The Church of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Dubrovitsy incorporates elements of Italian, German, Swedish, French and Russian architecture. The abundance of architectural details and carvings - ornate columns, scrolls, vines, flowers, leaves, as well as sculptures of angels and saints - make the temple a unique example of church architecture. Instead of the traditional dome, the church is crowned with a golden crown.

The temple was built from limestone by order of Boris Alekseevich Golitsyn, Peter the Great’s educator, over a period of one and a half decades. The construction of the religious building was completed in 1703, and a year later it was consecrated. It is part of the architectural ensemble of the Dubrovitsy estate, which once belonged to representatives of the ancient noble families of the Morozovs, Golitsyns, Potemkins and Dmitriev-Mamonovs. The height of the church is 42 meters; she is included in the List World Heritage UNESCO.

The Church of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Dubrovitsy is active - and services are held in it. It can be visited daily, from 9:00 to 17:00; on days when there is an evening service, the temple is open until 20:00.

Location

The village of Dubrovitsy is located 7 kilometers west of Podolsk and 24 kilometers south of the Moscow Ring Road. You can get to the Church of the Sign from Moscow along the Simferopol Highway through Podolsk. From Lenin Square, turn right onto Kirova Street, then right again, onto Oktyabrsky Prospekt, then follow the signs to the village.

Suburban electric trains depart from Moscow's Kursky station to Podolsk station every 15 minutes. Travel time is less than an hour. Next, you can get to the village of Dubrovitsy by regular bus No. 65, which departs from the railway station; the trip will take no more than 20 minutes. The bus schedule can be found on the website www.mostransavto.ru.

A bus service connects Moscow with Dubrovitsy; route No. 417 departs from Monday to Saturday from the Yuzhnaya metro station. Travel time is about an hour, depending on the traffic situation. Buses from Moscow leave at 8:00, 8:40, 11:10, 12:00, 14:50, 15:20, 18:26 and 19:08; from Dubrovitsy - at 6:45, 7:25, 9:55, 10:45, 13:35, 14:05, 17:11 and 17:53. You can also take a bus to Podolsk; Routes No. 406, No. 407 and No. 417 also depart from the Yuzhnaya metro station; the trip will take about 50 minutes. You need to get off at the Lenin Square stop and change to a bus going to Dubrovitsy.

How to get there

The Church of the Sign is located on the top of a hill in the village of Dubrovitsy, on western outskirts the city of Podolsk, south of.

CHURCH OF THE SIGN IN DUBROVITSY

Church of the Mother of God of the Sign - extraordinary beauty Orthodox church in Baroque style, the most unique temple in the Moscow region, an architectural masterpiece! He located in the village of Dubrovitsy, in the vicinity of Podolsk. Builttemple in honor of the icon Mother of God"The Sign" on high bank at the confluence of rivers Gums and Pakhra. The church is unique for its architecture, unusual for Russian architecture, as well as its mysterious story.

The first mention of the village of Dubrovitsy dates back to 1627: “In the Molotsk camp, the ancient patrimony of the village belongs to the boyar Ivan Vasilyevich Morozov. Dubrovitsy on the Pakhra River, at the mouth of the Desna River.”Then the estate passed to Morozov’s daughter, Aksinya Ivanovna, who married Prince I.A. Golitsyn. From that time on, Dubrovitsy came into the possession of the Golitsyn family for more than 100 years.The temple was founded on July 22, 1690 under Prince Boris Alekseevich Golitsin, who was the tutor of Peter I.

In 1689, Golitsyn was slandered before the 17-year-old Tsar, who ordered him to retire to his village. However, Peter quickly figured out what was going on, his anger passed, and already in 1690 Boris Alekseevich was summoned to Moscow and he was granted boyar dignity. It is believed that it was as a sign of reconciliation with Peter I that the prince decided to erect a new white-stone temple in Dubrovitsy. The king approved this decision with the following words: “Even though you are a rich man, I will help with the treasury.” And construction began.

On February 11, 1704, the new temple, “brought to completion and decorated with all splendor by such an eminent creator,” was consecrated in the presence of Sovereign Peter the Great and Tsarevich and Grand Duke Alexei Petrovich. The king made a rich gift, supplying the temple with expensive utensils. The celebrations continued for seven days. From Dubrovitsy on February 18, Peter “deigned to go to St. Petersburg,” and was never here again. A few years later, Boris Alekseevich went to a monastery and took monastic vows.

The base of the temple is a cross with rounded ends. The pillar-shaped building, standing on a high stereobat, is surrounded by open galleries with fan-shaped staircases. Above the first, four-lobed tier, rises a slender octagonal tower, topped with a golden openwork dome. The high foundation made it possible to surround the walls with an open porch, richly decorated with carvings and ornaments, stretching along a parapet interrupted by four multifaceted staircases.

