Church of St. Barbara in Kutná Hora. Temples of Zaryadye Excursion to the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara
Church of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara on Varvarka located in the heart of the capital - in Kitai-Gorod.
Life was always in full swing here, and there was brisk trade. Varvarskaya Street, on which the temple was located, was famous for its healers, who were able to relieve any pain with herbs and medicinal infusions.
Spiritual healing was received in the temple, where believers rushed to venerate the image of Saint Barbara.
Barbara was the daughter of Dioscorus, a noble resident of the city of Iliopolis.
The girl was famous for her beauty, her father dreamed of finding her a rich groom. However, Varvara went against his will, secretly accepted Baptism, and renounced all worldly joys. The girl’s faith was so strong that she bravely endured all the torture and bullying. Varvara suffered death from the sword of her own father, who was never able to understand his young daughter.
Particles of the saint’s relics were kept in the church on Varvarka, a very revered place not only among Muscovites, but also visitors.
History of the Church of the Great Martyr Barbara
The Church of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara was built in 1514 at the expense of wealthy merchants from Sudak. The architect was the Italian Aleviz Fryazin (in Rus' all immigrants from Italy were called Fryazins).
In 1731, the church was renovated on the orders of Empress Anna Ioannovna.
In the fire of 1737, church utensils were damaged, icons and iconostasis were burned. The request to restore the temple was granted.
In 1796, they decided to dismantle the old Church of the Great Martyr Barbara and build a new one in its place (although the building was not dilapidated, and the condition was quite satisfactory, it was considered that the temple did not harmonize with the neighboring buildings).
The author of the project was Rodion Kazakov, the namesake of the famous architect.
They decided to leave the old foundation along with several rows of masonry. The building turned out to be very bright due to the large number of windows, which were even in the dome drum.
The Church of St. Barbara looked quite simple - clear lines, moderate decor. But despite all its external simplicity, the church was beautiful; it was not for nothing that its design was taken as the basis for the construction of some other churches.
In 1812, some of the church utensils were looted, but the building itself was not damaged - even the gilded iconostasis and part of the icons were preserved.
After the revolution, the Church of Varvara on Varvarka was decided to be closed. At first, a warehouse was located within its walls, and later office buildings.
One of the most ancient streets in Moscow, Varvarka got its name from the local church. Already in the 15th century, Varvarskaya Street with the wooden church of St. Barbara was mentioned. At the beginning of the 16th century, it was dismantled and in its place a stone building was built according to the design of the Italian Aleviz Novy, who created the Archangel Cathedral in the Kremlin, and more than a dozen stone churches outside it. One of them has survived to this day almost in its original form - this is the Cathedral of Peter the Metropolitan in the Vysoko-Petrovsky Monastery (other churches have either been lost or significantly rebuilt).
The stone church on Varvarka, built in 1514, had a similar appearance - an “eight-leaf” plan, crowned with one powerful dome. It was erected by order of merchants Vasily Bobr, Fyodor Vepr and Yushka Urvikhvostov, who lived in Zaryadye. The church stood virtually unchanged until the end of the 18th century, when its dilapidated building was dismantled. The new church of St. Barbara was also built with private funds: the temple builders were Major Ivan Baryshnikov and the merchant of the 1st guild Nikolai Samgin. Work began in 1796, and the consecration of the new church took place in 1804.
The most likely author of the Church of St. Barbara is considered to be an architect, a master of the Classical era. The building, cruciform in plan, is crowned with a powerful dome with a small dome and is marked by four-column porticoes on the north and south; a three-tier bell tower adjoins it on the west. The church is placed on a high, powerful plinth, but due to the difference in heights from the side of Varvarka, it is not noticeable: to see it, you need to go around the temple from the north.
In 1812, the Barbarian Church was damaged first by French soldiers who set up a stable in it, and then by fire. Only in the 1820s was it completely restored.
Great losses occurred after the revolution. In 1932, the Church of St. Barbara was closed, and soon the street was renamed in honor of Stepan Razin. The temple lost the head and the upper tier of the bell tower; from the inside, its space was partitioned into floors for storage and offices, but the building still stood, despite plans for its demolition.
