Moscow Church of St. Great Martyr Varvara is located near the Kremlin on the street of the same name in Kitay-Gorod, Varvarka. The temple was built in 1514 by the Italian architect Aleviz Fryazin himself, who built the Kremlin's Archangel Cathedral. The miraculous image of St. Barbara the Great Martyr, who became famous during the time of Ivan the Terrible. In Soviet times, since 1933, the street was named after Stepan Razin - it was on this road that in June 1671 he was taken to his execution to Vasilyevsky Spusk.
Barbara, a holy martyr of the 3rd-4th centuries AD, was the daughter of the noble and wealthy Dioscorus from the Phoenician city of Iliopolis. During the persecution of Christianity, she received holy baptism and was imprisoned by her own father for this. Then Dioscorus gave his daughter to the ruler of the city, Martian. St. Barbara was imprisoned and severely tortured, but the Savior himself appeared to her at night and healed her wounds. Once Varvara was taken out into the street, and from the crowd that had gathered, one Christian woman named Juliana began to denounce the tormentors at the top of her voice. She was captured and beheaded along with Barbara in 306.
Like Paraskeva Friday, St. Varvara was revered in Moscow as the patroness of trade, so her church was erected in the very heart of the Moscow trading quarter. Since ancient times, artisans and merchants settled here, near the Kremlin's eastern wall, and a lively trade was in full swing right next to the Kremlin.
On the main square of the city, then the largest market in the capital was located, and from it this square was initially called the Trade Square. Only in the 19th century, having changed several more names (Troitskaya, Pozharnaya), it began to be officially called Red.
And already in 1534-1538, 20 years after the construction of the first Barbarian Church here, by order of the mother of Ivan the Terrible, Grand Duchess Elena Glinskaya, the entire Moscow trading quarter was surrounded by a stone fortress wall of Kitai-Gorod, also according to the project of the Italian master Petrok Maly, who built the Assumption Belfry in the Kremlin.
It is believed that such an unusual name for the Moscow language - "Kitai-gorod" - came from bundles - poles, called kit, used in the construction of the wall. Another version connects the name "China" with the word "middle", that is, located between the Kremlin and the White City.
There were passage gates in the wall, named after the main streets of Kitay-Gorod, to which they led: Nikolsky, Ilyinsky, Varvarsky - and those, in turn, were named after the churches that stood on them. It was at the Varvarskaya Tower that the famous Moscow uprising broke out during the terrible plague of 1771.
In ancient times, here, in the trading Kitay-gorod, there were houses of noble and rich, and even the highest persons of the Moscow state - it was on Varvarka that the chambers of the Romanov boyars were located. From the middle of the 19th century, Kitay-gorod became only a business part of the city, something like the Moscow City. Buildings of shops and banks have grown here, displacing almost all residential buildings. And during the day in Kitai-Gorod, as in our days, business life was in full swing, and with the advent of evening this corner in the very center of Moscow became deserted and quiet.
But from the very beginning of its appearance, Kitay-gorod became a “city within a city” precisely thanks to trade and its own trade specialization. On the territory between Varvarka and Moskvoretskaya embankment, including the site of the Rossiya hotel, there was the ancient Zaryadye, meaning "behind the shopping arcade", which stood in great numbers in Kitai-Gorod up to Tverskaya Street, including the famous Okhotny Ryad.
Here, in Zaryadye, according to the scientific research of Moscow historian Pyotr Sytin, there was the first known street in Moscow named Velikaya, which appeared in 1468. And here, in ancient Zaryadye, rich merchants lived, or, as they were called in the old days, guests - that is, merchants engaged in foreign or wholesale trade.
It was these guests, rich Surozhans with colorful old Russian nicknames Vasily Bober, Fyodor Vepr and Yushka Urvihvostov (they said that they were brothers) who asked to build a church of St. The barbarians provided funds for it. And on the right side of the street from the Kremlin in 1514, the Italian architect Aleviz Fryazin himself, who built the Kremlin Archangel Cathedral, erected a stone church of St. Barbarians. This posad church under the Kremlin walls was built with the obvious participation and approval of the Moscow authorities, who monitored their posad.
