“The revival of the Church of the Apostle John the Theologian, which is near Elm, is a matter of honor for the authorities of the capital. “The revival of the Church of the Apostle John the Theologian, which is under the Elm, is a matter of honor for the authorities of the capital. The Church of John the Theologian under the Elm schedule of services

The massive and majestic church building dominates all surrounding buildings. Even the new construction of the 20th century in the neighborhood did not crush it and did not diminish its importance in shaping the appearance of New Square. However, the crosses on the temple and bell tower have only recently returned.

The exact date of construction of the first church is unknown, but it was mentioned as existing already in 1493. The next time it appears in sources is almost a century later - in 1585, as a wooden one. At the same time, her nickname became known - “under the elm”, after a large tree that grew next to the altar of the temple until 1775. By the beginning of the 19th century, the old church building had fallen into disrepair, but the Patriotic War of 1812 prevented its reconstruction. Only in 1825 (this date is still visible on the pediment above the altar) construction work began according to the design of architects S.P. Obitaeva and L.P. Carloni, which lasted 12 years and ended in 1837.

Erected in the Empire style, the two-tier building of the new church received six altars at once - a very large number for a parish church. At the top is the main altar in the name of John the Theologian with two chapels on both sides: the Finding of the Head of John the Baptist and Luke the Evangelist. Below is the central chapel of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the side chapels of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and Mitrophany of Voronezh. The church faces New Square with its eastern facade with an altar, which, due to such a ceremonial location, was designed in the form of a massive six-column portico with rustication in the lower part and was devoid of projections. The side facades are decorated more modestly. The building is given a special solemnity by a high light dome, decorated with Ionic columns and topped with a dome traditional for Orthodox churches. In the 1840s, the church received a new bell tower, almost equal in height to the dome of the temple thanks to the elongated spire with a cross. From the north and south of the temple, symmetrically placed empire-style two-story clergy houses with benches on the ground floor overlook the New Square: connected to the church by means of two arched gates with figured completions, they form a complete ensemble with it.

In 1925, the temple was closed - one of the first in the district - and converted first into an archive, and then into a communal museum, which in 1934 turned into the Museum of History and Reconstruction of Moscow. The church lost the head and spire of the bell tower, interfloor ceilings appeared inside, almost all the decoration was destroyed, with the exception of some fragments of stucco. Until the museum moved to the Provision Warehouse building on Zubovsky Boulevard, the church was closed. Only in 2011 did services resume here, at which time the temple received the status of a house church at the Russian Orthodox University named after John the Theologian. Restoration is underway, during which the lost completions of the temple and bell tower have already been recreated, and it is also expected to restore the lost appearance of the interiors.

Once upon a time, New Square, on which the Theological Church is located, was a narrow passage in front of the Kitai-Gorod wall. P.V. Sytin in his book “From the History of Moscow Streets” notes: “At the end of the 14th century, the settlement had not yet reached this area: a ditch dug for its protection went from the east along the current Bolshoi Cherkassky and Vladimirov lanes. But during the construction of the fortress wall in 1534-38, the territory of the recent Old and New Squares became part of Kitay-Gorod. In the wall, at the end of the Kitai-Gorod streets running perpendicular to it, gate towers were built in the east. Behind the wall there was a ditch, across which wooden bridges were thrown from the gate.”

The Church of St. John the Evangelist near Elm has a special destiny. It is dedicated to the beloved disciple of Jesus Christ - the Apostle and Evangelist John. Demetrius of Rostov in the life of the saint writes about him: “At his very calling, John was called by the Lord “Son of Thunder,” because his theology, like thunder, was to be heard throughout the world and fill the whole earth. And John followed his good Teacher, learning from the wisdom that came from His mouth; and he was greatly loved by his Lord Christ for his perfect kindness and virgin purity. The Lord honored him as the most distinguished of the twelve apostles.

He was one of those three closest disciples of Christ to whom the Lord many times revealed His Divine secrets. So, when He wanted to resurrect Jairus’ daughter, he did not allow anyone to follow Him except Peter, James and John. When he wanted to show the glory of His Divinity on Tabor, he took Peter, James, and also John. When he was praying in Vertograd, and there he was not without John, for he said to the disciples: “Sit here while I go and pray there; and taking with him Peter and both sons of Zebedee,” i.e. James and John. Everywhere John was not separated from Christ. And how Christ loved him is evident from the fact that John reclined on His chest at the Last Supper.”

