule of the Church of the Ascension in a pea field

It is believed that the first wooden church on this site was founded by Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. The chosen location was lands on which juicy peas, an indispensable product in those days, had long been grown. It is not surprising that these lands were called Pea Field.

Of course, over time the place was built up, equipped with new streets and alleys.

The Pea Field was first mentioned in documents in 1718, when Gavrila Golovkin, a relative of Natalya Naryshkina, took possession of the estate.

Gavrila Ivanovich was loved at court and trusted in every possible way, but one cannot help but admit that this man was very stingy. For many years in a row he visited the old Ascension Church, which had become quite dilapidated by that time. Only when the temple burned down did Golovkin decide to build a new one, but of a smaller size.

History of the Church on Radio Street

The newly rebuilt stone Church of the Ascension of the Lord on the Pea Field was consecrated in 1733. Soon Gavrila Ivanovich passed away.

Over time, the owners of the estate changed, and at the same time the temple grew larger and more beautiful. The small house church built by Golovkin could no longer accommodate everyone.

Thanks to a large donation from one of the parishioners, it was possible to erect a larger building on the site of the old church. Construction began in 1788 according to the design of the famous Russian architect M.F. Kazakova.

The Church of the Ascension on Radio Street is shaped like a ship. The space is elongated: the temple, refectory and bell tower are on the same axis. This kind of construction was typical for Western Europe.

In 1812, the temple was almost undamaged. Moreover, Razumovsky’s house, located nearby, was chosen as the headquarters, so the estate, along with nearby buildings, was carefully guarded.

Among the parishioners of the Church of the Ascension there were many great people.

It is known that the Pushkins visited the church on the Pea Field. The temple is also mentioned on the pages of L. Tolstoy’s priceless novel: in it Natasha Rostova begs for victory in the war.

Nicholas II also visited the Church of the Ascension of the Lord, because it housed the icon of the Mother of God, who patronized the Romanov dynasty.

Church of the Ascension on the Pea Field after the revolution

After the revolution, the Ascension Church remained active for a long time. It was closed in 1935.

At first there was a dormitory here, later - production workshops and a metalworking workshop. During the Great Patriotic War, the temple was used as a bomb shelter.

In the 60s, a light restoration was carried out in the disfigured building, after which its walls were occupied by a printing house, and then by the regional philharmonic (perhaps due to the excellent acoustics).

In 1990, the shrine was transferred to the Orthodox Church. Three years later, worship services resumed here.

In a wonderful location in Moscow is the Sergei Andriyaka School of Watercolors - its students can paint historical landmarks, including the works of the famous architect Matvey Kazakov, without leaving the school. Nearby there are three architectural monuments, the creator of which was considered to be Kazakov; here is the Church of the Ascension, on the Pea Field. The name of this area comes from the state-owned pea field, which was here at the beginning of the 18th century. It was crossed by two paths, later Voznesenskaya (Radio) and Gorokhovaya (Kazakova) streets. At the exhibition, after seeing a watercolor of the Church of the Ascension, we learned that its restoration had already been completed.

1. The temple is located next to the restored Razumovsky estate. It was part of the general ensemble of the estate, although it was located outside the park, to the southeast of the main house. It was believed that the Church of the Ascension was built by Matvey Fedorovich Kazakov, although no documentary evidence was found. Some researchers believe that some architectural elements characteristic of his style speak in favor of Kazakov’s authorship.

2. According to legend, a church has existed on this site since the beginning of the 17th century. The owner of these lands in the 18th century was Count Gabriel Golovkin, who built a new wooden church during the reign of Empress Anna Ioannovna. It stood for only five years and burned down along with Golovkin’s house in 1737. A new brick church was built, which soon passed to the next owner of the estate, Alexei Razumovsky. In 1748, the count's house and church burned again, but were restored. In 1769 the church became a parish rather than a house church. The stone church was built in 1788-1793 with funds raised by parishioners. In this case, a particularly significant contribution was made by N.N. Demidov. In the 18th century, the area around the temple was surrounded by a fence. This territory is formed by the intersection of Kazakova (formerly Gorokhovaya), Radio (formerly Voznesenskaya) streets and Tokmakov and Dobroslobodsky lanes.

3. The Church of the Ascension was built in the style of early classicism and has the shape of a ship. The space is elongated: the monumental rotunda, refectory and high bell tower are on the same axis. This kind of construction was typical for Western Europe. The upper tiers of the bell tower are decorated with columns and pilasters of the composite order, entablatures with white stone cornices.

