Moscow diocesan house: history, significance, date of the first consecration. What is the Moscow Diocesan House famous for?

The famous Moscow diocesan house is located in Lihov Lane. It is important as a historical and architectural monument, in the walls of which there were many important events for the Russian Orthodox Church.

Home construction

The Moscow diocesan house appeared in 1902. It was built with funds from the Society of Lovers of Spiritual Enlightenment. This organization was founded to study the history of the church and conduct archaeological excavations. The Moscow diocesan house was to become the center of scientific and educational activity of the society.

Money for construction was collected through donations. In total, 355 thousand rubles were spent. The idea was blessed by the Moscow Metropolitan Vladimir Bogoyavlensky. In the church, they very much wanted a mission center of a new type to appear in the second largest city in the country. The date of the first consecration of the Moscow diocesan house was November 5, 1902. The ceremony was conducted by Protopriest Ivan Mansvetov. The house was consecrated in the name of the Grand Duke Vladimir Svyatoslavovich - the Baptizer of Russia.

Opening

At the sermon during the illumination, Archpriest Mansvetov briefly explained the significance of the Moscow diocesan house. It was intended not only for spiritual purposes, like other ordinary temples. This building was to become a stronghold of enlightenment, which has become a repository for thousands of books. The house was given lectures and public readings on the theme of Orthodoxy. Here a missionary center was opened, where everyone could come to join the church. The temple became a daily place of worship. A capital choir sang at the festive liturgies.

The opening ceremony and consecration was attended by the Moscow Governor-General Sergey Alexandrovich, who was uncle to Nicholas II. A member of the royal family examined all the premises and was pleased with the work done by the Society of Lovers of Spiritual Enlightenment.

Local Council

The first answer to the question of what the Moscow diocesan house is famous for is the mention that in 1917-1918, Here was the All-Russian Local Council. This event was epoch-making for the whole of Orthodoxy. First, local cathedrals have not been held since the XVII century. A huge break was associated with the creation of the Synod, the abolition of the patriarchate and the subordination of the church to the state. The initiator of these reforms was Peter I, who wanted to achieve individual power.

However, at the beginning of the 20th century, the situation in Russia was radically different. When the Local Council was opened, the monarchy no longer existed. By this time, the February Revolution took place , which destroyed the power of the tsar. Under the new conditions, the Russian Orthodox Church, at last, could again become independent of secular power. In order to formally confirm this fact and began its work the cathedral. The place of his meetings was the Moscow Diocesan House. For the church, in the peak of St. Petersburg, it was important to organize such an event in the capital city, which for several centuries was the center of Orthodoxy.

Restoration of the patriarchate

The local council worked for almost 13 months. In the autumn of 1917, the October Revolution took place, and the Bolsheviks came to power. The new government was one of the first to issue a decree on the separation of church and state. Meanwhile, at the cathedral, something happened that is famous for the Moscow diocesan house.

On November 4, 1917, at a plenary meeting, it was decided to restore the title of patriarch, abolished by Peter I. This event became a symbol of a new stage in the life of the Russian Orthodox Church. Tikhon Bellavin was elected the first patriarch after a two-century break.

At the same time, the first repressions of the Bolsheviks were launched against the church and its hierarchs. On February 25, 1918, it became known that the Kiev Metropolitan Volodymyr had been killed. It was he, a few years earlier, who was one of the initiators of the construction of the Moscow diocesan house. In the future, hundreds more people who took part in the meetings of the Local Council were repressed and persecuted. Some of them took a painful death. 40 people were later ranked as saints as new martyrs. September 20, 1918, the Bolsheviks forcibly interrupted the work of the Local Council in the Moscow diocesan house.

Closing

In 1918, the Orthodox People's Academy opened in the diocesan house. For its time it was a unique higher educational institution, in which the theological and secular education was combined. He managed to work a little. The pressure of the Soviet government on Orthodoxy continued.

Soon an anti-religious campaign began under the slogan of requisitioning the property of the church. The pretext for looting became statements that the values would go for sale, and the proceeds would go to the aid of the starving Volga region.

Under this rink came and the Moscow diocesan house. The history of his first period of existence ended when in 1922 the building was closed. For twenty years of work there have appeared unique museum collections dedicated to Orthodox antiquities and relics. All exhibits and unique books were requisitioned. The Vladimir temple was especially damaged, in which, among other things, all decorations were simply destroyed.

The Soviet period

In the years of the USSR, the building in Lihov Lane changed many owners. First there was the Krupskaya Academy, as well as a cinema. After the requisition of the property, the reconstruction of the premises began, including the temple. Everything was done to prevent the appearance of the house from reminding of his Orthodox past. The golden dome and the bell tower were demolished.

For some time the building was used by the Chemical and Technological Institute named after Dmitry Mendeleyev. In 1930, the premises were transferred for the needs of the film industry. The Central Documentary Film Studio opened here. This enterprise became the foremost for the entire Soviet country. In 1931, the studio shot the first domestic sound film called "Putting into life." During the Great Patriotic War, the building was brought films from the front to mount newsreels.

A building with an obscure owner

When the communist government was in the past, the Russian Orthodox Church began through the court to seek from the state the return of its lost property. First of all, this, of course, was real estate. In 1992, the Orthodox St. Tikhon Theological Institute was founded in Moscow. This higher educational institution eventually became one of the most important in its niche. In the same 1992, the leadership of the institute began to fill the mayor's office with proposals for the return of the Moscow diocesan house.

When the building was only built, it was intended for educational purposes. In this it was very much like an established Orthodox institution. In the 90s Patriarch Alexy II himself wrote letters to President Boris Yeltsin with requests to consider the return of the famous church house. Then a written refusal was signed, signed by Anatoly Chubais.

Return home of the church

In the 90's, the building still had a documentary studio. She was ruined. Its management decided to recognize bankruptcy and sell the building. Under the terms of the transaction, it passed into the hands of a private company that wanted to demolish the house and put in its place a new office complex.

Then the church began to sue the owners. Twenty cases were lost. It was a long and exhausting process. Failures have been associated with improper execution of documents and other procedural difficulties. By that time the building was in an emergency condition, caused by a long lack of repair.

Restoration and re-consecration

After the famous house again became the property of the church, the development of the project on the return of its historical appearance began. In 2006, the expert commission recognized the building as an object of cultural heritage. After that, the restoration work was started.

The first was the restoration of the temple, a little later - the rest of the building. The second date of consecration of the Moscow diocesan house is December 17, 2014. On the bell tower of the local church were raised domes and cross.

The first consecration of the Moscow diocesan house was completed by the fact that an Orthodox enlightenment center appeared in the building. After the restoration of the cultural heritage site in 2015, the new main building of the Orthodox St. Tikhon Humanitarian University opened here.