Surely, most of us think that there is nothing more trivial and ordinary than Moscow. Well, what can be unusual and mysterious in a multi-million dollar metropolis? And few people know that Moscow is not only endless shops, restaurants and office buildings. It also has a completely different, mystical side …
One of these places is the Church of All Saints on Kulishki, the Orthodox church of the Intercession Deanery of the Moscow Diocese. Compound of the Alexandrian Orthodox Church.
The temple is located on Slavyanskaya Square, in Zaryadye, not far from Kitay-gorod. Despite the significant level of the cultural layer (partly removed from the northeast), the church continues to define the architectural appearance of Slavyanskaya Square. Almost under the very temple there is an entrance to the Kitay-Gorod metro station.
In honor of the victory on the Kulikovo field in 1380, Dmitry Donskoy laid a wooden church on the site of an ancient pagan temple. The heroes of the Battle of Kulikovo were buried at the base of the temple. In the 16th century, after destroying the ancient tomb and disturbing the sacred graves, a stone temple was built in its place.
In the fall of 1666, a manifestation of evil spirits, a poltergeist, was officially recorded in several churches in the Kulishki region. During the service in the All-Saints Church, worshipers suddenly saw a glow, flashes of flame, flickering shadows. The icons fell out of the iconostasis, and a loud knocking began on the walls. The church authorities took measures, and peace and order were established for 300 years.
Hence the expression: "to hell with Kulishki." "Kulishki" means a conditionally dangerous and distant place. But it is known that in Moscow this phrase means a real place, along the perimeter outlined by Maroseyka and Pokrovka streets, Pokrovsky and Yauzsky boulevards, Solyanka street and Lubyansky proezd.
The temple was closed in 1930 and given to the NKVD, in 1994 the remains of those shot were found in the basement.
In 1991, the temple was returned to the believers and restored. And suddenly the poltergeist returned: during one of the first services, candles were extinguished, icons fell, tongues of flame were visible.
Promotional video:
In the course of work on raising the temple 4 meters above ground level, the foundations of the 16-17 centuries were destroyed (destroyed), white-stone gravestones and burials disappear. The cultural layer of the 14-17th centuries is exported to an unknown destination without archaeological research.
Address: Slavyanskaya square, 2. (metro Kitay-Gorod).
Alexey Borisov