Church of St. Gregory of Neo-Caesarea in the clearing. Temple of Gregory of Neocaesarea, which is in a large clearing. Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea on Polyanka: schedule and address

I ended up at this temple today by accident. I went to Polyanka on business.
The temple was so beautifully illuminated by the rays of the setting sun that I could not help but stop and admire this bright, joyful beauty.
On the way back, having done my business, I went into the temple.
The evening service was in progress. The temple was crowded.
I really liked the interior decoration of the church. It matched her outer beauty.

I sincerely recommend visiting this church, watching the service and listening to the choir.

And the past and present of the Temple are written in great detail on its official website.
I quote some excerpts from there.

The history of the Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea goes back to ancient times, to the times of the Rurikovichs. The temple was founded in 1445 by the Great Moscow Prince Vasily II the Dark, grandson of Dmitry Donskoy and great-grandfather of Ivan the Terrible.
Tradition says that, while in Tatar captivity, the prince made a vow: if he returned home, he would build, in the place from which he saw Moscow, a temple dedicated to the saint, whose memory is celebrated on this day. ieronim-polyanka.ru/index.php…

Gregory the Wonderworker (Greek Γρηγοριος ο Θανματονργος, c. 213, Neokesarea - c. 270-275, ibid.) - 1st bishop of Neocaesarea, saint, theologian.
Memory in the Catholic and Orthodox Church - November 17 (30). http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Wonderworker

The wooden temple existed until the end of the 17th century.
Today, a wooden chapel-monument in honor of the All-Merciful Savior has been built in its place. The chapel and the historical phrase “in Derbitsy”, i.e. in a forested, swampy place, they remind us of those distant times.

In 1668-79, a majestic stone temple was erected next to the wooden one.
The start of construction was blessed by His Holiness Patriarch Nikon, and the completed church was consecrated by His Holiness Patriarch Joachim in the presence of Tsar Theodore Alekseevich. The temple was built by the best architects of that time, Karp Guba and Ivan Kuznechik. In its architecture, the church belongs to the Moscow type of five-domed churches with a hipped bell tower. The facades are decorated with tiles with intricate floral patterns “peacock's eye”, made by the famous potter Stepan Polubes.
Modern man is somewhat surprised by bright colors external decoration temple. But it was Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, as historical sources tell us, who ordered the walls of the temple to be “painted with red lead into the brick”, “to intertwine the arrows of the tent”, “and to paint them with turquoise and whitewash”. The church was so magnificent in appearance, so fully consistent with people’s ideas of beauty, that it was popularly called “Red,” that is, beautiful. The icons for the iconostasis were painted by royal isographers, headed by the famous Simon Ushakov. His Mother of God of Eleusa-Kykkos from the local row of the iconostasis is constantly exhibited in the Tretyakov Gallery.

In 1671, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich married Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina in the temple, and in 1672, the infant Peter I, the future Emperor of Russia, was baptized here. Today, the font in which, according to legend, the prince was baptized, is carefully preserved in the temple. The fact that the rector of the temple was the royal confessor explains that it was here that these important historical events took place. For a long time the temple was given the status of a court. And today the crosses of the five heads of the church, crowned royal crowns, remind us that the temple was constantly visited by sovereigns. Services in the church were performed by His Holiness the Patriarchs and Metropolitans of Moscow.

In 1812, Napoleon, enchanted by the beauty of the church, regretted that he could not put it on the palm of his hand and move it to Paris, and during the raging fire, French soldiers carried water in buckets and watered the temple to save it from fire.

At the beginning of the twentieth century. Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna loved to pray in the church.

In 1939, the temple was closed, dilapidated, and desecrated. All his shrines and property were plundered. The last rector, Archpriest Boris Ivanovsky, was shot at the Butovo training ground. Today he is canonized by the Church with the rank of hieromartyrs (December 10). His pectoral cross is preserved in the temple as a relic.

Since 1994, services have been resumed in the temple.
In 1996, the temple was consecrated by His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II.

