Gothic Vladimir church in Bykovo. Church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God

I continue my story about visiting the Bykovo estate. Last time I wrote about the manor house and small park buildings, now we will touch on another pearl of this estate - the Church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God:

The white stone two-story church, built in 1783, has a unique oval shape in plan and belongs to rare architectural examples of the neo-Gothic style.

In 1804, the church was depicted by A.N. Bakarev, for some reason adding mountains to the landscape, but the caption clearly states that this is Bykovo.

In 1884, when the Ilyins owned the Bykovo estate, on the initiative of the owners, it was decided to build a bell tower in the same style next to the temple. Now it’s hard to imagine that all this was built by different people 100 years apart.

The church was closed in 1937, crosses were knocked off the spiers, and the building was given to a garment factory and later used as a warehouse.

Photo from 1971:

Restoration work and services here resumed in 1989. Photo from 1987:

This place is very popular among “tourists” like me, so now permission to take photographs can be obtained for donations :-) So they would have written that filming costs XXX rubles, what a stretch:

General view of the church:

The gates that were once entered through:

The church is also interesting because in the basement there is the Church of the Nativity of Christ, and on the second floor there is a temple in honor of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. From the outside, two curved flights of stairs lead to the second floor:

The passage along these stairs is now closed by wooden fences:

This may be due to their conditions:

On the sides there are two bell towers:

View from the main entrance towards the bell tower:

There are faces on the façade; they say that one of the bas-reliefs depicts the Izmailovs, but I don’t know who the rest belong to:

Another entrance:

Front view:

Bell tower:

She's close:

Restoration work is still ongoing:

There is a pile of bricks in the backyard:

Well on the temple grounds:

The Russian Orthodox Church says that it will be interesting for me to visit about 200 churches in the Moscow region:

After wandering around the temple grounds, I looked inside; there was a service going on, so I didn’t go in so as not to disturb. By the way, despite all the warnings and signs, I calmly walked around and photographed everything I wanted. No one approached me and asked for donations, and I did not impose myself. It is possible that everyone was busy with work at that time.

The creation of this extraordinary temple is attributed to the hand of Vasily Bazhenov and the construction dates back to 1789. But there are other opinions - this mysterious monument is too unlike other creations of the great architect (read here). The Vladimir Church in Bykovo stands far away not only from the Ryazan highway, but also from the main path of evolution of Russian Orthodox architecture.

The temple of amazing harmony, beauty and unique style still remains little studied. This two-story church was built in honor of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God on the site where the wooden Church of the Nativity of Christ had been located since ancient times. Experts say that this is our only oval-shaped Temple.

Take, for example, the stairs that greet us at the entrance to the church grounds. Russian temple architecture did not know such staircases. It seems that this ceremonial entrance, outlined by a light parapet, leads not to a temple, but to a palace. And if the crosses are removed from the spiers, then the structure can easily be mistaken for a palace building of a bizarre shape, reminiscent of a Western European medieval castle. The church is completed with a dome surrounded by a number of spiers. The bell towers are also topped with spiers.

There is a bell tower next to the temple. In the 30s of the 19th century, a bell tower was erected next to the Temple according to the design of Bazhenov’s student, architect Tamansky, and so successfully and harmoniously, as if it was conceived by Bazhenov himself.

The main volume of the temple is oval in plan, placed on a high basement; from the west, an extensive rectangular refectory with two bell towers in the corners is attached to it. The main volume ends with a light rotunda with a high spire at the top; it is surrounded by a number of similar spiers. On the sides of the oval of the main volume of the temple there are high lancet windows, between which there are decorative porticoes with columns framing the side entrances. There is a rich carved cornice under the roof. Tall windows with pointed tops also decorate the refectory, the side facades of which are topped with tympanums. On top of the refectory there is a low rotunda with a very small spire with a cross. The refectory was expanded in the first half of the 19th century.

The temple looks very impressive from the west, from the bell towers. A two-way grand staircase leads to the area in front of the entrance to the upper temple, under which is the entrance to the lower temple. One bell tower was built as a bell tower itself, with a platform for ringing, the second - for a clock. The round upper tiers of the towers are cut through by arched openings and end with domes with high spiers, the same as those above the central chapter.

The entire decor of the temple is unusually rich. The variety of details, designed in a single Gothic style, gives the tall building a upward thrust, expressed not only in pointed spiers. In 1884 A separate bell tower was built next to the temple in imitation of the same style. Some sources call it the architect D.A. Gushchin, others - I.T. Tamansky.

