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Ilyinsky parish. Church of the Prophet Elijah (Exaltation of the Holy Cross) in Cherkizovo

Ilyinsky parish. Church of the Prophet Elijah (Exaltation of the Holy Cross) in Cherkizovo

24.01.2022

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

Foundation of the temple

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

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

Wooden church. stone temple

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

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

Cherkizovsky Metropolitan and Patriarchal Dacha

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ilyinsky temples of Moscow

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

Services are held here:

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

The church has a Sunday school.

A few words about the Cherkizovsky cemetery

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

Church of Elijah the Prophet (Exaltation of the Holy Cross) in Cherkizovo - Orthodox Church of the Preobrazhensky deanery of the Moscow diocese.

The temple is located in the Preobrazhenskoye district, the Eastern administrative district of the city of Moscow. The main altar was consecrated in honor of the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross; aisles in honor of the prophet Elijah, in honor of St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia, miracle worker.

The history of the Elias Church is inextricably linked with the history of the village of Cherkizovo, where it was built in the 14th century. The village got its name from its owner, Tsarevich Serkizi, who after baptism became Ivan Serkizov. Ivan Serkizov owned the village for a short time and then sold it to Ilya Ozakov, the same as he came from the Golden Horde. Ilya Ozakov was a baptized Tatar and a very pious person. It was he who built a church in Cherkizovo in honor of his heavenly patron - Elijah the Prophet.

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

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

In 1689-1690, on the site of a burnt wooden church, a stone church was built. The temple was consecrated on June 18, 1690, it already had a chapel of St. Alexis, a refectory and a belfry. In the 19th century, the Elias Church was rebuilt twice. After the first reconstruction in 1821-1825, the temple became five-domed for some time. A more serious reconstruction was carried out at the end of the 19th century at the initiative of the rector of the church, Father Pavel, and the church warden, merchant Alexander Zelenyaev, who wrote in an appeal to the diocesan authorities: “The Church of the Holy Prophet of God Elijah in the village of Cherkizovo does not correspond to a fairly significant number of parishioners...” . The plan for the reconstruction of the church and the construction of a new bell tower designed by the architect Egorov was approved in 1888. After the work was completed in the late 1890s, the temple was re-consecrated.

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

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

Pilgrimage trips to the Temple of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo in Moscow