Today, through the efforts of the parish community and the rector, Bishop Jerome (Chernyshov), the temple has acquired its former splendor. For its picturesque beauty, people again call the church “Red”.

Who stands in Moscow on Polyanka in bright vestments,
Standing in bright robes, looking majestically?
- Is this the Holy Angel?! He is dressed in silver
An enchanting light pours from his face.
He holds the cross in his hand, he looks at the sky
And there from the earth it calls and beckons...
- No, not the Holy Angel; it's there, across the river
And the Church of St. Gregory calls and beckons.
This is the church - the Holy Hierarch's House,
And it’s warm, and cozy, and joyful in it.
- Oh, let's go there, let's go quickly!
There we will all offer a prayer to the Creator together.

(All information is taken from the official website of the Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea.)

I will not express my point of view, I will tell you in the words of Andrei Andreevich Voznesensky. From the book “Foremen of the Spirit.”

On the corner of Polyanka, occupied by some kind of office, a masterpiece of the Naryshkin baroque was blazing - “the red church of Gregory of Neocaesarea at Polyanka.” It was called red not only because of the scarlet background with white details on it. It contained the blood of human suffering.

For me, it has always been Andrei's temple.

Andrei Savinov, confessor of the quiet Alexei Mikhailovich, previously served in the wooden church that stood on this site. It was he who married the Tsar to the beautiful Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina.

This was not just a wedding. The Tsar married a pupil of A. Matveev, a bearer of the worldview new Russia, educated, restive, who will later give birth to Peter. The Miloslavskys were furious. Savinov became the tsar's intimate friend. And, of course, he persuaded him to build a stone temple.

We can judge the taste and character of Andrei Savinov by the sweeping colors of the building. It did not have the prayerful detachment of the Novgorod and Pskov creatures. There is a philosophy behind this. Savinov was illuminated by earthly temptations. He was carousing with the king. We read in “Palace Discharges” dated October 21, 1674: “... but the Great Sovereign’s confessor, Andrei Savvinovich, was at the meal. And his Vel. They entertained the sovereign, and they played the organs, and Nemchin played the organs, and they blew the surna and the trumpets, and they played the rapeseed. The Tsar rewarded his confessor and the boyars with votka, Rensky and Romaneya and all sorts of different drinks, and granted them with his sovereign mercy: he gave them all drunks to drink.”

At the table, Andrei became friends with Simeon of Polotsk, who sang about the new palace in ornamental verses.

And what rich, figurative names of the temple builders chosen by our ascetic! The temple was built by the serf peasant Karp Guba under the supervision of the stone masonry apprentice Ivan Kuznechik. Just some kind of Gogol!

As in most buildings of the 17th century, this is a pillarless five-domed structure on a quadrangle. Architecture is disingenuous, dark, foolish, and mischievous. It was built from the famous Myachkovsky stone near Moscow, named after the village near Bykov, where there was a quarry. Bright, secular, recklessly daring, this is the best of all Moscow churches of the 17th century. There is harmony in it and at the same time some kind of spiritual heaviness, as if anxiety lurks in it, a premonition of suffering for beauty.

And one more, perhaps main, meaning was hidden in this red architecture. The wedding of the Tsar was the most important event in the life of Andrei Savinov. The foreman of the spirit became the foreman of history.

Visible to the entire area, the new beauty was clearly visible from across the Moscow River, from the Kremlin. She towered over Streltsy - Zamoskvorechye - she delighted and disgusted. Oka proclaimed the triumph of the Naryshkins and publicly glorified the Miloslavskys.

And consciously or unconsciously, through her elegant silhouette, the image of a stately august beauty, a young bride of Russia, appeared in a fiery outfit with a white trim and a green cape on her shoulders, seen by the loving gaze of the creator.

Like a scarlet bell tower,
fur coat blazing furiously,
Naryshkina Natalya
standing on the sidewalk.
In that unfitted fur coat
you walked out the gate
Naryshkina Natalya,
Like you're waiting for someone?

