Church of St. Sergius on the Khodynka field. Temple of Sergius of Radonezh on the Khodynka field: description, history and interesting facts. Description of the church building

At the end of February, sketches of the alleged church of St. Sergius of Radonezh on Khodynskoye Pole appeared on the Internet and immediately caused a heated public discussion. Its participants spoke about the project at times very unflatteringly, there were various considerations about the competence of the author. About where the sketches “floated” on the Internet actually came from, how the temple will actually look like, and also about the temple architecture of the 21st century in general, we talk with the chief architect of the Financial and Economic Department of the Russian Orthodox Church, a member of the Union of Architects of Russia since 1986, Archpriest Andrei Yurevich.

- Father Andrei, an image of the future church on the Khodynka field appeared on the Internet. Is this really the final selected project?

– First of all, about the picture that caused so much controversy. This is the very first, fore-sketch, this is an idea that needs to be worked on further. And posting such photos on the Internet was generally incorrect.

They have a draft 3D model, which was made specifically to test some of the sketch solutions. Architectural and planning decisions that are made on sketches are checked in this way. They build a model and look: what is visible from one side, from the other, from a perspective, from a bird's eye view, from the height of a human eye. They twist and turn the model and look. And that model has not even been completed yet.

This is the creative process, the kitchen. And on the Internet they showed the rough work. And now it diverges as some kind of final solution. It didn't need to be done at all.

- Appeared sketches caused an active discussion ...

– I want to rehabilitate an architect. It is very bad, unethical and incorrect to immediately indiscriminately condemn a person like this. If you don’t know him personally, you don’t know his work, what the person was doing, how can you say such things - everything that was said there?

For example, they wrote to me like this: “The project should be developed by professionals who know how to design church architecture.”

Sergey Yakovlevich Kuznetsov has been in the profession for forty-five years, and almost thirty of them have been in church architecture. Is he professional or not? He was already designing and building temples in the eighties.

For example, in the Church of the Annunciation in Petrovsky Park, he has been a parish architect for about twenty years. He designed a baptismal church there, and a parish educational center, and a fence, and all the iconostases in the church, and even forged seven-candlesticks in the altars.

Yes, he did not cooperate with any large firms, did not participate in international competitions - he simply worked quietly and modestly at the parish, on the reconstruction and restoration of the domes of the Church of Mitrophanius of Voronezh, the house of the clergy near it. He also built several churches in the Moscow region.

And he still draws everything by hand. – all sketches, plans, facades, – which most architects no longer do. This is very valuable in our profession.

He has his own specific style, he uses the traditions of the very beginnings - Pskov-Novgorod laconic architecture. And his approach is to take out, as they say, door and window openings, some other elements from the mass of the volume, the mass of the wall, so that the “body” of the temple remains. This is a type of fortification architecture.

What is the procedure for selecting projects?

– There is a certain regulation of the program "200 temples"; by the way, today there are no longer two hundred, but much more, but this is how it is traditionally called. According to this regulation, the Church has entrusted the Financial and Economic Department to deal with all issues.

When Vladyka Mark Egoryevsky was appointed chairman of the FHU last summer, he included me in the number of employees. (He's our vicar for the north, and he knows I'm an architect by trade.) With the blessing of the Patriarch, I am now involved in all architectural programs here, including the design side.

According to the regulations, the chairman of the FHU has the duty to coordinate and approve individual projects of temples. And I am a kind of professional authority that oversees all this, passes through itself, advises, uniting the ecclesiastical side and the architectural side.

Because it's not a secret: it can be difficult to communicate with architects for both the hierarchy and the abbots. And vice versa, a priest, no matter how wonderful he may be, sometimes does not understand much in building and architectural matters.

At FHU there is some expert advice. There is a guild of temple builders, which was organized last year; it includes the main architects and designers of church buildings. And we work with her.

And then we announce internal tenders. And it is the customer who decides what kind of competition will be in each case. – open or closed. And the customer of the program is the Church, in this case FHU. This is not government money.

Specifically, the design of the temple on Khodynka was chosen from five or even six others presented. They stopped on it.

