The cathedral is usually called the main temple of the city. Moreover, as a rule, there should be a pulpit in it - a sublime place from which a bishop (clergyman of the highest, third degree of the priesthood) acts during the service.
Name History
But Moscow is a very large city, and it naturally has more than one cathedral church. Here is the Elokhov Cathedral in Moscow, which has the second name of the Epiphany
Cathedral in Elokhov, is one of the twenty religious buildings of this type. According to legend, on the site of the temple earlier (in the XIV century) there was an alder forest, the stream flowed Olkhovets, and there was a village called Eloh (a word co-root with an alder). The street and Alder Alley are still preserved in this area. These places are famous for the birth here of the holy fool Vasily the Blessed or Vasily the Nagoy, a figure so ambiguous and significant that the coffin with the body of a saint who died in 1552 (even the number is known - August 2) was carried by Ivan the Terrible with the boyars, and the metropolitan himself buried the holy fool Macarius.
Rich story
The Elokhov Cathedral in Moscow, located in the Basmanny district on Spartakovskaya street, owned by the Central Administrative District, has its own glorious history. A.S. Pushkin was baptized in it (1799, on the 8th day of birth). From 1938, the cathedral became the cathedral, and from 1945 to 1991 - the Patriarchal (now, after the transfer of the chair of the Patriarch of All Russia to the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin, the Epiphany Cathedral remains the chair of the Moscow Patriarchate). It was here that in 1943, 1945, 1971 and 1990, the newly elected church leaders (bishops) were erected to the pulpit. The ceremony of intronization occurs during the liturgy. The hierarch is dressed in clothes corresponding to his dignity. In 1925, on the feast of the Presentation, Patriarch Tikhon served in the cathedral as a liturgy. The Elokhov Cathedral in Moscow is famous for the fact that Patriarch Sergius was buried in the northern Nikolsky side chapel, after the funeral in May 1944. The place of his burial is decorated with a tombstone of marble. The author is the famous A. V. Shchusev. Alexy II, 15 PM, is also buried in this cathedral - in the southern Annunciation chapel, in 2008.
Favorite Cathedral of Muscovites
The Elohovsky Cathedral in Moscow is not only famous, it is also loved by Muscovites, it is often called the “Cathedral of my childhood”. This also happens because it never closed. The troubles of the dark years of the persecution of the church bypassed him, so many grandmothers of the capital were brought here by their grandmothers from afar, and the cathedral became native to them.
It should be noted that during the years of the war, the Epiphany Elohovsky Cathedral in Moscow transferred 835.9 thousand rubles for defense, and 535.1 for gifts to soldiers. How much he had to transfer! They wanted to demolish it with the aim of expanding Elokha Square, to make it a rare book house or a cinema. But in times of any misfortune, even in the days of revolutions and wars, the Elokhov Cathedral in Moscow did not close the door. The Baptism of the Lord or the Feast of the Epiphany is the day when the temple in Elohov was consecrated. It is celebrated on January 18 and is patronized for the cathedral.
Causes of occurrence
The history of the temple is traditional - first in 1698, the Yelokhovites built a wooden village church. Under Peter I (1717-1722) it was rebuilt into a stone temple. In 1722-1731, under the guardianship of Tsarevna Praskovya Ioannovna, a chapel was built in honor of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Many legends are associated with the great king, one of them says that he personally donated a stone for the construction of this temple. And in 1790-1792 the church was expanded due to an attached refectory with two aisles (in honor of St. Nicholas the altar of the Annunciation was remade) and the bell tower. Moscow in the following years expanded rapidly, and the church, which was now close to the city center, again became small for the increased number of parishioners.
Founding period in the construction of the cathedral
And already in 1837, on the site of the dismantled Elokhovsky church, a new spacious temple begins to be built according to the project of architect Evgraf Tyurin (1796-1872). This architect is known for completing work with O. I. Beauvais on the suburban residence of Count Yusupov in Arkhangelsk. He took part in the construction of Moscow University on Mokhovaya and the university church in the name of the martyr Tatiana. However, construction work due to lack of funds was carried out for a long time, but services in unfinished walls always managed. By 1845, the cube of the main church building, traditional for Orthodoxy, was crowned with five domes. The cathedral was built in the style of high late classicism and in the Empire style. In order for the work to be completed, the second guild merchant V. I. Shchapov, who became an honorary citizen of Moscow, donated a very large sum of money - a third of the total cost of the work. And only in 1853 the temple was consecrated by Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomensky.
Subsequent Restorations
Construction work continued even further - in 1889 the dome and attic (a decorative wall located above the cornice) were built above the refectory. According to Zykov’s project, only she and the first tier of the bell tower should remain from the cathedral. After reconstruction, the cathedral became one of the most monumental places of worship in Moscow. The next update of the interiors took place in 1912 - the cathedral was re-painted. The gilded iconostasis has survived to this day. A bell was bought from the Bolshoi Theater and replaced by a cracked one.
Modern arrangement
A very serious restoration of the cathedral began in 1969, after the election of the headman Kapchuk N.S., who led the repair and restoration work, which dragged on for 20 years. As a result, a lot has been done: gold leaf has been completely replaced and bronze fences have been put up at the department and the salt. All floors are replaced with marble.
And under the altar and the salts (in Christian churches - the elevation of the floor in front of the iconostasis or altar barrier) the floor is raised. Washed
wall painting, painted new stained-glass windows, restoration workshops were built. Total not to list. The cathedral is beautiful and worthily fits into the renewed center of Moscow. But the opinions on the restoration are very different - from enthusiastic praise to the assessment of "samovarschina". The Elokhov Cathedral in Moscow (the photo fully conveys the extraordinary beauty and proportionality of one of the central religious buildings of the capital) is a national architectural monument.
Cathedral today
To this day, Matthew Stadnyuk, who was elevated to this rank in 1978, serves as protopresbyter in the cathedral. Using the love of ministers and parishioners, he does everything to ensure that the glory of the cathedral does not decrease, so that thousands of people gather for services, so that every guest of the capital seeks to visit the Elokhov Cathedral in Moscow, whose icons make it famous throughout the Christian world. This is, first of all, the legendary revered icon of the Kazan Mother of God.
The relics of the cathedral include the relics and the miraculous image of St. Nicholas. You can bow to the remains of a contemporary and like-minded Sergius of Radonezh - Alexei, Metropolitan of Moscow, who was one of the mentors of D. Donskoy. “The recovery of the dead” - the revered image of the Mother of God - is stored within the walls of the Elokhov Cathedral. Of the rare lists, we can also name the Mother of God icon "Life-giving spring", to which they turn for help in monetary matters. There is no Muscovite who would not know where this famous temple is located, or could not name its address. The Elokhov Cathedral in Moscow is located on Spartakovskaya Street, at number 15. The Moscow metro station Baumanovskaya is located nearby.