Church of Clement, Pope of Rome: description, history and interesting facts. Lives of the Saints: history of the Church of the Great Martyr Clement Temple of Clement of the Pope Unction

To the Church of the Holy Martyr Clement, Pope of Rome in Zamoskvorechye

Total 23 photos

In Klimentovsky Lane between Pyatnitskaya and Bolshaya Ordynka, a stone's throw from the Tretyakov Gallery, you can find an example of not entirely traditional Orthodox church architecture - the Church of the Holy Martyr Clement, Pope of Rome. This beautiful Baroque church was built by the Swiss master Pietro Trezzini in 1762 -1774.

Hieromartyr Clement, after whom the church is named, is a saint of the first century, a disciple of the Apostle Peter, considered the first Pope. Clement's role is that, being a patrician, that is, a royal family, he brought Christianity to the highest strata of society. Before Clement, Christianity was the religion of slaves. With the advent of Clement to the see of Roman bishops, Christianity became the religion not only of slaves, but also of the upper strata of society - patricians, warriors, free citizens.

The temple survived the fire of Moscow in 1812, war and revolution, preserving the original interiors of the 18th century, which miraculously survived to our time.
In 1612, this place was glorified by the first battle given by the militia of Minin and Pozharsky to the Poles, led by the Lithuanian hetman Chodkiewicz. At this place, near the Klimentovsky prison, the militia took a small town - Ostrozhets. This Ostrozhets was full of ammunition, food, everything that the Poles were preparing to take the Kremlin. And although complete victory had yet to be won, the battles at the church in the name of the Holy Martyr Clement, the Pope of Rome, demonstrated the faith of the “unshakably” Russian militia that fought for the independence of the Motherland. The author of the “Brief Historical Description of the Moscow Klimentovskaya Church on Pyatnitskaya Street” noted that “the battle of the Klimentovsky prison was, as it were, the seed of salvation for Moscow and Russia,” and the temple itself, as a witness to this important event, acquired “special historical significance for the Fatherland " Thus, the Hieromartyr Clement of Rome, along with the miraculous Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, can be considered the Heavenly Intercessor of the Russian army.
At that time there was no modern temple here yet. There was a 16th-century temple here, one wall of which was preserved during the construction of a new temple in the 18th century to the present day. The wall preserved in memory of the ancient temple suggests that the temple stood here several centuries before 1612. Thus, the history of the temple goes back to the times when St. Clement was as widely revered in Rus' as St. Nicholas is now.

The temple acquired its modern appearance in the middle of the 18th century. The temple was built with truly palace splendor: the use of Baroque and Rococo styles both in the external appearance of the temple and in the interiors gives it a special solemnity. The temple is a unique monument of the late Baroque for Moscow, containing elements of early classicism. Whoever was listed as the author of this temple - Rastrelli, Chevakinsky, and Zherebtsov... Nowadays, researchers are inclined to think that the project belonged to the Swiss architect Pietro Antonio Trezzini, the namesake of the first architect of St. Petersburg.

The temple has no analogues in Moscow architecture of the 18th century; similar in form to the buildings of B.F. Rastrelli in St. Petersburg and St. Andrew's Cathedral in Kyiv.

The temple has six altars: the main altar - the Transfiguration of the Lord (consecrated in 1770), the side chapels - the Ascension of the Lord (consecrated in 1774), the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the icons of the Mother of God "The Sign" and the "Burning Bush", St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. In the one-story refectory there are chapels of the Holy Martyr Clement, the Pope and St. Peter of Alexandria.

04 Church of Clement, Pope, on Pyatnitskaya - the most baroque building in the capital

05 Clement Church on Pyatnitskaya Street, 1890-1901

The monumental building rises decisively upward. Five mighty domes growing from the main volume of the building form a compact group. An architectural colossus, full of movement, at the same time bears the stamp of unity. In Moscow in the mid-18th century there are no monuments similar to this temple.

The walls of the main building do not have altar projections and are framed by double columns.

There are patterned metal gratings along the top of the building.

The temple is decorated with decorative stucco.

