Pimen Church in new collars. Church of Pimen in new collars Temple of St. Pimen on Novoslobodskaya

The length of the temple building is 45 meters, the width is about 27 meters, it can accommodate up to 4 thousand parishioners. Quadrangle with octagonal tier, single-headed. The bell tower is three-tiered.

Story

The first, earliest settlement of Moscow collars, gatekeepers at the city gates, was located near the walls of the Kremlin. At one time, their settlement was located next to Tverskaya Street, where it left a memory of itself in the names of the lanes: Vorotnikovsky and Staropimenovsky, in honor of the temple of the patron saint of collars, Pimen the Great.

After the revolution, difficult days came for New Pimen, despite the fact that it was not closed. In April of this year, 12 pounds 38 pounds 48 spools of “church valuables” were confiscated from the temple.

However, 1917-1937 became the era of the “golden twenty years” for the temple, since during this period four new martyrs served in the church, and St. Patriarch Tikhon and Metropolitan Tryphon (Turkestan) were frequent guests of the temple.

Divine service

Daily - Liturgy at 8 o'clock, Vespers and Matins - at 17 o'clock; on Friday - from akaf. in front of the icons of the Mother of God of Vladimir and Kazan, on Sunday - from akath. alternately to the Life-Giving Trinity and St. Pimen the Great; on Sundays and holidays - Liturgy at 7 and 10 a.m., the day before at 6 p.m. (in winter at 5 p.m.) - all-night vigil. There is a Sunday school for children and adults. There is a parish library.

At one time, I often walked past this Church of Pimen the Great in Novye Vorotniki from Novoslobodskaya along Novovorotnikovsky Lane, dodging trams (which turn here through Seleznevskaya Street back to Sushchevskaya). And always, as an impression from her majestic, elegant and warm image, the same unconscious sound of two simple words arose in the mind - “bright joy”. Well, I don’t know what else I can add... I always wanted to know about this church - I even photographed it several times, but somehow there was no time for historical investigations. However, having written a post about what is very close to this church, I was no longer left with the idea of ​​doing it, since I would allow myself to consider that I had, after all, written something about the Novoslobodskaya area. That’s how this very post was born - on the verge of my emotions and warm visual impressions...

The beginning of the history of the Church of Pimen the Great in general dates back to the middle of the 17th century. They began to build it in 1658, during the reign of Emperor Alexei Mikhailovich (1645-1676) under Patriarch Nikon (1652-1666). The temple was built by the settlement of collars - a special detachment of military men who guarded the gate (i.e. travel) towers of the fortress walls of Moscow in the 14th-17th centuries. The collars were part of the permanent garrison of the fortress and belonged to the category of service people of the “Pushkar rank”, because Their wide range of responsibilities included servicing the artillery available at the fortress gates. The main duty of the collars was to perform constant guard duty at the fortress gates, which were locked at night, to store the keys to them and protect them when attacked by enemies, as well as to perform some technical functions, because The gate towers of a medieval fortress were a very complex engineering structure that required certain technical skills.

The collars lived in closed suburban settlements, first near the Kremlin towers, and then at the gates of the White City, in Zemlyanoy Gorod. They had land plots, could engage in gardening and various crafts, but always had to be ready for urgent government service. Anyone who entered the collar was “brought to faith” (i.e., to the oath): “Being in that collar service, he will serve all his sovereign service and stand on guard, where it is indicated according to the order, he will be equal with his brethren.”
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Under Emperor Alexei Mikhailovich “Quiet,” the ancient capital experienced rapid growth and development. Many new stone temples and chambers were erected, old churches were rebuilt, and their shrines were multiplied.
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But frequent fires again and again devastated the city. The plague epidemic of 1654 and the fires that accompanied it turned into a terrible disaster for Moscow and its inhabitants. The disease claimed the lives of many thousands of Muscovites, and the fire destroyed most of the wooden city. The need to strengthen fire safety measures with a change in the settlement structure of the expanding capital had become especially acute by this time.
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According to the tsar's decree, most of the settlements located in the densely populated Zemlyanoy city were moved beyond its borders, to the nearest suburbs. So, in 1658, the settlement of collars, located between the Tver and Dmitrov gates, moved a little further north, to the ancient outlying village of Sushchevo, where the New Vorotnikovskaya settlement was formed. Here, in a picturesque place, on the shore of a large beautiful pond, the new settlers immediately built themselves a wooden church with a main altar in the name of the Life-Giving Trinity and a chapel in honor of St. Pimen the Great, whom the collars from ancient times revered as their Heavenly patron.
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The new church almost exactly repeated the old Trinity Church that already existed at the collars in their former place, which also had a Pimenovsky chapel, and which (according to surviving documents) was “moved” by them “from the old place,” apparently from the walls of the Kremlin, to Tver Gate back in 1493 (in connection with the expansion of the Kremlin and the construction of new Kremlin walls in 1485-1516).
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Church of Pimen the Great in Starye Vorotniki. The temple was closed in 1923 and demolished in 1931-1932.