In the 1960s, in parallel with the construction of the Rossiya Hotel building in Zaryadye, the historical monuments of Varvarka, including the Church of St. Barbara, were restored, its dome and the lost part of the bell tower were recreated. Inside is the Council of the Moscow Regional Branch of the All-Union Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments.
In 1991, the temple was transferred to the community of believers, and services were soon resumed on the second floor. In 1993, the street again became known as Varvarka. In 2007, during archaeological excavations under the temple, the foundation of the 16th-century Aleviz church was discovered, confirming the version of its external similarity to the cathedral in the Vysoko-Petrovsky Monastery.
The restoration project of 2014-2015 included restoring the appearance of the temple that had developed by the 1880s. During the work, the plaster surface of the facades and the remaining elements of the stucco decoration of the facades were restored - capitals and pilasters of the Corinthian order, Ionic pilasters, rosettes, flowers, half-balusters and cornices. Lost decorative elements were recreated using analogues. The color scheme of the facades was developed on the basis of archival and chemical-technological research - the facades are painted in a rich warm pink color, and the stucco decoration has a tobacco shade, on top of which there is glare and gilding with gold leaf on varnish.
Based on archival data and field studies, the central doorway on the northern portico was opened, the metal entrance doors and the white stone staircase were recreated and installed on the surviving stands. Modern metal grilles were replaced with ones modeled after the 18th-century grille preserved in the window opening of the southern façade. Based on archival photographs from 1882 and 1931, the completion of the bell tower and the crosses were recreated.
In 2016, the temple became a laureate of the Moscow Government competition "Moscow Restoration" in the category "For the best organization of repair and restoration work."
During a tour from Prague to the UNESCO World Heritage city of Kutná Hora, tourists traditionally visit the city's main attraction - the Church of St. Barbara (it is often called the cathedral, but the correct name is the church), or in Czech - St. Barbora.
My story about Kutna Hora part 1
My story about Kutna Hora part 2
Without exaggeration, this is a unique structure that cannot be confused with any other. It is unlike any other temple either in its appearance or in its interior decoration. A tragic and instructive legend about three miners and Saint Barbara is associated with its construction. Saint Barbara is considered the patroness of miners, miners, and miners. According to legend, at the last moment of his life, anyone can turn to her with a request, and she will certainly fulfill it.
One day, during a mine collapse, three miners, feeling their death approaching, turned to Saint Barbara. One asked to see the sunshine at least once again, another asked to see his relatives at least once more before he died, and the third asked to be given time to do something good and useful for people. Saint Barbara heard them, a miracle happened, the blockage was cleared and the miners were lifted out of the mine. The first died as soon as he saw the light, the second lived another whole day and was able to see his wife, children and all his relatives before his death, and the third decided to raise money to build the most beautiful temple the world had ever seen and dedicate it to his savior. He managed to raise a lot of money, and construction began. Saint Barbara liked the temple under construction so much that she gave the miner many more years of life.
Today no one will say what is truth here and what is fiction; it is only known that the construction of the temple was, in fact, carried out with donations from wealthy townspeople. One can name more earthly reasons for the construction of such a grandiose temple. The fact is that since the 13th century Kutná Hora has been the richest city not only in the Czech Republic, but also in Europe. After silver mines were opened here, the city received royal privileges, and the townspeople sought to gain as much independence and privileges as possible, including church privileges.
For some time, Kutna Hora was dependent on the nearby Sedlec Monastery, one of whose monks, according to legend, discovered a silver deposit. In order to gain independence from the monastery, it was decided to build its own temple, which required permission from the Pope. The wealth of the city became a compelling argument, permission was obtained and construction began in 1388, stretching over five long centuries.
It is worth noting that the Kutnogorsk people were very rich and ambitious people, and therefore they sought to show that their city was capable of not only competing, but also surpassing Prague in beauty and luxury, therefore their temple had to outshine the main temple of the capital and country - the Cathedral of St. Vitus . Today, the Cathedral of St. Barbara is the second temple in the Czech Republic in terms of its historical, cultural and religious significance; it never succeeded in surpassing the Cathedral of St. Vitus, although their history has much in common. Thus, the construction of two churches lasted for many centuries, but unlike the Cathedral of St. Vitus, the Church of St. Barbara remained unfinished. This is clearly visible in the diagram of the temple, as well as in the dissonance between the pediment, which is more consistent with the Baroque style, and its earliest part, which is an example of High Gothic, reminiscent of the cathedrals of France.
