Temple of the Prophet Elijah (Exaltation of the Holy Cross) in Cherkizovo.

Cherkizovo is one of the villages near Moscow that became part of Moscow in the 20th century. The first mention of the village of Cherkizov dates back to the 14th century, when the boyar Andrei Serkizov, the son of the Tatar prince Serkiz Bey, the Kolomna governor, took possession of it. During the Tatar-Mongol yoke, many Tatars went into the service of the Russian princes, and among them were high-ranking princes who did not have good relations with the khans of the Golden Horde. It is interesting to note that the governor himself, Andrei Serkizov, died in 1380 on the Kulikovo field. During his lifetime, the village of Cherkizovo came into the possession of Ilya Ozakov, who was also a Tatar, a native of the Golden Horde, who converted to Orthodoxy. Ilya Ozakov sold his villages and villages near Moscow to Metropolitan Alexy of Moscow. From that time on, Cherkizovo became one of the estates of the Moscow Chudov Monastery. The first church in Cherkizovo appeared under Ilya Ozakov. Initially, the church in the name of St. Elijah the Prophet was wooden. It was staged by Ilya Ozakov in honor of his heavenly patron - Elijah the Prophet. The village of Cherkizovo was purchased by Metropolitan Alexy with his cell money, so it was supported by a deed of sale. The people's memory has long preserved the memory of the deeds of Metropolitan Alexy for the benefit of Moscow and Rus'. Metropolitan Alexy was canonized as a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church. Therefore, probably, in the census books of the 17th century, the village of Cherkizovo is mentioned as “the estate of the miracle worker Alexy.”
In the 16th century, Tsar Ivan the Terrible liked to come to Cherkizovo to hunt.
In its current form, the Church of St. Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo was built in 1690. At the same time, a stone chapel was added to it in the name of St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow. Later, another chapel was built near the church - in the name of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and a high bell tower with a hipped roof was built. The construction of the stone Cherkizovsky church dates back to the reign of Patriarch Adrian, the last patriarch of the pre-Petrine era. In all likelihood, the construction of the Elias Church took place in 1689–1690. Thus, according to the testimony of the famous Russian writer of the 17th–18th centuries Karion Istomin, on June 18, 1690, the newly built Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah in Cherkizovo was consecrated by the abbot of the Chudov monastery, Archimandrite Joasaph, and cellarer German Lutokhin, and “decorated with all kinds of ornaments.” Next to the church there was a parish cemetery, where there was a wooden chapel. According to the inventory of 1701, the church in Cherkizovo looked like this: “... a stone one in the name of the Prophet Elijah, and in the chapel of Metropolitan Alexei with a meal... in the altar there are two windows, and in the church there is one glass window... and in the meal there are three windows The windows are glass, the stove is marbled, and on the refectory wall there is a stone bell tower, and on it there are five bells.”
The Church of Elijah the Prophet was rebuilt several times. In 1821 it was renovated with the participation of the famous architect M.F. Kazakov. Four side domes were added to the central dome of the church, and the church bell tower was also rebuilt. The temple was repaired several times in the second half of the 19th century.
During Soviet times, the temple continued to remain operational. But due to the ban on bell ringing, all bells were removed from the temple in the 1930s. The temple was repeatedly planned to be closed and demolished. One of the dangers loomed over the temple during the construction of a metro line near it. But the temple survived and services continued there. It’s very good that this wonderful monument of Russian architecture has survived to this day!

The village got its name from its owner, Tsarevich of the Golden Horde Serkizi, who after baptism became Ivan Serkizov. Ivan Serkizov owned the village for a short time and then sold it to another native of the Golden Horde, Ilya Ozakov. Ilya Ozakov was a baptized Tatar and a very devout person. It was he who built it in the 14th century. in Cherkizovo there is a church in honor of its heavenly patron - Elijah the Prophet.

Elias Church was located in a picturesque place, on the banks of the Sosenka River. Sosenka is the right tributary of Khapilovka, its source is located in the Golyanov region, and the length of the entire river is almost nine kilometers. Currently, the main part of the Sosenka channel is enclosed in a pipe. Cherkizovsky Pond, on the banks of which the Ilyinskaya Church still stands, is one of the few places reminiscent of where the river previously flowed on the surface. The river itself flows in a collector along the eastern shore of the pond.