The temple is decorated sculptural images. In front of the main entrance, on the sides of the staircase, there are two white stone sculptures: on the left, Gregory the Theologian with a book and a raised hand, and on the right, John Chrysostom with a book and a miter standing at his feet.

In the corners of the base, formed by converging curves, there are statues of the four evangelists, very badly damaged by time. Evangelist Luke was luckier than all the other evangelists:

The temple is crowned with an openwork golden crown.

The church was built from local white stone, found everywhere in the Podolsk region - a material that is easy to process, but on the other hand, strong enough to work on fine carving details.

To the west of the temple there was a three-tiered bell tower, also made of white stone. The bell tower was built later than the temple, in mid-18th century c., and in a different, more strict style. It had nine bells, the largest of which weighed just over two tons. At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a museum under the bell tower.

The interior of the Dubrovitsky temple is also richly decorated with sculptures using the stucco technique. biblical motives. They made it on site, using a metal frame and a base consisting of broken bricks and lime mortar. The base was coated with a special mixture, then a contour was cut through the raw solution and the figures were finally modeled.

The largest sculptural composition in the interior of the church is the “Crucifixion” - the central plot in the cycle “The Passion of the Lord”. To the right of the “Crucifixion” there is an inscription, which is indicated by two seated Angels. Similar texts accompany other scenes and are located in cartouches decorated with a shell, acanthus leaves and garlands.

Initially the inscriptions were made on Latin, but during the restoration of the 19th century. they were replaced by Church Slavonic quotations from the Gospel. During restoration work carried out in 2004, the Latin texts were restored to their original form.

In the northwestern pylon of the temple there is a small door leading to the stairs to the two-tiered choir, which occupies the entire top of the western ledge. A stone pylon staircase leads to the lower tier, which is a balcony that follows the contour of the wall of the western vestibule of the church. Light carved pillars support the second tier of the choir, which looks like a bridge. It was here that Peter I prayed during the consecration of the church in 1704.

The carving of the iconostasis and two-tiered choirs is remarkable.

The icons are in perfect harmony with the carved part of the iconostasis. Their creation is attributed to the masters of the Moscow Kremlin Armory. There is no doubt that the images, as well as the decoration of the temple, were influenced by Western European iconography.

Under the grandson of B.A. Golitsyn, Sergei Alekseevich, they were built in 1750-1753 manor house, horse yard, four outbuildings, outbuildings.

In 1812, Dubrovitsy was captured by Napoleon's troops. But the French did not cause any damage to the temple. They were less loyal to other Russian churches.

The Soviet period was the most difficult in the history of the temple. In March 1930 it was closed, and on March 8 the bells began to be removed from it. All Dubrovitsy clergy and their families were evicted, and their homes and lands were transferred to the Dubrovitsy state farm. In 1931 the bell tower was blown up.

In the 1950s, the temple came under the jurisdiction of the All-Union Institute of Animal Husbandry, which was located in the Dubrovitsy estate. The Institute carried out restoration work in the temple for 40 years, but never completed it.

In 1990 the temple was returned to the Orthodox Church. In 2004 he celebrated the 300th anniversary of his Great Consecration. For this event, the unique high reliefs of the 17th-18th centuries of the church’s interior decoration were updated, and the royal doors in the iconostasis were restored.And at the site of the blown up bell tower, a statue was found, which, apparently, was once kept in the museum below it:

Drawing from the magazine “Niva” January 1883:

Photo from the book by I.E. Grabar “History of Russian Art” vol.2. M., 1910:

Visiting Dubrovitsy, you will get real pleasure. The square in front of the temple is incredibly beautiful, with lawns, paths paved with white stone, and a mound with an observation deck.Architect Sergei Makovsky in 1910 said about this amazing church: “...nothing like this can be found anywhere else in Great Rus'; You simply can’t imagine anything more extravagant... and more charming!”

Name architectural style"Rococo" comes from the French "rocaille" - crushed stone, decorative shell. Palaces and temples built in this style delight the eye with their diversity, developed decor and rich ornaments.

Churches in the Rococo style are rare in Russia; one can immediately recall only the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ on the Blood ( Savior on Spilled Blood) in St. Petersburg, in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary near the village of Berd in Novosibirsk region, and the temple we are describing in Dubrovitsy.

At the same time, the Dubrovitsky Church in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” is the only temple in Russia crowned not with a dome or spire, but with a golden crown and very richly decorated with round sculptures made of white stone and stucco.

This mysterious church with a mysterious history was created at a time when the Dubrovitsy estate was owned by the tutor of Peter I, Prince Boris Alekseevich Golitsyn.

The consecration of the temple on February 11, 1704 was performed by Metropolitan Stefan (Yavorsky) of Ryazan and Murom. Emperor Peter I himself and his son Tsarevich Alexei were present at the consecration of this church.

The temple was built from 1690 to 1703. Presumably they participated in the construction Italian masters, written by Prince Golitsyn specifically for this purpose, but the names of all the creators of the temple remained unknown, which constitutes the first of its many secrets.

