The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker "Red Ringing" (or at the
red bells) is an Orthodox church in Kitay-gorod in Moscow. It belongs to
the Iversky deanery of the Moscow Diocese of the Russian Orthodox
Church, and has the status of a patriarchal compound. The name comes
from the beautiful ringing of the bells of the temple, among which was a
bell with the image of three lilies, with the letters L. T., marked in
1673 and with an illegible Latin inscription, presumably taken by Tsar
Alexei Mikhailovich as a trophy during the Polish War. Currently, the
bell is located in the Kolomenskoye Museum.
The main altar of the
temple was consecrated in honor of the Nativity of the Most Holy
Theotokos, the north aisle — in the name of Zosima and Savvati
Solovetsky, the south aisle — in the name of Nicholas the Wonderworker
(not valid).
The first mention of the stone church dates back to 1561. In 1626 it
burned down, after which it was renovated. In 1691, it was again
renovated at the expense of merchant Grigory Tverdikov, but still
continued to preserve the character of the building of the XVI century.
The temple was famous for the fact that next to its altar was buried
the head of Alexei Sokovnin, the head of the Stable Order, who in 1697
participated in a conspiracy against Peter I and was quartered on
Bolotnaya Square for this. His relatives demanded the remains, but they
had already been sent by the authorities to a "squalid house", so only
the severed head was buried with honors.
In 1854, the old church
with its side chapels was dismantled, and in its place in 1858, the
merchant Vasily Antonov Polyakov built the current temple, consecrated
on November 2. The author of the building is unknown, but it could
either be the architect Alexander Shestakov or Nikolai Kozlovsky, who
designed the iconostasis.
On February 22, 1923, the church was
transferred to the marginal renovationist group "Free Labor Church",
which was headed by Ioanniky (Smirnov) and the anarchist poet Svyatogor.
Formally, the reason for the transfer of the temple was non-compliance
with the lease agreement. Having gained fame as a strange and suspicious
movement that attracted "various rabble", held rallies "of the most
market level" and enjoyed "very weak authority" among believers, the STC
existed until about 1925.
At the end of 1929, the temple was
finally closed, the building was planned for scrapping, but it was not
demolished, offices of Soviet institutions were located in it. In
1955-1969, the building was repaired, the windows were walled up, an
electrical substation was located in it and it was included in the
complex of buildings of the Central Committee of the CPSU. By 1990, the
building had fallen into disrepair, the domes were rusted, and the walls
were covered with cracks. In 1991, by decision of the Moscow City
Council, the church was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. In
1993, the Patriarchal Compound was established in Kitay-gorod. The
restored church was consecrated again on December 19, 1996.
In
recent years, repair and restoration work has been carried out in the
temple, the interior, completely destroyed during the hard times, has
been recreated, the bell tower's ringing tier has been restored, for
which seven new bells cast in the Urals were purchased in 2002. In 2003,
the carved iconostasis was restored.
Regular divine services have
been resumed in the central part of the temple (the throne in the name
of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos), and the sacrament of
baptism is performed in the left side chapel (partially restored) in the
name of the Venerable Zosima and Savvati Solovetsky. The right side
chapel (of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker) remains occupied by a
transformer substation, despite the petitions of believers to return the
temple to its original purpose. There are not enough funds to complete
the exterior repair and restoration work.
In 2001-2003, the
Czestochowa Icon of the Mother of God, icons of the royal
passion-bearers, holy Martyrs Metropolitan Seraphim Chichagov and
Archpriest Konstantin Golubev (Bogorodsky), and Holy Righteous Anna were
painted for the church.
An akathist is read in front of the only
icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker that has survived since
pre—revolutionary times — the main shrine of the temple.