Together with his brother Sergei, Ilya was one of the close servants of St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow, who reigned from 1354 to 1378. Metropolitan Alexy liked the picturesque place and in 1378 he bought from him “the village of Cherkizovo with his silver,” as stated in his spiritual letter, i.e. with cell money, and according to his will he left it to the Moscow Metropolitanate, in the possession of the Chudov Metropolitan Monastery in the Kremlin. Later, this purchase was secured by a charter of grant from Prince Vasily the Dark (1425–1462). It is no coincidence that in the census books of the 17th century the village of Cherkizovo is called “the patrimony of the miracle worker Alexy.” Subsequently, he made the temple the summer residence of the Moscow patriarchs. Over time, especially under Saint Innocent (Veniaminov), the residence grew and was rebuilt.

Stone Church

In the 1690s, a stone church was built on the site of a burnt wooden temple. The temple was consecrated on June 18, 1690, it already had a chapel of St. Alexis, a refectory and a belfry. In the 19th century, the Elias Church was rebuilt twice. After the first reconstruction in 1825, the temple became five-domed for some time. A more serious reconstruction was carried out at the end of the 19th century on the initiative of the rector of the church, Father Paul, and the church warden, merchant Alexander Zelenyaev, who wrote in an appeal to the diocesan authorities: “The Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah in the village of Cherkizovo does not correspond to a fairly significant number of parishioners...”. The plan for the reconstruction of the church and the construction of a new bell tower according to the design of the architect Egorov was approved in 1888. After the completion of the work at the end of the 1970s, the temple was re-consecrated.

Elias Church is surrounded by a cemetery, which is the oldest cemetery in Moscow. This is one of the rare domestic historical necropolises that was not destroyed during the Soviet era. In 1861, the famous Moscow holy fool Ivan Yakovlevich Koreysha, who was revered as a saint for a long time, was buried here. His popularity is evidenced by the fact that the image of Koreyshi is captured in the works of N. S. Leskov (“Little Mistake”) and F. M. Dostoevsky (“Demons”). Ivan Yakovlevich is mentioned by A. N. Ostrovsky (“The Marriage of Balzaminov”).

During the Great Patriotic War, the believers and clergy of the temple collected 1 million rubles for the construction of airplanes and sent them to I.V. Stalin. Stalin sent a telegram of gratitude in response. And the temple survived all the difficult years of Soviet rule. In the middle of the 20th century, icons from neighboring churches that were to be destroyed were brought to the temple. The rector of the temple at that time was Pavel Ivanovich Tsvetkov.

Temple of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo Today

On December 30, 2011, he was appointed rector of the temple. Archimandrite Savva(in the world Sergey Andreevich Tutunov; February 19, 1978, Villecrins, France) - archimandrite of the Russian Orthodox Church, deputy administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate and head of the control and analytical service of the Moscow Patriarchate Administration, member of the Inter-Council Presence of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Church of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo on the Sosenka River

st. Staff slide, 17; near B. Cherkizovskaya st., 95

“The village of Cherkizovo was named in the 14th century after its owner, boyar Andrei Serkiz, a participant in the Battle of Kulikovo.”

“The first owner of Cherkizovo in the 14th century was Ilya Azakov, who erected a wooden church here in the name of the prophet Elijah. Metropolitan Alexy, who ruled from 1354 to 1378, bought from him “the village of Cherkizovo with his silver,” as stated in his spiritual charter , i.e. with cell money, and according to his will he left it to the Moscow Metropolitanate, in the possession of the Chudov Metropolitan Monastery in the Kremlin. The village remained under it until 1764, when lands were taken away from monasteries throughout Russia. From that time on, it belonged to the Chudov Monastery "Only the land under the bishop's house, a quitrent mill on the pond and a few plots of land remained. A new stone church was built in 1690." .

The last building of the metropolitan dacha, built near the center. Elijah St. Metropolitan Moscow Innocent in the 1870s, has survived to this day, has the address B. Cherkizovskaya, 93/101. The house, a two-story wooden house, was occupied by the repair and construction department, and the house church that was previously here was destroyed.

“In the scribe books of 1573-1574, this is listed as “church land.” The wooden church was mentioned in 1646. The current stone church, according to clergy records, was built in 1690. The chapel of Metropolitan Alexy was rebuilt in 1856. In 1683 in symmetry with this northern aisle, a new southern aisle was built in honor of Elijah the Prophet, and the main one was renamed "Exaltation of the Holy Cross". In 1893, a new bell tower was built in the spirit of the ancient hipped ones. At one time in the 19th century, the church had five domes."

"The interior decoration of the main chapel is at the same time as the temple. In 1883, the refectory and chapels were added and the apse was redone."