18 Bell Tower

Inside, a seven-tier iconostasis (18th century) with numerous wooden carvings, decorated with wooden sculptures and part of the interior decoration have been preserved. The iconostasis is designed in the late Baroque-Rococo style.

The temple was closed in 1929 and faced the threat of destruction. P. Baranovsky and I. Grabar stood up for the temple, turning to the government. The residents submitted a petition demanding that the temple be destroyed and a children's playground be built in its place - "to establish a center of reason on the hearth of Datura."
Clement Voroshilov, to whom Pyotr Baranovsky and Igor Grabar went, having been baptized in honor of Clement, the Pope, made a different decision - the book depository of the Russian State Library was located here. At this time, the first complete collection of the leader’s works had just been published and there was simply nowhere to put it. Then K. Voroshilov ordered it to be placed in the temple. Huge shelves were quickly built in the temple and filled with books, including works by the leader of the revolution. When the bombers came to plant charges in the walls and columns of the temple, they saw the leader’s books here. The librarians warned that they would now call the NKVD and report the sabotage that they were going to do in the library. The bombers retreated. The temple was saved.
In 2008, the church building, which retained its appearance, as well as to some extent the interior, was transferred to the Orthodox community, and the books were removed. With the financial support of the Moscow government, the restoration of the temple was carried out, which was completed in 2014

22 Temple fence

The interior decoration in our temple was formed over almost three centuries!

Some of the revered icons have been in the temple since ancient times ( from the moment of its construction), and some appeared in the temple already in the newest period of its existence. All the ancient icons that we will talk about in this section underwent complex professional restoration in the period from 2010-2016.

You can always purchase reproductions of many of our icons in our Church Shop.

Currently you can pray in front of the following shrines:

1. Ancient icon sschmch. Clement Pope and Peter Archbishop of Alexandria
( located in the wall icon case to the right of the entrance to the central part of the temple)

This ancient image has been preserved from the first small temple of Sschmch. Clement of the early 18th century. According to our assumptions, in past centuries the central part of the icon was taken out of the frame with stamps and, on especially solemn occasions, taken out for religious processions and prayer services.

2. Ancient icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
(The central part of the temple, opposite the iconostasis).

This image, amazing in its spiritual depth and quality of writing, enjoyed the love and veneration of parishioners throughout the history of the temple. Previously it was in an icon case in the Nikolsky chapel. In Soviet times, through the efforts of the staff of the Restoration Center named after. Restoration and conservation work was carried out on Grabar, so the image has been well preserved to this day. The last restoration took place in 2017.

3. Ancient icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary « Mammal"
(The central part of the temple, opposite the iconostasis).

Previously, the image was in an icon case in the Znamensky chapel of the temple. Just like the previous image, the icon was saved from destruction by restorers of the workshops named after. Grabar. The last restoration took place in 2017.
A very rare iconographic image. The original icon was in the Lavra of Saint Sava near Jerusalem, and is currently kept in the Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos.

4. Icon sschmch. Pope Clement and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
( ( on right)

The icon from the late 16th century was taken out in 1974 from an abandoned Karelian village, in which lived a pious woman who saved and preserved the icon from a church burned down during the revolution. December 6, 2013, on the eve of the feast of the Holy Martyr Clement (8 December), the icon was given to our church by Muscovite I.I. Vinogradov.

5. Icon sschmch. Pope Clement with the relics of the saint ( big)
( located in the central part of the temple)

The image was painted in 2010 by the famous Moscow icon painter Anna Kalinina, the wife of our rector. A particle of the relics of Sschmch. Clement was donated to our church in 2009 by the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.

6. Icon sschmch. Pope Clement with the relics of the saint ( small)
( located in the refectory part of the temple in the Klimentovsky chapel ( on right)

The icon was painted in 2005 in the Grebennikovs’ icon-painting workshop in Veliky Novgorod.