4. The three-tier bell tower ends with a blue spire with gold stars.

5. The lower tier of the bell tower is decorated with two-column porticoes.

6. The two-height rotunda of the temple is topped with a dome with lucarnes - windows in the roof slope, and an elegant light belvedere - a lantern.

7. Matvey Kazakov was very fond of such details and repeated them in other buildings (for example, in the Church of Metropolitan Philip in Meshchanskaya Sloboda).

8. The lower tier of the rotunda is surrounded by a solemn colonnade of the Ionic order.

9. The refectory has two thrones - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and the Prophet of God Moses.

11. Tall rectangular windows are decorated with triangular finials.

12. Among the parishioners of the Church of the Ascension there were many great people. In 1800, the great Russian actor Pavel Mochalov, a serf of Nikolai Nikitovich Demidov, who eventually received his freedom, was baptized in the Church of the Ascension. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Pushkins became parishioners of the Ascension Church. Emperor Nicholas II visited the Church of the Ascension. It contained the revered Theodore Icon of the Mother of God, the patroness of the Romanov dynasty, decorated with enamel (lost). The temple is also mentioned on the pages of L. Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace”: in it Natasha Rostova prayed for victory in the war.

13. In 1933, the temple was closed, utensils and ancient icons were taken out of it and disappeared without a trace. During the Great Patriotic War, the building was hit by an aerial bomb, damaging the dome. In 1987, the remains of the exterior paintings were destroyed in a fire, and the interior was severely damaged. The painting on the facades, which existed back in the 1950s, has been partially lost.

14. The temple was returned to believers in 1992 and has now been restored. Part of the external oil painting has been restored.

15. The lost three iconostases were restored, and the frescoes in the rotunda were restored.

Photo from the site

Passing the house of Count Razumovsky, a few steps away at the crossroads you see the well-architected Church of the Ascension of the Lord, decorated outside under the cornice with images of the Apostles with a rather skillful brush; inside this Temple is decorated magnificently and tastefully. It was built in 1793, and, as you know, on the land of Count Razumovsky; However, one should not assume that this temple was built again in this place, for the chronicles mention a temple that was here during the reign of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich.

/From the book “Moscow or a historical guide to the famous capital of the Russian State” M., 1831/

History of the Church of the Ascension of the Lord on the Pea Field

According to ancient Moscow legend, the Temple existed here since the beginning of the 17th century, since the time of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov.

The name of the area where the Temple is located comes from the State pea field located here. At first the area was called simply “field”, or “Basmanny field”, and for the first time in 1718 it was called “Pea field”. It was crossed by two paths, which later became Voznesenskaya (Radio) and Gorokhovaya (Kazakova) streets. At the intersection of these streets, the Church of the Ascension of the Lord on the Pea Field was built.

The owner of these lands was Count Gabriel Ivanovich Golovkin. In 1731, being in the rank of State Chancellor, Privy Councilor, various orders of Knight and Count, living here with his children and grandchildren, in his old age, he wished to have a (house) church at his home and submitted a petition for this in the name of Empress Anna Ioannovna. Permission was received and almost two years later, in 1733, the wooden church was built and consecrated.

In 1737 there was a big fire. Count Golovkin's house burned down and the church was badly damaged. On the site of the burnt wooden church, a single-altar brick church was built - which was the home church of the chancellor, and later Count Kirill Grigorievich Razumovsky. At that time it was called the church in the "Razumovsky Garden".

In 1743, the estate began to belong to Count Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky. Count A.G. Razumovsky, taking care of the organization of his home, did not forget the Ascension Church at his house and its clergy. In 1748, as can be seen from the protocols of the Moscow Ecclesiastical Consistory, there was a fire in the count’s house and “in the stone Church of the Ascension of the Lord, the floor inside and the roofs on the church were burned out.” Based on the resolution of the Holy Synod and Metropolitan Plato, the church was restored and re-consecrated.

By the second half of the 18th century. The pea field no longer became a field in the proper sense. The entire area of ​​the field began to be built up by Russian noble and eminent people. All the nobility of the 18th century gathered here. And the beautiful area was decorated with beautiful palaces of eminent people Saltykovs, Golovins, Sheremetyevs, Dolgorukiys. We can say with confidence that in none of the outskirts of Moscow were there as many “country palaces” as in the Gorokhovskaya area.

In 1769, Razumovsky's house stone church of the Ascension of the Lord was renamed from a house church to a parish church. There is no doubt that such a change occurred not without the desire of the local residents and the will of the count himself. In the first metric book (1769-1771) it is written that the Church of the Ascension originally stood between the count’s main house and the former ponds.