"The Bell Tower 1899." "Fence with two gates of the 19th century."

Judging by the photograph from Naydenov's album of 1888, the temple had five decorative domes, decorated in the Baroque style. The reconstruction at the end of the 19th century probably includes a new single dome of the temple with a bulbous finish, round medallions in the upper part of the quadrangle and window casings. In 1912, Ostankovich noted: “Recently, a chapel of the Exaltation of the Honest Life-Giving Cross was built and a new bell tower was built.”

"In the 1860s, the main altar of the Exaltation and two chapels were rebuilt; at the same time, a new tented bell tower was built. Notable icons now in the temple: the locally revered Mother of God of Jerusalem, the Dormition of the Mother of God, the Life-Giving Source, “Joy of All Who Sorrow.” In the northern aisle in a heavy setting - a rare scene of the healing of Khansha Taidula by St. Alexey. In the iconostasis of the southern aisle - an ancient temple image of the Prophet Elijah."

In the 1930s the temple did not close. The fence around it is maintained in order, but its continuation in the cemetery is collapsing. The bells hanging on the bell tower are ringing. The building with a fence and two gates is under state protection under number 170.

At the entrance to the cemetery from the southwest of the temple there is a canopy and an unquenchable lamp burns near the graves of the famous Moscow holy fool of the 19th century. Ivan Yakovlevich Koreysha (1783-1866) and Deacon Nikifor. The life of Ivan Yakovlevich, in which many figures of Russian culture of the 19th century were interested. (including Gogol, who came to the Preobrazhenskaya hospital, where he was kept, before the burning of the 2nd volume of Dead Souls, but never decided to go inside), is described by A. F. Kireev, as well as E. Poselyanin. The beloved holy fool in Moscow at the same time attracted the attention of the intelligentsia who looked down on Orthodoxy, who wrote about him with a greater or lesser degree of mockery, starting from I. G. Pryzhov and N. S. Leskov right up to B. Pilnyak and the recent emigrant from the USSR A. Rovner, who named his novel one word from Koreishi’s famous prophecy - “Kololatsy”. F. M. Dostoevsky also worked with Ivan Yakovlevich, for whom he served as the prototype for the holy fool Semyon Yakovlevich in “Demons” (see). The monk Parfeniy (Ageev) also mentions him.

In the Church of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo there is a revered image of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" from the late 18th - early 19th centuries.

At the end of the 1980s. There was a threat to the very existence of the temple due to the construction of a new metro line under its “hill”, which with difficulty, but managed to be diverted.

In 1990, through the diligence of the church elder B.B. Dubovenko, the restoration of the church almshouse began at the address: st. Shakhovskaya house number 27, opposite the temple across the pond - where it was even before the October revolution. Through the efforts of the same elder, a new church house was built with a baptismal sanctuary and a sort of chapel, where it is planned to open a new church, which will be announced in due course.

In addition, according to Yu. V. Pukhnachev, in the bell tower of the Church of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo, one of the only two intact bells in Moscow, which is now in use, has been preserved.

The Moscow Church of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo was built in 1690. Previously, there was a wooden church on this site in 1370, which burned down.

The history of the church is connected with the history of the village itself - Cherkizovo. It is known that it was built in the 14th century. The village was named after its owner, Tsarevich Serkiz, who after baptism became Ivan Serkizov. He came from the Golden Horde. However, Serkizov did not own his village for long, as he soon sold it to his fellow tribesman, Ilya Ozakov. History says that he was a very pious man. Out of respect for his heavenly patron, Elijah the Prophet, he ordered the construction of a temple. This is how the Iliinskaya Church was built in Cherkizovo.

It was located on the banks of the Sosenka River, in a very picturesque place. The Sosenka River is a right tributary of Khapilovka; its source is located in the Golyanov area. Its length is 9 kilometers. Nowadays, the main part of the channel is enclosed in a pipe. It is only thanks to the Cherkizovsky pond, on the banks of which the church stands, that people remember where the river once flowed on the surface. Now it flows in a collector along the eastern shore of the reservoir.

Wooden church. Stone Temple

The stone church in Cherkizovo was built on the site of a wooden church, when Metropolitan Alexy still had his country home here. Until 1764, the village was the property of the Moscow metropolitans, after some time the church became a parish.

