Krutitsky Compound

XIII — XVII Century

In the IX – XI centuries, the princely village of Krutitsy was located on the territory of the modern courtyard. Busy trade routes leading to Kolomna and Ryazan ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} passed near the village.

In 1262, a monastery was founded in Krutitsy, erected in honor of Saints Peter and Paul . Historians put forward two main versions of its occurrence. According to the first, a decree on the creation of a monastery was issued by Prince Daniel of Moscow . According to legend, he liked the picturesque nature of those places so much that he decided to found a house on the river bank. However, the ascetic Podon, who lives in one of the huts, warned him about the need to erect a temple and a bishop's house in Krutitsy. For this reason, the prince abandoned his own chambers and founded a monastery. At the turn of the XIII and XIV centuries, the Greek bishop Varlaam settled in it, who later became the first Krutitsky bishop. After the death of Varlaam, the monastery was transformed into the courtyard of the Sarai diocese , created in the 13th century, after part of the population was in the Yoke of Horde and Prince Alexander Nevsky issued a decree on the creation of a separate diocese for church feeding of Russians in the capital of the Golden Horde Sarai-Batu ^{[1] [ 5]} .

According to another version, the monastery was founded after the arrival of the Bishops of Sars and Varlaam in Krutitsky tract in the XIII century. Some researchers suggest that the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (presumably the 13th century) became the first building of the courtyard, around which the walls of the monastery were subsequently erected ^{[7] [8]} . In the XIV century, the monastery became the center of the bishop’s compound of the Sarai and Podonsk bishops, who became known as Krutitsky ^{[9] [10] [11]} .

During the XIV-XV centuries, the Krutitsky Compound continued to be financed by the Grand Dukes . So, John the Red, in a spiritual letter from 1356, bequeathed a contribution “to the Holy Virgin in Krutitsy, to his memory”. Prince Dmitry Donskoy repeated this order in his spiritual letter of 1371 ^{[1] [12]} .

In 1454, the Golden Horde began to decline, which led to the movement of Bishop Vassian from Saray-Batu to Krutitsy. By the middle of the sixteenth century, the Krutitsk bishops were transferred to the status of metropolitans and became the closest assistants to Moscow chief priests. In July 1612, participants in the second militia of Minin and Pozharsky stopped at the Assumption Cathedral of Krutitsky Compound to swear to liberate Moscow from foreign invaders. Since the Kremlin Assumption Cathedral was captured at that time, the Assumption Cathedral in Krutitsy acquired the symbolic significance of the main religious symbol of Russia. In 1612, the farmstead was plundered by the retreating Polish mercenaries , according to Dmitry Pozharsky , the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos on Krutitsy was “in the last impoverishment and ruin” ^[1] . Despite this, after the Time of Troubles in Krutitsy, a heyday began ^{[13] [14] [15] [16]} . In 1650, the construction of the five-domed church in honor of the Assumption of the Virgin began , the stone temple was with a tent bell tower . In the years 1680–1690, according to the project of the architect Osip Startsev, the Krutitsky mansion decorated with multi-colored tiles was built over the massive entrance gate ^[13] .

The flowering of Krutits occurred during the reign of Metropolitan Paul III , who founded the monastery library. Under him, the construction of the Metropolitan Chambers on the site of the old Assumption Cathedral was completed, and the construction of a new cathedral began. At that time, one of the first decorative gardens in Moscow was destroyed in the courtyard ^[1] . At the same time, the ownership of the Krutitsky metropolitans included the settlements of Dubrovka ( 1st Dubrovskaya Street ), Arbatets ( Arbatetskaya Street ), Krutitskaya, Kalitniki , as well as the village of Kozhukhovo. Finally, the architectural complex was formed by the end of the XVII century ^[12] .

By the middle of the XVII century Krutitsy became one of the favorite places of stay of the patriarchs. Starting from the 1650s, the farmstead began to act as a scientific center, in which work was carried out to translate the books of Scripture from Greek into Church Slavonic ^[1] . Some dungeons also served as prisons. So, in 1666, in one of the buildings Protopop Avvakum was imprisoned ^{[17] [15] [12] [14]} .

XVIII — XIX centuries

With the abolition of the patriarchate in 1721, the Krutitsky metropolitans were demoted to bishops (with the exception of Metropolitan Ignatius Smolu ). In 1737, the Krutitsky Compound was badly damaged as a result of the Trinity fire , which destroyed most of the household and temple buildings. Until the reconstruction of 1868, the wooden roof of the Teremka was replaced with an iron one, and the burnt faces of the saints were whitewashed with lime. In 1744-1751, a theological seminary operated in Krutitsy, later transferred to the Pokrovsky monastery ^[12] .

In 1788, the Krutitsy diocese was abolished ^[1] , and many dilapidated buildings were demolished. The territory of the courtyard was transferred to the War Department, and the church property and archives of the diocese were transferred to the Miracles Monastery of the Moscow Kremlin. Part of the remaining buildings of the compound became part of the Krutitsky barracks , which housed the gendarme corps. In one of the garrison guardhouses, the twenty-two-year-old Alexander Herzen spent seven months before being exiled to Vyatka ^[11] .

During the Patriotic War of 1812, the Krutitsky Compound was badly damaged. The ceilings and decoration of the Resurrection Church were lost, but some of the ceiling paintings were preserved. In 1816, Alexander Tormasov ordered the church to be dismantled, but Archbishop Augustine , who visited the church, noted that inside it was “a splendor inherent in the church of God and painted with wall scripture,” he therefore petitioned the Chief Prosecutor, Prince Alexander Golitsyn, to preserve the church. The prince, in turn, reported on the circumstances of the analysis of Krutits to Emperor Alexander I. The head of state ordered to suspend the analysis of the church ^{[1] [15] [12] [11]} . In 1838, the future Emperor Alexander II visited Krutitsy and issued a decree on the restoration of the Resurrection Church ^[18] .