Initially, on the site of the Znamenskaya Church there was a wooden temple in the name of the prophet Elijah, which was not at all dilapidated at that time. It was erected in 1662, and in 1690 it was moved to the village of Lemeshevo, neighboring Dubrovitsy.

The Dubrovitsy estate is located near Podolsk in the southern Moscow region at the confluence of the Desna and Pakhra rivers and today is one of the most popular excursion places in the Moscow region.

The Church of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built from local white stone taken from quarries on the banks of the Pakhra. This material, on the one hand, is easy to process, and on the other hand, it is strong enough to work on fine details, such as small carvings of the decorative decoration of a temple.

The base of the temple is an equal-ended cross with rounded ends. The first floor is placed on a high foundation, which makes it possible to surround the walls with an open porch, richly decorated with carvings and ornamental patterns, stretching along a parapet interrupted by four multifaceted staircases. The central part of the temple rises above the base in the form of an octagonal pillar.

The temple is decorated with sculptures. In front of the main entrance, on the sides of the western staircase, there are two white stone sculptures. On the left side is Gregory the Theologian with a book and a raised hand, and on the right is John Chrysostom with a book and a miter standing at his feet. Directly above the entrance, on the roof of the western porch, there is a statue of Basil the Great, and the tower of the temple is crowned not by a tent, not by a helmet, not by a dome, but by a crown.

Almost half the surface of the building is densely covered with openwork foam of a baroque pattern: larger and more distinct in the lower part of the building, small and intricate at the top. Also, the outer walls of the temple are decorated with relief masonry in the rustico style.

In the incoming corners of the base, near the ground, in the corners formed by converging curves, there are statues of the four evangelists, at the base of the octagonal tower - figures of the eight apostles, in addition, the facade is decorated with many different images of Angels.

During Soviet barbarism, the figures of three of the four evangelists were beheaded, but the evangelist Matthew survived.

The inside of the temple is decorated with convex images (high reliefs) biblical stories, scenes from the Gospel. Realistic character outlines speak of European school plastics. Images of art late Renaissance They are also reminiscent of the swirling clouds, angels and cherubs with which the vaults and space under the dome of the church are decorated.

The sculptures were made on site using a metal frame and a base consisting of broken bricks and lime mortar. The base was coated with a special mixture, then a contour was cut through the raw solution and the figures were finally modeled.

The largest sculptural composition in the interior of the church is the “Crucifixion” - the central plot in the cycle “The Passion of the Lord”.

The history of the inscriptions inside the temple is also interesting. Initially, they were made in Latin, later, according to St. Philaret (Drozdov), the Metropolitan of Moscow insisted on replacing them with Church Slavonic, and in 2004, after restoration, the temple “speaked” in Latin again.

A very unusual structure of the upper level of the iconostasis... The icons are in perfect harmony with the carved part of the iconostasis. Their creation is attributed to the masters of the Moscow Kremlin Armory.

In the northwestern pylon of the temple there is a small door leading to the stairs to the two-tiered choir, which occupies the entire top of the western ledge. A stone pylon staircase leads to the lower tier, which is a balcony that follows the contour of the wall of the western vestibule of the church.

They say that the Znamensky Church looks especially impressive on a sunny winter day, when the landscape around is distinctly Russian, and the shining crown begins to stand out sharply against the background of the blue sky and gray walls of the church.

In 1812, the temple was occupied by Napoleonic troops, but did not cause any damage to the architectural monument. But Soviet period For the architectural complex, Dubrovits did not pass without losses: in 1929, the Znamensky Church was closed for worship, and in September 1931, the bell tower and the Church of Adrian and Natalia located in it were blown up.

Since 1990, the Church of the Sign in Dubrovitsy has been an active temple and is open to the public every day from 9.00 to 17.00.

Andrey Szegeda

Church of the Sign in Dubrovitsy

The Church of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Dubrovitsy estate in the Podolsk district of the Moscow region is one of the most extraordinary monuments of church architecture at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries. No other temple near Moscow is as mysterious as this one. We do not know for certain either the author of this masterpiece or the craftsmen who worked here. We can only say with certainty that both foreign and Russian craftsmen worked on the creation of the temple in Dubrovitsy.

The construction of the Znamenskaya Church dates back to the time when the Dubrovitsy estate was owned by the tutor of Peter I, Prince Boris Alekseevich Golitsyn. In 1689, he was slandered before the tsar, who ordered him to retire to his village. The sovereign's anger passed rather quickly, and already in 1690 Boris Alekseevich was summoned to Moscow and he was granted boyar dignity. It is believed that it was as a sign of reconciliation with Peter I that the prince decided to erect a new white-stone temple in Dubrovitsy.

Initially, on the site of the Znamenskaya Church there was a wooden temple in the name of the prophet Elijah. It was erected in 1662, and in 1690 it was moved to the village of Lemeshevo, neighboring Dubrovitsy.

The Church of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built from local white stone, found everywhere in the Podolsk region. This material, on the one hand, is easy to process, and on the other hand, it is strong enough to work on fine details, such as small carvings of the decorative decoration of a temple.

There is no doubt that the construction of the temple was completed by 1699, and perhaps even earlier. However, another five years passed before its consecration. This was probably caused by the intention of Prince B.A. Golitsyn to invite Peter I to Dubrovitsy for the consecration of the Znamenskaya Church, which was impossible until 1704, since the sovereign almost did not visit Moscow at that time. But, first of all, the prince had to obtain permission to consecrate such an unusual temple, built in the Baroque style and decorated in a European style, from Patriarch Adrian. It is possible that during the construction process changes were made to the original plan, and it took the craftsmen several more years to build the white stone gallery of the temple.

After the death of Patriarch Adrian, Metropolitan Stefan (Yavorsky) of Ryazan and Murom became the locum tenens of the Moscow Patriarchal Throne. 11 ( old style) February 1704, the locum consecrated a new church in Dubrovitsy. Tsar Peter I himself and his son Tsarevich Alexei were present at the service on this day. Celebrations on this occasion lasted a whole week and everyone was invited to them local residents. After this, Peter I, apparently, no longer visited Dubrovitsy.

In plan, the church is a centric structure: an equal-ended cross with rounded blades. The height of the temple with the dome is about 42.3 m. Around the temple, repeating the contour of its plan, there is a narrow gallery, rising ten steps above the ground and fenced with a high parapet. The building's base and parapet are covered with a whole network of ornaments.

The entire temple is richly decorated with round white stone sculpture - an unprecedented thing for that time. Near the western doors there are figures of two saints: Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom. The statue of St. Basil the Great is located above the western door of the temple. The sculptures depict tall elders dressed in robes.

In the incoming corners of the base there are statues of the four evangelists, at the base of the octagonal tower - figures of the eight apostles, in addition, the facade is decorated with many different images of Angels.

The spherical vault of the pillar of the Church of the Sign is covered with eight spiked arches of a gilded metal crown. Such completion of the temple in the form of a crown is quite original. In another estate of B. A. Golitsyn near Moscow, Bolshie Vyazemakh, the prince also decorated the church with a crown. However, it differed from the Dubrovitsky crown in shape and was made of white stone.

The interior of the Dubrovitsky Temple also has abundant sculptural decoration. Relief compositions occupy a significant part of the space. The subjects of sculptures made using the stucco technique are very diverse, but they have one thing in common: they are all made according to biblical motifs and are arranged in a certain system. The sculptures were made on site using a metal frame and a base consisting of broken bricks and lime mortar. The base was coated with a special mixture, then a contour was cut through the raw solution and the figures were finally modeled.

The largest sculptural composition in the interior of the church is the “Crucifixion” - the central plot in the cycle “The Passion of the Lord”. To the right of the “Crucifixion” there is an inscription, which is indicated by two seated Angels. Similar texts accompany other scenes and are located in cartouches decorated with a shell, acanthus leaves and garlands. Initially, the inscriptions were made in Latin, but during the restoration of the 19th century. at the request of Metropolitan of Moscow Philaret (Drozdov), they were replaced with Church Slavonic quotations from the Gospel. During restoration work carried out in 2004, the Latin texts were restored to their original form.

In the northwestern pylon of the temple there is a small door leading to the stairs to the two-tiered choir, which occupies the entire top of the western ledge. A stone pylon staircase leads to the lower tier, which is a balcony that follows the contour of the wall of the western vestibule of the church. Light carved pillars support the second tier of the choir, which looks like a bridge. It was here that Peter I prayed during the consecration of the church in 1704. The carving of the iconostasis and two-tiered choir is remarkable.

The icons are in perfect harmony with the carved part of the iconostasis. Their creation is attributed to the masters of the Moscow Kremlin Armory. There is no doubt that the images, as well as the decoration of the temple, were influenced by Western European iconography.

Over its three-hundred-year history, the Dubrovitsky Church has experienced three major restorations, and only one of them was completed. It dates back to the time when Dubrovitsy was owned by Count Matvey Aleksandrovich Dmitriev-Mamonov.

Restoration of the temple 1848-1850. was entrusted to academician Fyodor Fedorovich Richter. Up to 300 craftsmen were involved in the work in Dubrovitsy.

In 1781, Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin (1739-1791) bought the estate from lieutenant Sergei Golitsyn, who owed a large sum. But soon Catherine II herself wanted to purchase this estate, having visited Dubrovitsy on her way back from Crimea on June 23, 1787. Catherine II did not notice Dubrovitsy for herself. Among those accompanying her was a new favorite, aide-de-camp Alexander Matveevich Dmitriev-Mamonov (1758-1803), whom she wanted to distinguish with special favor, even at the expense of the faithful Potemkin.

Since December 1788, Dmitriev-Mamonov became the owner of the estate. He, like most noble children of that time, began his service in the guard and soon became Potemkin’s adjutant, who introduced Alexander to the empress. Mamonov charmed her. According to contemporaries, the young man was smart, educated, honest, modest, well-mannered, and almost everyone treated him with great sympathy. Mamonov is the only one among Catherine’s favorites who did not use his influence to settle personal scores. Mercies rained down on him continuously. He became chamberlain, adjutant general, knight of various orders and, finally, count of the Holy Roman Empire. The young count almost did not interfere in state affairs, limiting himself to participating in Catherine’s literary court circle.

But the prosperity did not last long. The reason for the break with Catherine was the favorite’s love for the Empress’s maid of honor, Princess Daria Fedorovna Shcherbatova (1762-1802), granddaughter famous prince Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky. She was 33 years younger than Catherine. The Empress in this difficult situation behaved with dignity: at first she cried for a long time, locking herself away from everyone, and then, apparently, she pulled herself together and assigned all her gifts to Mamonov. Then she arranged for the young magnificent wedding, she herself took the bride to the crown. The wedding took place on June 1, 1789.

Soon the couple left for Moscow, promising never to appear at court. Their marriage was unsuccessful. The count soon retired and lived constantly in Moscow and Dubrovitsy, devoting himself to raising his son Matvey. New owner conceived and carried out a major reconstruction of the facades and interior of the main house in accordance with the new fashion for estate construction.

The temple, which previously occupied a central position, recedes into the background from the 18th century, subordinate to the main house in the compositional and artistically. The fashion for baroque decoration is becoming a thing of the past. New palaces are being built in the classicist style. It was difficult to completely rebuild the house, so they decided to just replace the exterior design. The central part of the building on the south side was decorated with a six-column portico. A wide white stone staircase now led to the main entrance, the railings of which and the loggias were decorated with latticework in the Empire style. Two marble lions are installed on high stone pedestals. An unknown architect added open (later they were closed and glazed) wide terraces to the ends of the main house. The most spectacular part of them were the end white stone porches with circular staircases.

A flower garden was laid out at the central entrance to the palace and a fountain was installed. On the side of the Desna River, the building received its main decoration - a semi-rotunda terrace with ten columns of the Corinthian order.

IN late XVIII century, another compositional axis appeared in Dubrovitsy: a regular linden park was laid out in the western part of the estate, separating the palace area from the complex of service buildings.

Significant reconstructions were also carried out in the interior of the palace. The small rooms disappeared, and in their place were enfilades of large rooms leading to a central hall (area about 200 m2), which has an elongated shape. To give the elongated hall a more oval appearance, its walls were painted from floor to ceiling. special welcome— perspective painting of landscape-architectural type: repeating images of multi-dimensional perspective of Gothic architectural motifs (arcades, loggias, decorative compositions). Pink tones deep perspectives turn into brown, with which the near-ground columns are painted. The columns depict repeating designs of coats of arms, one of which belongs to the family of Counts Dmitriev-Mamonov. The painting of the hall was restored in 1968-1970. Now this is the meeting room of the Academic Council of the All-Russian Research Institute of Animal Husbandry.

Alexander Matveevich Dmitriev-Mamonov, the only one of Catherine II’s favorites, managed to retain good relations with Tsarevich Paul and upon the latter’s accession to the throne, on coronation day April 5, 1797, received the dignity of count Russian Empire. The count died suddenly in 1803 and was buried in the Donskoy Monastery in Moscow.

Mamonov’s son, Matvey (1790-1863), who was only 13 years old at that time, becomes the heir to Dubrovits. The grandfather, Matvey Vasilyevich, was involved in raising his grandson. Soon the young man received the rank of chamber cadet, and some time later, with the help distant relative- poet I. I. Dmitriev - the twenty-year-old count became the chief prosecutor of one of the Senate departments. Service, however, was of little interest to Matvey Alexandrovich, and he began to study history.

With the outbreak of the War of 1812, the count entered into military service, took part in the battles of Borodino, Tarutino, Maloyaroslavets and, most importantly, formed a regiment at his own expense, which received the official name “Moscow Cossack Count Dmitriev-Mamonov Regiment.” V. A. Zhukovsky, P. A. Vyazemsky and other famous people signed up as volunteers.

During the Tarutino maneuver, a small detachment of our troops crossed the Pakhra and stopped in Dubrovitsy. This is how General Nikolai Nikolaevich Muravyov (1794-1866) recalls this: “In Dubrovitsy, in the estate of Count Mamonov, where we stayed from September 3 to 6, the manager Alexey ... willingly treated passing officers to breakfast. We were lucky and had time to leave, and we took full advantage of his hospitality, where we had a good rest, as we slept peacefully, had a good dinner and went to the bathhouse, which made my sore legs feel better.”

The French also visited Dubrovitsy. A small detachment of Murat's cavalry left Dubrovitsy on October 10, 1812, plundering and burning nearby villages.

The owner, Matvey Aleksandrovich Dubrovits, was awarded the golden saber “For Bravery” on December 21, 1812, and in March of the following year he was appointed chief of his regiment and promoted to major general. In 1816 he retired, and in 1817 he finally settled in Dubrovitsy. Here begins the “story” of the secret organization founded by Matvey Alexandrovich - the “Order of Russian Knights”. The count himself wrote its charter - “Brief instructions to Russian knights” and consulted on this issue with M. F. Orlov and M. N. Novikov.

In the document developed by Orlov and Mamonov, along with the “abolition of slavery in Russia,” it was proposed to grant “hereditary peers,” that is, “Russian knights,” fortresses (“fortifications”), estates and lands.

The idea of ​​a fortress as the residence of a “peer” occupied Dmitriev-Mamonov no less than thoughts about the implementation of democratic, republican reforms. It was reflected in the construction that took place in Dubrovitsy. By order of Dmitriev-Mamonov around his estate, including main house, a regular park, outbuildings and a horse yard, an extended stone fence with medieval battlements was built, giving the estate the appearance of a castle.

The architect who carried out this unusual order has not been identified. It is possible that the project was developed by the count himself, who knew fortification and was well versed in drawings. The wall, which was of no architectural value, was finally dismantled in the 1930s.

Mamonov’s desire to surround everything with an aura of secrecy could not but worry the government. The reason for the arrest was the count's beating of the valet, in which he suspected an agent informing the Moscow Governor-General, Prince D.V. Golitsyn. In July 1825, the bound Mamonov was taken to Moscow, where he violently resisted the police. The medical commission formed at the direction of Golitsyn included four doctors who were supposed to officially testify to the count’s madness. The famous Moscow physician F.P. Haaz, having examined the “patient,” refused to give his opinion on the count’s illness. However, they began to “treat” Mamonov. His treatment was savage and forced. He was required to obey the authorities. Finally, after the count refused to swear allegiance to the new Emperor Nicholas I in 1826, he was officially declared insane, and guardianship was established over him.

A few years later, Dmitriev-Mamonov came to terms with his situation. For almost four decades, until his death on June 11, 1863, the count lived on the Vasilyevskoye estate on Vorobyovy Gory, which Muscovites called “Mamonova Dacha.” M. A. Dmitriev-Mamonov was buried on the territory of the Donskoy Monastery next to the graves of his father, mother and grandfather.

While the count was under arrest in Moscow, the first restoration of the temple in Dubrovitsy (1848-1850) was undertaken, led by academician of architecture Fyodor Fedorovich Richter (1808-1868). The architect received classical education at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, passed good school at O. Montferrand during the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral.

After the restoration, “... it (the temple) can no longer be recognized,” writes the director of the Kremlin Armory, A.F. Veltman, in his book “Renovation of the Church of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the village of Dubrovitsy, Moscow district,” “the golden cross and the golden crown of the dome again brightly reflect the light day and night; its patterned walls, all the external sculptures have been sharpened, cleaned with a chisel - there are no longer any traces of time or damage - the temple seems to be completely new, just created in imitation of the ancient one, without the slightest change.”

But inside he became richer. The magnificent carving of the ancient iconostasis and choir could not be left without gilding; the yellow color of the leaves seemed to be preparation for gilding; but no one thought about it until the restoration of the temple in 1850.

The consecration of the renovated church was performed on August 27 (old style), 1850 by Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow. As a souvenir of his visit to the Dubrovitsky church, the saint left in it a gilded silver washbasin and a dish, which were used during divine services.

The Latin inscriptions and poems under the high relief images have been erased; for them time has passed; they were replaced by a text from the Holy Scriptures.

“The four rows of images of the iconostasis and the Royal Doors were crowned, and the choirs and two-tiered choirs seemed to be overgrown with golden vine leaves. The stucco work and all the sculptures at the height of the temple separated and became more airy,” wrote A.F. Veltman.

Sergei Mikhailovich Golitsyn became the owner of Dubrovitsy in 1864. He was born in 1843 and came from an old princely family. His father, Mikhail Aleksandrovich Golitsyn (1804-1860), a diplomat, bibliographer, collector, lived abroad for a long time. On the basis of the rich collection he collected, his heir, S. M. Golitsyn, on January 26, 1865, opened the Golitsyn Museum in Moscow on Volkhonka, 14, which was located in five halls on the second floor of the house he owned. The museum has become one of the centers cultural life Moscow, more than three thousand visitors visited its halls annually. S. M. Golitsyn made a lot of efforts to improve his beloved Dubrovitsy. This was done primarily with wealthy summer residents in mind. On the side of the Desna River and partly around the estate, a stone wall was dismantled by his order. On the plan of 1915, a poultry house is indicated on the site of the northeastern wing.

The Soviet period of our history turned out to be more cruel to the Dubrovitsky monuments than the time of the Napoleonic invasion. At the beginning of March 1930, according to the newspaper Podolsky Rabochiy, permission was received to close the church in Dubrovitsy, and the removal of the bells there was scheduled for March 8. A year earlier, by a resolution of the Volost Executive Committee, all clergy and clergy were evicted from their homes on the territory of Dubrovitsy, their housing and lands were transferred to the Dubrovitsy state farm. Thus opened a tragic page in the history of this majestic temple.

The last rector of the Znamenskaya Church was priest Mikhail Andreevich Poretsky, exiled in 1930 to Semipalatinsk, from where he never returned.

At the end of the 1950s. The temple came under the jurisdiction of the All-Union Institute of Animal Husbandry, which was located in the Dubrovitsy estate. For 40 years, the institute carried out restoration work in the church, which, unfortunately, was never completed.

From October 1989 to October 1990, believers fought for the return of the Dubrovitsky Church to the Russian Orthodox Church. On October 14, 1990, the first divine service was held in the Znamenskaya Church. It was headed by Bishop (now Archbishop) Gregory of Mozhaisk.

Since that time, restoration work has been carried out in the church and on its territory by the parish. In 2004, the Znamenskaya Church celebrated the 300th anniversary of its Great Consecration. On the eve of this event, unique high reliefs were updated late XVII - early XVIII c., the Royal Doors of the iconostasis were restored, work was completed on the basement of the temple.

In 1910, architect Sergei Makovsky said about the Dubrovitsky Church: “...nothing like this can be found anywhere else in Great Rus'; You just can’t imagine anything more extravagant... more charming!” These words, having gone through times of persecution and destruction, revival and restoration, have not lost their relevance. And today everyone who comes to Dubrovitsy is fascinated by the Church of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary just as it was centuries ago!

The features of the architectural decoration of the church were dictated by foreigners, which affected the abundance of sculpture, rarely found in Russian church architecture.

The main room of the temple - an octagon on a quadrangle - in accordance with Russian tradition, is raised on a high base, and at its level there is an open walkway with four rounded staircase entrances. The rusticated monumental bottom ends with a carved cornice that covers the roof. The base of the octagonal tower is almost invisible. It has a horizontal division and ends with a dome that carries a gilded crown. The entire façade of the church, from the steps of the stairs to the dome, is decorated with carvings (mostly floral ornaments are used).

In front of the western entrance from the side of the stairs there are white stone statues of saints - John the Theologian and Gregory Chrysostom, at the base of the octagon - sculptures of the apostles, in the inner corners of the basement - four evangelists: Mark, Luke, John and Matthew.

The interior decoration of the church features stucco reliefs on gospel themes. High quality material and professional work determined their durability. The two-tiered carved choir and four-tiered iconostasis are well preserved.

There is a temple in the southern Moscow region near Podolsk that is amazing for these places - the Church of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary. " ...Nothing like this can be found anywhere else in Great Rus'; You just can’t imagine anything more extravagant... more charming!“- this is how Sergei Makovsky, an architect, spoke about this church at the beginning of the 20th century. And she is truly unique and magnificent.

This church was founded in 1690 in the Dubrovitsy estate, the owner of which was Prince Boris Alekseevich Golitsyn, educator and associate of Peter I. It so happened that as a result of court intrigues he was slandered, the tsar excommunicated Boris Alekseevich, who had fallen out of favor, from the court and sent him to the newly acquired named after the village of Dubrovitsy. But soon good name Golitsyn was restored, the royal anger subsided. The Tsar again summoned Golitsyn to Moscow and granted him the boyar rank. In honor of reconciliation with the tsar, Golitsyn planned to build this white stone temple on his estate. But although its construction was completed in 1699, the beautiful temple was consecrated only five years later, and there were several reasons for this.

Firstly, the Orthodox Church in the person of Patriarch Adrian stubbornly refused to consecrate it. The temple that was built was very unusual, not at all like Orthodox churches and did not comply with church canons. Decorated in the Baroque style in a European manner, it resembled Catholic churches, which is why the Orthodox Church received him with hostility.
In addition, Prince Golitsyn intended to consecrate the temple in the presence of the sovereign, and in those years Peter I, busy with military campaigns, almost did not appear in Moscow. Only in February 1704, having conquered the Eastern Baltic from the Swedes, Peter, Tsarevich Alexei and his courtiers arrived at Golitsyn’s estate. By that time, the tsar had carried out a church reform, Patriarch Adrian had died and Metropolitan Stephen nevertheless consecrated the temple.

The central part of the temple rises upward in the form of an elegant octagonal pillar, which is crowned not by a dome or a spire, as was customary in Rus', but by a gilded crown.