The merchant Yushka, by the way, remained in the memory of Moscow for a long time: it was his name that until the very revolution was borne by one of the Chinatown alleys - Yushkov, now Nikolsky, where the famous church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker "Red Ringing" stands.
Soon the Barbarian Church became one of the most revered in Moscow. Its location in that distant antiquity was indicated as “behind the bargain, against the Pansky yard” - where the Pansky yard stood with the Poles living in it, or according to another, unreliable version, where just rich people lived.
The miraculous image of St. Barbara the Great Martyr, who became famous during the time of Ivan the Terrible. The church became the shadow of all trade in Kitay-Gorod. The older church of St. Paraskeva Pyatnitsa was outside it, which means that the Barbarian Church was built only for the Kremlin settlement, which had its own township church. Later, the Chinese city church of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa was built near Gostiny Dvor, but it was dismantled long before the revolution.
Initially, the Market had long wooden rows, each for a specific product. The names of some of them are still preserved in the names of Kitai-Gorod lanes - Rybny, Vetoshny... And there were silver, and copper, and kvass, and bast shoes, and even icon rows. By the way, icons were never sold in Moscow - it was considered sacrilege - but only "bartered" and did not bargain about the price. If the person who purchased the icon considered the price set too high for an exchange, then the owner told him that this was a “divine” price.
In the first half of the 16th century, the tsar decided to somehow streamline the trade, which was spread almost under his windows, and ordered the construction of a special building in order to transfer the shops under the roof.
In 1547, on the site of the ancient shopping arcade between Ilyinka and Varvarka, the famous Gostiny Dvor was built - a distant ancestor of the modern Gostiny Dvor and GUM, with a name derived from the word "guest". Part of this huge courtyard was the future Upper and Lower Trading Rows, which at the end of the 19th century were united into a single shopping complex (in Soviet times - GUM). Only for the Lower Rows a separate building was built. (In 1626, the Gostiny Dvor burned down and was rebuilt, having received the name of the New Gostiny Dvor, still rebuilt by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich).
And soon, next to the church, the English Court (house No. 4) appeared - one of the oldest civil structures in Moscow, which has survived to this day. Having established trade relations with England in 1552, Ivan the Terrible granted these ancient chambers to English merchants. A hundred years later, by decree of Alexei Mikhailovich, outraged by the execution of the English king Charles I during the English Revolution (“they killed their king Charles to death”), the merchants left Russia, and Peter I opened a “digital” (mathematical school) here.
Near the church in the old days there was also a court order, where an inquiry was carried out. Hence the saying "Go to Barbara for reprisal."
At the end of the 18th century, the Alevizov Church of St. Varvara was dismantled because Metropolitan Platon (Levshin) considered it not beautiful enough and "there was no splendor in such a special place that was not appropriate." In addition, in the 1730s there was a fire in it, although after that it was restored by Empress Anna Ioannovna and re-consecrated.
The major of artillery I. Baryshnikov and the Moscow merchant of the 1st guild N. Samgin also asked for the construction of a new beautiful church - their seriously ill wives were miraculously healed from the relics of St. Barbarians. They also provided funds for its construction.
And then the architect Rodion Kazakov, namesake and student of the famous Moscow master, erected a beautiful building of the Barbarian Church in the style of classicism, which has survived to our time. (Among the works of Rodion Kazakov, who built a lot in Moscow, one can also name the marvelous church of Martin the Confessor in Taganka and the Batashov estate on Yauzskaya Street, where the 23rd city hospital is now located.)
The new church came out so elegant that this temple was imitated in other buildings. So, one landowner built an exact copy of the Barbarian Church in his village Mikhalev.
At the same time, at the turn of the 18th - 19th centuries, the Gostiny Dvor was also rebuilt in its present form. Architect Giacomo Quarenghi, who built Gostiny Dvor on Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg, received an order to build in Moscow exactly the same building, modeled on the capital.