Cherkizovo is one of the villages near Moscow that became part of Moscow in the 20th century. The first mention of the village of Cherkizovo dates back to the 14th century, when the boyar Andrey Serkizov, the son of the Tatar prince Serkiz-bey, the Kolomna governor, took possession of it. During the Tatar-Mongol yoke, many Tatars transferred to the service of the Russian princes, among them were high-ranking princes who did not have relations with the khans of the Golden Horde. It is interesting to note that the voivode Andrei Serkizov himself died in 1380 on the Kulikovo field. Even during his lifetime, the village of Cherkizovo passed into the possession of Ilya Ozakov, who was also a Tatar, a native of the Golden Horde, who converted to Orthodoxy. Ilya Ozakov sold his villages and villages near Moscow to Metropolitan Alexy of Moscow. Since that time, Cherkizovo has become one of the estates of the Moscow Chudov Monastery. The first temple in Cherkizovo appeared under Ilya Ozakov. Initially, the church in the name of St. Elijah the Prophet was wooden. It was staged by Ilya Ozakov in honor of his heavenly patron, Elijah the Prophet. The village of Cherkizovo was bought by Metropolitan Alexy with his cell money, so it was backed by a bill of sale. The memory of the people for a long time preserved the memory of the deeds of Metropolitan Alexy for the benefit of Moscow and Rus'. Metropolitan Alexy was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as a saint. Therefore, probably, in the census books of the 17th century, the village of Cherkizovo is referred to as "the miracle worker Alexy's estate."
In the 16th century, Tsar Ivan the Terrible liked to come hunting in Cherkizovo.
In its current form, the Church of St. Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo was built in 1690. At the same time, a stone chapel was added to it in the name of St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow. Later, another chapel was built near the church - in the name of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord and a high bell tower with a tent completion was built. The construction of the stone Cherkizovsky church dates back to the reign of Patriarch Adrian, the last patriarch of the pre-Peter era. In all likelihood, the construction of the Ilyinsky temple falls on the years 1689-1690. So, according to the famous Russian writer of the 17th-18th centuries, Karion Istomin, on June 18, 1690, the newly built church of the Holy Prophet Elijah in Cherkizovo was consecrated by the abbot of the Chudovskaya monastery, Archimandrite Joasaph and cellar Herman Lutokhin, in a conciliar manner and "decorated with all sorts of prettiness." Next to the church was the parish cemetery, where a wooden chapel stood. According to the inventory of 1701, the church in Cherkizovo looked like this: “... a stone one in the name of the Prophet Elijah, and in the aisle of Metropolitan Alexei with a meal… there are two windows in the altar, and one glass window in the church… and there are three windows in the meal the windows are glass, the stove is muramed, and on the refectory wall there is a stone bell tower, and on it there are five bells.
The Church of Elijah the Prophet was repeatedly rebuilt. In 1821, it was renovated with the participation of the famous architect M.F. Kazakov. Four side domes were added to the central dome of the church, and the church bell tower was also rebuilt. The temple was repeatedly repaired in the second half of the 19th century.
In Soviet times, the temple continued to be active. But in connection with the ban on bell ringing, in the 1930s, all the bells were removed from the church. The temple was repeatedly going to be closed and demolished. One of the dangers hung over the temple during the construction of a subway line near it. But the temple survived, services continued in it. It is very good that this wonderful monument of Russian architecture has survived to our time!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Wonderworker Alexy's patrimony"

Icon "Healing by Metropolitan Alexy Khansha Taidula"

Initially erected on a high hill by Ilya Ozakov in the name of his heavenly patron, the prophet Elijah, the church was wooden. Like the current white-stone building built much later, it could be seen far around. And on holidays, and on weekdays, the people of God flocked here along the paths trodden from all sides of the hill. Not only from nearby villages near Moscow, but also from Moscow itself, Orthodox Christians went to Cherkizovo on a pilgrimage. This ancient temple gathered especially much on Ilyin's day, on its patronal feast, so that the guests could not breathe.

Saint Alexis Metropolitan of Moscow, who ruled from 1354 to 1378, bought this village from Ilya Ozakov with his cell money. Later, this purchase was secured by a charter granted by Prince Vasily the Dark (1425–1462). It is no coincidence that in the census books of the 17th century the village of Cherkizovo is called "the miracle worker Alexy's patrimony." “From that time, of course, more than one church replaced another, until finally, in 1690, a stone one with a chapel was built in the name of St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow. Recently, a chapel was built in the name of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross of the Lord and a new bell tower was built, ”says P.V. Sinitsyn. According to the same information, Cherkizovo is first encountered in the spiritual charter of St. Alexis, found by Metropolitan Platon in the Miracle Monastery in 1779, where it is said that "the village was bought with my silver."

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

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

In later times, according to the same researcher P.V. Sinitsyn, the village of Cherkizovo was especially loved by the Metropolitans of Moscow Timofey (Shcherbatsky) and Platon (Levshin).

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

At the same time, the architects made comments on the drawings for a new alteration of the church. So, according to their calculations, it is impossible to allow the reconstruction of the southern wall of the temple, where it was supposed to make a large span with Doric columns, similar to the span of the north side, removing the door and window, because as a result of this the final destruction of the ancient monument could occur. According to them, there should not be a “breaking and restructuring” of later extensions - the northern aisle and the refectory of the 17th century. These structures must be restored to their original form.

Later, both in 1888 and in 1894, the temple was again corrected, repaired, changed, as evidenced by the correspondence that has survived to this day, preserved in the Central State Historical Archive of Moscow.

At the beginning of the new millennium, the temple was surrounded by a forged fence on brick pillars with two gates, which was here at the end of the 19th century.