From the side you can see that the temple seems to be cut off in the middle and there must be a continuation. Indeed, it is believed that according to the architect’s idea (who, by the way, was Jan Parler, the son of the famous Peter Parler who designed the Cathedral of St. Vitus), the temple should have been twice as long. Where the pediment is now located there was a temporary wall, and only after the Jesuits came to the city in the century, a permanent wall with a Baroque pediment was erected here, and Parler's project remained unrealized. The reason was trivial - the city simply did not have the funds to continue such a grandiose construction: the mines dried up, and with it the period of prosperity of Kutná Hora ended.
As I already wrote, the construction of the temple lasted for several centuries, which was associated with dramatic periods in the history of the Czech Republic. Thus, during the Hussite wars, the city itself suffered greatly, and its residents had no time to spend on such large-scale construction; in addition, numerous bodies of killed Hussites were dumped into mines, because silver production was temporarily reduced. As a result, these mines, even despite their reserves, could no longer be used; new ones had to be developed, and this took time. All this time the temple stood unfinished.
A new stage in the construction of the temple is associated with the names of also very famous architects, such as Mateás Rejsek, who built the famous Powder Tower (Pražna Brana) in Prague, as well as Benedict Wright, who also became famous for his work in the capital - according to his design, the Vladislav Hall was built, which is one one of the largest medieval halls in Europe. Wright owns the lace vault. Both architects are believed to have been able to express their creativity to the fullest here, as they were not limited by the strict requirements that are common when the client is a church. But in this case, the customers were townspeople who expected one thing from the architects - a luxurious and unique temple.
The interior of the temple is striking not only in its size, but also in some details that are not found in any other Catholic cathedral or church. Firstly, these are frescoes preserved from the Middle Ages (some from the pre-Hussite era), dedicated not to scenes from holy scripture, as is customary in other temples, but to scenes dedicated to the work of miners, minters, the history of the creation of the temple, and the life of the city. Everything here should remind us of who and what Kutna Hora owed its wealth to, as well as whose funds were used to build it.
The figurine of a miner in white robes should also remind you of this. Many people at first mistakenly believe that this is a monk in white robes, but such white capes were worn by miners before going down into the mine, so that they could be seen in the dark in case of blockages. And on the ceiling of the temple are depicted the coats of arms of those rich Kutnogorsk families who donated their money for the construction. I repeat once again that you will not see anything like this in other temples.
The stained glass windows of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, created by Frantisek Urban, a famous Czech artist, are also striking in their beauty, brightness of colors, and unusual subjects. The rich central altar, the luxurious side altars of the late 17th and early 18th centuries in the Baroque style in the chapels, the amazingly filigree pulpit - all this still takes your breath away today.
There is much in the temple that testifies to the former wealth of the city. For example, not many cities could afford to have their own executioner, since it was very expensive to maintain people of such a specific profession. And only a few cities could afford such a “luxury” as several executioners. In times of prosperity, there were several of them in Kutna Hora, and even separate places were allocated for them and their families in the temple.
On the side there are separate rows intended for the most noble townspeople and even for the king and his retinue. It is also worth noting the elaborately carved solid wood benches in the center of the temple. According to legend, these benches, on which parishioners could sit during services, were first ordered for the Cathedral of St. Vita. But the Kutnogorsk residents, wanting to “outdo the noses” of the Prague residents, intercepted the order, paying double the price for the benches.
It is necessary to say about one more part of the temple (in the Baroque style), called Jesuit. It is dedicated to Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order, designed to fight the Reformation, and one of the frescoes depicts the scene of his injury, after which he became a monk.
A whole row of confession booths looks extremely unusual. This is also an exceptional feature of the Church of St. Barbara, because usually in churches there is only one, or at most two, similar booths. But, as they explained to us, due to the fact that next to the temple there was a Jesuit college, many of whose students were distinguished by their youth and daring, often behaving in an inappropriate manner, the number of those wishing to confess and be cleansed of their own sins was always large.
