Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea on the clearing of the shrine. My personal photoblog

Born on April 30, 1975 in the city of Fryazino, Moscow Region, in the family of a priest. He was baptized, in honor of the Monk Seraphim of Sarov, on July 26, 1975 (Name Day, August 1) in the house church of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos of the DECR residence of Serebryany Bor, now deceased Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov).

• In 1990 he graduated from secondary educational school No. 3 in the city of Zagorsk, Moscow Region. In the same year he graduated from the children's music school in the city of Zagorsk.
• From 1990 to 1993 he studied at the Bogorodsk Industrial Art School. He graduated with the degree of master-artist of the 6th category.
• In 1998 he graduated from the Moscow Theological Seminary.
• In 2009 he entered the correspondence department at the Orthodox St. Tikhon Humanitarian University.
• On March 1, 1998, I was ordained as a reader, in the Intercession Academic Church of the MDA and S, by His Grace Bishop Eugene of Vereya, Rector of the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary.
• On September 27, 1998, he was ordained a deacon by His Eminence Archbishop Sergiy (Fomin) of Solnechnogorsk at the Epiphany Cathedral in Moscow. After ordination, he was sent to serve in the staff of the church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea on Bolshaya Polyanka, Moscow.
• On September 1, 1999, he was ordained to the priesthood by the late Patriarch Alexy II, in the Great Cathedral of the Don Icon of the Mother of God in the Donskoy Stauropegial Monastery in Moscow and left as a full-time cleric of the church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea on Bolshaya Polyanka, Moscow.
• On November 22, 2000, by the Decree of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, he was transferred to the staff of the Church of St. vmch. George the Victorious - the Patriarchal Metochion on Poklonnaya Gora and the temple-chapel attributed to it, arch. Michael at the Kutuzov hut.
• On December 5, 2005, he was appointed interim rector of the church of St. vmch. George the Victorious - the Patriarchal Metochion on Poklonnaya Gora and the temple-chapel attributed to it, arch. Michael at the Kutuzov hut.
• On December 30, 2006, he was approved as rector of the church of St. vmch. George the Victorious - the Patriarchal Metochion on Poklonnaya Gora and the temple-chapel attributed to it, arch. Michael at the Kutuzov hut.

Awards:

• 2003 - gaiter;
• 2006 - kamilavka;
• 2007 - pectoral cross;
• 2009 - archpriest;
• 2012 - Anniversary medal of the Russian Orthodox Church "In memory of the 200th anniversary of victory in the Patriotic War of 1812".
• 2014 - patriarchal sign "700th anniversary of St. Sergius of Radonezh"
• 2014 - club;
• 2016 - Anniversary medal of the Russian Orthodox Church "In memory of the 1000th anniversary of the repose of Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir".
• 2017 - Anniversary medal of the Russian Orthodox Church "In memory of the 100th anniversary of the restoration of the Patriarchate in the Russian Orthodox Church".
• 2019 - the right to wear a pectoral cross with decorations.

Running through Polyanka the other day, I could not resist and clicked a couple of times on the most beautiful church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea. The photos turned out disgusting, but I decided to make a post for my diary anyway, because there is almost no information about this temple on li ru.

One of the most beautiful churches in Moscow, in the name of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea, is located in Zamoskvorechye, on Bolshaya Polyanka Street.
In ancient Moscow, the feast of this saint is associated with the fact that on November 17, 1445, Grand Duke Vasily II the Dark returned to the Russian capital from the cruel captivity of the Tatars. Probably, it was in memory of his return that the first wooden church outside Moscow was erected at that time, consecrated on this holiday, although the wooden Grigoryevsky church was first mentioned in written historical documents only in 1632.
In old Moscow it was called "what's in Derbitsy". The name of Polyanka Street officially appeared only in the 18th century, but at the time when the Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea, large fields really began here, which stretched far beyond the boundaries of the medieval city, and among them the old road from the Kremlin to Serpukhov passed. These fields gave the name to the old Moscow street. The very same land in this lowland area, often flooded by the floods of the Moskva River, was swampy, “mossy”, which is why it was nicknamed Derbitsy, distorted from the wilds. "Wild" in the old days was called a swampy lowland.

Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea remained wooden until the very reign of the "quietest" Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. After the plague epidemic that broke out in Moscow in the middle of the 17th century, it was finally abandoned. In 1660, an ordinary Moscow priest Andrei Savvinovich Postnikov served in it, and his own courtyard stood next to the church. He managed to get close to the pious tsar and even became his confessor, so that in 1665 the tsar transferred him to the Kremlin Cathedral of the Annunciation, where there was a house royal church, and made him an archpriest.
It was he who in 1671 married Alexei Mikhailovich with Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, the mother of Peter I. And in October 1674, shortly before the death of the tsar, he was at his Kremlin feast - the tsar himself treated him to overseas wines and various dishes. But before leaving for such an honorable service, the priest asked the tsar to allow him to rebuild his church outside Moscow with stone. The king complied with the request and took control of the construction: it began in 1668. A new temple began to be erected a little north of its wooden predecessor, and Alexei Mikhailovich twice went to mass in the church under construction.

It is interesting that the stone for the handsome temple was brought from the famous village of Myachkovo near Moscow: from the same quarry they took stone for the construction of the white stone (and the first stone) walls of the Moscow Kremlin under Prince Dmitry Donskoy, and in the 19th century for the construction of the first Cathedral of Christ the Savior according to the project Witberg on Sparrow Hills. At that time, this village was already the estate of Herzen's father, Ivan Yakovlev.
But shortly before the death of the king, his confessor fell into disfavor with Patriarch Joachim himself. It is known that already a few days after the aforementioned Kremlin feast, the archpriest was imprisoned on chains at the behest of the patriarch, and was able to write a petition for help from the dungeon to the tsar. The tsar, who was in Preobrazhensky, went to Moscow to inquire about his fate, and began to ask the patriarch to release his confessor, and the patriarch in response erected "various guilt" on him, which, probably, were officially charged with the archpriest after the death of the tsar. Only by Christmas 1675 - the last year of the life of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich - was his confessor released from prison with forgiveness and permission to priest. He was even invited to the king for dinner at the same table with the patriarch.
This reconciliation did not last long, for it took place only thanks to the ardent participation of the king in the fate of his confessor. The first conflict, it is believed, occurred already at the funeral of the king. History has conveyed little reliable evidence of this, but it is known that priest Andrei Savvinov allegedly initiated a new quarrel himself, indignant that the patriarch personally performs at the funeral what he, the royal confessor, should do. At the convened council, the patriarch accused the priest of many serious crimes, such as fornication, excess of authority, incitement of the tsar against the patriarch, and, in particular, that he had built a church in Zamoskvorechye without the patriarchal blessing and that without the same blessing and “set letters” accepted the rank of archpriest of the Cathedral of the Annunciation. And when in 1679 Patriarch Joachim consecrated the built church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea, his former priest, defrocked, was already in exile in the distant Kozheozersky monastery
The architects of the new temple were Russian tsarist architects Ivan Kuznechik and a serf from Kostroma Karp Guba. 9 thousand famous glazed tiles in the "peacock eye" style, which gave the temple its all-Moscow glory, were made by the great master Stepan Polubes. With his popularity and status in ancient Moscow construction, he can only be compared with Bazhen Ogurtsov, the builder of the tiled tents of the Kremlin towers. And among the icon painters, the royal iconographers who worked on the painting of the temple and on its images, was Simon Ushakov himself. Previously, in the second tier, a semblance of a choir was arranged, which indicated the palatial nature of the church. The people called her "red", - beautiful.

In the second half of the 18th century, a chapel appeared near the temple in the name of St. Gregory the Theologian, arranged by the diligence of the parishioner Gregory Lichonin in honor of his heavenly patron. And until 1821, there was also an ordinary cemetery at the church.
And in the terrible time for Moscow of the epidemic cholera that raged in 1830, this temple inscribed itself on a new page in Moscow history. In 1834, a chapel of the Bogolyubskaya Icon of the Mother of God was built in it, which was prayed to during the epidemic. Cholera raged in Moscow from September 1830 and subsided in December: it came from the East, therefore it was considered "Asiatic" and even called "the only true ally" of Nicholas I - there has not been such fear and such a single enthusiasm for the fight against a ferocious disease since rebuff given by Moscow to Napoleon. St. Philaret held a common moleben - Moscow priests went around their parishes with a procession of the cross, while the Metropolitan himself prayed on his knees in the Kremlin. The strictest quarantine was announced throughout Moscow and surrounded by military cordons, because of which Pushkin could not get into the city to his bride and returned to Boldino twice. As a result, he asked his friend General Bibikov to get him permission, but he was able to get into the Goncharovs' house only on December 5, when the epidemic began to decline.

Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea was closed at the end of 1935. His icons were handed over to the Tretyakov Gallery, and even earlier, in 1930, the Moscow City Council approached the old hipped bell tower of the temple, intending to demolish it to widen the sidewalk. Miraculously, they defended it - only in the lowest tier they broke through a through passage. It was this method of expanding the "useful area" of sidewalks and pavements that was recommended by the subsequent General Plan of 1935.
By 1965, the temple, given over to various institutions, was dilapidated and was well restored. It was put under state protection as a monument of history and culture, and placed in it along with the All-Union Production and Art Combine named after. Vuchetich" a quiet "office" for the official repurchase of old icons, which were purchased from the population and then, with the permission of the authorities, were resold abroad to lovers of Russian "antiques". And only in 1990, according to the letter of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, the Moscow Council returned the temple to believers. By 1996, it was finally restored and renovated, and services began in it.

The material is cited according to

The temple in honor of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea, which is located in Moscow on Polyanka, has a very ancient history. Initially, it was cut down from wood by order of Prince Vasily II, nicknamed the Dark One. According to legend, this was done as a token of gratitude to Heaven for getting rid of the Tatar captivity.

Today, there is no trace of that wooden structure. In its place rises a majestic stone temple. But even then, when this place was a wasteland, Prince Vasily, while in the Horde, swore to God that in the place from which he would see the Moscow Kremlin, he would build a temple and consecrate it in honor of the saint whose memory would be celebrated on that day. He was destined to see the fortress walls of the capital on November 30, 1445. According to the Orthodox calendar, on this day the memory of St. Gregory the Wonderworker of New Caesarea is celebrated. This circumstance determined the fate of the future church, now known as the temple on the Glade of Gregory of Neocaesarea.

New construction

The wooden church stood until the 17th century. In the years 1669-1679, a stone temple grows near it. This happened at the initiative of the royal confessor, priest Andrei Savinov, with the help of the sovereign's donations. The church blessing for the construction was given by Patriarch Nikon, but it was Patriarch Joachim who had to consecrate the completed church of Gregory of Neocaesarea. The construction was led by the best architects that could be found at that time. History has preserved their names for posterity: Karp Guba and John Grasshopper.

Architecture and decor of the church

In architectural terms, the church of Gregory of Neocaesarea reflected the standard for that time Moscow practice of church construction, which involves five domes and a tent-type bell tower. The decoration of the temple was made with the help of tiles and floral ornaments. Their authorship belongs to a person whom we also know by name. He was the famous potter Stepan Polubes at that time.

Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich himself had a hand in developing the temple project in relation to what would now be called design. It was he who ordered to paint the temple of Gregory of Neocaesarea in red brick color, and to cover the tent with whitewash and turquoise. As a result, the church turned out so beautiful that the people called it the Red Church. The iconostasis was painted by tsarist artists and icon painters, led by the notorious Simon Ushakov. His authorship in this project belongs, for example, to the image of the Mother of God “Eleusa-Kykkskaya”. Of course, now he is not in the temple, but among the exhibits of the Tretyakov Gallery.

Church and royal family

In the same temple, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich married Natalia Naryshkina in 1671. In it, a baby was baptized, who was destined to later become Emperor Peter the Great. Even today, in the church of Gregory of Neocaesarea, there is a font in which the future sovereign-reformer was baptized. In principle, such attention to the temple of the royal family was quite understandable, since its rector was traditionally the king's confessor, and the temple itself had the status of a courtier.

Church in the War of 1812

During the events of 1812, the church on the Polyanka of Gregory of Neocaesarea also distinguished itself. If in relation to other churches the French allowed themselves acts of vandalism and burned many places of worship along with ordinary houses, then in this case they behaved in an unprecedented way. Namely: in the temple of Gregory of Neocaesarea, soldiers were on duty, whose task was to protect the building from looting and from fire. French soldiers carried water in buckets to protect it from damage by the fire that devastated the capital. On this occasion, Napoleon lamented, saying that if only it were possible, he would put this church in the palm of his hand and take it to Paris.

Revolution

But what the French interventionists did not do, the Russian communists did with success. For 22 years after the revolution of 1917, divine services continued to be performed in the church of Gregory of Neocaesarea. But in 1939 it was closed and half destroyed. The last rector was killed at the Butovo training ground.

Return to the Believers

The temple returned to the hands of believers only in 1994. At the same time, services were resumed. By 1996, the temple had been restored to a sufficient extent so that it could be consecrated, which happened with the participation of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II. According to official sources, the relics of the patron of the church, St. Gregory of Neocaesarea, are buried in the church. They were handed over to the parish community by Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh in 1998.

