The famous Moscow diocesan house is located in Likhovy Lane. It is important as a historical and architectural monument, within the walls of which many important events took place 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 Education. This organization was founded to study the history of the church and to carry out archaeological excavations. The Moscow diocesan house was supposed to become the center of the scientific and educational activities of society.
Money for the construction was collected through donations. In total, 355 thousand rubles were spent. The idea was blessed by Moscow Metropolitan Vladimir Epiphany. The church really wanted a new type of mission center to appear in the country's second largest city. The date of the first consecration of the Moscow Diocesan House is November 5, 1902. The ceremony was conducted by Archpriest Ivan Mansvetov. The house was consecrated in the name of Grand Duke Vladimir Svyatoslavovich - the baptist of Russia.
Opening
At a sermon during the coverage, 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 education, which became a repository for thousands of books. The house held lectures and public readings on the theme of Orthodoxy. A mission center was opened here, where everyone could come to join the church. The temple daily became a place of worship. At the festive liturgies, the capital's choir sang.
The opening ceremony and consecration was attended by Moscow Governor General Sergei Alexandrovich, who was an 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 Education.
Local cathedral
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 Cathedral. This event was a landmark for the whole of Orthodoxy. Firstly, local cathedrals have not been held since the 17th century. A huge break was associated with the creation of the Synod, the abolition of patriarchate and the subordination of the church to the state. The initiator of these reforms was Peter I, who wanted to achieve sole power.
However, at the beginning of the 20th century, the situation in Russia was radically different. When the Local Council opened, the monarchy no longer existed. By this time the February Revolution took place , destroying the power of the king. In the new conditions, the Russian Orthodox Church, finally, could again become independent from secular power. In order to formally confirm this fact, the cathedral began its work. The place of its meetings was the Moscow Diocesan House. For the church, in spite of St. Petersburg, it was important to organize such an event precisely in the main see city, which was the center of Orthodoxy for several centuries.
The restoration of the patriarchate
The local cathedral worked for nearly 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 separating the church from the state. Meanwhile, what happened in the cathedral is what the Moscow Diocesan House is famous for.
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. After a two-century break, Tikhon Bellavin was elected the first patriarch.
Then the first repressions of the Bolsheviks began, directed against the church and its hierarchs. February 25, 1918 it became known about the murder of the Kiev Metropolitan Vladimir. It was he who, several years before, became 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 subjected to repression and persecution. Some of them suffered a painful death. 40 people were later counted as saints as new martyrs. On 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, which combined theological and secular education. 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 church property. The pretext for the robberies was statements that the values would be for sale, and the proceeds would go to help the starving Volga.
The Moscow Diocesan House also fell under this rink. The history of its first period of existence ended when in 1922 the building was closed. Over twenty years of work, unique museum collections dedicated to Orthodox antiquities and relics have appeared here. All exhibits and unique books have been requisitioned. The Vladimir Temple was especially damaged, in which, among other things, all the decoration was simply destroyed.
Soviet period
During the years of the USSR, the building in Likhovy Lane changed many owners. At first, the Krupskaya Academy was located there, as well as a cinema. After the requisition of property, the reconstruction of the premises, including the temple, began. Everything was done so that the appearance of the house did not at all remind of his Orthodox past. The golden dome and bell tower were demolished.
For some time the building was used by the Dmitri Mendeleev Chemical-Technological Institute. In 1930, the premises were transferred for the needs of the film industry. The Central Documentary Film Studio opened here. This enterprise has become advanced for the entire Soviet country. In 1931, the studio shot the first domestic sound film called "A ticket to life." During World War II, films were brought into the building from the front for mounting newsreels.
Unclear building
When the communist government was in the past, the Russian Orthodox Church began through the court to seek the state to return its lost property. First of all, of course, it was real estate. In 1992, the Orthodox St. Tikhon Theological Institute was founded in Moscow. Over time, this institution of higher education has become one of the most important in its niche. In the same 1992, the leadership of the institute began to bombard the city hall with proposals for the return of the Moscow diocesan house.
When the building was first built, it was intended for educational purposes. In this, it was very similar to the only founded Orthodox institute. In the 90s, Patriarch Alexy II wrote letters to President Boris Yeltsin asking him to consider returning the famous church house. Then a written refusal was signed, signed by Anatoly Chubais.
The return of the church house
In the 90s, the building still housed a documentary studio. She went broke. Her management decided to admit bankruptcy and sell the building. Under the terms of the deal, 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 were associated with incorrect paperwork and other procedural difficulties. By that time, the building was in disrepair due to a long lack of repair.
Restoration and re-consecration
After the famous house again became the property of the church, the development of a project began to return to its historical appearance. In 2006, the expert commission recognized the building as an object of cultural heritage. After that, restoration work started.
The temple was restored first, a little later - the rest of the building. The second consecration date of the Moscow Diocesan House is December 17, 2014. Domes and a cross were raised to the bell tower of the local church.
The first consecration of the Moscow Diocesan House ended with the fact that an Orthodox educational center appeared in the building. After the restoration of the cultural heritage site in 2015, a new main building of the Orthodox St. Tikhon Humanitarian University was opened here.