In a foreign gasoline city
you look into the crowd absent-mindedly,
fly off
to the ground
pigeons,
like the husk of seeds.

I understood the architect's secret,
his portrait is impudent,
and, lowering his eyes,
I whisper to you: “Natalia...”

This couldn't end well. Savinov failed to open his brainchild in 1679. As soon as the tsar drove off to his beloved Preobrazhenskoye for “comedy performances” and falconry, where three thousand falcons and two hundred thousand pigeons distracted him into the sky from the worries of the city, the free confessor was arrested by Patriarch Joachim.

“Yakim, Yakim!” - Avvakum shamed this patriarch. Andrei Savinov was put on a chain.

He was accused of fornication, influence on the king, and the fact that he “erected a church for himself without the patriarchal blessing.” The returning king was unable to save his favorite, he only placed twenty archers to guard him so that he would not be killed. Subsequently, Andrei was defrocked and died in the North, exiled to the Kozheozersky monastery.

To this day, like frozen tears, the emerald tiles in Polyanka are clouded in longing for him.

The master of these tiles, the treasure maker Stepan Polubes, was, of course, a comrade and table-fellow of our ascetic. His artistry is evidenced by the temperamental riot of the frieze - this is the famous “peacock eye”, where the base of the tile is a deep blue background.

Title "Neo-Caesarean"
potter, nicknamed Polubes,
read it as “we are sky mowers”,
and introduced a kerosene sunflower,
and a blue background and a serial bow,
and rip-grass into the tile.

And tears clogged my eyes,
when he climbed into the sky.

"Oh, desperate potter,
Half-demon,
what did you fill the glaze with?
cabbage roll?

Your petals, handicraftsman,
from dew.
Only fragile, like crystal,
tiles.

Only your color is like anchar,
poisonous..."
From his height the potter
speaks:
“The more pure before the wedding,
the more desperate the woman.
The louder and more fragile it is,
the more timeless the tile.

Indelible beauty -
tile.
Suck it heavens
lollipop!

Moscow will be red
from the fire
there will be black Moscow,
smut,

There will be white Moscow
from snow - grass will cure everything
tiles
Emerald of fire!
It just won't cure me.

I went to see a stranger’s wife and mowed the meadow.
He mixed her blood into the tiles.”

And, hugging the revived frieze,
all white,
fell from the bell tower
down
Half-demon!

When at midnight sleepless
I look at the half-demonic frieze,
when the melancholy cannot be quenched,
illuminated by the sinful temple,
I repeat: “We are mowers of the sky.
If we mow, we won’t get it twisted.”

Stepan Ivanov, nicknamed Polubes “comrades”, worked in Moscow at the Assumption Church in Gonchary.

But ceramic icons are not often found...

This was in 1999. Once we were visiting my classmate and friend, Mikhail Naroditsky. Mikhail, his wife Elena, daughter Marina and mother-in-law Tatyana Vasilievna are parishioners of the Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea on Polyanka. They told us that the church they go to has now been completely restored, there is even a reliquary for the relics of the Saint, but they cannot find the relics themselves. They turned to different places for them, about which they said that they were staying there, they even went to Spain, but all in vain.

A. Savin, CC BY-SA 2.5

I remember the conversation. After some time we left for London.

Church of the Assumption on Knightsbridge

On Sundays we went to liturgy in the London Church of the Assumption Mother of God and All Saints on Knightsbridge. On that day, Bishop Anthony, Metropolitan of Sourozh, served. In the church, it was customary during the liturgy to mention all the saints, “whose venerable relics reside in the church.” Unexpectedly, we heard that the bishop, among other names, mentioned the name of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea.

Immediately after the service, we approached Bishop Anthony and told him about the Moscow Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea and about the difficulties in obtaining the relics. The Bishop said that a small piece of the relics is sealed in the analogue icon of the temple, but he will definitely look in another place, in which, perhaps, there is another piece of the relics of the Saint.

