Kazan Church (Yaropolets)

Chernyshev Manor

In 1760-1770, the famous military leader of the Seven Years War , Count Zakhar Grigoryevich Chernyshev]] created a magnificent palace and park ensemble on the territory of his estate ^[3] . In the Atlas of the Russian Empire at the end of the 18th century you can read about the Chernyshevs' estate: “You can be equal with the best entertainment houses in Europe” , and according to the newspaper Saint Petersburg News , Catherine II , who visited the palace in 1775, spoke in that in the spirit that if Yaropolets was closer to Moscow, she would choose it as a suburban residence ^{[4] [5]} .

The magnificent palace is built in the style of early classicism with Baroque elements, the entrance to it is decorated with gates with high towers in the style of early Russian romanticism .

Temple Construction

In 1780, opposite the manor gate, the construction of a new church began, which at the same time was to become the family tomb of the Chernyshevs . For this reason, the composition of the temple is unique to Russian church architecture. The building contains two symmetrical volumes, which are turned in different directions by apse and are united by a common narthex with choirs at the top. The Kazan Church itself was located in the eastern part, and the family tomb in the western part ^[6] .

So far, it has not been possible to establish the author of the original design of the temple. There are various versions, according to one it was V.I. Bazhenov , according to others - M.F. Kazakov , there is also an opinion that the unknown architect of the Kazakov-Bazhenov circle could become the author of the project. It is only known for certain that the idea of ​​a unique temple belongs to Z. Chernyshev himself ^[7] .

In 1784, the construction of the temple was interrupted due to the death of Field Marshal Chernyshev . Now, the care for building the temple fell on the shoulders of Anna Rodionovna - his widow. With the assistance of a friend of the Chernyshev family, Prince A.M. Golitsyn , the famous architect K.I. Blank was involved in the construction. Moreover, the need for his presence was caused by the collapse of the almost-built church, which happened before 1787. Under the direction of Blanca, the walls and arches of the temple were restored and its interior decoration started. Probably, according to Blanc’s plan, the design of the domes, which were originally planned to be hemispherical, was changed, inside the domed space is separated from the room by wooden ceilings. The decoration was never completed completely, most likely due to Blanc’s disease, and the temple itself was consecrated only in 1798 ^[8] .

The reason for such a long construction period of the church was that Prince Golitsyn had to manage all the work from Moscow. He had to consult with the leading construction masters, invite the right specialists, conclude agreements with them, and also solve all the problems that arise. At the same time, he tried to discuss new initiatives in writing with Countess Chernysheva . The mistress of Yaropoltsa was rarely present at the estate. At that time, she lived more in Belarussian Chechersk , which had joined the Chernyshevs' mayorate since 1774, or was on pilgrimages for a long time, and decision-making on issues that did not require urgency lasted for months ^[9] .

In 1830, a fire occurred in the church, what damage he caused to the temple is unknown. By 1887, the internal paintings were not executed. Large images on canvases, written in an academic manner , are known from photographs of the beginning of the XX century, who performed them is unclear. In 1907, the floors of the temple and tombs were laid out with Metlakh tiles ^[10] .

Facades and interior of the temple

Kazan temple was built in the style of classicism, and more precisely, this style of facade design is called ionic . The appearance of the temple is a lot of unusual - this is primarily due to the fact that not vertical, but horizontal volume prevails here. This is a consequence of the features of its design, since it was supposed to serve both the church and the tomb at the same time ^[11] . The windows of different configurations - round, oval and arched - look oddly unusual. The entrance to the temple is decorated with a wonderful four-columned portico, on the pediment of which is an open eye inside the triangle - the All-Seeing Eye , the generally accepted symbol of Freemasonry . The temple is surrounded by a fence in the "Russian style", characteristic of the end of the XIX century, the spans of its gates are decorated with three onion domes ^[12] .

The unusual appearance of the church, as well as the image of the All-Seeing Eye, created the image of a “mysterious Masonic temple” around it. However, modern scholars of architecture of that period claim that there is no Masonic symbolism in the architecture and decoration of the church, and the All-Seeing Eye sign was often used in the design of Orthodox churches of Baroque and Classicism ^[13] . Perhaps the creation of an aura of mystery is also facilitated by the fact that this church remains completely abandoned, and this despite the fact that it is located in the Volokolamsk district, where they try to restore all the existing churches.