Temple today

At present, in addition to this shrine, in this temple there are particles of the relics of many other saints, which is of some value in the eyes of believers. In addition to the main throne in honor of the specified father of the church, there are two more - in memory of St. Gregory the Theologian and in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Bogolyubskaya". The rector of the church at the moment is the retired bishop Jerome (Chernyshov).

Church of Gregory of Neocaesarea on Polyanka: schedule and address

The easiest way to get to the temple is from the Polyanka metro station. The full address of the parish is as follows: Moscow, Bolshaya Polyanka street, 29A.

As for the schedule, services in the church are held on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.

On Saturday:

• 09:00 - matins, liturgy.
• 17:00 - all-night vigil.

On Sunday:

• 09:30 - liturgy.

A more detailed schedule of the Church of Gregory of Neocaesarea needs to be checked with the church, as it is updated monthly.

(Moscow Deanery)

wooden temple

In ancient Moscow, the feast of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea turned out to be associated with an important historical event for Russia - on this day, November 17, Grand Duke Vasily II the Dark, so nicknamed because he was blinded by enemies, returned to the Russian capital from cruel Tatar captivity. Probably, it was in memory of his return that the first wooden church outside Moscow was erected, consecrated on this holiday, although the wooden Grigoryevsky church was first mentioned in written historical documents only in the year.

In old Moscow it was called "what's in Derbitsy". The area where this temple was erected was in those days a far, far wilderness. Once there was an ancient road from Novgorod to Ryazan. The development of the territory of the ancient District began seriously during the time of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, since the main road from Moscow to the Horde ran through it. The name of Polyanka Street officially appeared only in the 18th century, but at the time when the Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea, large fields really began here, which stretched far beyond the boundaries of the medieval city, and among them the old road from the Kremlin to Serpukhov passed. These fields gave the name to the old Moscow street. The very same land in this lowland area, often flooded by the floods of the Moscow River, was swampy, “mossy”, which is why it was nicknamed Derbitsy, distorted from the wilds. "Wild" in the old days was called a swampy lowland.

At first, peasants and artisans settled in this damp, unsightly area, and from the 16th century there were also settlements of archers in the Zarechye. The palace settlement of the royal kadash - coopers who made the wooden barrels and tubs necessary in the old economy (according to another version, the royal weavers were kadash) was also located right there. Then, from the 18th century, Zamoskvorechye and its Polyanka began to be populated by Moscow merchants.

And the church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea remained wooden until the very reign of the "quietest" Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. After the plague epidemic that broke out in Moscow in the middle of the 17th century, it was finally abandoned. In the city, an ordinary Moscow priest Andrei Savvich Postnikov served in it, and his own courtyard stood next to the church. He managed to get close to the pious tsar and even became his confessor, so that in the year the tsar transferred him to the Kremlin Cathedral of the Annunciation, where there was a house royal church, and made him an archpriest.

stone temple

The priest retained his closeness with the king until the death of the sovereign. It was he who married Alexei Mikhailovich with Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, the mother of Peter I. And in October of the year, shortly before the death of the tsar, he was at his Kremlin feast - the tsar himself treated him to overseas wines and various dishes. But before leaving for such an honorable service, the priest asked the tsar to allow him to rebuild his stone church in Zamoskvorechye. The king fulfilled the request and took control of the construction: it began in the year. A new temple began to be erected a little north of its wooden predecessor, and Alexei Mikhailovich twice went to mass in the church under construction.

It is interesting that the stone for the handsome temple was brought from the famous village of Myachkovo near Moscow: from the same quarry they took stone for the construction of the white stone (and the first stone) walls of the Moscow Kremlin under Prince Dmitry Donskoy, and in the 19th century for the construction of the first Cathedral of Christ the Savior according to the project Witberg on Sparrow Hills. At that time, this village was already the estate of Herzen's father, Ivan Yakovlev.

But shortly before the death of the king, his confessor fell into disfavor with Patriarch Joachim himself. It is known that already a few days after the mentioned Kremlin feast, the archpriest was imprisoned on chains at the behest of the patriarch, and was able to write a petition for help from the dungeon to the tsar. The tsar, who was in Preobrazhensky, went to Moscow to inquire about his fate, and began to ask the patriarch to release his confessor, and the patriarch in response erected "various guilt" on him, which, probably, were officially charged with the archpriest after the death of the tsar. Apparently, these faults were very serious, since the king at first could not do anything for his favorite and only put his faithful archers on guard. Only by Christmas of the year - the last year of the life of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich - his confessor was released from prison with forgiveness and permission to priest. He was even invited to the king for dinner at the same table with the patriarch.