At the request of Christ, John took care of Mary and treated her as his mother. After the Dormition of the Mother of God, John went with his disciple Prokhor to Asia Minor, where he preached the Gospel. There, Jesus’ closest disciple “converted many people to Christ and performed countless miracles.” John became the only apostle who died of natural causes at the age of more than a hundred years. Of course, in Rus' they especially revered the “beloved disciple of Christ,” who was inseparable from his teacher both on earth and in heaven. In Moscow, churches were often consecrated in honor of John the Theologian, whom the Russian people called the apostle of love.

The Nikon Chronicle contains a mention of the Church of St. John the Theologian under 1493: “And from the city the market caught fire, and from then the settlement burned near the Moscow River to Conception at the Eastern end, and along Vasilievsky Meadow, and along All Saints on Kulishka, and from then on John Theologian and the old Trinity, and Sretenskaya street is all burnt out to the ground, and the church of the stone church of Sretenska is burned.” In the great fire of 1493, Moscow residents saw an omen of the end of the world. The fact is that by this time the seventh thousand years from the creation of the world had expired, and this is precisely the period, according to the conviction of people who lived in the 15th century, that God had allotted for the existence of the world.

It should be noted that the Apostle John the Theologian is the author of the Apocalypse - the last book of the New Testament. This is another reason for the veneration of John the Theologian in Rus'. People were aware of their sinfulness and the imminent retribution for it and increasingly consecrated churches in honor of the apostle, the creator of the apocalyptic revelation. Most likely, the Theological Church was connected with a fortified fort, which was located outside the settlement and covered the closest approaches to Moscow from the eastern side. In the first half of the 16th century, after the construction of the Kitai-Gorod wall, the Church of St. John the Theologian entered the city limits.

The wooden church burned down several times, but there were always wealthy benefactors who donated money for its restoration. During the Time of Troubles, the Church of St. John the Evangelist was destroyed at the hands of Polish invaders. Historian S.M. Soloviev reports: “A terrible massacre of unarmed people began: up to 7,000 people died in China-town. But in the White City the Russians had time to gather and arm themselves. The military men, who had previously made their way into the settlements, provided active assistance: on Sretenka, the Poles were stopped by Prince Dimitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky, who united with the gunners, repulsed the enemy, and trampled him into Kitai-Gorod.”

Historians agree that the first stone temple on this site was built in 1658. But the authoritative publication of 1796, “Historical News of All the Churches of the Capital City of Moscow,” says that already in 1626 there was a stone temple near the wooden church. The name "Under the Elm" comes from the mighty elm tree that grew in front of the altar until 1775. Sytin, however, offers another version of the origin of the addition “under the Elm”: “In the 14th–15th centuries, a dense forest rustled on the site of the Old and New Squares. The memory of this is preserved in the name of the church.” Although both of these versions do not contradict each other at all.

Everyone knows that at the dawn of the history of Moscow there was a dense forest around the entire Kremlin hill. The fact that in the old days the capital was famous for its pine forests is evidenced by the names of Borovitsky Hill, Borovitskaya Square, Borovitskaya Tower, Podsosensky Lane, named after the Sosenki tract. The same is true in the names of Moscow churches - John the Baptist near Bor, Savior on Bor or Elijah the Prophet near Sosenki. The elm tree, under which the Kitai-Gorod Church of St. John the Evangelist was located, may have previously stood among many of its “brothers.” The legendary tree was treated with respect.

The elm was not cut down, it simply fell, having outlived its long life. Any botany textbook will tell us that elms can live up to four hundred years. It turns out that the famous centenarian could have grown up here back in the 14th century and witnessed the very first church built on this site. In 1825, the Church of St. John the Theologian was dismantled to the ground due to its disrepair. The current church was built in 1825–1837. A few years later, a square bell tower in the late Empire style was added to the western facade of the Church of St. John the Evangelist. In a single ensemble with the church and bell tower, clergy houses were erected, connected to the church by a gate.

In the upper church, divided into four tiers, three altars were consecrated: the main one, dedicated to John the Theologian, and the two extreme ones - the Finding of the Honest Head of John the Baptist and the Evangelist Luke. On the lower floor, according to historian I.M. Snegirev, in the 19th century there were chapels of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and Mitrophanius of Voronezh. In 1882, the temple was renovated, new iconostases appeared in the church. In 1925 the church was closed. The domes of the temple were dismantled, the crosses were broken, and the interior decoration was distorted by the construction of interfloor ceilings. In the 1930s, the upper tier of the bell tower and the spire were destroyed.

For several years the church housed an archive. In 1934, the Museum of History and Reconstruction of Moscow moved here, which was previously located in the Krestovsky water towers and in the Sukharev Tower. In 1978–1979, the long-awaited reconstruction of the dilapidated church took place. In 1992, by decree of the Moscow Government, the Church of St. John the Theologian was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. However, the Museum of History and Reconstruction of Moscow, which occupied the temple building for a long time, had no intention of moving anywhere. For almost sixteen years, believers fought for the return of the Church of St. John the Evangelist under the elm and the resumption of services there.

In 2006, the Urban Planning Council under the mayor of the city, Yuri Luzhkov, allocated the “Provision Stores” complex for the Museum of the History of Moscow on Zubovsky Boulevard near the Park Kultury metro station. But the building of the Church of St. John the Evangelist continued to house the museum administration, permanent exhibitions on the history of Moscow, exhibition halls, storage facilities and office premises. In 2010, by the decision of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill, the Elias Church became the home church of the Russian Orthodox University. But even after this, the stubborn museum workers were in no hurry to leave the church building.

For several months, students, teachers and friends of the Russian Orthodox University gathered in the open air at the altar of the temple to serve a prayer service to John the Theologian for the return of the church to the believers. On October 9, 2010, a divine service was held at the St. John the Theologian Church for the first time in eighty-five years. Only recently the renovation of the buildings of the temple complex was completed, the most important result of which was the restoration of the dome, partially destroyed during Soviet times. After the restoration of the interior, the Russian Orthodox University moved to Novaya Square.

The university was created as an institution of higher professional religious education of the Russian Orthodox Church and implements church and secular education standards. Its distinctive feature is the focus of the entire learning process on preparing a graduate who is fully adapted to modern reality, an enterprising person, capable of independent action, ready to take responsibility for decisions made, and at the same time, a focus on the formation of a spiritually rich personality. The rector of the university, Abbot Peter (Eremeev), is also the rector of the St. John the Theological Church.

The open spaces of Lubyanka and Novaya squares allow us to admire the Church of St. John the Evangelist from afar. Previously, New Square was much narrower than it is today. In the 18th century, the Church of St. John the Theologian was the most important architectural dominant of the eastern part of Kitai-Gorod. Therefore, the eastern façade, facing the square, is decorated with a solemn six-column portico instead of altar projections. The massive main volume of the Theological Church with pilaster porticoes on the side facades is crowned with a dome on a high light drum surrounded by a row of Ionic columns.

Church. Valid.
Thrones: John the Evangelist, Luke the Evangelist, Finding of the Head of John the Baptist, Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos, Mitrofan of Voronezh, Nicholas the Wonderworker
Architectural style:Empire
Year of construction: Between 1825 and 1837.
Website: .
Address:Moscow, New Square, 12
Coordinates:55.757595, 37.627843
Directions: m. "China Town", "Lubyanka"
The wooden church on this site has been known since the end of the 15th century. The elm tree that gave it its name grew near the altar until 1775. In 1658 the church was rebuilt in brick, and in 1825-37 the current temple was built in the Empire style. The bell tower was added in the 1840s. On the second floor of the church, in addition to the main altar, there were chapels of the Finding of the Head of John the Baptist and the Evangelist Luke, in the basement - the Intercession of the Virgin Mary, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and Mitrophanius of Voronezh. In 1925, the temple was closed, its main volume lost its drum with a dome, and the bell tower lost its spire. Since 1934, it has housed the Moscow Communal Museum, later renamed the Museum of History and Reconstruction of Moscow; the modern name is the Museum of the History of the City of Moscow. At the beginning of 2004, the Urban Planning Council under the Mayor of Moscow approved the relocation of the City History Museum to a building on Strastnoy Boulevard, while the temple building was to be returned to the Orthodox Church. This decision, planned for 2004, was not implemented.
On Sunday, October 9, 2011, the day of the patronal feast of the Church of St. John the Theologian under Elm (New Square, 12) - the temple of the Russian Orthodox University and the Orthodox Institute of St. John the Theologian, the first Divine Liturgy in 85 years will be celebrated.