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Thus, the guards of the Moscow gates arose two shrines - two temples of the same name, colloquially referred to as “Pimen the Old” and “Pimen the New” - two evidence of the special veneration of these service people for the great Egyptian Abba Pimen, the mentor of the monastics, the teacher of humility and obedience.

Here it is worth dwelling a little on the personality of Saint Pimen himself. One of the greatest representatives of ancient monasticism, Saint Pimen the Great was born around 340 in Egypt. From early childhood he strove for monasticism as a spiritual science. While still a very young man, he and his two brothers went to one of the monasteries in the Egyptian desert of Skitos, where all three took monastic vows in 356. Spending time in strict fasting and prayerful deeds, the monk reached such a height of virtues that he entered into complete “dispassion.”
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For many monks, abba (respectful treatment of elements of veneration) Pimen was a spiritual mentor and leader. For the edification of themselves and others, they wrote down his instructions, full of deep wisdom and expressed in simple forms accessible to all. Abba Pimen said: “A person must follow three main rules: fear God, pray often and do good to people. Malice will never destroy malice; If someone has done you evil, do him good, and your good will overcome his evil.” The sayings of Abba Pimen and his way of thinking were always recognized by all holy monks as a precious, priceless treasure, a spiritual testament and heritage to Orthodox monasticism. Having become famous for the holiness of his life and the deep edification of his teachings, being about 110 years old from birth, the Egyptian hermit died around 450. Soon he was recognized as a holy saint of God and, as a sign of great humility, modesty, truthfulness and selfless service to God, he received the name Great. The life of St. Pimen the Great and his service to people show us a vivid example of the spiritual beauty and greatness of Orthodox asceticism of the 4th - 5th centuries.

Why exactly Abba Pimen chose collars for his saints is not entirely clear, especially if you “look” from our today’s “bell tower”. There is evidence that when Takhtomysh took Moscow by deception in 1382 and completely plundered it, the city was burned, but it was the white stone towers and walls of the city that survived, and this was on the eve of the day of remembrance of St. Pimen the Great, celebrated by the Church on August 27 (September 9 according to the new style), which gave the collars a reason to choose him as their patron. Although, I think that not everything is fully clarified here, since the very fact of the complete sack of Moscow could not be a memorable date. Rather, this happened because believers in Rus' always loved to pray to the greatest and strictest ascetics of antiquity, the “lamp of God” of the first centuries of Christianity, considering Pimen “a collar from the kingdom of God.”
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Within one year of the burning, the capital was rebuilt and repopulated. Apparently, the construction of the first Pimenovsky Church near the walls of the Kremlin by the defenders of the Moscow fortress gate dates back to this time. Initially, the settlement of Moscow collars was also located near the walls of the Kremlin. Their later settlement, Vorotniki, was located next to Tverskaya Street. In honor of the temple of the patron saint of collars, Pimen the Great, neighboring lanes were named - Vorotnikovsky and Staropimenovsky, where the second stone temple of Pimen the Great was later located in Starye Vorotniki.

Gradually, the center of Moscow was increasingly built up, so in the middle of the 17th century (approximately 1658) some of the Moscow collars were moved to the outskirts of the village of Sushchevo. Another Vorotnikovskaya settlement was formed here. Around 1672, a new church of St. Pimen was built, with the main Trinity altar, exactly repeating their old temple. The memory of the settlement of the guards remained in the name of the local Novovorotnikovsky Lane (this is where the tram line from Novoslobodskaya runs along an arc with a turn).
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Thus, two temples, old and new, lived side by side for a long time, at a distance of less than one mile from each other, like two spiritual brothers, older and younger. Both were loved by parishioners, both were rebuilt, renovated and “beautified” several times.