After the fire of 1812, the Gostiny Dvor was restored and rebuilt by the architect O. Bove. Instead of the ancient shopping arcades, lines with trading shops appeared here. At first, according to the Code of 1649, only wholesale trade was carried out in Gostiny Dvor, leaving retail for the malls.
The Moscow Gostiny Dvor under the shadow of St. Barbara became famous in the capital city for the fact that it gave the city the famous expression “leftovers are sweet”, as well as the experience of wholesale sales of goods at reduced prices. It was so. Once a merchant of the Knife Line of Gostiny Dvor was walking along the street at the end of a working day, and a peddler with raisins stopped him: “Buy, sir, the rest, I’ll give it cheaply for the evening.” He did not need raisins, but the peddler did not lag behind and persuaded: “Take it, sir, the leftovers, after all! Cheap and cheerful! He could not stand it and turned to him: “Well, show your remnant!”. However, there were a lot of leftover raisins - 7 pounds (about 3.5 kg). “Well, the remainder, as the remainder should be!” - justified the seller. And the buyer suddenly had an ingenious conjecture about selling cheap leftovers: "Selling the leftovers of such and such goods at the cheapest prices." There was no end to buyers ... Hence the saying went - "leftovers are sweet", apparently with a hint of the taste of that very raisin.
Then this practice was included in the officially established rule - to arrange a similar wholesale sale of leftover goods on the first day of the week after Easter - on Fomin Monday. Soon the commercial opening of Kitay-gorod covered all of Moscow. Even the chic French shops of Kuznetsky Most fell ill with a “residual” fever. One merchant even came up with the idea of selling "literary leftovers", arranging ... a sale of books in his shop at reduced prices. He had a good laugh...
In general, the Kitai-Gorod merchants had a great sense of humor, and many of their jokes remained in the memory of old Moscow. The object of such innocent entertainment was mainly buyers. So, noticing a lover of bargaining in the crowd, a merchant from a cloth shop sent a messenger boy to other sellers with the question: “Will we blush or green?”. Let's say they conspired to "blush." An unsuspecting customer enters the store and asks to see the gray material - the wife on the dress. The merchant with a good-natured smile spreads a roll of red cloth in front of him and praises its deep gray color for a long time. Angry at the salesman who has gone out of his mind, the poor fellow goes to the second store, to the third ... Everywhere the same story is repeated. As a result, the buyer runs away in horror, deciding that he has problems with his eyesight, or even worse - with his head.
In the 1970s and 1980s, there were only bakery, vegetable and tobacco grocery stores in Moscow, and therefore every little thing had to be sent to the "city", that is, to Gostiny Dvor. Boys stood in front of the Gostiny Dvor shops - barkers who invited them to come inside. From everywhere their cries were heard: “Wax, personal lipstick, Lilac perfume - straight from the garden!” or “Similarly we sell, we give a prize as a souvenir!”. Merchants of Gostiny Dvor often sent their boys to Red Square to pick up customers, handing them a sample of goods, for example, a pair of boots. Such boys (and often buyers who came from there) were called "areal".
Here on Varvarka, there were not only trade, but also drinking establishments. On the corner with the current Nikolsky Lane stood, judging by the name, the old drinking house "Vetushnaya hysteria", distorted from the Latin word "austeria" - that was how taverns, hotels and drinking houses were called under Peter. “Vetoshny” came from Vetoshny Row, where they traded second-hand things, which is why one of the alleys of Kitai-Gorod is still called Vetoshny.
In connection with the abundance of such amusements, a funny song appeared: “How Kasyan, the Kamarinsky peasant, is sleeping on Varvarinskaya Street.” Although not only in the taverns, the Chinese-city people went to Varvarka to have fun. This is what the sweetest old Moscow ditty says:
I walked along Varvarka street
With a familiar cook,
Cause Sunday
I turned into a restaurant,
I ordered two pairs of tea
For myself and for the cook.