Initially, the restoration project was prepared by the architect Evgraf Tyurin , but the final plan was completed by Konstantin Ton . According to the results of work carried out by 1840, the Resurrection Church was partially rebuilt. In 1868, the city ​​government issued an order to restore the Krutitsky tower. In 1899, the courtyard was restored: the Assumption Church was restored, the lower Peter and Paul Church was painted. In 1904, the architect Nikolai Strukov drew up a project for the restoration of the church of the metropolitan’s palace, but was never completed due to lack of funding. Some objects were updated at the expense of other sources, but by the beginning of the 20th century, the general condition of the courtyard buildings remained unsatisfactory ^{[1] [2]} .

XX — XXI centuries

After the revolution of 1917, the temples of Krutitsky Compound were looted, and wall painting was painted over ^{[9] [14]} . In 1925, services were stopped in the courtyard, and the Assumption Cathedral was transferred to the organization of hostels of the Moscow Military District . In 1936-1938, the Resurrection Church was rebuilt under a residential building according to the project of architect Batagov ^{[1] [15]} .

The plan for the restoration of the bishop’s palace was drawn up in 1947 by order of the Committee for Architecture under the Council of Ministers of the USSR . The project was led by the restorer of monuments of ancient architecture Pyotr Baranovsky , with him crosses were reinstalled on the heads of the Assumption Cathedral. In 1964, the cathedral was transferred to the Society for the Protection of Monuments , and in 1968 the philatelic department of the Main Book was placed in it. At the same time, the temple was used as a cultural center for some time. In the 1980s, the Cathedral housed the experimental scientific and restoration production workshops of the Monument Protection Society. On July 26, 1982, by a decision of the Moscow City Council of People's Deputies, part of the compound was leased to the State Historical Museum . The upper and lower temple were used to store exhibits. Several rooms were equipped for exhibition halls ^[9] .

At the same time, most of the compound was still used by the military department. Until the beginning of 1996, it housed the Moscow garrison guardhouse . In Krutitsky casemates, Beria was detained for 24 hours immediately after Stalin's death, and from there he was transferred to the bunker of the headquarters of the Moscow Military District ^[13] .

In 1971, the restoration of the basement and basement of the Resurrection Church began at the museum. By the beginning of the 1980s, the apse of the temple and the lower tier were completely restored. After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the courtyard buildings began to gradually come under the control of the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1992, the first service since 1924 was held in the Resurrection Church ^{[1] [19] [20] [13]} . In 2019, the Moscow government approved a project for the restoration of the Resurrection Cross House Church and the Nikolsky side chapel ^[21] .

Kremlin Krutitsky Compound

Presumably, from the middle of the 16th century, the Kremlin Krutitsky Compound was created in the Moscow Kremlin - its own courtyard of the Krutitsky Metropolitan, used as the place of stay of the Krutitsky lords in the Moscow Kremlin. The compound was located next to the Cyril Compound of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery in the neighborhood of the former Frolovsky Gate (now the Spasskaya Tower ) at the Afanasyevsky Monastery ^[22] .

According to the historian Ivan Zabelin , there is a note dated 1610 confirming that the Moscow service of Krutitsky Bishop consisted of holding Sunday services in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. In 1770, the courtyard was abolished due to the approved design of the Bazhenov Palace , and after six years the buildings were dismantled ^[22] .

• The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Krutitsy with the lower church of Peter and Paul (built in the 17th century) and the chapel of St. Sergius of Radonezh (XIX century).
• Metropolitan Chambers (Palace of the Krutitsy Metropolitans) (1655-1670) ^[15] .
• Krutitsky teremok and Voskresensky passages, decorated with tiles by the master Stepan Polubes (late XVII century) ^[15] .
• Church of the Resurrection of the Word on Krutitsy (Cross Chamber, Church of the Ascension) (mid-17th century) ^[15] .
• Corps of Metropolitan Orders (second half of the 17th century) ^[15] .
• Embankment Chambers (1719) ^[15] .
• Wooden houses No. 6, 8, 11, 13 along Krutitskaya street (XIX century) ^[15] .
• Two-storey house number 4 on Krutitskaya street (XIX century) ^[15] .

• Novospassky Monastery is a man’s monastery founded in the 15th century by Prince Ivan III ^[15] .
• The Water Museum is an environmental information center located in the building of a pumping station of the 19th century ^[15] .
• Buildings for veterans of the Patriotic War of 1812 are a complex of one-story wooden houses of the 19th century, erected for participants in military operations of the Patriotic War ^[15] .
• Alyoshkinsky (Krutitsky) barracks - modern buildings of the barracks were erected at the beginning of the XIX century and were repeatedly rebuilt. In 1904, the battalion of the Astrakhan regiment was deployed in them, and then the ensign school. In Soviet times, the garrison guardhouse was in the barracks ^[15] .

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• Repin L. Tales of Moscow and Muscovites at all times. - 2007 .-- 550 s. - ISBN 5-17-029600-2 .
• Solovyov I.V. Brief historical description of the Krutitsky patriarchal compound in Moscow. - Moscow, 2001.
• Solovyov I.V. Krutitsky Compound in the Past and Present. - Moscow, 2007 .-- 142 p.
• Word. - 1992. - Vol. 1-12 . - S. 1-7 .
• Trofimova T. E., Rodionovsky A. N. The study and preservation of the Krutitsky patriarchal compound . - 2017 .-- T. 9 , no. 6 . - S. 1-7 .

• Blog Compound Photos
• The master plan of the Krutitsky compound complex and plans for its main buildings and structures