Except for the wooden church, erected on the site of the common grave of the fallen - and also a long time ago “the death of the brave” - this is the fourth structure erected specifically in memory of the glorious battle of the Mamayev hordes and the troops of the Moscow princes. The first was the memorial to Dmitry Donskoy designed by Alexander Bryullov - a black column with a golden dome appeared 470 years later on Red Hill, where, as it was believed, the headquarters of the Mongol Khan was located. The five hundredth anniversary was celebrated by the installation of the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin - this time where the Russian troops were stationed, near the village of Monastyrshchino (architect A. G. Bocharnikov). The Orthodox holiday, in honor of which the temple is named, due to the coincidence of dates for many centuries, has been associated in Russia with the "Massacre of Mamaev".
At the beginning of the 20th century, the turn of the Red Hill came again - the project of another temple, consecrated in the name of Sergius of Radonezh, was commissioned by Alexei Shchusev. In the white-stone composition with green domes, built exactly for the revolution, some saw the image of frozen Russian heroes in unusual "helmets". Having barely survived the war, the temple was rebuilt in the 1970s, and services resumed in 1980. However, when in 1996 an official decree was issued on the creation of the Kulikovo Pole Museum-Reserve, the first exposition was housed in an older church in Monastyrshchino.
This "relay race" could be passed on further - from the Horde headquarters to the Russian one, from the Mother of God with Sergius. In 2000, Sergei Gnedovsky, who headed the Design Scientific Advisory Bureau (PNKB) "Architecture and Cultural Policy", returned the "ball" to the part of the field that was assigned to Monastyrshchino: he designed an exhibition on the occasion of the 620th anniversary in the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh, dedicated to the Battle of Kulikovo as a literary monument. “There were miniatures, legends, chronicles,” the architect recalls. - Made lists of icons related to the battle. The exposition was built like a story about a legend”.
But it was Gnedovsky who was destined to break the chain: the temple became part of the courtyard of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, the exposition was dismantled, and in 2010 the Bureau "Architecture and Cultural Policy" won the competition for the construction of a new building. And this time the site was exactly in the middle "between two fires", on the site of the former stockyard of the destroyed village of Mokhovoye.
They searched for the coveted site for a long time, trying to take into account all the many factors. It is not for nothing that the name of Gnedovsky's organization hints at a non-trivial cultural policy: 20 years ago, when the very phrase “interdisciplinary approach” was absent in the architect's vocabulary in Russia, Sergei involved sociologists, anthropologists, economists and philosophers in the design. He rightly believed that when it comes to cultural objects, they need a deep connection with the context, which, therefore, requires the most careful study.
In this case, it was obvious that the main exhibit should be the field itself, the original scenery of the tragedy - the building simply had no right to dominate over them. Therefore, we chose a space on the shore of the lake with a successful elevation, thanks to which it was possible to “level”, “merge” the museum with the ground, making it in the form of a hill overgrown with feather grass (2 hectares of feather grass were planted on top of inclined roofs on purpose). The only outstanding place is the observation deck, the presence of which turned out to be an indispensable condition: after visiting the exposition, only from here, rising 11 meters above the field, you can restore a complete picture of old events.
However, the "tower" of the observation deck, to which a series of ramps-stairs smoothly leads, does not look high at all due to the stretching and "spreading" of the museum volumes. From afar, the walls of the museum even look like well-preserved ruins of a fort or fortress, thanks in part to the decoration technology borrowed from the restorers. “This technique is characteristic of the architecture of the 14th-15th centuries,” explains Sergei Gnedovsky. "We deliberately took bad bricks and coated them with lime and quartz sand." Moreover, it was coated the way restorers do - by hand, "with bare palms." And for even greater reliability, bicentennial "ancient stones" were integrated into the masonry - the remains of the Epifan sluices found in the vicinity, described in the story of the same name by Andrey Platonov.
But the most talented drama is played out in the horizontal dimension: two buildings of the museum, two thick white masses are about to rush at each other - just like warriors who have met in battle, hostile to each other. One, which is lower and more "submissive", aggressively sparkles with narrow "eyes" - battle-arms. The second, with a proudly raised "head" of the observation deck, clearly feels under him the support of Orthodox values - according to the planning principle of "eight on a quadruple" in Russia, churches were built for many years.
The most direct road to the museum leads to the "front line" that runs between them, which has cut the hill in two. If you are on it at sunset, the bloody disk of the sun will freeze exactly in the center. The thicker the twilight, the more visible and acute the conflict: along the cobbled path leading to the site of the symbolic architectural "battle", street lights that have been charged during the day begin to glow. Then the darkening shafts of the spears completely close over the head. And when you approach the most "advanced" one, from both "opposing" sides the "points" of rod-shaped searchlights cut through the sky.
With the coming of the day, another story comes to the fore, already told by the walls. Actually, here, between the two buildings, the "scientific" part of the museum exposition begins. The architects found about 50 coins with the coats of arms of the principalities that participated in the Battle of Kulikovo, made copies of them and inserted them into the masonry: a separate mini-exhibition for tourists was created. Stone panels also appeared here, repeating the plots of the decoration of the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl - one of the most beautiful examples of ancient Russian architecture. Finally, an exact cast of the famous Novgorod cross was cut into the wall - at the end of the 14th century, in honor of the victory of the Russian army over Mamai, it was cut out of white stone by order of Archbishop Alexy.
The sun rises - and the picture changes: the walls endlessly go into the field, the spears cease to be so ominous, and between the extinct spotlights you can see the silhouettes of “shields” that work like lightsabers “vice versa”. Let's remind: the main premises of the museum are almost underground. Traditional skylights with extensive glazing were also not considered by the architects (otherwise it would not have been possible to “merge” the museum with the landscape). Therefore, green roof surfaces, along with bladed lamps, are riddled with light guides with a powerful system of sun-catching mirrors and lenses. During the day, they direct streams of light not into the sky, but in the opposite direction - into the museum. Because of this, light columns and circles of different powers appear in the exhibition halls.
They are complemented by the rays of LED nature, emphasizing the architecture of the space: walls, floor, ceiling, stairwells, labyrinths of corridors. The current exposition is 7 times larger than the one that was in the temple in the Monastyrshchina, namely 2000 m2… Another 300 m2 spaces are intended for temporary promotions and exhibitions. All of them are located in a building with an observation deck (another building is given over to administrative premises). Some of the exhibition halls are located on the upper level - those that tell about great battles around the world and illustrate in detail the most famous literary source about the Battle of Kulikovo "The Tale of the Mamayev Massacre."
Another part of the exposition occupies, on the contrary, the lowest floor: it is as if the visitor is allowed to feel like an archaeologist. And get acquainted with the reconstruction of the landscape of the Kulikov field of the XIV century, as well as with the central exhibit of the lower hall - a pyramid showcase with a panorama of the battle, allowing you to restore the entire chronology of events on September 8, 1380.
However, it is better to end the tour of the museum on the already mentioned observation deck - following the traces of the knowledge gained, the field stretching below will appear in a different light. After you play the bloody battle in your imagination in all the details, and the passions wake up, the open spaces that open to your eyes will become exactly what the creators of this museum tried to do. A place where you can come with your family and walk along the numerous paths that are so clearly visible from a height because of the dotted line of benches. A place where you can spend a few days, staying in one of the five guest houses on the territory of the reserve - or visiting the village of Mokhovoye, which has been restored and endowed with full infrastructure. A place saturated with "eternal memory" and all sorts of symbols of wars - but we know: only by feeling them every time, fiber and cage, you can find true peace and tranquility.