Ordinary taverns were also called "institutions", where visitors were offered tea in two large teapots - for boiling water and for brewing. One of the most famous Moscow taverns - the famous Tavern Bubnov stood in the same Vetoshny Lane.
And in front of the Varvarskaya tower of Kitay-gorod, there used to be a water intake fountain, where water carriers filled their barrels. This fountain supplied water to all of Moscow, and for a long time it was used as a water supply system.
Church of St. Varvara was closed in Soviet times and partially destroyed - the top of the bell tower was broken and the head with a cross was demolished. Inside, at first they arranged a warehouse, and then the temple building was given over to office buildings. In the 1920s of the 20th century, almost the entire wall of Kitay-Gorod and the entire Zaryadye were demolished, on the site of which the Rossiya Hotel was built.
History spared only the Barbarian Church. It survived as a monument of architecture and as a certain architectural dominant of the street. Subsequently, a branch of the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments was located in it, and local history exhibitions were held.
In 1991 the church of St. Barbarians returned to believers.
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 whole street, which was previously called in a similar way - Varskaya street (from the word "varya", meaning the duty 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 porticos, the pediments of which rest on Corinthian columns. The inside of the church is very bright - due to two tiers of windows and a domed drum with light windows. This is an excellent representative of mature Moscow classicism - a discreet external decor with clear lines of the entire main volume, a wide round dome with a small cupola. The bell tower of the temple is not very high, it ends with a small hemisphere with a cross; the upper tier of the ringing with 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 proportions and the elegance of order and decorative decoration. In the surviving part of the interior, the dome makes a great impression, in which the gray-blue painting creates the illusion of a perspective reduction and visually increases the volume. The walls are finished with artificial marble in warm pink and yellow tones. The wall images were made in the 19th century with oil painting. 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 site "Temples of Russia"
In the center of Moscow, not far from Red Square, there is an old church built in the 16th century. on the site of an earlier stave church; This is a temple in honor of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara. He also gave the name to the street running down to Kulishki, a warm, old Moscow one – Varvarka…
The place is amazing. One after another, domes of churches grow up: here, strict, slightly reminiscent of Pskov's - "Maxim the Blessed", behind it - glazed emerald and gold domes of the Znamensky Cathedral - the old sovereign's court, the "family nest" of the Romanov boyars, - and here is the elegant, like Easter egg, "Egoriy, that on the Pskov Hill" - a temple in honor of the heavenly patron of Moscow. Different in style and time of construction, they reflect the spirit of Moscow with its diversity and eclecticism, splendor and artistic optionality.
Zaryadye is a cozy "island" of antiquity in the tourist center of the capital. It seems to fall out of the urban space, you want to come here in the evening, when candle moths flare up in the windows, or in the early morning, when there is still no movement, and a thin blasphemy flies through the washed streets. and St. George in shining armor - two martyrs, two great confessors - in the Church of Heaven Triumphant they pray for youth and for the army, and here on earth they seem to raise the cross of testimony high from different ends of the Moscow street.
"Sacred was and Saint Barbara"
According to legend, the first Varvara temple on the site of the modern one was built by Surozh merchants - natives of Surozh (Sudak) in the Chronicle Codes preserved the nicknames of donors and benefactors: Vasily Bobr, Vepr and Yushka-Urvihvost. The architect was Aleviz Fryazin. In the records of the events of 1514, there is evidence of the consecration of this temple: “Saint was Saint Barbara against the noble court by Metropolitan Varlaam.”
Why did the Crimean merchants choose her, the Holy Great Martyr Barbara, as their patroness?
Since ancient times, in the Church, this saint has patronized people who are in danger. Having suffered a lot during her life for confessing the Christian faith, having reached a high level of holiness, she has the audacity to intercede before God for the deliverance of people from sudden death.
Surozhans, who were far from their native places and were at risk on the roads, were afraid to die without repentance and without church parting words, and therefore most often turned to this saint, asking her for prayerful intercession for themselves and for their loved ones. That is why the temple became a place of special reverence for travelers and all those living far from home. The crossroads area where this church was erected was called the Barbarian sacrum.