The interior of the Kazan temple is amazing even now, despite the fact that it is in a state of utter ruin. It is much richer than the external decor and "made at a higher artistic level" ^[14] . This is not surprising, because the best architects and decorators of that time decorated the temple inside.

Drawings with sketches of the interior decoration and decoration of the temple were provided by V.I. Bazhenov , he also recommended artists and sculptors from his team to decorate the temple. For the Chernyshev family, Bazhenov was not an outsider. He was associated with the Chernyshevs from the 1770s. In 1782-1784, when Z. Chernyshev was commander in chief of Moscow, he openly supported Bazhenov. Both Bazhenov and Chernyshev were members of the Moscow Masonic society, and the orderly mentor of the architect was S. I. Gamaleya , who had long served as the ruler of the office of Z. G. Chernyshev ^[15] .

Before the start of the finishing work, the widow of Field Marshal Chernysheva Anna Rodionovna began to actively call in Yarolets and V.I. Bazhenov , and two other main curators of the construction site, A.M. Golitsyna and K.I. Blanca . In her opinion, they should have personally inspected the progress of all work. In return letters, Count Golitsyn informed her that personally none of them would be able to come to Yaropolets, and it is best to invite a young architect Rodion Kazakov , a student and namesake M. F. Kazakov, to manage the finishing work ^[15] .

The space of the temple is decided in the form of a spacious rectangular hall surrounded by half-columns supporting a developed entablature , finished with impeccable stucco molding. Here, the Corinthian order was applied, as rich as possible with the decor, and allowing the decorators to demonstrate all their skills. The surviving photographs of the interior of the temple at the beginning of the 20th century primarily attract the attention of an unusual iconostasis . It covers the altar in a semicircle and is decorated with numerous stucco details and gilded columns on the dark blue background of the walls.

The space of the tomb was decided completely differently, since this room was supposed to serve simultaneously as a warm church. Twelve columns divided it into several independent cells, in two of them there were aisles of namesake saints - the prophet Zachariah and the righteous Anna ^[14] . Until 1941, the symbolic key to Berlin , brought to Yarolets by Chernyshev, was kept in the altar of the Kazan Church.

Belfry

The first bell tower was erected simultaneously with the church under Z. G. Chernyshev and collapsed during the construction process. S. A. Toropov in the 1920s saw her drawing stored in the sacristy of the temple. According to him, the bell tower was "in the nature of Elizabethan or early Catherine architecture (in the spirit of Chevakinsky ?)." The form laid the new bell tower of the temple, the ruins of the first tier of which remained until the beginning of the XX century ^[16] .

The third, red-brick bell tower is located behind the church. She appeared later and is not stylistically connected to the main building. This last major construction of the Chernyshevsky estate was built for about thirty years, the main work was carried out from 1839 to 1869, and by 1871 the final decoration was not yet completed. Perhaps her project was completed by architect P. Burenin . S. A. Toropov called this bell tower "ugly, spoiling the silhouette of the temple." Nevertheless, it is interesting for researchers as the only building in the Russian-Byzantine style in both Yaropoltsy - Chernyshev and Zagryazhsky ^[12] .

In Soviet times, the upper tiers of the bell tower were destroyed and a concrete water tank was installed instead. The bell tower began to fulfill the function of a rural water tower.

Tomb of Chernyshev

At the beginning of the 20th century, the remains of Count Chernyshev were transferred to the tomb of the Kazan temple. Until that moment, they were in the Ilyinsky church of the village of Ilyinsky - another possession of the Chernyshevs . The tomb was located in the westernmost part of the temple. Here, in the apse room, the descent into the crypt began, which was closed by a large removable stove. A monumental stone tombstone was installed above the burial site, the remains of which have survived to the present.