– Does FHU hold open competitions?

– Yes. The year before last, for the first time in many years, there was an open competition for a modern look. Orthodox church. Prior to this, a similar competition was back in 1989 (by the way, I participated in it then).

In 2015, in the month of January, we held a review of projects for last years. These are all open competitions - anyone can participate. Now we are preparing regulations for the next competition. Among the organizers are the FHU ROC, the Union of Architects of Russia, the Guild of Temple Builders.

We think that every year we will have a large All-Russian, with the possibility of international participation, an open competition on some specific topics.

For example, now a theme will be developed that is entirely related to parish complexes. Not just temples, but with the whole block of social premises and, preferably, in one building. Now this topic is very important, because there are problems in the economy, and we came to the conclusion that we need to work on creating projects that are concise in architecture, and, let's say, low-budget. And maybe even prefabricated. Although in part there is also a reflection on the further development of the typology of church buildings in general.

- Father Andrei, what is the modern church like?

– This is a very serious topic. – balance of tradition and innovation. It is clear that the Church is a fairly conservative institution, the Church – it is a divine-human organism.

According to the Divine, this is something eternal, where all our dogma exists, the unshakable Creed. Things that are trying to be called “canons of architecture” are some kind of dogma, but in fact there are much fewer of them than people think.

They think that architectural canons are zakomaras, arches, vaults, domes, and something else. But these are not canons - these are the forms in which these canons are implemented. And the form of church architecture can be very different. For example, the shape of the dome. It has evolved over time.

Look, the Byzantine dome is a huge hemisphere. And, for example, ancient domes, Russian domes are helmet-shaped. Then bulbs appeared, and very different ones - round, flattened with a wide abyss, and bulbs in the Art Nouveau style - already directed upwards like lights, candles.

If we talk about Caucasian architecture, for example, Georgian, - they did without domes at all - only tents directed upwards. Sometimes pyramidal, with a square at the base, sometimes octahedral.

Or look at St. Basil's Cathedral. On the one hand, it contained almost the entire history of architecture, but when it was built, I am sure that in the then society it was a real contemporary work of art. It is not very clear where all these colored turbans, such an Asian thing, suddenly came from? But the architects saw it that way. And now this temple is a world phenomenon, protected by UNESCO. True, there is an opinion that such domes were made later, but this is only an assumption.

And in temple architecture, as in the Church, there is a divine side, and there is a human side. So, the human side, that is, forms and styles, has always developed in history. And always in all eras, church architecture corresponded to its time.

Even looking at today's eclectic things - all these remarks and quotes, one can immediately say: this is in the style of such and such a school, such and such time. This is Novgorod of the fifteenth century, and this is Pskov of the thirteenth, this is Vladimir and Suzdal of the twelfth, and this is Moscow of the end of the fourteenth – beginning of the fifteenth. Those who know the history of architecture immediately determine all this.

And then the 17th century with all its many colors, Khamovniki and so on. And then came the classics of the 19th century. And before that it was still baroque, and then modern. Shchusev, Pokrovsky and Peretyatkovich, and so on. Everything corresponded to its time, its era.

Today is the 21st century. Where is the temple that corresponds to this era, the temple of the XXI century? So far it's all quotations, it's all eclecticism. But I consider the project for Khodynka to be one of the temples of the 21st century; one that goes further on the basis of tradition.

- Tell us about the project.

– According to the planning project, it was specified that the building should be one, it should be compact, that is, a complex. The park area, the subway and all these natural complexes do not allow making a fence with a fence and a clergy house.

It turns out that there should be an open structure on the esplanade, which stands compactly in a single volume. Therefore, it acquired that cubic composition, which today someone does not like.

One must, of course, understand the context and environment. You look at what aggressive things are there - four chests of "Aviapark". And tall apartments and residential buildings are being built. Therefore, according to the instructions, it was so - that it was a monumental structure. As Kuznetsov himself called him - "head over heels".

All this should be concise. Brutal if you want. And on this huge Khodynka field, it will look even as a small structure, since it has its own specific scale.

- Have you determined the exact dimensions of the building?

– Right now it's hard to say. The plot was allocated 0.5 hectares.

The first floor, the basement is occupied by all sorts of office and storage rooms, a sacristy, a refectory, etc. One of the blocks, just a side one, on all three floors is occupied by a large parochial school. That is, a spiritual and educational social complex is supposed.

Another feature is the setting of domes in orthogonal projection. – roughly like the Cathedral of San Marco in Venice, that is, not in the corners, but along the main axes. This gives the temple a certain fundamentality and centricity like a domed basilica.

Only the very first sketches of the interior exist. Quadruple pillars below. Quite thin, which go into large arches. Above everything is massive, and below it is quite airy, that is, nothing blocks people.

Well, at least that's reliable information...

– Most importantly, I repeat once again: I defend the architect's right to create. The right of those who look, agree and approve is to agree and approve. Give everyone your rights.

In general, I do not know that someday from time immemorial appearance temples was discussed by the people. This was decided either by the princes, or by the architects themselves, and then until the very end they did not know what it would be. There is even a saying: "Architecture is the work of kings." But for this to be decided at a village meeting, I have never heard of such a thing.

– And yet, let's return to the question - what of the heritage of past centuries can be taken to a modern temple?

– We must take everything, we must not throw anything away. But how to do it? Architecture is like any other art. Take the creativity of fashion designers, because they take anything as a basis. They take, for example, clothes from the NEP era, but they make clothes of the 21st century out of this. And it is clear that this is only an allusion, but in fact today's.

Where is the criterion then? What is good, what is bad, what corresponds to the 21st century?

– I will say general words - this is both comfortable and beautiful, functional, structurally designed, durable temple, and so on. This is the very ancient triad of Vitruvius - "strength, usefulness, beauty."

All this should be: the temple should be durable, functionally useful, beautiful. But how? Who should decide? You can, after all, question the competence of any person, any commission, any jury, anyone. Including, of course, those who are dissatisfied. Their competence can also be called into question.

And then someone has to decide. Here is my family: seven children, many grandchildren, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, wife. I sometimes let everything go to democracy - everyone is shouting, making noise, where we will go on a day off. Everyone is different - one wants to sit in the shade, another wants to swim, the third wants something else.

I listen, listen, listen, I say: “So, guys, can you agree on your own?” "No, dad, we can't." “Then, excuse me, I take on this role of the head of the family. I weighed everything, heard everyone, all this passed inside me, and now I issue a decision: it will be like this.

Someone after that, of course, claps their hands, someone: “Whoo!”, – but everyone has to put up with it. How else? The country, the people are a big family, but someone has to decide something in it. If no one decides anything, complete anarchy will come. In every place there are people who are obliged to decide.

And, by the way, this is not so much a right as a heavy duty. It is a burden to decide something, because you always perfectly understand that no matter how you decide, there will always be people who will be unhappy, who will say that you have decided badly. But you still need to do it.

– What was the main thing for you when choosing this particular author and this project?

– For me it was decisive that this man – professional, deeply religious and church architect. The fact that he passed the project through his soul, his brain and hand.

intuitively, – this is my intuition – there is a sense of the professionalism of the author and his understanding of the task in this place. Well, and the parameters of the project itself - this sketch meets them to the greatest extent. Ideally, probably, no one will answer, but to the greatest extent.

I must also say that it is quite difficult for me now in this program. Because it is almost impossible to find a universal designer of temples.

The degradation of the profession of a church architect during the Soviet era makes itself felt. And there are, for example, some lone architects who can compose something. But at the same time, they do not make normal project documentation, including working documentation.

There are people who do it competently, but they are not at all ecclesiastical. There are those who imagine themselves to be geniuses and ask absolutely fabulous sums for their work.

There are those who say: “Leonardo has been drawing La Gioconda all his life, and I will do this for three years.” And we don't have time to wait.

And so on, there are always some disadvantages. Not much choice. And after all, we need people who mainly work in this topic. Not that "I will design all sorts of shopping centers, bars, restaurants, residential apartments, and somewhere on my knee I will draw a temple.