7. Icon of the Council of Holy Healers and Unmercenaries
( located in the refectory part of the temple ( on right)

The icon was painted by Moscow icon painter Mikhail Dorozhkin in 2007. The image of the holy healers from the Church of the Not Made by Hands of Christ the Savior in Perovo was taken as the basis and adapted to the baroque style of icon painting of our temple.
The icon depicts: martyr. Anikita, martyr Falalei, martyr. Tryphon, martyr. Diomede, m. Photius, martyr. Cyrus, unlimited John, unlimited Cosmas, St. Sapson of the country, great martyr Panteleimon the healer, smch. Ermolai, unlimited Damian.

8. Ancient icon of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
( located in the refectory part of the temple ( left)

On September 27, 2014, on the feast of the Exaltation of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' performed the rite of the Great Consecration of the temple and donated to our church the icon of the Exaltation of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross.

9. An exact copy of the Shroud of Turin on canvas
( ( on right)

Accurate copy of the Shroud of Turin of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christwas broughtto our templeSeptember 6, 2014 with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus'. The shrine was donated to our church by the Archbishop of the Mountains. Turina Msgr. Cesare Noziglia.

Ark with a piece of linen.

10. Ancient icon « The Last Judgment."
( located in the Znamensky chapel in the central part of the temple, on the left)

The icon has been in the temple since the end of the 18th century. In the 50s of the last century, it was saved from destruction by restorers of Mestera. Grabar. In 2016, the icon underwent a complex restoration.

11. Icon of St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called with a particle of relics.
( located in the Nikolsky chapel of the central part of the temple ( on the right in the niche)

On August 19, on the day of the celebration of the Patronal Feast of our church - the Transfiguration of the Lord, the Athonite icon of St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called was brought to the temple, after making an icon case and installing a reliquary in it with a particle of his relics.
The relics of the Holy Apostle were transferred to our church from Amalfi (Italy), where for more than 800 years the relics of the Saint have rested in the crypt of the Cathedral of St. Andrew the First-Called.
The icon, painted by an Athonite monk, was purchased at St. Andrew's Skete during a pilgrimage by the rector of our church, Fr. Leonid and elder Albert Tonoyan to Holy Mount Athos in June 2016.

12. Ancient reliquary and Gospel XVIII century.
( located in the Nikolsky chapel of the central part of the temple ( on right)

The reliquary with the crucifix contains the relics of the saints of the first centuries of the Christian era: St. sschmch. Clement, Pope of Rome, St. Apostle of the 70 Fortunatus,
St. Mark the Evangelist, Saints Procopius and Dionysius.
The ancient Gospel was kept for a long time in the sacristy of the temple; due to the fragility of the pages, it was not used for divine services in our time.

One of the most famous churches in Moscow, located on Pyatnitskaya Street, is a unique example of church baroque.
Saint Clement (2nd century AD) was the “apostle of the 70”, the 4th bishop of Rome. At that time, the division of the church into Orthodox and Catholic had not yet occurred.
The temple, according to the main version, was built in the 17th century. one of the richest merchants in Moscow, Kozma Matveev, whose estate was located on Pyatnitskaya Street.
It is believed that the author of the project- Pietro Antonio Trezzini is a Swiss architect, the author of many palaces and temples in St. Petersburg.
In the iconostasis of the temple and its external decoration revealed the rich architectural language of the Moscow Baroque.

The northern (left) aisle of the refectory is dedicated to the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “The Burning Bush”, placed to the left of the royal doors and protecting from fire and fires. To the left of the Transfiguration chapel there is a chapel in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”.

The southern (right) aisle of the refectory is dedicated to Pope St. Clement and Archbishop Peter of Alexandria. This chapel occupies the site of the original temple, near which Polish and Russian troops fought in 1612.

In the main part of the building there are five chapels, which is rare for Moscow churches. Temple icon of St. Clement is usually placed on a lectern. In the wall icon cases under the arch there are ancient icons of the 18th century.