The new wooden Pimenovskaya Church did not stand for long - it burned down in a fire in 1691. With the blessing of Patriarch Adrian, it was built again in 1696-1702, but in stone, and consecrated in 1702 with the same thrones - the main Trinity and a chapel in the name of St. Pimen the Great. The architectural appearance of the new stone church was characteristic of the late 17th century, the “Moscow Baroque” period. It was a simple single-apse temple, an “octagon on a quadrangle”, completed with an octagonal blind drum with a small dome, with one southern aisle and a refectory, to which a low bell tower adjoined from the west.
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In the 18th century, with the transfer of the capital to the banks of the Neva and the loss of the military significance of Moscow fortifications, collars became professionally unclaimed and found themselves in the position of ordinary city residents. Gradually, the suburban way of life with a homogeneous population began to disappear. The most enterprising of the Sloboda residents went into free trade, joining the merchant class. So, gradually ordinary townspeople of different classes became parishioners of “New Pimen” - working people and burghers, “nobles” and merchants, serfs and freedmen, employees of various institutions and the military. According to the Ancient Vivliofika, in 1722 there were 170 houses in the parish.
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In 1760-1770, the refectory was significantly expanded. At the same time, a new bell tower was erected, which was rebuilt again in the second half of the 19th century. In the period from 1796 to 1806. was built, and in 1807 the second, northern chapel was consecrated in the name of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God.
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Exactly 13 years after the devastation of Moscow mentioned by Tokhtamyshev, on the same day of August 26 (September 8, AD), but already in 1395, there was a meeting between the Moscow clergy, led by Saint Cyprian, of the miraculous image of the Mother of God, brought from Vladimir to the capital.

Muscovites fearfully awaited the attack of Tamerlane's hordes, preparing with fasting and prayer “to meet the wrath of God in mental and physical purity.” But a miracle happened - this time the city was saved - the formidable conqueror departed from Moscow on the very day and hour when the solemn “meeting” of the miraculous Vladimir icon took place.
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Soon after the construction of the Vladimir chapel, the temple area was surrounded by a fundamental fence with a gate made in the Baroque style. This fence has almost completely survived to this day.
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To the north of the temple there was a church graveyard. Now this place is a large vacant lot with a long-abandoned building (part of it is visible on the right in the photo)... Something tells me that it once had some connection with church property as an apartment building.
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Another part of the vacant lot is now allocated for the city park of the “new wave”) Behind its trees is Krasnoproletarskaya Street - towards Sadovoy...
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In the second half of the 19th century, the need arose for a significant expansion of the temple. According to the design of the architect D.A. Gushchina, in 1881-1882. Both aisles were extended to the east, the altar apses were completely rebuilt, as a result of which the iconostasis of all three altars came out on the same line. The paintings and external decoration of the temple were renewed, and new elements of baroque decor in the spirit of the late 17th century were added.
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The facades of the church received a new decorative design, in the spirit of eclecticism, reproducing the forms of the “Russian style” and “Moscow baroque”. Now, according to contemporaries, the once “cramped and rather gloomy church” has become one of “the most extensive churches in Moscow, decorated with truly elegant splendor.” The consecration of the expanded and renovated church took place on the day of remembrance of St. Pimen the Great, August 27, 1883.
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After the completion of the expansion of the temple, renovation of its interior decoration began in 1897. The parish council, headed by the rector, Fr. Vasily Slavsky (1842-1911) and the headman, merchant S.S. Krasheninnikov, decided to use as a model the sketches of the paintings of the St. Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv, completed by 1896 by the best masters of their time - V.M. Vasnetsov, M.V. Nesterov, M.A. Vrubel, P.A. Svedomsky, V.A. Kotarbinsky and others. The main role in the creation of the temple painting of the Vladimir Cathedral belonged to V.M. Vasnetsov, the founder of a special “Russian-Byzantine style” "in painting. The paintings of the temple, however, were created not by Vasnetsov personally, but by Shekhtel’s students, but with the approval of Viktor Mikhailovich and using his technique.
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"The Crucified God the Son." Painting of the western wall of the main altar (composition by V.M. Vasnetsov).
This photo and three more below are from the website of the parishioners of the Temple of Pimen the Great in Novye Vorotniki.

The idea of ​​the continuity of Russian Orthodoxy from Byzantium, the inclusion of the Russian Church in the history of Ecumenical Orthodoxy formed the basis of the program for creating a new interior decoration of the Pimenovsky Church. The recognized master of “Russian Art Nouveau”, the outstanding architect F.O. Shekhtel (1859-1926), was appointed the author of the project and the supervisor of the work.
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Old photo of the Shekhtel iconostos.

Turning to the possibilities of the Byzantine style, F.O. Shekhtel created a project according to which a group of talented craftsmen (P.A. Bazhenov, painting; I.A. Orlov, carving; A. Kuzmichev, vestments on icons; etc.) for ten years of work, one of the best temple interiors created in Moscow at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries was completed, distinguished by its extraordinary grandeur, harmony and beauty.

The iconostases of all three adjacent altars were combined into a single two-tier ensemble, made in the Byzantine style from white Italian marble. For all its vastness and elegance of decoration, the iconostasis amazes with its strict elegance and purity of its lines. Its magnificent carving (the work of I.A. Orlov) reproduces early Christian, Byzantine spiritual symbolism. The marble decor includes floral patterns, palm branches - a symbol of the Kingdom of Heaven, the “Cup of Salvation”, various forms of the cross, chrismas, “alpha and omega”, bunches of grapes and vine shoots. The arch of the central iconostasis is crowned with a cross in a vine - a symbol of the Resurrection of Christ and eternal life. The bronze and gilded lattice Royal Doors, perfectly in harmony with the white marble, open up a view of the altarpieces painted on the altar.
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Modern photo of the Shekhtel iconostasis.
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Altar of the main temple. Easter, 2008

The walls and vaults of the temple are decorated with paintings in the Russian-Byzantine style. Under the arches there are 18 subject compositions (including altarpieces and iconostasis) on gospel themes; on the walls and pillars there are 120 life-size iconographic images of saints.

The consecration of the renovated and decorated temple was carried out in stages, as the work was completed. The Pimenovsky chapel was consecrated on January 22, 1900. Seven years later, on December 27, 1907, the main Trinity Church and chapel in honor of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God were consecrated.
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During the Soviet period, the temple was not closed. In April 1922, 12 pounds of “church valuables” were confiscated from the temple. In 1927-1932, the choir director at the Pimenovsky Church was the monk Platon - the future Patriarch Pimen. Subsequently, he annually performed services here on the patronal feast of the church, celebrating his namesake day.
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Since 1936, the Pimenovsky Church has become the main Moscow temple of the Renovationists, led by Metropolitan Alexander Vvedensky. In 1944, almost all of the renovationists, led by “Metropolitan” Vitaly, repented and reunited with the Orthodox Church. There was only one “stronghold” of renovationism left in Moscow - the Pimenovsky Church, where A.I. continued to serve. Vvedensky, posing as a “metropolitan” and “first hierarch” of the “Orthodox churches.” Three and a half months after the death of Alexander Vvedensky, on October 9, the Church of St. Pimen the Great came under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate.

This is a view of the Temple of Pimen the Great from the northeast or from today’s Krasnoproletarskaya Street.
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In general, the source from which basically all this information was taken is the temple website created by its parishioners. There's a lot of information and old photos there. The site was created with love and from the heart and is easily recommended by me for in-depth viewing.
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In old, pre-revolutionary Moscow, there were two churches consecrated in the name of St. Pimen the Great - “Old”, near Tverskaya Street, destroyed by the Bolsheviks, and “New”, which survived, in Sushchev near Novoslobodskaya. Both churches were historically connected with each other and were parish churches of the settlement of Moscow collars - guards who guarded the gates of the fortress walls of Moscow, the Kremlin, Kitay-Gorod, Bely and Zemlyanoy. At one time, this settlement was located next to Tverskaya Street, where it left a memory of itself in the name of the local Vorotnikovsky Lane, and in the 17th century, with the development and settlement of the central city, the settlement was transferred outside the Zemlyanoy Town, to the outlying village of Sushchevo. There the collars built themselves a new temple in the name of St. Pimen, since from ancient times he was revered as their patron.

Saint Pimen was born in 340 in Egypt and, together with his brothers, took monastic vows in an Egyptian monastery. Soon the rumor about the holy ascetic spread throughout Egypt, so much so that one local ruler wanted to visit him himself, but was refused - St. Pimen was afraid of the widespread popular veneration that would inevitably follow the arrival of the nobleman, and this would interfere with his silence and inner humility. He taught the monks love for God and neighbor, prayer and repentance, without imposing an “unbearable burden” on people, without exhausting them with hunger, prolonged fasting, or insomnia. “A person must follow three main rules: fear God, pray often and do good to people,” said the saint. The monks wrote down his wise sayings. Thus, one monk asked his mentor whether he should tell about the sin of a brother whom he witnessed. And Saint Pimen answered: “If we hide the sins of our brothers, then God will hide our sins.” And in response to the tricky question of what is better, to speak or remain silent, the saint said: “Whoever speaks for God’s sake does well, and whoever is silent for God’s sake also does well.”

The Monk Pimen lived 110 years in his holy life. After his death, the Orthodox Church glorified him “Great” - for the sake of his service to God, and honors him as a holy saint.

The patron saint of Moscow collars is St. Pimen came on a special and sad occasion for Moscow. After the Battle of Kulikovo, which was victorious for Rus', the Horde decided to take revenge on Moscow and its ruler, Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy. In 1382, just two years after the glorious battle on the Kulikovo Field, Khan Tokhtamysh attacked Moscow and besieged the Kremlin, in which the city’s defenders locked themselves in, defending this last approach to the heart of Moscow. The insidious khan resorted to a trick - he ordered the Russian princes from the appanage principalities, rivals of Moscow and its sovereign, to persuade the Muscovites to open the Kremlin gates, promising that he would not touch either the city or its inhabitants. The collar guards guarding the Kremlin believed their compatriots and paid cruelly: the enemy rushed through the open gates. Moscow was burned to the ground, and all its defenders and peaceful citizens who took refuge in the Kremlin - women, children, old people, monks - were killed. It happened on September 9, St. Pimen the Great - and therefore from that time he began to be revered as the defender of the Moscow city gates and the heavenly patron of their guards.

In historical literature there is sometimes another, less substantiated interpretation of the word collars: supposedly this was the name of the gun servant, who during battles raised the “gate” - the shield of the gun - before firing, so that the military themselves would not suffer from its explosion. Proponents of this theory refer to the military specialization of this ancient Moscow area - there were “Pushkari” and Bronnaya Sloboda nearby, where weapons were made. But the version about the watchmen - sentinels guarding the city gates, guarding the peace of the city and its population - is more reliable and generally accepted.

The first, earliest, settlement of Moscow collars was located near the walls of the Kremlin. Then they were transferred to Tverskaya, outside the walls of the White City, but inside Zemlyanoy - there it was convenient for the collars to perform their duties, since the distance to both fortresses was short. Everyone who entered this service was brought to a special oath - to serve the sovereign in equality with other guards, where ordered, and, while standing on guard, not to steal, not to drink and not to drink, “not to associate with thieves” and “the great the sovereign cannot change.”

But, in addition to guarding the gates, the collar workers who settled in the settlement, as usual in Moscow, were engaged in gardening, which fed their families, trade, and even crafts and blacksmithing, which was greatly facilitated by the social specifics of the area. Nearby was Carriage Row, where carriages were made and sold, and at the collars they were repaired and horses were shoed. And if in pre-Petrine times the service of collar guards for the protection of a medieval city was not only responsible, but also highly in demand, then with the transfer of the capital to St. Petersburg and the radically new development of Moscow, they found themselves in the position of ordinary city residents - ordinary people.

The first Pimenovskaya Church near Tverskaya appeared back in 1493, and in the middle of the 17th century it was still wooden. Only in 1681-1682, after the Moscow settlement of collars was largely transferred outside the Zemlyanoy Gorod, “old Pimen” was built in stone, with a main altar in the name of the Holy Trinity and a chapel in the name of the patron saint of Moscow guards. The temple was consecrated by the patriarch himself. And in the first half of the 19th century, the famous Moscow architect Afanasy Grigoriev (one of the authors of the “Great Ascension”) built a new stone church here with a classic huge dome.

On April 27, 1869, F.I. Tyutchev’s son, Ivan, and O. Putyata were married in the Pimenovsky Church, and the poet himself was present at the celebration.

Now this place is familiar to Muscovites mainly for its two historical monuments, “that of Old Pimen.” The first of them is Vorotnikovsky, 12, where Pushkin’s last meeting with Moscow ended. This was the house of his old friend, Pavel Nashchokin, the same one from whom Pushkin, strapped for funds, borrowed a wedding tailcoat for his wedding, and, according to legend, was buried there. The poet stayed with him in this house on his last visit to Moscow in his life, in May 1836, when he worked in the Moscow Archives of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs on authentic documents of the history of the reign of Peter I and the Pugachev uprising. Pavel Voinovich Nashchokin, a kind and honest man, a hospitable host, was also an excellent storyteller, so much so that Pushkin asked him to write down his “memories” at least in the form of letters to him - after all, it was Nashchokin’s stories that became the plots of such Pushkin creations as “Dubrovsky " and "House in Kolomna."

Pushkin planned to portray Nashchokin himself as the main character of a novel about the life of the Russian nobility, but this plan did not have time to be realized. Then one of the first researchers of Pushkin’s life, the well-known Pavel Annenkov, wrote about Nashchokin, emphasizing those features of his inner appearance that attracted Pushkin to him: “Rare people knew how to preserve human dignity, straightforwardness of soul, nobility of character, clear conscience and unchanging kindness of heart as this friend of Pushkin in the most critical circumstances of life, on the verge of death, in the whirlpool of blind passions and hobbies and under the blows of fate...”

They met back in Tsarskoe Selo, when Nashchokin studied at the Noble boarding school at the famous Lyceum together with Pushkin’s brother, Lev. Their heartfelt friendship with the poet lasted for the rest of their lives - bosom friends shared all their joys and sorrows, approved of each other’s choice of wives, and dreamed of happiness together. Two days before his wedding, the poet came to Nashchokin on Arbat. The famous gypsy singer Tatyana Demyanova was staying in his house at that time. Pushkin was a little sad: “Sing me, Tanya, something for luck; I heard maybe I’ll get married.” She, herself in those days upset by a quarrel with her beloved, sang sadly:

Oh, mother, why is it so dusty in the field?

Empress, why is it so dusty?

The horses played out. And whose horses are they, whose horses are they?

Horses of Alexander Sergeevich...

Pushkin suddenly burst into tears. Nashchokin rushed to him: “Pushkin, what’s wrong with you?!” “This song turned everything inside me, it portends a great loss for me,” the poet answered and left without saying goodbye to anyone. And Nashchokin, having lent Pushkin a wedding coat, together with Vyazemsky met the newlyweds with the icon at the poet’s Arbat apartment, where they had arrived straight from the wedding from the “Great Ascension”.

The last time Pushkin visited his Moscow friend was in Vorotnikovsky Lane. At the farewell dinner, he spilled Provencal oil on the table and was very sad about this, remaining to wait until midnight, when the power of the “bad omen” would end. Nashchokin, no less superstitious than Pushkin, wore a gold ring with turquoise on his finger as a “talisman” against violent death, and, knowing about his friend’s main fear, gave him the same one. The already dying Pushkin gave this ring to Danzas, his second - as a memory of himself.

Here, at 16 Staropimenovsky, stood Professor D.I.’s own house. Ilovaisky, a famous Russian historian, author of a popular gymnasium textbook, who received a lot from the progressive public in those days. Here he lived until his death and died as a very old man in 1919 - before that, a revolution and even arrest overtook him here.

This Moscow monument went down in history largely thanks to Marina Tsvetaeva’s essay “The House at Old Pimen.” And not without reason - from here comes one of the most interesting stories of old Moscow, connected with the legendary Moscow house of the great poetess. After all, that very wooden house in Trekhprudny Lane, where Marina Tsvetaeva was born and raised, initially belonged to the historian Ilovaisky: it was the dowry of his daughter Varvara, who married Professor I. Tsvetaev and became his first wife. So the Tsvetaevs turned out to be the owners of the house in Trekhprudny - and when Varvara Dmitrievna died, the house was inherited by her husband, and from his second marriage the Tsvetaev sisters were born here - Marina and Anastasia. Ilovaisky often stayed with them, visiting his grandson, and the colorful figure of the famous scientist, the “stiff-necked old man” made a strong impression on the little poetess - then she probably left the most vivid, expressive memories of him.

In the first years of Soviet power, the Pimenovskaya Church was closed under the pretext that its caretaker had set up a “moonshine factory” in it. The temple premises were intended for “cultural purposes,” namely for the Komsomol club, opened here in 1923. “The portrait of Liebknecht expanded the images in the altar,” the newspaper enthusiastically reported, reporting on a meeting of the conference of the Krasnopresnensky district Komsomol committee. But in the end, the Komsomol settled here for a short time, and soon a consignment store was simply opened in the former church to sell unredeemed items. They fought for a long time for the unique hipped bell tower of the temple, which remained from the 17th century, but everything was useless - in 1932 the church was demolished and an ordinary residential building was built in its place. Now only the names of the local Staropimenovsky and Vorotnikovsky lanes, and two great houses, as if called upon to testify to the bygone glorious history of old Moscow, remind us of “Old Pimen”.