Here, "to Varvara", the relatives of those unfortunate people who were in custody in the nearby Tsar's court order came to pray. Having survived the hardships of imprisonment, the saint graciously responded to the prayers of people who asked her for release or relief
Church of the 16th century represented in terms of a square with semicircles protruding from four sides. The pillar-like building ended with a dome, characteristic of Italian architecture. The main shrine of the temple was the icon of the Holy Virgin Martyr with embedded particles of fingers.
In n. 30s 18th century the first Alevizov building was seriously damaged due to a strong fire, after which the temple was restored and re-consecrated under the care of Empress Anna Ioannovna. And already in the XVIII - early. In the 19th century, with the blessing of Metropolitan Platon, the church was rebuilt in the classical style according to the design of Rodion Kozakov. This time, artillery major I. Baryshnikov and a Moscow merchant of the 1st guild N. Samgin assisted in the construction of the temple. Their wives received healing from the relics of the Holy Great Martyr. The church was consecrated in 1804. True, only the foundation in the basement of the current church remained from the original structure. Modern trends have also appeared in interior decoration. The walls were covered with oil painting, but the fate of ancient icons and the former is unknown ...
Varvarka and Zaryadye with the chambers of the Romanov boyars in the 19th century.
Guiding Star of Faith
Since ancient times, the Great Martyr Barbara has been one of the most beloved saints among the people.
... She was very young, this girl who lived at the turn of the 3rd and 4th centuries in Asia Minor, but her story is so amazing that it was not forgotten even centuries later, she is known in all corners of the Christian world. Unusually beautiful, not in need of anything, brought up in bliss and luxury, Barbara was the daughter of one of the influential rulers - Dioscurus, but, having learned about Christ, she accepted His teaching with all her heart and easily managed to step over all the blessings of the world in order to be worthy of the calling of a Christian.
The most difficult test fell on her lot: for refusing to renounce the gospel teachings and bring the worship of false gods, Barbara was subjected to the most severe tortures, sparing neither age nor girlish tenderness. She had to endure such tortures that not every man could endure. The girl was beaten with ox sinews, her body was burned with fire, sheared with iron claws, her clothes were torn off, dragged around the city ... But, probably, the pain for her father was harder than the physical and moral torments from offended cleanliness. The closest person to her became the main persecutor and torturer of Varvara!
In the instructions of our contemporary, a well-known one, there is one observation that allows a deeper understanding of the history of this saint and that terrible metamorphosis that natural parental affection has undergone: “When there is no abstinence and spiritual love, passions are born from feelings.” After all, the father loved his daughter more than anything in the world, took care of her, took care of her and thought about choosing a worthy groom for her, but the question of faith became an insurmountable “threshold”. Unsanctified by true love, love in Christ, Father Barbara's feelings literally disintegrated under the influence of passions and delusions. Warmth turned into unbridled hatred, parental care - into immoderate lust for power, affection - into violent persecution.
Her feeling, strengthened by faith and love for the Lord, on the contrary, grew rapidly, gained strength and stretched to the heights of the Christian feat - to the readiness to give her life for the One Who was Love incarnate. Under torture, she was no longer afraid of pain, but only a retreat from the Truth, afraid to drop the guiding star of faith, and the Lord gave her strength. The barely matured girl showed as much courage in the earthly battle with evil as the Roman legionnaires, hardened in campaigns, who converted to Christianity and preferred death to participation in pagan cults.