This reconciliation did not last long, for it took place only thanks to the ardent participation of the king in the fate of his confessor. The first conflict, it is believed, occurred already at the funeral of the king. History has conveyed little reliable evidence of this, but it is known that priest Andrei Savvinov allegedly initiated a new quarrel himself, indignant that the patriarch personally performs at the funeral what he, the royal confessor, should do. And then the patience ran out. At the convened council, the patriarch accused the priest of many serious crimes, such as fornication, excess of authority, incitement of the tsar against the patriarch, and, in particular, that he had built a church in Zamoskvorechye without the patriarchal blessing and that without the same blessing and “set letters” accepted the rank of archpriest of the Cathedral of the Annunciation. And when in the year Patriarch Joachim consecrated the built church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea, his former priest, deprived of his dignity, was already in exile in the distant Kozheozersky monastery.

The architects of the new temple were Russian tsarist architects Ivan Kuznechik and a serf from Kostroma Karp Guba. 9 thousand famous glazed tiles in the “peacock eye” style, which gave the temple its all-Moscow glory, were made by the great master Stepan Polubes) With his popularity and status in ancient Moscow construction, he can only be compared with Bazhen Ogurtsov, the builder of the tiled tents of the Kremlin towers. And among the icon painters, the royal iconographers who worked on the painting of the temple and on its images, was Simon Ushakov himself. Previously, in the second tier, a semblance of a choir was arranged, which indicated the palatial nature of the church. The people called her "red", - beautiful.

In the second half of the 18th century, a chapel appeared near the temple in the name of St. Gregory the Theologian, arranged by the diligence of the parishioner Grigory Lichonin in honor of his heavenly patron. And up to a year there was also an ordinary cemetery near the church.

And in the terrible time for Moscow of epidemic cholera, which raged throughout the year, this temple inscribed itself on a new page in Moscow history. In the city, a chapel of the Bogolyubskaya Icon of the Mother of God was arranged in it, which they prayed during the epidemic. Cholera raged in Moscow from September of the year and subsided in December: it came from the East, therefore it was considered “Asiatic” and even called “the only true ally” of Nicholas I - there has not been such fear and such a single enthusiasm for the fight against a ferocious disease since the time of repulse given by Moscow to Napoleon. St. Philaret held a common moleben - Moscow priests went around their parishes with a procession of the cross, while the Metropolitan himself prayed on his knees in the Kremlin. The strictest quarantine was announced throughout Moscow and surrounded by military cordons, because of which Pushkin could not get into the city to his bride and returned to Boldino twice. As a result, he asked his friend General Bibikov to get him permission, but he was able to get into the Goncharovs' house only on December 5, when the epidemic began to decline. Only in Kuzminki, according to legend, there was not a single case of illness, which was attributed to the grace-filled help of the Blachernae Icon of the Mother of God, which was kept in the local church.

The tragic consequences of the cholera epidemic for a long time reminded of themselves. In addition to the Bogolyubsky chapel of the Grigorievskaya Church, founded in gratitude and in memory of the deliverance of Moscow from misfortune, the Alexandrinsky Orphanage was established in the year "for the care of orphans of officials who died of cholera in Moscow." At first, it was located in Basmannaya Sloboda, in the former estate of Count Razumovsky on Gorokhovo Pole, and then was transferred to the center of Moscow, to the Apraksin estate on Znamenka.

Temple closing

Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea was closed at the end of the year. His icons were transferred to the Tretyakov Gallery, and even earlier, in the year, the Moscow City Council was approaching the old hipped bell tower of the temple, intending to demolish it to expand the sidewalk. Miraculously, they defended it - only in the lowest tier they broke through a through passage. It was this method of expanding the "useful area" of sidewalks and pavements that was recommended by the subsequent General Plan of the year. In the same way, according to the General Plan, they intended to radically expand the Arbat - to cut through passages-sidewalks in the lower floors of its buildings, and turn the former sidewalks "liberated" from pedestrians into a pavement and provide transport. So they did with the bell tower of the Grigorievskaya church.

Towards the city, the temple, given over to various institutions, fell into disrepair and was well restored. It was put under state protection as a monument of history and culture, and placed in it along with the All-Union Production and Art Combine named after. Vuchetich" a quiet "office" for the official repurchase of old icons, which were purchased from the population and then, with the permission of the authorities, were resold abroad to lovers of Russian "antiques".