In 1883, chapels and a refectory were added to it, and in 1899, a hipped bell tower with three tiers. The decoration included iconostases from the 19th century and the fence of a small cemetery, also from that time. On it is the grave of Ivan Yakovlevich Koreysha, a famous Moscow seer, local holy fool and saint (life: 1783-1861). At that time, the temple was not closed; there was a Sunday school for all residents of the village.

Cherkizovskaya Metropolitan and Patriarchal Dacha

Metropolitan Alexy, the minister of Moscow and all Rus', really liked the village, namely: its picturesque location, the surrounding open spaces, and its proximity to Moscow. In 1360, he decided to acquire the village not only for himself, but also for his successors in rank. From that moment, Cherkizovo became one of the main estates of the Moscow Cathedral Chudov Monastery, an abbey with a large and spacious courtyard, as well as a well-developed monastic economy.

For Metropolitan Alexy, the Church of Elijah the Prophet became a place of rest and solitude. In it, he could calmly look back on his life’s journey, restore his strength, which would be useful to him in the future, or simply see people close to him. When the Metropolitan of All Rus' died, Cherkizovo remained for a long time the summer bedchamber of Moscow metropolitans.

When the Patriarchate was restored, the Moscow Metropolitan, Kolomna Saint and Wonderworker Tikhon became the Patriarch of All Rus'. He began to call the dacha Patriarcha.

Throughout the history of its existence, the temple courtyard was rebuilt many times. Associated with its history is the saint and metropolitan Innocent, on whose orders another reconstruction was made in the middle of the 19th century.

During Soviet times, most churches in Moscow were completely destroyed, but the Elias Church survived. During the Great Patriotic War, all the believers of the temple were able to collect one million rubles for the construction of aircraft and sent them to Stalin. He sent a telegram of gratitude in response. Why airplanes? The fact is that the Prophet Elijah is a defender of aviation.

In the middle of the 20th century, icons from all neighboring churches that were to be destroyed were brought to the Church of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo. At that time, the rector of the church was Archpriest Pavel Ivanovich Tsvetkov.

Elias Churches in Moscow

The Prophet Elijah is considered one of the most respected saints of the Old Testament. Three churches in Moscow are dedicated to him: the Temple of the Prophet Elijah on Vorontsovo Field, the Temple of Prophet Elijah in Cherkizovo and the Temple of the Prophet Elijah in Obydensky Lane. In any of them there are many holy relics, various objects that Christians venerate, as well as icons.

Services are held here:

• weekday liturgy - daily from 9:00 and 17:00;
• on high holidays and Sundays - from 7:00 and 10:00, from 17:00 - evening service.

A Sunday school is open at the church.

A few words about Cherkizovsky cemetery

Likewise, like the Church of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo, the cemetery has its own ancient history. It is the oldest burial site. It got its name from the village near which it was founded. There is a cemetery not far from the church. More precisely, it surrounds her. The cemetery is a very ancient historical necropolis. It was not destroyed during Soviet times. Since 1998, they began to maintain an archive in which the registration of all burials, even related ones, is indicated. On the territory there is a place for renting agricultural equipment for caring for graves. Cherkizovskoye Cemetery is open daily from 9:00 to 19:00 (from May to September) and from 9:00 to 17:00 (from October to April). Funeral rites are performed from 9:00 to 17:00 daily.

A baptized Tatar, Ilya Ozakov was close to Metropolitan Alexy, so he bequeathed Cherkizovo to the Chudov Monastery. The metropolitan liked the picturesque location of the village, and he made the temple the summer residence of the Moscow patriarchs.

The stone church was built in 1689-1690 and rebuilt twice: in 1821-1825 the temple became five-domed, and in the late 1890s it was rebuilt according to Egorov’s design and supplemented with a bell tower.

Elias Church is surrounded by the oldest cemetery in Moscow. This necropolis survived even during Soviet times.

In 1861, the famous Moscow holy fool Ivan Koreysha was buried here. He was revered as a saint and was even depicted on the pages of the books “A Little Mistake” by N.S. Leskova and “Demons” by F.M. Dostoevsky.

During the Great Patriotic War, believers and clergy of the Church of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo collected 1 million rubles for the construction of aircraft and sent them to Stalin. He responded with a telegram of gratitude. Perhaps that is why the temple was not closed, although they planned to run a metro line under it. Metro construction workers admitted that the tunnel had already been built, but an order came “from above”, and the line had to be turned to the side. Therefore, metro trains slow down sharply in the middle of the journey from the Preobrazhenskaya Ploshchad to Cherkizovskaya station.

And in the middle of the 20th century, icons from dismantled churches were brought to the Church of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo.