“They razed it to the ground.” These words echo the turbulent history surrounding the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God Chapel.
Today, we stand before a place of worship. It is known as the Chasovnya Ikony Bozhiej Materi Kazanskaya. This chapel has a story etched in its very foundation.
In 1680, a wooden church stood near the Kaluzhskaya Square. It was known as Nikolskaya. But it gained fame as Kazanskaya because a copy of the miraculous Kazan Icon of the Mother of God appeared there. By 1694, a new stone church replaced the old wooden one. It featured the Nikolsky and Vvedensky aisles and a hipped bell tower.
Then came 1855. Architect P.P. Burenin redesigned the refectory. In 1876, a decision was made to completely renovate the church. It was dismantled. A new building was erected according to the design of N.V. Nikitin. This was in honor of the victory in the Russian-Turkish War. The new Kazan Church was consecrated on October 21, 1886. It was built in the Byzantine style. Its interior was richly decorated and the iconostasis was carved from marble.
But fate had more in store for the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God Chapel. In 1972, before US President Richard Nixon’s visit, the authorities cleared his route of old buildings. The Kazan Church was among those destroyed. The area was later used for the construction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR.
However, the story doesn’t end there. In 2000, to commemorate the destroyed church, a new one-domed chapel was built. It was again dedicated to the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God.
So, here we stand. We are at the site of the Chasovnya Ikony Bozhiej Materi Kazanskaya. It is a testament to faith. It is also a reminder of the ever-changing face of Moscow. Take a moment to reflect on the layers of history beneath our feet. Consider the resilience of the human spirit.