On Ostozhenka opposite the MAMM and next to the new house of architects SKiP, where three Zachatyevsky lanes gradually branch out from the crossroads, there is a public garden. It was occupied by the Church of the New Resurrection, it was assigned to the Conception Monastery and stood on the ground of the monastery settlement. Many monasteries had such churches, because in them it was possible to perform the sacraments of baptism, weddings, and funeral services, which were forbidden in monastic churches. The church was demolished in 1935 under the pretext of widening the streets: the north-western corner of its bell tower went into the roadway of Ostozhenka, and the altar "interfered with the passage" along Zachatyevsky Lane. Then the Cathedral of the Conception Monastery was blown up and a school was built in its place. In the 2000s, excavations were carried out on the monastery territory - the largest monastic excavations in Moscow. A new one was built on the site of the cathedral; Ilya Utkin worked on its project for some time. Now the monastery plans to restore the assigned Church of the Resurrection on Ostozhenka.
The question is how to recover. The cathedral was restored in the spirit of the latest trends in modern Russian church building, which persistently gravitates towards pre-Petrine models. Nice cathedral, with a good interior, but it does not in any way resemble the one that was before the explosion in 1935. Perhaps because the blown up monastery cathedral was pseudo-Gothic, built at the beginning of the 19th century. The Resurrection Church is from the 17th century and its main volume is planned to be restored as it was, but with the reconstruction of the decor of the 17th century according to documented fragments. At the beginning of the 19th century, the church received a new, classicist refectory and a bell tower, its facades were also redesigned in the spirit of classicism, making the ensemble integral. In this form, it was dismantled in 1935; but the architect Sergei Chizhov described in detail the elements of the 17th century architecture that were discovered in the process of the destruction of the church.
Since the building is being restored "from scratch" - in fact, it will be a model of the lost temple, like the Moscow Kazan Cathedral on Red Square - the most important question was how long to restore it. The option to build the temple completely in the classicist form, which it retained before the destruction, was not considered. On the contrary, at some point, a project was proposed with a hypothetical hipped-roof bell tower, unknown from the documents, but in principle logical for the temple of the late 17th century and "making its appearance" antiquated. Ultimately, a compromise project was approved, but not devoid of credibility: the temple was slightly moved in order not to violate the red lines; the bell tower and refectory are being restored at the beginning of the 19th century, and the church - at the 17th century. What is important, after the excavations in the basement, a museum will be opened, where the remains of the foundations and, probably, other finds will be exhibited in situ.
In six years, the project has changed three times since 2011. Its author, architect Alexei Kotov, told us the history of the design.
Start
The idea of rebuilding the temple originated in the monastery in the late 1990s. In April 2011, the architectural part of the work was entrusted to me with the blessing of the abbess. The design was preceded by archival work, analysis of documents on the history of the temple and the modern urban planning situation.
The work was carried out intermittently, the project went through more than one solution option, at the same time complex, but resolvable issues related to other aspects of the reconstruction of the church (urban planning, legal, the functioning of the church in this quarter as a social object, landscaping, transport) are being worked out.
2011: exactly on the historical site, but truncated
The initial version of the draft design, which was completed by me in 2011, assumed the restoration of the church in compliance with the historical planting of its plan on a modern site.
Since the historical site of the church after its demolition was reduced by straightening the street. Ostozhenka and an increase in the width of the 1st Zachatyevsky Lane, then the historical contours of the bell tower and part of the northern aisle protruded beyond the existing red line of Ostozhenka. A small part of the altar protrudes beyond the existing red line of 1st Zachatyevsky Lane.
Therefore, the project of 2011 assumed the restoration of the temple in a truncated form, without one of the side-altars and part of the refectory, and with a reduction in the base of the bell tower.
2013 version: completely in the style of the 17th century, with a fundamental change in the historical landing
In 2013, I completed a draft design for the reconstruction of the temple entirely in the forms of architecture of the 17th century. The forms of the refectory and the bell tower in it are a hypothetical reconstruction at the end of the 17th century, made in the dimensions of the historical plan of the church according to the preserved architectural analogues of that time, due to the lack of data on the Resurrection Church.
Theoretically, the existence of the hipped bell tower is very likely, but its images have not survived or have not been found at the moment. The schematic outline of the plan of the old bell tower is known from the drawing of 1799, made before the reconstruction and expansion of the church.
The 2013 version involved changing the planting orientation of the church plan so that it was entirely within the boundaries of the site. But the location of the bell tower was close to the historical one due to its town planning importance.