The Holy Great Martyr Barbara has traditionally been one of the most beloved and revered saints. If in the traditional society of Christians it was primarily the strength of her faith that struck, then in the new world with a predominance of material values, another facet of her image shone - selflessness and the determination with which she stepped over earthly blessings. It is no coincidence that he chose this as the main topic for a sermon dedicated to this great saint, a well-known spiritual mentor of our time -. Here is what he writes:
“We highly appreciate what the holy martyrs, reverends, the righteous considered for nothing.<…>Here we have a holy maiden - the Great Martyr Barbara. She is dressed in precious clothes, on her chest and arms are golden necklaces, her name is glorious and noble. “No,” she says, “it’s all empty, worthless, absolutely priceless.” She takes off her jewelry and throws it on the ground. “My Christ,” she says, “more expensive, infinitely more valuable, better. And all this is dust.” And she dies for Christ the Savior.<…>What is our girl doing today? She says: “No, what Varvara threw is really a value. This is truly wealth and treasure. This is what I live for.” “What a fool,” she says of the holy maiden, “why did she exchange jewelry for Christ?” And she rushes, unhappy, and greedily grabs what Varvara has thrown. Puts it all on herself and considers herself truly happy<…>But Christ remains ridiculed.”
Archimandrite Tikhon had to live in a difficult time for our Church - and subsequent pressure. That is why the story of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara was of particular importance for him both as an example of adamantic testimony in the face of obvious trials, and as an example of spiritual composure when there is no obvious danger, however, a person faces a choice: whether to follow Christ, the narrow, thorny path, or submit to the terms of the world?
rebirth
A "martyr's" fate awaited the Varvara Church in Zaryadye. In 1917, he was destroyed not by the elements of nature, but by the elements of unbelief. The cross crowning its head was removed, the upper part of the bell tower was damaged, the iconostasis was dismantled and taken out.
Other temples of Varvarka did not escape that fate. The most valuable ancient historical and spiritual complex was used quite utilitarianly. Only in s. In the 1960s, in connection with the construction of the Rossiya Hotel, the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments began restoration work in Zaryadye. In 1965-67. restorers under the leadership of G.A. Makarov, the church in honor of the Great Martyr Barbara was returned to its former appearance. But more than 20 years passed before the sounds of church chants resounded under its vaults.
The patriarchal courtyard of churches in Zaryadye is being restored today. Considerable efforts and funds are needed, but, fortunately, people still come here, although this area is considered “not profitable” - there are almost no residential buildings in the area, and parishioners travel from afar, from all over the city. The amazing icon of the Mother of God in the St. George Church has already gained fame - a warm, wonderful image, riddled around the halo with bullet holes. Akathists are read in front of him, and, as a rule, even during the day, there are those who pray. Someone inexplicably attracts the temple in honor of the patron saint of the city - one of the oldest in Moscow. And on the day of the Great Martyr Barbara, both those who bear the name of this great Christian saint and those who know the history of this wonderful “island” of Russian antiquity in the very center of the capital under the auspices of a young maiden and a courageous warrior, who received equal retribution from God, come to her church for witnessing the Truth.
2. Palamarchuk P.G. Forty forties: a brief illustrated history of all Moscow churches: in 4 volumes. Moscow: AST Publishing House, 2003-2005.
3. Russian Orthodox Church. Temples. Moscow. Encyclopedic reference book. (Compiled and authored by A.V. Nikolsky) M.: Izd-vo Mosk. Patriarchy: Publishing house "Russian writer", 2003.
4. Podyapolskaya E.N. Monuments of architecture of the Moscow region: An illustrated scientific catalog. Issue. 1-3. Moscow: Stroyizdat, 1999-2001.
6. Elder Joseph of Vatopedi. Athos conversations. Answers of the Elder of Athos to the questions of the pilgrims. Translation from Modern Greek. With the blessing of His Grace Nikon, Bishop of Lipetsk and Yelets. - St. Petersburg, 2004.
7. Archimandrite Tikhon Agrikov. "The Trinity is winged." Memories. M., Publishing House of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, 2002
8. Varvara Iliopolskaya. (Material from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia).
10. Charge. (Material from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia).
In total, 517 years of construction, this is a record long-term construction in the Czech Republic. Do not think that from the beginning of construction the temple stood empty. They prayed in it, services were held, even in the unfinished one.
Who is Saint Barbara?
This is the Holy Great Martyr, the patroness of firefighters, climbers and miners. It is not surprising that the main temple in Kutna Hora is named after her.