The main part of the temple was built in 1770 and made in a style typical of Western European churches. Statues of angels stand on pedestals at the level of the second tier, the icons are set in luxurious frames and made in the style of Italian art of the 18th century. In the temple, for the first time in Moscow, the “kiot” structure of the iconostasis was used, when a single iconostasis covered all five altars of the central part of the temple. The closest analogue is the iconostasis of the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

After the October Revolution in 1917, many ancient churches in Moscow were, unfortunately, destroyed. However, some religious buildings, almost miraculously, were still preserved. One of them is the Church of Clement, the Pope, in Zamoskvorechye, on the street. Pyatnitskaya. The peculiarities of this ancient temple are its architecture and decoration, which is quite unusual for an Orthodox Church. In another way, the church is also called the Church of the Transfiguration.

Minin and Pozharsky

Unfortunately, historians know nothing about the exact time of construction of the Clement Temple. The first mention of this church is found in the chronicle telling about the battle of the troops of Minin and Pozharsky with the Poles, which took place on August 24, 1612. Then Russian Cossack troops recaptured this temple and the nearby fort from Khodkevich, thereby disrupting the hetman’s plans to prepare for the capture of the Moscow Kremlin .

Temple before the revolution

According to the chronicle, in those days this structure had a completely different appearance. It was built, like most other churches in Moscow, from wood. However, 40 years after the battle, the church of Clement, the Pope, was completely transformed. A stone one was built on the site of the old wooden structure. The first mention of the new temple dates back to 1657. At the beginning of the 18th century, the church was completely rebuilt. A refectory and a bell tower with two chapels were also erected next to it. The architects of the new temple were presumably A. Evlashov or K. Blank.

In the middle of the 18th century. The church was again subjected to global reconstruction. The main part of the old building was demolished, and by 1769 the builders completed the construction of the five-domed Baroque temple. Moscow Matveev financed the reconstruction. The architect was supposedly the Italian Pietro Antonio Trezzini. It is in this form that this church has survived to this day.

Temple after the revolution

The decision to close the Church of Clement, the Pope, on Pyatnitskaya by the Moscow authorities was made in 1929. As the priests say, they came to disperse the believers right on Good Friday. The parishioners were not even allowed to celebrate Easter. Archpriest Mikhail Galunov, appointed to this position in 1925 and who did a lot for the restoration of the temple, was taken to the NKVD. He subsequently spent 10 years in the camps.

In 1934, it was decided to destroy the empty Clement Church on Pyatnitskaya. Residents of a nearby house wrote a petition to the authorities about this. In it they asked to build a children's playground on the site of the temple. However, restorers Igor Grabar and Pyotr Baranovsky stood up for the church, saving thousands of ancient religious buildings in those days. Today the Russian Orthodox Church calls them ascetics and honors them in every possible way, even though they were non-believers.

History of the Church of Clement, Pope: interesting facts

No one knows for sure how it really happened. But there is quite a lot of talk about the salvation of the Church of Clement on Pyatnitskaya. It is believed that Baranovsky and Grabar went straight to the After all, it was this Soviet military leader and politician who was baptized in honor of the sainted Pope as a child. According to rumors, by order of Voroshilov in 1934, the first complete edition of Lenin’s works, which had just been published at that time, was brought to the church on Pyatnitskaya. Huge shelves were quickly built in the temple and filled with books, including works by the leader of the revolution. That is, a library was urgently created here.

The book depository workers who came to destroy the temple threatened to call the NKVD about sabotage. Having seen Lenin’s books on the shelves, they, according to legend, retreated.

Thus, thanks to the intercession of two restorers, the Church of Clement, the Pope, was almost undamaged during the Soviet years. To this day it has been preserved almost in its original form.

Another rather interesting fact is connected with the Church of Clement. The priests say that Archpriest Mikhail Galunov, who served a ten-year sentence, after his release, lived secretly with his wife for a long time in the bell tower of the temple. It is believed that this became possible due to the fact that religious librarians worked in the book depository organized in the church.

Condition of the temple at the beginning of the new millennium

The Church of Clement, the Pope (Transfiguration of the Savior), was not destroyed in Moscow in the 30s, like many others. However, of course, no one paid much attention to her later. By 2002, the library in the temple was still working, but it was in terrible condition. Most of the building's windows were missing and the roof was leaking.