In fact, there must be architects who devote at least more than half of their time to this topic. It is advisable to devote your whole life. Kuznetsov is just such a person. He no longer designed anything but temples.

The temple complex on the territory of the Khodynka field consists of the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh and the temple in honor of the Archangel Gabriel, erected in memory of the dead test pilots. Temple of St. Sergius of Radonezh was built according to the design of the architect S.Ya. Kuznetsov in memory of the St. Sergius Church, which was previously on the Khodynka field, built in 1892-1893. funded by philanthropists. After October revolution The temple was closed and by the 1930s. demolished.

The construction of the new temple began in 2007 under the 200 Temples Program. The new temple was built not on the site of the old one, but a few hundred meters to the north-west: at the corner of Khodynsky Boulevard and the former runway of the Central Airfield. Frunze. Previously - Central Airfield named after L.D. Trotsky. This is a former airfield in Moscow, located on the territory of the Khodynka field.

In August 2000, with the blessing His Holiness Patriarch The parish of the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh on the Khodynka field was created by Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, which began the reconstruction of the shrine. In 2012, the parish was merged with the parish of the Church of Gabriel the Archangel. On January 5, 2016, the consecration and raising of the dome and the cross on the central dome of the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh took place. On March 5, 2016, Bishop Paramon of Bronnitsa, administrator of the Northern and Northwestern vicariates, celebrated the Divine Liturgy and consecrated the remaining four domes and crosses before their installation. On January 7, 2017, the first Liturgy was celebrated.

The new temple - 5 domes, designed for 1000 parishioners. The project, developed by Moscow Institute of Architecture Professor Sergei Yakovlevich Kuznetsov with the participation of a member of the Union of Architects of Russia, a member of the Union of German Architects Sergei Tchoban, is individual. It combines, on the one hand, the traditions of ancient Russian architecture, on the other hand, it meets modern style buildings surrounding it. The author himself characterizes the project as follows: “The prototype was the Cathedral of San Marco in Venice, which I saw 16 years ago. I was struck by the special design of the domes - five drums connected by wide spring arches. Since then, I had the idea to build a temple on the same principle, but with my own modifications. Here I was faced with the task of uniting the church itself, Sunday school, classrooms, a refectory and other utility rooms under one roof. As a result, everything worked out: the project turned out to be economical and worthy.”

The construction of the temple in honor of St. Sergius of Radonezh on the Khodynka field is planned to be completed in 2016. Previously, there was a temple of the same name for a thousand believers, built in 1893. This majestic building that adorned Khodynka was demolished in the 1920s. The original design of the temple could not be found, so a historical and archival study was ordered from the Society for the Preservation of Monuments, according to the results of which the temple will be recreated.

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In the fall of 2017, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia performed the rite of great consecration of the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh on Khodynka Field in Moscow and awarded the rector of the church, Archpriest Vasily Biksey, regular and extraordinary awards “for attention to special labors and worthy overcoming of many sorrows and troubles on this glorious way."

A beautiful and majestic temple complex grew up on Khodynskoye Pole in just two years, but not everyone knows that this joyful event was preceded by almost a decade of bureaucratic struggle, rallies, protests and attempts to convince everyone that no one needs a temple on Khodynskoye Pole.

About the sorrows and troubles that arose during the construction of the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh on the Khodynka field, as well as about what a modern church should be like, we are talking with the rector, Father Vasily Biksey.

Temple as a part of life

I learned about the Khodyn parish from one of its regular parishioners. I still remember with what feeling she said then: “You know, this parish has become a part of my life. I can’t even imagine that I used to go to other temples.”

Indeed, the temple complex on Khodynka was a real discovery for me. Some special atmosphere of spiritual cohesion, comfort and warmth reigned here, which is impossible not to notice.

After the Sunday service, no one is in a hurry to go home. All together - clergy and parishioners - gather at large tables in the refectory, where the rector himself stands at the distribution of pilaf or bakes pancakes.

While adults are talking, children quickly eat and scatter around circles. In addition to the traditional Sunday school, here you can find hobbies for every taste. There are also courses foreign languages, and a theater studio, and sports sections; also, if you wish, you can master musical instruments and learn to sing in a professional choir, and a lot more.

If weather permits, parishioners gather outside. The temple complex has a large landscaped area where you can have a picnic and play football. You can often see here how the rector himself, having taken off his cassock, is chasing a ball with the parishioners.

And when you look at this whole idyll, you see the joyful happy faces of adults and children, it’s hard to imagine that all this could not have happened. And not so long ago, thousands of signatures were collected against the construction of a temple on the Khodynka field.

Father Vasily, how did you manage to create not just a temple, but a real cozy home for parishioners? It seems that I have never seen such unity anywhere.

Well, this is not at all my merit, but the people who were united by difficulties. Almost every one of our parishioners defended this temple with their clear position. These are people who have invested their prayers and their funds here. And it is natural that now they feel part of this parish. Now if only we could keep it all.

The initiative to build a temple and a chapel on Khodynka was made back in 2000 by families and descendants of aviators

- That is, these people are local residents of Khodynka, who wanted a temple to be built here?

When the idea of ​​building a church of St. Sergius of Radonezh on the Khodynka field and a church-chapel in the name of the Archangel Gabriel in honor of the fallen aviators arose, there was no such Khodynka as we see now. All these houses began to be built in 2006, and the idea of ​​building a temple and a chapel arose in 2000! Therefore, the first people who promoted this idea were, first of all, the descendants of aviators.

As you probably know, in the past there was the Central Airfield named after. Frunze, on which different years more than 100 test pilots died, including folk hero Valery Chkalov. However, their memory has not been immortalized in any way.

Veteran pilots and their relatives took the initiative to build a church-chapel on the Khodynka field in memory of their dead loved ones. In 1999, with the blessing of Patriarch Alexy, a church-chapel community was created in the name of Archangel Gabriel.

And in 2000, another community was registered - to recreate the temple in the name.

The acute issue of upholding the construction of the temple by the residents arose in 2012-2013, when a new district was formed here.

- You said that initially there were two communities that wanted a temple here ...

Yes, two small communities. The temple and the temple-chapel were originally planned to be built at different ends of Khodynka, but later the government decided to place them on the same site. The temple and the temple-chapel succinctly fit into the projected park "Historical Landscapes of Moscow". In order not to build two full-fledged temples and not to duplicate outbuildings, the communities united and began to develop a single temple complex, which made it possible to minimize the building area and increase the green area.

But it was impossible to start building here, since the land was under litigation between the Ministry of Defense and the Government of Moscow.

People unsuccessfully wrote appeals and petitions, but received an answer that for now it is necessary to wait.

Gradually the matter was consigned to oblivion. Communities one and the other came here less and less ... well, wept, prayed once or twice a year, and that's it.

We decided: we will pray. They put up a cross in a wasteland and began to serve the Liturgy every Sunday

- And when did you get acquainted with the communities?

In 2012, by decree of His Holiness the Patriarch, I was appointed rector of the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh. It was then that I got acquainted with representatives of the communities, and all together we began to quietly deal with the documents. And indeed, it turned out that the temple of Sergius of Radonezh and the temple-chapel are located on adjacent sites, there is an act of reserving land and there is an act of permitted use, but that's all.

Accordingly, no one could confirm this land to us, and no one could take this land from us, but after all, we could not do anything here. Then we decided that we would pray.

- Where did you pray, because there was nothing here, just a field?

Yes, it was just a wasteland, people walked with dogs. And we put a cross in the place where the construction of the church was supposed to be, and began to serve the Liturgy there every Sunday.

For the park or against the temple?

It was only at this time that appetites around the Khodynka field began to grow. The largest shopping center appeared, more and more residential complexes were being built, the construction of a metro was outlined, and another huge shopping complex was planned to be erected above the metro station.

Apparently, therefore, our first service at the Khodynka field caused an extremely negative reaction. Suddenly, people began to come out in "defense of their rights", rallies began against the development of Khodynka field.

- That is, these people were against the construction of the temple?

No, I can't say that! Most of them were not against the temple ... Most likely they simply defended their right to have no construction sites near their house. They defended their piece of land for the park. I think they just genuinely wanted to protect their territory. But at the same time, yes, indeed, among them there were also determined people who began to specifically oppose the construction of the temple. Why this happened, I do not understand. It is still somehow understandable when the temple was within the park and people were in favor of a park without a temple. But after some time, we retreated and began to build outside the park. But even then, these same people opposed, this time simply against the construction of our temple.

- Did people go to rallies?

Oh, there were a lot of rallies here. There were rallies for the park, rallies against the construction of the CSK stadium... You know, these were not constructive, but destructive rallies, at which people were often misled. For example, they told everyone that the temple would occupy 4 hectares of land, although in fact only 1.2 hectares were allocated for it. There were some absurd frictions, up to the point that signatures were forged.

For example, they asked to sign for the construction of the park, but in the end it turned out that everyone signed against the temple. All attention was on this temple and the park, and at that time Khodynka was quietly built up and the projects of the park were constantly being altered, as a result of which the territory allocated for the park was gradually decreasing.

Build right now!

- Father Vasily, didn’t all this endless struggle frighten you?

No. While all this struggle was going on, we prayed in the open air and served the Liturgy every Sunday. People rallied more and more, brought samovars and pastries from home. All together we tried to somehow ennoble and plant trees and shrubs in our wasteland. Sometimes people really had to keep watch at the prayer cross, with which they tried to do everything.

They set fire to the cross, tried to cut it… But we continued to pray

- What, for example?

And they set it on fire, and tried to saw it, and poured it with some odorous liquids. But we continued to quietly pray.

And in 2014, when it was already really clear that the prospect of the park and the temple complex supposed to appear in it was very vague, we were offered to allocate a site on the runway. We immediately had the question of when we should start construction. And they answered us: “Yes, even now! Get the paperwork done and start building."

- How did everything turn in favor of the temple so quickly?

When people found out that they had signed "for the park", and as a result their signatures were transformed into signatures against the temple, they were outraged! They said, “How is that?! We have never been against the temple, we really want the temple to be here!”

And a new collection of signatures was organized, and about 8,000 people signed up for the construction of a temple on the Khodynka field, and it does not matter where it will be: in the park or not.

- It turns out that those who were for the temple turned out to be much more?

Certainly. And it became clear to everyone that it was these people who needed to be listened to, and not those who deceitfully induce incomprehensible fuss and fear.

As soon as we were allowed to build, we immediately very quickly erected a temple-chapel in the name of the Archangel Gabriel in memory of the dead aviators. In October 2014, we served the first Liturgy there, and a year later, in May 2015, the construction of a church in the name of St. Sergius of Radonezh began.

"True love cannot be without a temple"

- Was a temple needed here?

Of course, as a clergyman, I believe that a person needs a temple - always and everywhere, much more than shopping centers and everything else.

After all, outside the temple there can be nothing real, but only deceptive and false. True love cannot be outside the temple, true femininity cannot be outside the temple. After all, what kind of love is this, if a person after two years says that he “fell out of love”, left his family, and even left his children!

The temple, through the word of God, corrects all worldly curvature!

A person who goes to church at least occasionally gradually aligns his life with what he hears in church. The temple, through the word of God, corrects all worldly crookedness.

Although you know how many times they tried to convince me otherwise! I spend most of my life in the temple and communicate with many residents of the area, not only with parishioners. And many times the same people said to me: “Father, give it up! We assure you: no one needs the temple here!”

And these were mainly the people who stood at the origins of the protest movements - whether it was against the construction of the CSK or against shopping malls.

How did they justify their position?

You know, those people who have nothing to do with the Church are always particularly indignant and “describe” church life. They usually find a thousand arguments. They told everyone: “You will see what will happen! They will build a temple here, and there will be a hotel at the temple, and here they will have a farm for the priest, and here they will make a farm, and there will be animals on the farm ... And then every day the funeral procession with hearses will begin. And to top it off, every morning at 6 o'clock you will be woken up by bells! It's just a nightmare!" Of course, who wants all this?! (Laughs.) Thus non-church people are very easily misled.

Very often, people have suspicions that temples are being built with budget funds that could be used to build schools and hospitals, but this is not so.

And I would like to emphasize now: all churches are built with donations from kind people who want to pray and take their children to church.

- I am glad that the majority of believers turned out to be.

There were 10-15 people who spoke and convinced me that the temple is not needed here.
But since 2014, 700 people have been baptized in our temple complex! This may not be much, but if “no one needs the church”, then how to explain that 700 people have already been baptized in this church?! And this is more than a thousand people of parents and godparents, grandparents. And I was convinced that the temple is not needed here!

- And now how many times a week is the Liturgy served?

We have Liturgy every day, there are always communicants. And on Sunday and holiday services, our church is jam-packed.

Father Vasily, as far as I know, you are also a father of many children - you have 6 beautiful daughters. Do you and your family live somewhere nearby?

No, we live in Sergiev Posad, and I come here every day. True, of course, when there is a lot to do, I have to stay here. It's good that there is such an opportunity. Only now we don’t have any “chambers of the abbot”. (Smiling.) Everything is just for people. 14 classrooms for educational activities, in which about 70 children are currently attending, a refectory for 100 people, so that parishioners can gather and feel at home here.

I really liked your tradition of gathering together in the refectory after the Sunday service. Is this your initiative?

A meal after the Liturgy is normal, it is a continuation of the Liturgy and a good tradition, but it is difficult to implement it within the framework of the projects of modern churches. Even our parish is limited by the size of the refectory, we cannot accommodate more than 100 people yet. The initiative to get together often comes from the parishioners themselves - for example, when a person has a birthday, he wants to treat everyone, and he brings fish and prepares the fish soup himself.

- What should modern temples be like?

The temple should be traditional, but at the same time large, multifunctional and comfortable. So that we do not have to send children to some commercial circles. At least here you know that everyone is united by faith and definitely no one will swear and teach a child something bad.

Also, staying in a temple should be comfortable, a modern person should not feel like a stranger in the temple.

The most important in the temple is God, then the person who came to God, and the priest is only a servant - to God and people

That is, on the one hand, it is necessary to observe the canonical traditions of construction, and on the other hand, modern needs must be taken into account. For example, we will not see a temple with a wardrobe in antiquity. And now it has become a necessity. Previously, the temples were cold, but now they are warm. In winter, it is very difficult to stand in a divine service for 2-2.5 hours in a fur coat. For parishioners with children in churches, a children's room will not be superfluous, where the baby can be swaddled, and if it is difficult for him to endure the entire Liturgy, then you can give him a little rest. Also, churches should think about security conditions, about accessibility for people with limited mobility, so that people with handicapped could also comfortably go to the temple.

One must always remember that the most important thing in the temple is God, and then - the person who came to God, while the priest is a servant of God and those people who go to God. The temple should be the territory of paradise.

Parishioners as part of the temple

I left Fr. Basil's with full packages of delicious, fragrant, freshly baked pies, and I thought that the temple was somehow subtly similar to its rector. As far as father Vasily is open, resilient, hospitable, he always manages to do everything - both on church affairs, and playing football with parishioners, and raising six daughters. So the temple turned out to be multifunctional.

And on Sunday afternoon we met with the parishioners of the Khodynka church at a large table in a spacious, cozy refectory. They happily began to share their memories of how they prayed on the street, how they had to guard the prayer cross, with which they "did everything." Some noted that it was from the Khodynka parish that their real churching began. The children vying with each other told how they like attending classes, and especially the choir studio, because many of them sing during the Liturgy. Parents are satisfied that the children are in business, and in the temple they have real friends. Both of them often go to congratulate children from orphanages and old people from nursing homes on holidays. The temple also has a help center for people in need. On the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, priests and parishioners distributed thousands of flowers to the residents of Khodynka.

But most importantly, almost all parishioners said that the temple had long become for them not only a temple, but also a part of their life.