Since 1769, the population of the surrounding areas increased and the church could no longer accommodate worshipers. In 1771, the question arose about its reconstruction “due to inability to accommodate.” Priest Peter Andreev and the parish people turned to Metropolitan Platon with a request to grant land for a new church. Plato imposed a resolution on the petition “... to move the church to a new location, to formalize the transfer of land in a legal manner for the construction of a church and clergy houses.” For the construction of the church, 2144 square meters of land were allocated and permanently transferred.

The old church that stood on the main alley of the Razumovsky Palace park was demolished. Between the part of the Razumovsky palace near the Chechora River, facing the street, and the main house, nestled the courtyards of the church clergy; to the north was the Church of the Ascension itself. The Chechora River, on the banks of which the temple was located, was enclosed in a pipe at the beginning of the twentieth century, along which Elizavetinsky Lane was located.

It is believed that the Church of the Ascension was built by the famous architect Matvey Fedorovich Kazakov, although no documentary evidence of this has been found.

Some researchers believe that several architectural forms characteristic of the style speak in favor of Kazakov’s authorship, for example, the rotunda where the main chapel is located. It is crowned with a low stepped dome, above which rises a light lantern. Kozakov loved these details very much and repeated them in other buildings (Church of Metropolitan Philip in Moscow, etc.).

According to the project by M.F. Kazakov built over 100 buildings in Moscow. He built it for Count Razumovsky in 1800-1802. Magnificent house (No. 18). Kazakov largely determined the architectural appearance of Moscow in the 18th and early 19th centuries.

That is why in 1939 Gorokhovaya Street was renamed Kazakova Street in honor of the architect’s 200th anniversary.

Voznesenskaya Street, which was named according to the original Moscow tradition - after the name of the church, was renamed Radio Street in 1929 in connection with the radioification of the city and the radio station built on it.

There is an oral tradition that the dedication of the right chapel to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was the wish of the main investor in the construction of the temple - Nikolai Nikitich Demidov, especially since the church dedicated to the patron of his father - Nikita the Martyr was already nearby on Staraya Basmannaya Street.

The spiritual and material assistance of Metropolitan Platon and eminent parishioner Nikolai Demidov, as well as the prayers and daily efforts of priest Peter Andreev determined the success and relatively quick construction of the temple. This is what is written down in the church’s clergy registers, that “the church was built with the diligence of priest Peter Andreev using funds collected from willing donors and with the special assistance of parishioner Mr. Nikolai Nikitich Demidov and other parishioners.” The priest of the temple, Father Peter, for his high good qualities and special zeal for the newly built Church of the Ascension of the Lord, enjoyed the special attention and love of Metropolitan Plato.

Priest Peter Andreev, the builder of the temple, served as priest from 1775 to 1823. almost 50 years. Unfortunately, it was not possible to find evidence about him, but the fruits of his activities are obvious. It was through his prayers that a huge temple construction project was successfully implemented.

The rectangular bell tower was built together with the temple from brick. There were ten bells. On the large one was the inscription “Come to Me, all who suffer and are burdened, and I will give you rest, My yoke is good and My burden is light...” This bell was cast on May 12 during the reign of the Sovereign Emperor Alexander III.

The chapel of the Prophet Moses the God-Seer was erected in memory of the church of the Moiseevsky Monastery, which was located on Moiseevskaya Square between Okhotny Ryad and Tverskaya Street, which was abolished in 1789, among others, by the Manifesto of Empress Catherine II of February 12, 1764.

Bricks, other building materials and many church objects were transferred to the Church of the Ascension of the Lord, which was under construction, on the Pea Field in 1789.

This is the only chapel in honor of the Holy Prophet Moses the Seer of God in Moscow.

The miraculous icon of the Prophet is one of the most revered icons of the temple. It was brought to the Moscow church from distant Siberia. This is how the memory of the abolished Moiseevsky Monastery on Manezhnaya Square was immortalized, from whose bricks the Ascension Church was built. Parishioners believe that a special monastic spirit still lives in it.

In the Moiseevsky Convent there was the Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary with two chapels on both sides of the Altar - in the name of the Prophet Moses the God-Seer and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Their abolition determined the dedication of the chapels in the new Ascension Church, especially since it grew on the stones of the dismantled church.

The start of construction was delayed, the parishioners had no money, and only when Nikolai Nikitich Demidov agreed to help them, and the church authorities gave away materials from the dismantled Moiseevsky Monastery, construction began.