Restoration of the temple

The first to think about this were, of course, the believers. A small reconstruction was carried out with their money. To preserve the building, the first step was to reroof it. The leaks have stopped. The believers also took care of most of the windows. Glass was inserted into the openings. After some time, the clergy managed to draw the attention of the authorities to the state of the temple. In 2008, on the initiative of Luzhkov, the building was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. The books were taken out of it. In 2014, the restoration of the Church of St. Clement was almost completed. The reconstruction of this building, important for the spiritual life of the country, was financed by the Moscow authorities.

Reviews of the Church of Clement, Pope

Of course, in the few years after the opening and restoration, the temple was visited by many believers and history buffs. There are only good reviews of the work carried out there. The church looks, according to many parishioners, simply magnificent. Its interiors are unusual, but they set the believer in the right mood very well. This church has also earned excellent reviews for the fact that there is a clean public garden next to it. Here you can sit in the shade, relax and breathe the air of old Moscow.

Who is Saint Clement

Actually, the patron of this church himself lived in Rome during the time of Christ and the Apostle Peter. Saint Clement's parents were named Faustus and Matthidia. Both were of royal origin and were relatives of the Roman emperor. In addition to Clement, they had two more children - twins Favstin and Favstinian. The saint's parents adhered to pagan faith.

It so happened that because of the act of an ungodly man, this entire large family was confused. For a long time, its members considered each other dead. They were reunited only 24 years after separation thanks to the Apostle Peter. The twin brothers and Clement, independently of each other, believed in Christ and followed this saint.

Many people told sad stories of their lives to the revered apostle. Both Clement and Matfidia did this. Peter quite by chance met her begging at the entrance to one of the cities through which he passed. Realizing that the woman and his disciple were each other’s son and mother, the apostle organized their meeting. Other followers of Peter, including the twins Favstin and Favstinian, also learned about this happy story in detail. Of course, they immediately realized who Clement and Matfidia were, and hastened to meet them.

But the miracles didn't end there. Happy Matfidia believed that Christ himself had helped her find her children, and asked Peter to baptize her. But one old astrologer heard about the upcoming ritual in his city. The scientist began to persuade Peter not to baptize the woman, since there is no God in heaven. Yes, even if he had, then, according to the elder, he would not have allowed the death of his wife and children many years ago. After listening to the astrologer’s story, Peter realized that standing in front of him was the husband of Matthidia and the father of his three disciples. Thus the family was finally reunited.

Why is the saint called the Pope?

The Temple of the Hieromartyr Clement, Pope of Rome, was built in honor of this saint, of course, not because of his miraculous reunion with his family, but in memory of his deeds. Having met, Clement's parents returned to Rome and were showered with gifts and all sorts of benefits by their delighted relative, the Roman emperor. Of course, Matthidia and Favst began to actively preach the new religion. After their death, Clement continued this work. During his life, this preacher was often persecuted and was eventually drowned by the pagans in the sea.

Today the church greatly reveres Saint Clement, believing that it was he who first spread Christianity among the Roman nobility. Before him, this religion was the faith of the poor. As a noble man, Clement baptized a lot of rich Romans. As a result, Christianity became the religion of both the military and the most revered citizens. That is why priests, including Orthodox Christians, consider him a person worthy of bearing the title of the first pre-schism Pope.

Architecture Features

Externally, the Church of Clement, the Pope, looks very unusual. This building looks more like a Catholic one than an Orthodox church. The architecture of this building is very close in style to Western European. However, the internal Orthodox essence of the temple, according to its clergy, has been fully preserved.

Interior decoration

The interiors of the Church of the Pope are made in the Rococo style, which is also unusual for an Orthodox religious building. Its interior decoration is a bit reminiscent of a Catholic one. However, unlike Western temples, the Church of St. Clement does not contain images of chimeras and monsters. Orthodox priests consider their presence in the design a sign of the Catholic Church’s departure from the true faith.

Of course, the basis of the interior decoration of the temple are icons. Five old images have survived in the Church of Clement. The most revered icon is the icon of the Sovereign Mother of God. This image is considered even older than the one found in Kolomenskoye, which was once used during the abdication of Nicholas II.