Although the architecture of the temple traced the traditions of ancient Russian architecture, in particular, carved decorations ancient temples Suzdal and Vladimir, in general it turned out to be built in the spirit of imitation of Western, Catholic models.
Many sculptures were used to decorate the temple, which is typical of European Baroque of the 18th century. Unfortunately, many of them are now badly damaged or completely lost.

At one of the entrances there are white stone sculptures of two elder saints in robes - Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom.

Above the western door you can see a statue of another saint - Basil the Great.

TOIn addition, the façade is decorated with statues of evangelists, apostles, and angels.

The temple is richly decorated with white stone openwork lace with a rather intricate pattern of flowers, leaves, and fruits.

Inside the temple there are also many relief images depicting scenes from the Bible.

The space under the dome is decorated in the spirit of the Late Renaissance.

The central composition in the interior is the “Crucifixion” scene from the cycle “The Passion of the Lord”.

In the upper part of the iconostasis, carved decorations are in perfect harmony with the icons. Presumably, craftsmen from the Moscow Kremlin Armory took part in the creation of these icons.

The fate of the inscriptions found in the temple is interesting. During the restoration of this temple, the original inscriptions made in Latin, at the insistence of Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow, were replaced with Church Slavonic ones, but in 2004 the Latin texts were returned again.
Unfortunately, the names of the creators of this masterpiece have sunk into eternity. But, undoubtedly, during the construction of this magnificent temple, along with Russians, foreign, Italian masters were also involved.In his memoirs about the construction of this church, one of the local priests, S.I. Romanovsky, wrote in 1802: "Having acquired the knowledge of this most excellent architect, an Italian by birth...".
Now the temple has been returned to the Orthodox Church, whose efforts are carrying out its restoration.

The temple was erected by Peter I's tutor, Prince Boris Alekseevich Golitsyn, as a sign of reconciliation with the sovereign. In 1689 B.A. Golitsyn was slandered before the tsar and retired to his village, but already in 1690 Boris Alekseevich was summoned back to Moscow, and then he began to build a new temple, in the foundation of which the sovereign participated.

Church architecture

The Znamenskaya Church, with its unusual architecture for the Moscow region, was built from local white stone, which is often found in the Podolsk region. The carvings of the decorative decoration of the temple were made from the same material.

In plan, the building forms an equilateral cross with rounded blades. The main volume of the temple, raised on a high foundation, is surrounded by open gallery, in other words, a walkway, to which four wide staircases lead. An octagonal tower, topped with a dome in the form of a gilded crown, rises above the central part.

The temple is covered from top to bottom with carvings plant motifs, the facade is also decorated with sculptures. On the western side there are statues of St. John the Theologian and Gregory Chrysostom. All elements of external and internal decor do not belong to the Russian tradition of that time. Perhaps, using the techniques of Western architecture, the prince sought to please Peter I, who preferred European manners.

The interior of the temple is also richly decorated and replete with sculptural compositions and stucco reliefs on biblical and evangelical themes. The central place is occupied by the “Crucifixion”. To the right of it is an inscription, which is indicated by two seated angels. Similar texts accompanying other scenes were originally written in Latin. During the restoration in the 19th century, Metropolitan of Moscow Filaret (Drozdov) demanded that they be replaced with Church Slavonic quotations from the Gospel.

Fortunately, the wooden iconostasis and carved two-tier choirs have been preserved. The creation of the icons is attributed to the masters of the Moscow Kremlin Armory. Throughout the decoration of the temple, Western European traditions coexist with the “Naryshkin baroque”. This style was called “Golitsyn Baroque”.

Consecration of the temple

So daring for its time, the project of B.A. Golitsyn was able to realize it only thanks to the support of Peter I. The construction of the temple was completed by 1699, after which another five years passed until the opening of the Znamenskaya Church.

Patriarch Adrian did not give permission to consecrate such an unusual temple, decorated in a European style.

After the death of the patriarch, Metropolitan Stefan (Yavorsky) of Ryazan and Murom became the locum tenens of the Moscow Patriarchal Throne. And in February 1704, he consecrated a new church in Dubrovitsy in the presence of Peter I and his son Tsarevich Alexei. Magnificent celebrations on this occasion lasted a whole week, and all local residents were invited to them.

Temple in the 20th century

The bell tower of the Church of the Sign, which was located next to the temple, was blown up in 1930. The temple itself was not damaged, but there was for many years closed for worship. At the end of the 1950s, the temple came under the jurisdiction of the All-Union Institute of Animal Husbandry, which carried out restoration work in the church for 40 years. Unfortunately, they were never completed.

In 1990, on the eve of the 300th anniversary of the start of construction of the temple, services were resumed there. And in 2004, restoration work was carried out, during which the Latin texts in the decoration of the temple were restored to their original form. The unique high reliefs of the late 17th - early 18th centuries were renewed and the Royal Doors of the iconostasis were restored.