Many weeks passed, Bishop Anthony was ill, rarely appeared, and in response to our cautious questions he said that he was searching and praying, asking us to be patient and wait.

I soon found myself in Moscow again, went to see my friends and told them about the discovery of relics in a London temple. They were very happy and quickly organized a letter of request from the rector of the church on Polyanka, hegumen (now bishop) Jerome (Chernyshov), addressed to Bishop Anthony.

These days, my wife, Tatyana, called and joyfully reported that she had been in the Assumption Church, and Bishop Anthony confirmed that he had found the relics and was ready to hand them over. Tatyana asked the bishop how the transfer could be organized, he replied that it happens that the relics are transported not only by clergy, but also by lay people, and he is ready to transfer a piece of the relics to us so that we can take it to Moscow.

Pavel Petrov, CC BY-SA 3.0

Before leaving, in the red corner of the apartment, I discovered and took with me to London a bag for prosphora, embroidered by our Orthodox friend Natalia Gulaya.

Transfer of relics

We waited impatiently for Sunday, June 13, 1999. After the liturgy, we humbly approached Bishop Anthony, he asked us to wait a little, retired to the altar, returned and gave us a particle of the relics.

You cannot imagine the feelings that gripped not only my family and me at that moment, but also many of those present in the church who knew about our request and helped and empathized with us in every possible way. We began to thank the bishop, to which he said: “It was not I who did this, but the Lord.”

Alexandra, parishioner of the Assumption Church in Knightsbridge, CC BY-SA 3.0

We put the piece in the prepared bag, thanked Vladyka heartily for his kindness, and he took a photo with us as a souvenir.

This was the last meeting with Bishop Anthony, Metropolitan of Sourozh, who in many ways changed our lives and, I know, the fates of many others.

Shrine meeting

Two weeks later we left London. In Sheremetyevo we were met by the rector of the Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea on Polyanka, Jerome (Chernyshov), with a representative of the Patriarchate and received the relics. We asked that the bag be returned to us in memory of this event, which he did after the celebrations.

On the evening of November 29, 1999, on the eve of the memory of Gregory of Neocaesarea, in the Moscow Church of the Saint on Polyanka, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II led a solemn all-night vigil, during which he met the shrine.

We are grateful to the Lord for giving us the opportunity to be involved in these events, and also to have the happiness of hearing the voice of Bishop Anthony, Metropolitan of Sourozh, attending his Thursday readings, accepting his kindness, help and blessing.

Tatiana, Yulia and Pavel Petrov, parishioners of the Church of the Great Ascension

Moscow, London, 1999

Photo gallery

Saint's Memorial Day

Church of St. Gregory on Polyanka

The Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea in Derbitsy (on Polyanka) is one of the most beautiful churches in Moscow.

Built it Grand Duke Vasily II (Dark) in gratitude for the miraculous deliverance from Tatar captivity. While in the Horde, the prince made a vow to God: to build a church on the spot from which he would see the walls of the Kremlin, in honor of the saint, whose memory would be celebrated that day, which happened on November 30, 1445, on the day of remembrance of St. Gregory the Wonderworker.

History of the relics

A piece of the relics of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea was presented by Tsarina Paraskeva Feodorovna (wife of Tsar Ivan V) to Prince Grigory Volkonsky, who in 1811 donated it to the temple.

After the October Revolution, the relics disappeared and the temple was closed.

Revival of the temple

In 1990, according to a letter from His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, the Moscow Council returned the temple to the believers.

Since 1994, services were resumed in the Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea, and by 1996 the temple was finally restored: the facades were painted with red-orange paint - lead, all architectural elements were highlighted with white and turquoise, and the crosses were gilded.

Alfa Bank donated funds for a shrine for the relics of the Saint.

The temple in honor of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea, which is located in Moscow on Polyanka, has a very ancient history. It was originally cut down from wood by order of Prince Vasily II, nicknamed the Dark. According to legend, this was done as a sign of gratitude to Heaven for deliverance from Tatar captivity.