It was erected not far from the old church. In 1787, land was allocated lying on the street leading to the Palace Bridge. “In 1788, on the 25th of May, on the day of our glorious present and future parish feast of the Ascension of the Lord, the solemn foundation of the new Ascension Church was completed,” as stated in the collection book.

The laying was called “solemn” because it was conducted by Metropolitan Platon in the presence of noble, great persons and parish people.

The temple with the Main Altar of the Ascension of the Lord, chapels in the refectory - the Prophet Moses and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (renovated in 1872).

In 1793, on the 2nd of May, the consecration of the Church of the Ascension was carried out by Metropolitan Platon in the presence of noble persons - as one of the eyewitnesses of the great event wrote about it.

Metropolitan Platon (Levshin) was a very famous person in Moscow. He was called the “second Chrysostom”, “Moscow Apostle”, because he was a wonderful, brilliant preacher during the times of the Sovereigns Catherine II, Paul I, Alexander I.

In 1797, Metropolitan Platon presented a large-format Gospel in a silver-gilded frame with his own hand-written inscription: “... I give this book of the Gospel as a contribution to the Church of the Ascension of the Lord, which is in Moscow on the Pea Field to the priest Peter, Humble Plato, Metropolitan of Moscow, November 1797, 18 Bethany...” .

In later times, the famous collector of archival documents on the history of Moscow churches, Gavriil Ivanovich Kholmogorov, served as a deacon and then as a priest in the church. The work was carried out together with his brother Vasily Ivanovich under the leadership of the historian Ivan Egorovich Zabelin.

Gabriel Ivanovich Kholmogorov lived not far from the church on Voznesenskaya Street, 2/8, but his house has not survived.

Under Soviet rule in 1933, the Temple was closed and the building was transferred to the club of the Aerodynamic Institute, then it housed a metalworking workshop and a printing house. The location of the icons and utensils taken from the church is unknown.

In 1941, an air bomb hit the temple building, damaging the dome and causing a crack to appear in the wall.

In the 1960s, a partial restoration of the architectural monument church was carried out.

Since 1973, the monument-temple was used by the Moscow production association “Upakovka” and it was constantly shaken by working printing machines.

In 1987, there was a fire that severely destroyed the interior. The painting on the facades, which existed back in the 1950s, has been partially lost.

After almost 70 years of oblivion, the temple was transferred with great difficulty to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1992 by Decree of the Moscow Government No. 622 of 08/11/1992.

However, the temple was not completely vacated by the tenants. It was necessary to free the room from six toilets, utility rooms upstairs, from two reinforced concrete ceilings that had disfigured the interior of the rotunda, to clear the walls with lost paintings from traces of the fire of 1987 caused by the Upakovka cardboard factory - from all kinds of garbage.

The first water-blessing prayer service in the chapel of the prophet Moses the Seer of God was performed on the feast of Holy Epiphany on January 19, 1993. At the first Divine Liturgy on February 13, the chapel of the Prophet Moses the Seer of God was consecrated by the minor priestly rank of Archpriest Vasily Golovanov, who was sent as rector to serve and restore the temple at the end of 1992 by Decree of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II.

The shrines of the Temple are: Cross-reliquary with particles of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, St. Sergius of Radonezh, right. Simeon the God-Receiver and other saints of God; there are particles: the Holy Sepulcher, the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, the Sepulcher of the Mother of God; icons – the Mother of God “Unexpected Joy” and “Sovereign”, the Holy Prophet Moses the Seer of God.

In November 1998, the custodian Oleg Ivanovich Belchenko transferred the Image of the Holy Tsar Martyr Nicholas II to the church.

The rector of the temple, having accepted the icon of the blessed Tsar Martyr, read Akathists to the Sovereign Mother of God and the Sovereign Holy Tsar Passion-Bearer.

The icon of the Emperor streamed myrrh abundantly, and the temple was filled with fragrance.

Archpriest Vasily Golovanov was sure that the myrrh-streaming image of the Tsar ended up in the Church of the Ascension on the Pea Field not by accident, but by an event. There is oral testimony from eyewitnesses that the “Golden Royal Staircase,” made of oak with wide steps, led to the second floor of the priest’s house, which was previously located among other parish buildings to the right of the church. Tsar Nikolai Alexandrovich himself walked along it. The Emperor could not help but visit the women’s almshouse that existed near the temple. He repeatedly entered the Temple itself (of the Ascension of the Lord), where in the iconostasis of the St. Nicholas chapel there was an icon of the Fedorov Mother of God, the patroness of the House of Romanov.