“New Pimen” remained at Novoslobodskaya. The fact that this temple was not closed during Soviet times and retained its ancient interior seems to “compensate” for the loss of “Old Pimen”. In the middle of the 17th century (approximately 1658), Moscow collars were transferred here from Zemlyanoy Gorod, which was already heavily built-up and crowded: their former territory was freed up for Streltsy and other courtyards of sovereign people and masters of essential professions. Here, on the outskirts of Sushchev, the guards formed another Vorotnikovskaya settlement and around 1672 they built a new settlement church in the name of their traditional patron - St. Pimen, with the main Trinity throne, exactly repeating their old temple. The new settlement of guards remained in the simple name of the local Novovorotnikovsky Lane, where “New Pimen” has stood since then.

This church was also initially made of wood (which suggests the relative poverty of Moscow collars) and soon burned down. With the blessing of the Patriarch, it was built again at the turn of the 17th - 18th centuries, but in stone and stood in the old days on the shore of a large, beautiful pond. And in the 19th century, a new chapel appeared in the name of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, built on the occasion of a miracle revealed from this image. According to legend, a blind boy was once playing here and gropingly picked up an object in his hand. At this time, dust and sand hit his face, he rubbed his eyes with this hand - and instantly regained his sight. The first thing he saw was a small icon carved on a stone, which he held in his hand - it turned out to be the image of Our Lady of Vladimir. A chapel was then built in her name - scientists believe that this happened at the beginning of the 19th century, and when the church was rebuilt at the end of the same century, the chapel was rebuilt by the architect K.M. Bykovsky. This stone icon was kept in the Pimenovsky Church for a long time.

Of course, at the turn of the 19th – 20th centuries. there was no longer any talk about any Moscow collars and their suburban settlement. The parishioners of “New Pimen” were then numerous ordinary Muscovites living in that area, who began to ask the authorities to expand the temple due to its cramped space. The work was carried out for several decades - at the beginning of the twentieth century, Fyodor Shekhtel himself originally designed its interior decoration with elements and artistic techniques of Moscow Art Nouveau. The Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv was taken as a model - both its low, single-tier iconostasis, similar to the Byzantine one, and the paintings of V. Vasnetsov, although the artist himself was not invited to participate in the work on the Moscow Pimenovsky Church. In addition, the ancient Christian symbolism of the catacombs was used in the interior design - the image of “Alpha and Omega”, grape vines, palm branches... The decorated and rebuilt Pimenovsky Church was consecrated in October 1907.

After the revolution, difficult days came for New Pimen, even though it was not closed. Since 1936, the Pimenovsky Church became the citadel of the “renovationists” led by the false metropolitan Alexander Vvedensky - it was the main Moscow temple of the schismatics, among other city churches that they captured in such troubled times for Russia. And only after the death of the leader of the schism, which followed in 1946, the Pimenovsky Church was the last of them to return to the Patriarchate. The last time renovationists served there was on the feast of St. John the Theologian on October 9, 1946 - just half an hour after its completion, the temple came under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church.

During the Soviet years, a temple icon was moved here from the famous Church of St. Basil of Caesarea on Tverskaya, which was destroyed without a trace by the godless authorities in the mid-1930s. A little earlier than all these events, in 1928-1932. the regent of the choir in the Pimenovsky Church was the monk Platon - the future Patriarch Pimen. Subsequently, he annually performed services here on the patronal feast of the church, celebrating his namesake day.

Currently, the church is still active.

The full name of this church is the Temple of St. Pimen the Great (Life-Giving Trinity) in Novye Vorotniki, in Sushchev.