Inspecting the temple can take a very long time. There are even special stands for architecture students, where plans for the construction of Gothic churches are depicted in detail. There is also a museum exhibition dedicated to the history of the city and the history of the construction of the temple. Another attraction of the temple is the Baroque organ, which was created in the 18th century in the workshop of Jan Tuček. Its sound turns the temple into a completely unearthly place.
The temple is located on Barborskaya Street (object no. 9 on the map below), and its three towers can be seen from almost anywhere in the city. Kutna Hora is a small town, so you can walk to the church, admiring the ancient medieval houses, or take public transport from the bus or railway station. Entrance to the temple is paid, a ticket costs 60 crowns, there are benefits for schoolchildren and students. The church is open daily from 9.00 to 18.00 in the summer (from April to October) and from 10.00 to 16.00 in the winter (from November to March).
Varvarskaya street with the wooden church of St. Barbara was mentioned in the century. The dedication of the temple gave the modern name to the entire street, which was previously called in a similar way - Varskaya Street (from the word “Varya”, meaning the service of the townspeople). According to other sources, until the 16th century Varvarka was called All Saints Street, after the Church of All Saints on Kulishki.
Architecture
The main volume of the temple is cruciform in plan, with porticoes, the pediments of which rest on Corinthian columns. The inside of the church is very bright - due to two tiers of windows and an under-dome drum with light windows. This is an excellent representative of mature Moscow classicism - restrained external decor with clear lines throughout the main volume, a wide round dome with a small dome. The bell tower of the temple is not very high, ending in a small hemisphere with a cross; the upper tier of the bell has wide arched openings framed by pilasters with Corinthian capitals and pediments. The second tier was broken after 1917 and restored in 1967 during the restoration.
The beauty of this temple lies in the subtlety of proportional relationships and the elegance of the order and decorative decoration. In the preserved part of the interior, a great impression is made by the dome, in which gray-blue painting creates the illusion of a perspective reduction and visually increases the volume. The walls are decorated with artificial marble in warm pink and yellow tones. The wall images were made in oil painting in the 19th century. In the altar part, the original marble carvings of excellent artistic quality have been preserved.
Literature
- Elena Lebedeva. "Church of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara"
Used materials
- Nikita Brusilovsky. "Church of the Great Martyr Barbara on Varvarka"
- "Church of Barbara the Great Martyr on Varvarka", page of the website "Temples of Russia"
The Church of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara is located in the very center of Moscow in Kitai-Gorod on Varvarka Street. The street's former name was returned to it several years ago. Since ancient times, Kitai-Gorod has been the center of trade, industry and legal proceedings. The kresttsy (crossing streets) Nikolsky, Ilyinsky and Varvarsky were known here. Each of them had its own special significance in urban economic life, but with the development of the city and the change of streets, only one retained its meaning and name. This is the Varvarsky Sacrum, which, like Varvarskaya Street, was named after the ancient church in the name of the Great Martyr Varvara. “On the Varvarsky Sacrum, on Varvara Mountain, on Varskaya, then Varvarskaya Street - the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Varvara, stone...” One of the ancient names of the street is Vsesvyatskaya - named after the Church of All Saints on Kulishki, built according to legend by Dmitry Donskoy in 1380, in memory of the soldiers who died on the Kulikovo field. Sometimes the street was called Varskaya, Varvarsky Bridge, Bolshaya Mostovaya Street. In ancient times, healers and healers sold medicinal herbs and roots here, people came here to “speak” toothache... Believers went to Varvarka to venerate the image of the holy Great Martyr Barbara. The only daughter of a rich and noble resident of the Phoenician city of Iliopolis, Dioscorus, Barbara was known for her beauty and pious life. Refusing lucrative marriage offers, rejecting worldly vanity, she heeded the voice of her soul and accepted holy Baptism. Dioscorus, “Hellene by birth and evil faith,” was angry at his daughter’s act, but also struck by her firm faith in Christ. The most cruel tortures did not shake the Christian’s steadfastness. Barely alive, she was thrown into prison. At night, during prayer, a great light illuminated her, Christ himself