A story has occurred with this tombstone, which researchers cannot yet explain. It was made by the famous Swiss sculptor in his Roman workshop. According to Trippel's plan, the basis of the tombstone was a large pyramid in a dark marble lining. At the base of the pyramid was a pedestal of white marble with three relief images. A bit higher was a semicircular marble block with a frieze allegorical composition in the "antique style". A sarcophagus of colored marble was installed on the marble block, on both sides of which were two allegorical figures symbolizing Sorrow and Glory. And, finally, the composition was crowned with a wonderful portrait profile image of Chernyshev white marble, located in a black marble medallion ^[17] . A. Chekmarev considers it possible that the pyramid, sarcophagus and pedestal for it were made in St. Petersburg. When transporting parts of the monument to the estate, the pyramid cracked and was damaged in several places ^[18] .

In Yaropolets, the installation of the monument was done by the “stone master” Berner and J. Zemelgak . Trippel's idea was already changed during the installation of the monument. Almost none of the above parts of the composition in the tomb has been installed. Only a large wall pyramid and two oval relief images at its base were placed in it. The relief in the "antique style" was replaced by a simple memorial plate, and the portrait profile image of Chernyshev was replaced by another, the work of F. I. Shubin . The Shubinsky portrait was stolen in 2002 ^[19] .

A possible reason for all the changes in the author’s project could be the clergy’s protest against the bas-relief depicting two female figures with “naked bodies” in the church, or customers liked the sculptures of Trippel so much that they decided to decorate the main apartments of the palace with them. For example, sculptures of Glory and Sorrow were installed in the park lobby of the manor house, and other parts of its composition were used to decorate various apartments of the palace complex. The high artistic value of these works is best evidenced by the fact that now all of them (except the statues of Sorrow and Glory lost after the war) are in the Shchusev Museum in Moscow ^{[20] [17]} .

Judging by the documents, the Yaropoletsky monument was created in 1786-1787. It is likely that, since it was partially made in St. Petersburg, it was noticed by Russian sculptors. The composition from the pyramid with allegorical figures, which the researcher of the work of Trippel Vogler considered “his best creation”, was no longer repeated by the sculptor, but similar tombstones were performed by I. Martos , F. Shchedrin , F. Gordeev . A. Chekmarev notes that "the place of the Yaropoletsk" mausoleum "in the history of Russian sculpture has not yet been appreciated, nor has its effect on the works of domestic sculptors of that era been investigated" ^[21] .

Soviet and post-Soviet periods

The Chernyshevs estate was unlucky; a museum was not organized here. Obviously, for this reason, it was plundered and destroyed, gradually falling into complete desolation. The Kazan Church has been preserved somewhat better, although it was not saved from plunder. During the war, a shell hit the western part of the temple, through a punched roof it fell into a crypt, but the building stood still, and even Chernyshev’s tombstone was not badly damaged.

After the war, the church was again handed over to the parish, and it remained operational until 1966, when its last abbot died. After this, the house of culture worked here for some time. In the early 1970s, an attempt was made to restore, the main result of which was the repair of the roof and the replacement of several supporting columns. Work was discontinued due to lack of funds. In addition to the sculptural portrait of Chernyshev, the altar canopy, parts of the iconostasis ^{[7] [22]} disappeared from the temple.

Current status

In 2006, A. Chekmarev described his condition like that:

“The monument is in disrepair. The roof is leaking, which is why water erodes the stucco molding in the interior. The angle of the portico on the main facade collapsed, threatening the fall of the column. A wonderful piece of architecture perishes before our eyes ” ^[22] .

The temple is currently being restored. As of the beginning of July 2016, scaffolding was installed at the entrance and in the main aisle. There is a balcony over the southern ledge of the Kazan chapel for subsequent roofing. Procurement and delivery of building material continues. In the near future - the beginning of roofing, as well as the rescue of the porticoes from destruction. The restoration is carried out by the inter-regional public charity organization - The Village Church Center (director - Svetlana A. Melnikova, restoration engineer - Nikolai Ivanovich Smirnov) ^{[1] [2] [23]} .

• Chekmarev, A. Yaropolets. The story of two estates. - M .: Design. Information. Cartography, 2007 .-- 207 p.

• Kazan temple of the village of Yaropolets. Official website (unopened) . The Local Orthodox Religious Organization of the Parish (MPROP) of the Kazan Church in the village of Yarolets, Volokolamsk District, Moscow Region. Date of treatment October 9, 2014.
• Yaropolets. Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (Neopr.) . livejournal.com. Date of treatment November 3, 2014.