Today there is no trace left of that wooden structure. In its place stands a majestic stone temple. But even then, when this place was a wasteland, Prince Vasily, while staying in the Horde, swore to God that in the place from which he would see the Moscow Kremlin, he would build a temple and consecrate it in honor of the saint whose memory would be celebrated that day. He was destined to see the fortress walls of the capital on November 30, 1445. By Orthodox calendar On this day the memory of St. Gregory the Wonderworker of New Caesarea is celebrated. This circumstance determined the fate of the future church, now known as the Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea on Polyanka.

New construction

The wooden church stood until the 17th century. In 1669-1679, a stone temple grew next to it. This happened on the initiative of the royal confessor, priest Andrei Savinov, with the help of sovereign donations. Patriarch Nikon gave the church blessing for the construction, but Patriarch Joachim had to consecrate the completed Church of Gregory of Neocaesarea. The construction was supervised by the best architects that could be found at that time. History has preserved their names for posterity: Karp Guba and John the Grasshopper.

Architecture and decor of the church

Architecturally, the Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea reflected the standard Moscow practice of church construction for that time, which included a five-domed structure and a tent-type bell tower. The decoration of the temple was done using tiles and floral ornaments. Their authorship belongs to a person whom we also know by name. He was the famous potter Stepan Polubes at that time.

Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich himself had a hand in developing the temple project in relation to what would now be called design. It was he who ordered the Church of Gregory of Neocaesarea to be painted red to resemble brick, and the tent to be covered with whitewash and turquoise. As a result, the church turned out to be so beautiful that people called it the Red Church. The iconostasis was painted by royal artists and icon painters, led by the well-known Simon Ushakov. His authorship in this project belongs, for example, to the image of the Mother of God “Eleusa-Kykkos”. Of course, now it is not in the temple, but among the exhibits of the Tretyakov Gallery.

Church and royal family

In the same temple, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich married Natalya Naryshkina in 1671. A baby was baptized in it, who would later become Emperor Peter the Great. Even today, the font in which the future reformer sovereign was baptized is kept in the Church of Gregory of Neocaesarea. In principle, such attention to the temple royal family was quite understandable, since its rector was traditionally the king’s confessor, and the temple itself had the status of a courtier.

Church in the War of 1812

During the events of 1812, the temple on Polyanka of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea also distinguished itself. If the French allowed themselves acts of vandalism in relation to other churches and burned many places of worship on a par with ordinary houses, in this case they behaved unprecedentedly. Namely: in the temple of Gregory of Neocaesarea there were soldiers on duty, whose task was to protect the building from looting and fire. French soldiers carried water in buckets to protect it from damage by the fire that devastated the capital. Napoleon lamented about this, saying that if only it were possible, he would put this church in the palm of his hand and take it to Paris.

Revolution

But what the French interventionists did not do, the Russian communists successfully accomplished. For 22 years after the 1917 revolution, services continued to be held in the Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea. But in 1939 it was closed and half destroyed. The last abbot was killed at the Butovo training ground.

Return to believers

The temple returned to the hands of believers only in 1994. Divine services were resumed at the same time. By 1996, the temple had been restored sufficiently so that it could be consecrated, which happened with the participation of Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus'. The relics rest in the temple, if you believe official sources, the patron of the church himself - St. Gregory of Neocaesarea. They were given to the parish community by Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh in 1998.

Temple today

Currently, in addition to this shrine, this temple contains particles of the relics of many other saints, which is of certain value in the eyes of believers. In addition to the main altar in honor of the indicated father of the church, two more function - in memory of St. Gregory the Theologian and in honor of the Bogolyubskaya icon of the Mother of God. The rector of the church at the moment is retired bishop Jerome (Chernyshov).

Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea on Polyanka: schedule and address

The easiest way to get to the temple is from the Polyanka metro station. The full address of the parish is as follows: Moscow, Bolshaya Polyanka Street, 29A.