appeared to her, healed her from terrible wounds and said: “Be bold, My bride, and do not be afraid, for I am with you.” In the morning, Varvara was again subjected to torture and humiliation, and then she was condemned to death. Barbara was executed with a sword by her own father... In the 6th century, the relics of St. The barbarians were transported to Constantinople. In the 12th century, the daughter of the Byzantine emperor Alexei Komnenos, Princess Varvara, married the Russian prince Mikhail Izyaslavich, and transported them to Kyiv. They still rest in the Kiev Vladimir Cathedral. Particles of the relics of the Great Martyr Barbara (three parts from fingers) were kept in Moscow, in the church on Varvarka, and the miraculous image of the Great Martyr Barbara became famous for its miraculous power and miracles in 1555. This temple was especially revered by Muscovites and visiting people, and was considered one of the best in Kitai-gorod both in its architecture and in the reverent attitude of believers towards it. It was built under Prince Vasily Ioannovich III in 1514 by the Italian architect Aleviz Fryazin at the expense of well-known wealthy visiting guests at that time: Vasily Beaver with his brothers Theodore Veprem and Yushka Urvikhvost. Here is how the chronicle reports about this: “Yes, that same summer, the Holy Great Martyr Vasily Bobr built a brick church for Barbara with his brethren, with the Boar and with Yushko. And all those churches were mastered by Aleviz Fryazin...” In 1731, the church was “renovated” at the direction of Empress Anna Ioannovna. Richly decorated and conveniently located, it has become one of the most revered in Moscow. During these years, the following priests served in the temple and regularly contributed “tribute to the treasury” to the treasury: Kirill, Luka, Ivan, Tikhon and others. On holidays and on the days of the temple holiday, festive prayer services were served with the blessing of water. The water was then delivered to the patriarchal chambers. Here is a laconic entry from the book of the State Patriarchal Order: “145 and 151 December 9, the Church of St. Martyr Varvara, in China near Gostiny Dvor, to priest Tikhon for a prayer service on 3 alt. 2 days, came to St. To the Patriarch with holy water on the 4th day of December...” The fire of 1737 caused significant damage to the church. Priest Stepan Kuzmin and the parishioners of the temple in a petition submitted to the Synodal Treasury Order wrote: “On May 29 of this day, 1737, the said Barbarian Church and in it the holy icons, iconostasis and all church utensils burned without a trace by the will of God, and without the decree of this church We do not dare to build, and so that by decree it is commanded to build the designated church and give a decree about its consecration and issue an antimension.” The request was granted and two decrees served the purpose of restoring the temple: “Priest of the Barbarian Church Stepan Kuzmin with the parishioners in this church to rebuild what was burned and arrange it, remove it with sacred icons.” “Protopope Nikifor Ivanovich of the Assumption Cathedral to consecrate this church according to the newly corrected breviary.” At the end of the 18th century, the ancient church was dismantled, and in its place, in 1796 - 1804, a new building was erected according to the design of the architect Rodion Kozakov. The customers of the new church in the name of the Great Martyr Barbara were artillery major Ivan Baryshnikov and Moscow merchant N.A. Samghin. The new building was decorated on the north and south sides with six-column porticoes of the order. The interior of the temple was updated: the iconostasis was gilded, the icons were dressed in vestments. During the Patriotic War of 1812, the richest sacristy of the church was looted, frames and vestments were removed from the icons. But the temple itself, despite the fact that it was in the very center of military events, survived; The iconostasis was preserved; some icons continued to serve in the church even after the consecration. During this period, Archpriest and Dean Ivan Kandorsky served in the church; Alexander Rozanov, as well as sexton Ivan Fedorov, were appointed “to the deacon’s vacancy.” The bell tower was dismantled back in 1757, at the request of the architect Yakovlev, because... gave a significant list and was close to falling. In the 19th century, the bell tower was built again. Currently, services are held in the Church of the Great Martyr Barbara, the schedule of which can be seen.
Marked on the map:
- VMC Temple Barbarians
- Cathedral of the Icon of the Mother of God "The Sign" of the B. Znamensky Monastery
- Church of the Great Martyr St. George the Victorious (Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary) on Pskov Hill
- Temple of St. St. Maxim the Blessed on Varvarka
- Temple of the Conception of Righteous Anna, “what’s in the corner”