This icon, like the other four, was created by Italian masters. In comparison with traditional Orthodox ones, all these images look quite unusual. There is even an image of St. Catherine in the church, which represents not herself, but Empress Catherine II. Icon painters of the 18th century sometimes allowed themselves such liberties. The modern Church does not approve of this. Nevertheless, the icon adorns the walls of the temple, and anyone can look at it.

How to find the temple

Getting to the Church of Clement, the Pope, in Moscow will not be difficult. It is located right in the city center, on the site of a former Cossack settlement. You can get there by metro. This church is located right between two large stations - Tretyakovskaya and Kuznetskaya - and occupies almost the entire Klimentovsky Lane. The exact address of the temple looks like this: Moscow, st. Pyatnitskaya, 26, building 1.

Church of Clement in Pskov and other cities

Of course, in honor of this revered saint, not only the temple on Pyatnitskaya was built in Russia. There are such churches in other cities of Russia. You can visit the saint’s temple, for example, in Pskov. The Church of Clement, the Pope, in this city is located on Olginskaya embankment, no. 16.

Such a temple was also built in Veliky Novgorod. You can find it at the address: st. Bolshaya Moskovskaya, 36. Another church of the saint operates in the village of Kostyurino, Yaroslavl region.

At the intersection of Pyatnitskaya Street and Klimentovsky Lane there is a large five-domed Church of St. Clement, unlike other Moscow churches. It was as if she had come from St. Petersburg. The temple is still considered the largest in Zamoskvorechye. But its main treasure is located inside - the completely preserved interior decoration of the 18th century.

The first mention of the Church of St. Clement in sources dates back to the Time of Troubles in Russia. On August 24, 1612, during the liberation of Moscow from the Poles, next to the wooden church there was a Klimentyevsky fort, near the walls of which a battle broke out between the Cossacks (supporters of the Second Militia) and the detachment of Hetman Khodkevich. The battle, which ended in victory for the Cossacks, played an important role in the liberation of Moscow. In the middle of the 17th century, the Church of St. Clement was already mentioned as a stone one; in 1720 it was rebuilt by the merchant Ivan Komlenikhin. Finally, in 1756, a large-scale reconstruction of the temple began, affecting primarily its western part - the bell tower and the refectory. Money for the construction of the temple was given by the merchant Kuzma Matveev. There are many versions regarding the direct author of the project: the names of architects Evlashev, Trezzini, Michurin, Yakovlev, Blanca, Rastrelli appear.

In 1762, construction began on the eastern part of the temple, its main altar in the name of the Transfiguration of the Savior. The work was completely completed only by 1774. After construction was completed, the temple included seven altars with seven iconostases - a huge number for a parish church. In addition to the chapels in the temple and its refectory, two more chapels were consecrated in the choir. In terms of the richness of its facades, the Clement Church belongs to the outstanding examples of Baroque in Moscow. The main volume is crowned with five powerful domes on high light drums and is richly decorated with stucco depicting cherubs, shells and rocailles. Patterned gratings were used both in the church fence and directly on the temple building, above its cornices. The seven-tier iconostasis of the main temple, decorated with wooden sculptures, and the iconostases of the side chapels are designed in the same baroque spirit.

In 1934, the temple was closed for worship. Fortunately, plans for demolition and construction of a kindergarten in its place were not implemented (according to Zamoskvoretsky legend, People's Commissar of Defense Kliment Voroshilov stood up for the church of his patron saint), the building was turned into a book depository of the Lenin State Library, whose employees were able to preserve five of the seven church iconostases , a significant part of the stucco decoration and other interior elements. In 2008, the library finally left the building, after which large-scale work began on it. The revival of the unique temple has been completed: the pavilion on the side of Pyatnitskaya Street, lost in the 20th century, has been recreated, and the iconostases have been restored. The foundation was strengthened, the brickwork and plaster layer, windows and stucco on the facade, the roof were recreated, the domes were restored, which were decorated with new crosses, the porch and the lost part of the church fence were restored.