Saint Barbara has always been deeply revered by local miners. It was to her that the miners prayed during the blockages. There are hundreds of legends about her help when she helped move the heaviest stones, illuminated the passages in the mines, showed the way to the exit from the tunnels.
The support of St. Barbara has always been important for Kutná Hora, no money was spared for the cathedral.
In the Catholic tradition, Saint Barbara protects from unexpected attacks and fires. She is often depicted with a shield or a fortress tower, as seen in the photo next to it, click on the photo to enlarge.
In honor of her, a city in California was named, which is called “Santa Barbara”. The city became the center of events of the famous series, which most readers remember exactly.
Paradoxically, the name after Saint Barbara did not help the city of "Santa Barbara" in 1925, when it was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake. The Cathedral of St. Barbara in Kutna Hora also did not escape several fires.
What to see outside and inside
No other temple has such decorative elements. Chimeras, bats, harpies, frogs, winged rams and other real and fantastic animals can be found on the ceiling and walls. On one of the southern pillars, you can find a monkey with an orange.
To see all the splendor of the decor inside and out, we recommend bringing binoculars with you. This is not a joke, take binoculars, you won't regret it.
Such a varied and interesting decor is associated with the desire of the inhabitants of Kutna Hora, especially its elite, to demonstrate their significance and wealth, to make something unique.
In addition, the city of Kutna Hora sought to relieve itself of the burden of dependence on the Sedlec Monastery. By the way, according to legend, it was the monk from this monastery who discovered the silver deposit. Residents of Kutna Hora had to ask the Pope for permission to build a temple. Of course, they got it, and the wealth of the city was the main argument for that.
The main altar in the cathedral is the latest element. In the center of it you will see the image of the Last Supper. To the right of it at the top is the face of St. Barbara.
An early late Gothic altarpiece was removed by the Jesuits in 1502. It was they who initiated the finishing of some chapels with a combination of gilding and black material.
The walls in the church are decorated with medieval frescoes. The most valuable of them have been preserved in the Smishkova Chapel. Smishek M. was a well-known person in Kutna Hora, he played an important role in the silver industry, the construction of the temple and the life of the city. Above the stained-glass window we will see murals depicting his family.
The stained-glass windows are also interesting. The decor appeared already at the end of the construction of the church. This is a painting on glass, it was made according to the sketches of paintings on historical themes by Frantisek Urban. Jakub Nymburk, a master carver, immortalized his skill in the choir shops.
Pay attention to the department. It was carved by a certain Leopold the stonemason in 1560. After 100 years, the Jesuits added wood cladding and decorations to it. They also came up with the idea of creating an organ cabinet. The organ is placed on the balcony of the main portal.
Do not be surprised at the figure of a man in a white robe. This is a sculpture of a miner in a working raincoat. The cloak was white, so that in the event of a blockage, you could see the worker and save him (or pull out the corpse). On their knees, the miners of silver ore were chiseling the earth with a working tool, holding a burner in their other hand.
The upper gallery exhibits collections of sculptures from past eras. Here you can also see sculptures on the organ: angels with instruments in their hands. They were created in the second half of the 18th century. The internal mechanism of the tool is an amazing creation of human hands. It consists of 3 keyboards, 45 registers, 4 thousand pipes. The organ is the work of master Jan Tucek.
Another reminder of the Jesuit order is present in the temple: one of the frescoes shows the story of the wounding of Ignatius Loyop, the founder of the Jesuit order, who, after being wounded, became a monk.
The cathedral complex includes a chapel, the construction of which on the slope near the cathedral was started by Jan Parlerge. The first floor was erected, and on the second floor, an observation deck was already built in our times. From here you will see all the beauty of Kutná Hora, landscape paintings of the Vrchlice valley and the local river.
The hall for parishioners is interesting in its own way. The wealth of Kutna Hora in the old days is evidenced by separate places for executioners and their families. Keeping people of such a profession in ancient times was an expensive pleasure. There were several executioners in Kutna Hora!