Currently, repair and restoration work is underway on the facade of the temple (restoration and restoration of frescoes).

Address: st. Radio, 2, building 1

Today we are talking about the Church of the Ascension of the Lord. And, according to Moscow custom, an addition to the name is on the Pea Field. Sometimes scientists have to decipher such a connection to the area for a long time. But in our case, everything is extremely clear: when peas were sown here for the royal court - a very important product in those old times - it is enough to get acquainted with the many dishes prepared from them, peas.

It is believed that the first church stood here during the reign of the first Russian Tsar from the Romanov family, Mikhail Fedorovich.

Later, in these places, on the right bank of the Yauza, the German Settlement arose and flourished. For clarity, we note that in Rus' the word “German” came from the word “mute”, that is, one who does not know how to speak Russian - regardless of nationality.

Later, the German Settlement was abolished, and the Russian nobility began to settle in these places.
The first, small, stone Church of the Ascension (to replace the burnt wooden one) was erected as a home church by Count Golovkin. Then the estate was owned by Count Razumovsky, who considerably renovated and expanded the church.

In 1769, the house church of the Ascension of the Lord was turned into a parish church. But the population here grew so much that the question of rebuilding the church “due to inability to accommodate” very quickly arose.
The old church was demolished and a new one was built in its place. It is believed that it was built by the famous architect Matvey Fedorovich Kazakov. And although there is no documentary evidence of this, it is believed that a number of architectural features clearly indicate Kazakov’s authorship.

By the way, later, already in Soviet times, Gorokhovaya Street was renamed Kazakova Street in honor of the architect’s 200th anniversary.

Among other things, it is also believed that a descendant of the famous Ural breeder Nikita Akinfievich Demidov gave a lot of money for the construction of the temple.

And one more interesting feature. The temple was built from bricks, which remained after the abolition and demolition of the Moiseevsky Monastery, which stood in the center of Moscow. Why, as many say, in a church built with obvious Western European influence, a special monastic spirit is still felt.
The chapel, consecrated in honor of the Holy Prophet Moses the Seer of God, is the only one in Moscow.
Voznesenskaya Street, traditionally named after the temple, was renamed Radio Street in 1929 in honor of the first radio station built here.

Contacts: Church of the Ascension of the Lord on the Pea Field

Address: st. Radio, 2, building 1

How can I get to:
From Kurskaya metro station, bus 78, tram 24; metro station "Baumanskaya", then by any tram; from metro station "Krasnye Vorota", trolleybus 24.

Driving directions:

According to ancient Moscow legend, the temple existed here since the beginning of the 17th century. The name of the area where the temple is located comes from the State pea field located here. At first the area was called simply “field”, or “Basmanny field”, and for the first time in 1718 it was called “Pea field”. It was crossed by two paths, which later became Voznesenskaya (Radio) and Gorokhovaya (Kazakova) streets. At the intersection of these streets the Church of the Ascension of the Lord was built.

The owner of these lands was Count Gabriel Ivanovich Golovkin. In 1731, being in the rank of state chancellor and privy councilor, living here with his children and grandchildren, in his old age he wished to have a house church at his home and submitted a petition for this to the Empress Anna Ioannovna. Permission was received and almost two years later the wooden church was built and consecrated.

This year the temple was closed and the building was transferred to the club of the Aerodynamic Institute, then it housed a metalworking workshop and a printing house. The location of the icons and utensils taken from the church is unknown.

That year, an air bomb hit the temple building, damaging the dome and causing a crack to appear in the wall.

In the 1960s, a partial restoration of the architectural monument church was carried out.

Since then, the temple has been used by the Moscow production association “Upakovka”; the building was constantly shaken by working printing machines.

In the year there was a fire that severely destroyed the interior. The painting on the facades, which existed back in the 1950s, has been partially lost.

The temple was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church by decree of the Moscow government No. 622 of August 11 of the year. However, the temple was not completely vacated by the tenants. It was necessary to free the room from six toilets, utility rooms upstairs, from two reinforced concrete ceilings that had disfigured the interior of the rotunda, to clear the walls with lost paintings from traces of the fire of 1987 caused by the Upakovka cardboard factory - from all kinds of garbage.

The first water-blessing prayer service in the chapel of the prophet Moses the Seer of God was performed on January 19 of the year, on the feast of the Epiphany. At the first Divine Liturgy on February 13, Archpriest