According to popular beliefs, on the holiday of Ivan Kupala, water can "be friends" with fire, and their union is considered a natural force. The symbol of such a connection are bonfires along the banks of the rivers, which were lit on the night of Kupala. On the Kupala night, the shortest night of the year, the inhabitants of Navi come to life. The line between spirits and people disappears. Wizards and witches, werewolves, mermaids, sorcerers, brownies, water and wood goblin come to our world.
It is believed that Ivan Kupala is John the Baptist, who performed the baptism ceremony by bathing his followers in the river. But some ethnographers claim that Kupala is a later name of the ancient Slavic goddess Marena (Mary). The image of Marena is associated with death, hence the seasonal agrarian ceremonies - in honor of the dying and resurrection of nature.
Remarkable is the fate of the place, which will be discussed further and which fully deserved the name of the damned. It is known for the fact that temples have been built here from time immemorial, but everyone had a short and sad fate. All these objects "bad place" seemed to throw off itself, trying to remain free from the dogmas of the new faith.
At the end of the Napoleonic invasion of 1812, Russia could not help but thank the Almighty for intercession at a critical period in the country's history.
On October 12, 1817, five years after the French left Moscow, the ceremonial laying of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on the Sparrow Hills, between the Smolensk and Kaluga roads, took place. However, soon the builders had problems. After the death of Alexander I, the new autocrat of Russia, Nicholas I, ordered the suspension of all work.
On April 10, 1832, the emperor approved a new project of the temple, developed by the architect Konstantin Ton. The emperor established a special commission for the construction of a new church and personally chose a place for it - on the banks of the Moscow River, not far from the Kremlin.
The local Alekseevsky monastery - a monument of the 17th century - and the Church of All Saints were destroyed at his command, the monastery was transferred to Krasnoe Selo in 1836.
Svyato-Alekseevsky monastery, on the site of which the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was later built. Painting by Karl Rabus, 1838
Promotional video:
Here is what I. M. Lyubimov writes in his book "Little-known Moscow":
“… The nuns of the Alekseevsky Monastery have finished their last divine service. The monastic utensils were loaded onto carts, but the abbess of the monastery, the abbess, still did not appear. And suddenly, unexpectedly leaving the cell, she ordered to be chained to an oak tree. The nuns, who were loyal to her, prepared in advance, immediately fulfilled the abbess's wish. The authorities interpreted her refusal to leave the monastery as a riot, as disobedience to the decree of Nicholas I. Therefore, the abbess was freed from the fetters and forcibly driven out of the gate. Turning around, she said: "There will be nothing to stand here!"
Construction began only in 1839 and lasted for almost 44 years. The consecration took place on May 26 (June 7) 1883 in the presence of Alexander III, who had recently ascended the throne. On this occasion, a state award was even established - a commemorative medal "In memory of the consecration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior." It was awarded to persons associated with construction.
The overture "Year 1812" by Pyotr Tchaikovsky was performed for the first time in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. It had its own choir, considered one of the best in Moscow, the voices of Fyodor Chaliapin and Konstantin Rozov sounded.
Coronations, national holidays and anniversaries were solemnly celebrated in the church: five hundred years since the death of Sergius of Radonezh, one hundred years since the end of the Patriotic War of 1812, the three hundredth anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, the opening of monuments to Alexander III and Nikolai Gogol.
Inauguration of the monument to Alexander III in 1912 (destroyed in 1918). The military parade is hosted by Emperor Nicholas II
And the main patronal holiday of the church - Christmas - was celebrated by Orthodox Moscow until 1917 as a holiday of victory in the Patriotic War of 1812.
From January 1918, the state funding of churches was stopped. On July 13, 1931, at a meeting of the USSR Central Executive Committee, a decision was made: “The place for the Soviets to choose the area of the Cathedral of Christ in the mountains. Moscow with the demolition of the church itself and the necessary expansion of the area."
For several months, urgent work on dismantling the building continued. However, it was not possible to disassemble it to the ground and on December 5, 1931, it thundered on Kropotkinskaya Square. powerful explosion. After the first explosion, the temple survived, and after a while a second was heard.
According to the recollections of shocked witnesses, the powerful explosions shook not only nearby buildings, but also those located at a distance of several blocks. It took almost a year and a half only to dismantle the ruins of the temple left after the explosion.
However, the pompous Palace of the Soviets, the construction of which began in 1937, was never completed: the war prevented it. The metal structures laid in the gigantic foundation were used to build bridges and anti-tank hedgehogs, and the foundation pit was quickly filled with groundwater. From 1960 to 1994, the “Moscow” pool was located on the site of the destroyed church.
Outdoor swimming pool "Moscow", built on the site of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior
After the landmarks of the former Soviet people changed, the construction of a new cathedral began on the same site. By 1999, it was completed.
And although the Cathedral of Christ the Savior is the central cathedral not only of the capital, but of the whole of Russia, the attitude of Russians towards it is ambiguous: some call it a remake and argue that there is “unfavorable energy”. Sometimes they remember the curse of the abbess of the Alekseevsky monastery.
And few people know that the sanctuary of Kupala-Marena, the spirit of magic and death, was located exactly on the site of the former Kropotkin Square.
From the book: "The most eerie and mystical places on the planet and the secrets of their inhabitants." S. Reutov