I ended up at this temple today by accident. I went to Polyanka on business.
The temple was so beautifully illuminated by the rays of the setting sun that I could not help but stop and admire this bright joyful beauty.
On the way back, having done my business, I went to the temple.
There was an evening service. The temple was crowded.
I really liked the interior of the church. It matched her outer beauty.

I sincerely advise you to visit this church, watch the service and listen to the choir.

And about the past and present of the Temple, it is written in great detail on its official website.
I am quoting some excerpts from there.

The history of the church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea goes back to ancient times, to the times of the Rurikids. The temple was founded in 1445 by the Great Moscow Prince Vasily II the Dark, the grandson of Dmitry Donskoy and the great-grandfather of Ivan the Terrible.
Tradition says that, being in Tatar captivity, the prince made a vow: if he returns home, he will build a temple dedicated to the saint, whose memory is celebrated on this day, on the spot where he sees Moscow. ieronim-polyanka.ru/index.php…

Gregory the Wonderworker (Greek Γρηγοριος ο Θανματονργος, c. 213, Neocaesarea - c. 270-275, ibid) - 1st Bishop of Neocaesarea, saint, theologian.
Memory in the Catholic and Orthodox Church - November 17 (30). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigory_The Wonderworker

The wooden temple existed until the end of the 17th century.
Today, a wooden chapel-monument in honor of the All-Merciful Savior has been built in its place. The chapel and the historical phrase "in Derbitsy", i.e. in a forest, swampy place, remind us of those distant times.

In 1668-79, a majestic stone temple was erected next to the wooden one.
The start of construction was blessed by His Holiness Patriarch Nikon, and His Holiness Patriarch Joachim consecrated the church built in the presence of Tsar Theodore Alekseevich. The temple was built by the best architects of that time Karp Guba and Ivan Grasshopper. According to its architecture, the church belongs to the Moscow type of five-domed churches with a hipped bell tower. The facades are decorated with tiles with an intricate floral ornament "peacock's eye", made by the famous potter Stepan Polubes.
Modern man is somewhat surprised by the bright colors of the external decoration of the temple. But it was Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, as historical sources tell us, who ordered the walls of the temple "to be written in brick with red lead", "to twist the arrows near the tent", "and to paint with turquoise and whitewash." The church was so magnificent in appearance, so fully consistent with people's ideas about beauty, that it received the name "Red" among the people, that is, beautiful. Icons for the iconostasis were painted by tsarist painters headed by the famous Simon Ushakov. His Mother of God Eleusa-Kykkskaya from the local row of the iconostasis is constantly exhibited in the Tretyakov Gallery.

In 1671, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich married Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina in the temple, and in 1672, the infant Peter I, the future Emperor of Russia, was baptized here. Today, the church carefully preserves the font in which, according to legend, the prince was baptized. The fact that the rector of the temple was the royal confessor, explains the fact that these important historical events took place here. For a long time the temple was given the status of a court. And today, the crosses of the five domes of the church, crowned with royal crowns, remind us that the temple was constantly visited by sovereigns. Services in the temple were performed by His Holiness Patriarchs, Metropolitans of Moscow.

In 1812, Napoleon, enchanted by the beauty of the church, regretted that he could not put it in his palm and move it to Paris, and during a raging fire, French soldiers carried buckets of water and watered the temple to keep it from fire.

At the beginning of the twentieth century. Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna loved to pray in the church.

In 1939 the temple was closed, dilapidated, desecrated. All his shrines and property were plundered. The last rector, Archpriest Boris Ivanovsky, was shot at the Butovo training ground. Today he is canonized by the Church as a holy martyr (December 10). His pectoral cross is preserved in the temple as a relic.

Since 1994, divine services have been resumed in the church.
In 1996, the church was consecrated by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia.

Today, the church, thanks to the work of the parish community and the rector, Bishop Jerome (Chernyshov), has acquired its former splendor. For the picturesque beauty, people again call the church "Red".

Who in Moscow on the Polyanka is standing in bright vestments,
Standing in bright vestments, looking majestically?
Is that a Holy Angel? He is dressed in silver
A bewitching light pours from his face.
He holds the cross in his hand, he looks at the sky
And there from the earth it calls and beckons ...
- No, not a Holy Angel; it's over there by the river
And the temple of St. Gregory calls and beckons.
This is the church - the Holy Hierarch's House,
And warm, and cozy, and joyful in it.
- Oh, let's go there, let's go quickly!
There, we will all lift up a prayer to the Creator together.

(All information is taken from the official website of the Church of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea.)