The temple has special rows for noble citizens, for the head of the city and his retinue. There is a legend about a bench made of solid wood, decorated with skillful carvings, located in the center of the temple. The bench was made for the Church of St. Vitus, but the Kutnogorsk people "intercepted" the order, having paid twice as much for the work. The inhabitants of the city did not let up to wipe the nose of the citizens of Prague.
In Catholic churches there is always a booth for confession. There are several of them in the Cathedral of St. Barbara. This fact is explained by the fact that a college was built near the church, and the youth are oh so frivolous, reckless and sinful.
The temple also features special stands depicting the construction scheme of Gothic temples. This information will be of interest to architecture students. You can get acquainted with the history of the city, with the stages of the construction of the temple in the museum.
The Church of St. Barbara is located in the very center of Moscow, a stone's throw from Red Square, next to the Kitai-Gorod metro station. The street on which the church is located was named in honor of the erected temple - Varvarka.
The place for construction was not chosen by chance. The Great Martyr Varvara was considered the patroness of merchants, and Kitai-Gorod has long been considered an important "business center" of Moscow. Craftsmen, artisans and merchants settled here, shopping arcades were located. Practically from the moment of construction to our times, the Church of St. Barbara was considered one of the most revered in Moscow.
Church history
The Church of St. Barbara was built in 1514, during the reign of Prince Vasily Ioannovich. The funds were allocated by the merchants Vasily Bobr, Fedor Vepr and Yushka Urvihvost, and the famous Italian architect Aleviz Fryazin was the author of the architectural project. It was this master who built the Kremlin Archangel Cathedral.
During the time of Ivan the Terrible, the Church of the Great Martyr Barbara became an important place of pilgrimage for Muscovites and people who came from other cities. The miraculous icon of St. Barbara was kept in the Temple.
In 1730, a fire severely damaged the temple, at the direction of Empress Anna Ioannovna, the Church of the Great Martyr Barbara was completely restored. But by the end of the eighteenth century, the authorities felt that the old church did not match the splendor of Kitay-gorod. By this time, the English Court, Gostiny Dvor were rebuilt, well-appointed indoor shopping arcades appeared.
Metropolitan Platon declared the church not beautiful enough, his initiative to build a new Temple was supported by the famous Moscow merchants Baryshnikov and Samghin. They are the ones who funded it. The entrepreneurs' wives were miraculously healed, thanks to the miraculous image, and, in the end, it was decided to demolish the building and build a more modern church on Varvarka.
So a new elegant building in the style of classicism appeared in Moscow. The author of the project was Rodion Kazakov. The building, indeed, turned out to be so beautiful that many Russian architects took the Church of St. Barbara as a standard when building churches.
In the 1920s, almost all the buildings of Kitay-gorod were demolished, the streets were renamed. So, Varvarka became known as Stepan Razin Street. Once upon a time, the leader of the rebels was taken along this street to be executed on Red Square.
The church survived, but the crosses were demolished from the Temple, the bell tower was destroyed, and the premises were first set up as a warehouse, and later given to the needs of the Society for the Protection of Monuments.
The church was returned to believers in 1991.
Now the Temple has been restored, divine services are held in it. The church is part of the Compound complex of the Patriarch of Moscow in Zaryadye.
Not so long ago, archaeologists in the basement discovered elements of white stone vaults erected by Fryazin. This evidence of the history of Moscow will soon be seen by everyone.
Holy Protectress of the Temple
The temple was consecrated in honor of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara. This woman lived at the turn of the third and fourth centuries and was the daughter of the noble Phoenician Dioscorus. These were the times of persecution of the Disciples of Christ, but Barbara sincerely believed and accepted Baptism. Her father found out about this and took her into custody, trying to get her daughter to renounce Vera. But Barbara was adamant. Toga Dioscorus gave his daughter to the city authorities. By order of the ruler Martian, Barbara was severely tortured. However, the Savior Himself appeared to the girl, he healed her wounds and told her not to be afraid of anything.
