Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin at Fili

The current building of the church (" octagon on four ") was erected in 1690-1694 at the expense of L.K. Naryshkin (brother of Tsarina Natalia Kirillovna ). The wooden church of the same name that was previously built here was erected in 1619, when the village belonged to the Miloslavskys , in commemoration of the victory over the troops of the Polish prince Vladislav and hetman Sagaidachny under the walls of the White City .

There are no documents about the author of the church, but it is assumed that the customer himself made the general project (composition), some art historians consider the architect Yakov Bukhvostov to be the author of the church, although its stylistic features differ markedly from the authentic works of Bukhvostov ^[1] , but they reveal a striking resemblance to documented works of the architect Peter Potapov ^[1] - the creator of the ensemble of the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow and the Church of the Assumption on Pokrovka .

In the very center of Moscow, between Manezhnaya Square and Romanov Lane - where the court of L.K. Naryshkin was located , there is the Sign Church on the Sheremetyevo (Naryshkin) yard , very similar to the Church of the Intercession at Fili and certainly created by the same architect - for the same the customer.

The Church of the Intercession at Fili is a five-tier centric church built in the Naryshkinsky Baroque style. The temple building with a four-petal plan of the two lower tiers is encircled at the basement level by the arcade of the gulbishche. Three wide open porches lead to it from three sides. One building combines a winter and summer temple and a bell tower. Bells hang in the spans of the upper, fifth tier.

On the ground floor ( undercover ) there was a winter (heated) Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and above it the Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands, which was named in gratitude for saving L.K. Naryshkin from death during the Streltsy riot (he prayed in front of this icon during the riot) . Peter I granted four hundred chervonets to decorate the temple. In 1703, Peter I, after the capture of Narva, brought uncle's colored stained-glass windows as a present for his church. As a sign of the owner’s proximity to the king, the central and western heads of the temple were decorated with a crown and a two-headed eagle. According to legend, Tsar Peter I repeatedly visited this temple.

Later, a regular park was set up near the church.

The author of the carved decoration of the temple and the iconostasis was Karp Ivanovich Zolotarev . In the face of Archdeacon Stephen, written on the gates of the altar, some researchers perceive the facial features of young Peter I.

The original interior of the lower church has not been preserved: much died during the Patriotic War of 1812 , when Napoleon’s soldiers staged stables there; in the upper floor they arranged a trash (regimental tailoring workshop).

In the temple, the village of Fili was called Pokrovsky. Zvenigorodskoye Shosse (now Bolshaya Filyovskaya Street ) passed by the pilgrims to Zvenigorod , to the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery .

In July 1941, the temple was closed, the last service in which was held on July 12. At the same time, the domes were removed, and the upper octagon was dismantled to prevent the German gunners from using the church to guide the guns. In order to disguise themselves from air raids , the heads and the upper tier were dismantled, but incendiary bombs got into it.

Until 1943, the lower church was used as an infirmary , then, until 1963, as a warehouse for paper products. In 1955, the restoration of the temple began, which ended in the mid 80-ies of the XX century.

The restorers E.V. Mikhailovsky and I.V. Ilyenko played a large role in saving the monument.

In 1971, the temple was transferred to the museum. Andrei Rublev , after which a branch of the museum was created in it. The museum opened in 1980 for the Olympics .

Since 1990, the community of believers has sought the opening of a church for worship ^[2] ; the first service (prayer) in the lower Pokrovsky church, which is not of special artistic value, was performed on October 14, 1992. A museum was left in the upper church under the pretext of preserving a historical monument. On September 26, 1994, parish rector Priest Boris Mikhailov was appointed ^[2] , but regular services did not resume.

After many years of disputes, including litigation, on March 28, 2000, the government issued decree No. 464-r on the joint use of the temple ^[2] ; In the lower church, regular (on holidays) divine services resumed.

In 2017, the church was completely transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church ^[3] .

Currently, the iconostasis, many icons, wall paintings belong to the XIX century. The original iconostasis of the lower church was not preserved; it was changed three times at different times.

From the original preserved: the temple icon " Virgin Protection ", the icon of the "Three Joys" and others. The Oak Throne is one of the oldest surviving thrones.

Fragments of murals from the late 17th and 19th centuries have been preserved on the vaults.

Rectors

• priest of Cosmas (1689) - Kuzma Antsiferov
• Priest John (1704) - Ivan Alexandrovich Anisimov
• Priest Peter (1709-1737) - Peter Rodionov
• Priest George (1770-1797) - Egor Egorov
• Priest John (1704-1721) - Ivan Andreev
• Priest Peter (1742-1745) - Peter Fedorov
• Priest Nicephorus (1749-1783) - Nicephorus of the Galactions
• Priest Peter (1799-1811) - Peter Sergeev
• Priest Gregory (1811-1825) - Gregory Gavrilov
• Priest Alexy (1825-1876) - Alexey Grigorievich Orlov
• Archpriest Victor (1876-1910) - Victor Petrovich Guryev
• Archpriest Peter (1910-1918) - Peter Alekseevich Nikolsky
• Archpriest Alexander (1916-1923) - Alexander Alexandrovich Levitsky
• Priest Alexy (1918 — after 1925) - Alexei Sergeevich Nedumov
• Priest Alexy (after 1925-1937) - Aleksey Alekseevich Glagolev (shot at Butovo training ground 9. 10. 1937)
• Priest Vasily (1935-1941)
• Archpriest Alexy Pavlov (1991-1994)
• Archpriest Boris Mikhailov (1994—2014)
• Hieromonk Alexander (Zarubin) (2014-present)

• Naryshkin style
• Fili

• Church of the Intercession at Fili: A Guide / In Russian and English. language; Compiled by: N. Gordeeva, L. Tarasenko; Translation by E. Polyachenko; Design by artist V. Mostinskaya. - M .: Visual Arts , 1980. - 32 p. - 200,000 copies. (region)
• Moscow: Encyclopedia / Chapter. ed. A. L. Narochnitsky . - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia , 1980 .-- 688 p., Ill. - 200,000 copies.
• Boris Mikhailov “The Temple at Fili. The history of the parish and the Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin at Fili XVII-XX centuries "2002
• A. Yu. Nizovsky. The most famous monasteries and temples of Russia. 2001 ISBN 5-7838-0578-5

• Pilot Travel: Church of the Intercession at Fili
• Temples of Russia: Church of the Intercession at Fili
• Shrines of old Moscow: Church of the Protection of the Holy Virgin in Fili
• Elena Ermicheva . "Neapolitan" radiance in the west of Moscow. The history of the parish and the Church of the Protection of the Holy Virgin in Fili
• Temple site: Schedule of services. Filevtsi - youth movement at the Church of the Protection of the Holy Virgin
• Temple of Fili - Lace Tale