The beginning of the history of this temple dates back to the middle of the 17th century. Its foundation was laid in 1658, during the reign of Emperor Alexei Mikhailovich (1645-1676) under Patriarch Nikon (1652-1666).
Time has not preserved the names of the founders of the temple, but it is known that it was built by a settlement of vorotniki - a special detachment of military men who guarded the gate (i.e. travel) towers of the fortress walls of Moscow in the 14th-17th centuries.
The collars considered Saint Pimen the Great (340 - 450) their patron, so they consecrated the church in the name of this saint.
The collars lived in closed suburban settlements, first near the Kremlin towers, and then at the gates of the White City, in Zemlyanoy Gorod. They had land plots, could engage in gardening and various crafts, but always had to be ready for the sovereign's service.
In the middle of the 18th century (approximately 1658), Moscow collars were transferred to the outlying village of Sushchevo from Zemlyanoy Town, already heavily built-up and crowded: their former territory was freed up for Streltsy and other courtyards of sovereign people and masters of essential professions. Here, the guards formed another Vorotnikovskaya settlement and around 1672 they built a new settlement church in the name of their traditional patron - St. Pimen, with the main Trinity throne, exactly repeating their old temple. The new settlement of guards remained in the simple name of the local Novovorotnikovsky Lane, where “New Pimen” has stood since then.

This church was also initially wooden (which suggests the relative poverty of Moscow collars) and soon burned down in 1691. With the blessing of Patriarch Adrian, it was built again in 1696-1702, but in stone and stood in the old days on the shore of a large, beautiful pond.

At the beginning of the 19th century, a new chapel of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was added to the temple. The construction of this chapel is associated with a legend about a blind boy who, while playing near the walls of the temple, accidentally picked up some object, after which the boy rubbed his eyes with his hands and immediately miraculously regained his sight. In his hand was a small stone icon of the Vladimir Mother of God.
And in 1825, a temple fence was erected, which has survived to this day. At the same time, the old bell tower was dismantled and a new one was built - three-tiered in the spirit of eclecticism (a mixture of different styles).

In the second half of the 19th century, the need arose to significantly expand the temple, which could not accommodate the increased number of parishioners.
According to a new project approved in 1892, the author of which was the architect A.V. Krasilnikov, the temple spread significantly to the west. All work was carried out at the expense of donors and the parish. So, by the summer of 1893, the temple was increased in length due to the expansion of the refectory to the west, for which it was necessary to fill in the pond. The first tier of the bell tower was rebuilt and a porch with small tents on the sides was added. As a result, the chapels became even more spacious, and both eastern pillars of the bell tower were inside the temple space.

The temple acquired the appearance and dimensions that have survived to this day. Its maximum length was 45 meters, width about 27 meters, total area (without solea and altar) about 600 square meters, which can accommodate up to 4,000 pilgrims for holidays.
The interior decoration was designed by Fyodor Shekhtel, who used the Moscow Art Nouveau style. The Kiev Vladimir Cathedral with its single-tier iconostasis in the Byzantine style was taken as a basis.
In 1907, the rebuilt temple was consecrated.

During Soviet times, the Church of St. Pimen the Great was not closed, but in April 1922 the temple was subject to robbery, officially called the “seizure of church valuables.” In total, 12 poods 38 pounds 48 spools of gold and silver items were “seized.” The bells were also removed. Father Mikhail Steblev, rector of the church from 1911 to 1923, could not bear its destruction. An elderly man with already poor health, he soon became seriously ill and died.

In 1927-1932, the choir director at the Pimenovsky Church was the monk Platon - the future Patriarch Pimen. Subsequently, he annually performed services here on the patronal feast of the church, celebrating his namesake day.

Since 1936, the Pimenovsky Church became the citadel of the Renovationists, led by the false metropolitan Alexander Vvedensky - it was the main Moscow temple of the schismatics, which, among other city churches, was seized by them in times of troubles for Russia. And only after the death of the leader of the schism, which followed in 1946, the Pimenovsky Church was the last of them to return to the Patriarchate. On October 9, 1946, on the feast of St. John the Theologian, the renovationists held a solemn service here, and just half an hour after its end, the temple came under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church.

In 1990 and 1991, on September 9 (August 27, Old Style), the solemn Divine Liturgy in the Church of the Venerable Pimen the Great on the occasion of the patronal feast was led by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus'.

The temple celebrated its 350th anniversary in new, elegant decoration. Its building has been newly plastered and painted, the crosses on its domes are shining with gold, and the area adjacent to the temple has been landscaped. Thanks to external lighting, the temple makes a bright and festive impression in any weather and at any time.

Currently, the temple is open daily for worship, there is a Sunday school for adults and children at the temple, and a library.
(The information was taken from the temple’s website, where you can also find many photographs of the interior and a more complete description of the history of the temple).

Unfortunately, I was not able to go into the church. Today there was no service there, and the gates were closed. But you can see the schedule on the website. In my opinion, judging by the description and photographs, it should be very beautiful there.