This option was criticized a lot as being far from the historical accuracy and the actual concept of reconstruction. The preference for forms of ancient Russian architecture over baroque or classicism, in my opinion, is due to the critical attitude of many church customers to Western culture in general.
January 2014: slight shift of the historic landing with a bell tower in the style of the 17th century
In January 2014, after discussions with the Department of Cultural Heritage and the expert community, a compromise option was made. In it, in general terms, we returned to the historic planting of the church, but with a shift in the plan by 3 meters from the red line of Ostozhenka deep into the site, due to the fact that it is impossible to restore the church completely on the historical site. In this version, the refectory with aisles was restored in the historical forms of the 19th century, but the bell tower is still in the style of the 17th century.
At the same time, I performed the option of restoring the temple with a bell tower and a refectory in reliably documented forms of the 19th century.
January 2017: final version
In January 2017, the monastery chose the option of restoring the temple in the forms that authentically existed at the time of its dismantling in 1935, with a bell tower and a refectory in the style of the 19th century. The landing of the temple is shifted a few meters inland from the red line of Ostozhenka; the removal of the temple apses is somewhat reduced. The four-sided church, which had been turned over by the beginning of the 20th century, is still being restored in the forms of architecture of the 17th century.
Justification of the project for the reconstruction of 2017
At the time of dismantling in 1935, the temple was a combination of three main volumes belonging to two different periods: a church with a five-domed four-domed church with a three-part altar dating back to the 1670-1680s. The refectory and bell tower of the church were dismantled and replaced with new ones at the beginning of the 19th century. A new refectory with two symmetrical side-chapels - this typology goes back to the drawings from the "Mixed" album of M. F. Kazakov, she was popular in Moscow at the turn of the 18th – 19th centuries. At the same time, the church quadruple was decorated in the spirit of classicism.
Nothing is known about the bell tower of the 17th century; but the Empire style bell tower is known in detail from photographs of the early 20th century.
As for the quadrangle of the church, its restoration in the original forms of architecture of the 17th century is documented. During the dismantling of the church in 1935, the architect Sergei Chizhov kept a detailed diary of observations, in which he recorded the dismantling of only the ancient part of the temple quadrangle with an altar. Then the decorative elements of the 17th century were discovered: a belt of kokoshniks at the end of the four-sided facades, a profiled cornice under it and window frames. Chizhov also performed schematic measurements of the overall dimensions of the church's quadrangle, made sketches and measurements of its individual structural and architectural elements. On the basis of this material, I reconstructed the quadrangle of the temple in the forms of architecture of the 17th century.
I consider it permissible to restore the temple with these elements originally inherent in its architecture and revealed during dismantling. Whereas the decoration of the facades of the quadrangle in the 19th century does not reveal its original architecture and is a historical layer, in this case accidental and not of significant value.
Archaeological research from the 1990s confirmed the existence of a cemetery at the southern façade of the demolished temple. The cultural layer in this place reaches 3-4 meters. Before the start of construction, archaeological work is planned on the site - it is possible that they will reveal new data for the restoration of the architecture of the church. The foundations of the destroyed church are planned to be preserved in the basement of the restored church and made available for inspection, as is done now in the underground floor of the Cathedral of the Conception Monastery.
No auxiliary buildings are planned on the site of the church; on the contrary, the existing landscaping should be preserved as much as possible. The traditional fence is not planned, the boundaries of the site along Ostozhenka and 2nd Zachatyevsky Lane will be separated by a low parapet with a green fence - in order to open the temple for viewing. The square will be open to the public, and during the daytime it will retain the functions of a public space.
I must say that the perspective from Ostozhenka Street to the Conception of the Conception, with the Church of the Resurrection in the foreground and the monastery cathedral and the Peter's Gate Church in the second, was remarkable in its artistic significance. The bell tower of the church towered over the passage to the Zachatyevsky Monastery and, thanks to the bend of the street, was clearly visible from both sides of Ostozhenka Street, both from its beginning at Prechistenskaya Square and from the Provision Warehouses, which is clearly visible in photographs of the turn of the 19th-20th centuries.
On the scheme of recommendatory regimes for the rehabilitation of the historical architectural and planning environment of the district, the building of the Resurrection Church is called "to be recreated as a valuable architectural and urban planning object" and a key element of the urban planning concept of the named streets and lanes. Its reconstruction will return valuable visual connections to the city: the bell tower will close the perspective of Ostozhenka, even in the current situation it could play an important role.
Architect A. B. Kotov