As for the schedule, services in the temple are held on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.

On Saturday:

09:00 - Matins, liturgy.
17:00 - all-night vigil.

On Sunday:

09:30 - Liturgy.

A more detailed schedule of the Church of Gregory of Neocaesarea needs to be clarified in the church, as it is updated monthly.

The legend about the construction of the temple

Today there is no trace left of that wooden structure. In its place stands a majestic stone temple. But even then, when this place was a wasteland, Prince Vasily, while staying in the Horde, swore to God that in the place from which he would see the Moscow Kremlin, he would build a temple and consecrate it in honor of the saint whose memory would be celebrated that day. He was destined to see the fortress walls of the capital on November 30, 1445. According to the Orthodox calendar, on this day the memory of St. Gregory the Wonderworker of New Caesarea is celebrated. This circumstance determined the fate of the future church, now known as the Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea on Polyanka.

New construction

The wooden church stood until the 17th century. In 1669-1679, a stone temple grew next to it. This happened on the initiative of the royal confessor, priest Andrei Savinov, with the help of sovereign donations. He gave the church blessing for the construction, but Patriarch Joachim had to consecrate the completed Church of Gregory of Neocaesarea. The construction was supervised by the best architects that could be found at that time. History has preserved their names for posterity: Karp Guba and John the Grasshopper.

Architecture and decor of the church

Architecturally, the Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea reflected the standard Moscow practice of church construction for that time, which included a five-domed structure and a tent-type bell tower. The decoration of the temple was done using tiles and their authorship belongs to a person whom we also know by name. He was the famous potter Stepan Polubes at that time.

Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich himself had a hand in developing the temple project in relation to what would now be called design. It was he who ordered the Church of Gregory of Neocaesarea to be painted red to resemble brick, and the tent to be covered with whitewash and turquoise. As a result, the church turned out to be so beautiful that the people called it the Red Church. The iconostasis was painted by royal artists and icon painters, led by the well-known Simon Ushakov. His authorship in this project belongs, for example, to the image of the Mother of God “Eleusa-Kykkos”. Of course, now it is not in the temple, but among the exhibits of the Tretyakov Gallery.

Church and royal family

In the same temple he married Natalya Naryshkina in 1671. In it, who will later become Emperor Peter the Great. Even today, the font in which the future reformer sovereign was baptized is kept in the Church of Gregory of Neocaesarea. In principle, such attention to the temple of the royal family was quite understandable, since its rector was traditionally the king’s confessor, and the temple itself had the status of a courtier.

Church in the War of 1812

During the events of 1812, the temple on Polyanka of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea also distinguished itself. If in relation to other churches the French indulged in acts of vandalism and burned many religious buildings along with ordinary houses, then in this case they behaved unprecedentedly. Namely: in the temple of Gregory of Neocaesarea there were soldiers on duty, whose task was to protect the building from looting and fire. French soldiers carried water in buckets to protect it from damage by the fire that devastated the capital. Napoleon lamented about this, saying that if only it were possible, he would put this church in the palm of his hand and take it to Paris.

Revolution

Return to believers

The temple returned to the hands of believers only in 1994. Divine services were resumed at the same time. By 1996, the temple had been restored sufficiently so that it could be consecrated, which happened with the participation of Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus'. In the temple rest the relics, according to official sources, of the patron of the church himself - St. Gregory of Neocaesarea. They were given to the parish community in 1998.

Temple today

Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea on Polyanka: schedule and address

The easiest way to get to the temple is from the Polyanka metro station. The full address of the parish is as follows: Bolshaya Polyanka Street, 29A.

As for the schedule, services in the temple are held on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.

On Saturday:

09:00 - Matins, liturgy.
17:00 - all-night vigil.

On Sunday:

09:30 - liturgy.

A more detailed schedule of the Church of Gregory of Neocaesarea needs to be clarified in the church, as it is updated monthly.