The bell tower had seven bells, the largest of which weighed 117 pounds, and the smallest only 70 pounds. The painting of the walls of the Temple is late; it was done at the request of parishioners in 1912, but was not completed. The temple icon of the Vladimir Mother of God appeared here after M. M. Izmailov, and before that there was the Izmailov family icon - the Kazan Mother of God.

The temple in the village of Bykovo is unique in that it has two floors. The lower limit is in honor of the Nativity of Christ, and the upper one was built in honor of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. The church itself was named after the upper limit. The main feature of the upper limit is that artificial marble was used in its design. Over time, its recipe was lost. Modern craftsmen have managed to restore the composition of the white-pink stone, which is difficult to distinguish from the original. Fragments of stucco molding and ancient paintings have been preserved here.
The Temple building is built of brick and faced with white stone on the outside. The plan is based on an ellipse, which was never used in Rus' in church architecture and extremely rarely in secular construction.
This is the only white stone church in the world built in the Russian Gothic (or pseudo-Gothic) style; it is also called the northern Taj Mahal.

The Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God is the greatest shrine of the Russian land. According to legend, it was written by the Apostle Luke in the first century after the Nativity of Christ. An ancient copy of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God is kept in the Temple of the village of Bykovo. The icon streams myrrh, and it is she who is especially worshiped by parishioners. Services here are held not only on weekends, as is customary in the countryside, but every day. In 1937, the Vladimir Temple, like many Temples throughout Rus', was closed and used for economic needs. At present, the restoration of the limit of the Nativity of Christ is almost complete. Experienced specialists recreated icons, gold carvings and paintings. The luxurious three-tier iconostasis in the Russian Baroque style of the 17th century was made based on pre-revolutionary photographs.

The inside of the temple is decorated in a classic style. The vaults rest on four groups of columns with Corinthian capitals, the decoration is made of artificial marble, with wooden carvings. The interiors were badly damaged during Soviet times: in 1937. the church was closed and destroyed. Crosses were knocked off the spiers, the bell tower was left without bells, and many church utensils and books were destroyed. The temple building housed a garment factory. Later it was replaced by a warehouse for the cinema department. In 1989 The temple was again handed over to believers, restoration work and services began.

Parishioners consider their Temple to be prayed for. The unusually warm atmosphere is conducive to deep thought.

Two stories are told about the church: 1. During Bolshevism, a stable was built in it. After the horses died, they decided not to use it for these purposes anymore. 2. A certain brave Bolshevik decided to remove the bell. He was warned not to. Many were afraid, but he was not afraid. As a result, while trying to remove the bell, he fell and... died. They said that there were several attempts...

Directions:
- from Kazansky station a) to the station. Specific, transfer to bus. Art. Udelnaya - Vereya, or b) to the station. Rest, transfer to bus. Art. Rest-Vereya, or c) to the station. Ilyinskaya, then walk 4 km, or d) to the station. Bykovo, then walk 1-2 km or minibus 22P, walk 1 km

Driving by car: From Moscow along the Ryazanskoe highway to the turn to Bykovo (via Zhilino) - 8 km, then turn left. Next - travel not to the airport, but to the cities of Bykovo and Zhukovsky. Drive through Bykovo, at the border between Bykovo and Zhukovsky, turn right at the traffic light, then after 200m. turn right again onto the street. Highway, and drive along it to the church.

From the Vykhino metro station by buses 424, 430, 431 metro station "Vykhino" - Zhukovsky to the "Temple" stop, or from the Kazansky station to the Bykovo stop, then by bus to the "Temple" stop

The exact coordinates of the church are N55°36.6537" E38°03.4989". You can also get there by taking the 23rd autoline. Tell them to drop you off in the village of Bykovo near the church, since you will never guess where to go (the church is not visible from the road).

Bykovo, an estate in the Ramensky district located nearby, is an excellent addition to the excursion. The article reveals the most interesting aspects of this attraction so that you can definitely decide whether it is worth visiting for you.

What does Vladimir Church look like?

The famous architect Vasily Bazhenov put a lot of effort into creating not just a temple, but an entire work of art, and he succeeded to the fullest. It is enough to even just look at the photographs to be convinced of this. The bright temple, high spiers stretching like crosses into the sky, and a spectacular entrance staircase no worse than in European castles will impress any tourist, even one who is far from religious.

The church has 2 symmetrical bell towers, which are located on the sides of the building, and the facades are decorated with double airy porticoes.

The church consists of two temples. Nizhny, Nativity of Christ, welcomes everyone who wants to join the services. The upper temple is named after the famous woman and there is no access to it, since the stairs are in disrepair. If we talk about architecture, the first temple is an oval room, to which bell towers and a rectangular refectory between them are attached.

The church ensemble also includes a small but rather tall chapel, made in the general style, which was supposedly developed by the architect I. I. Tamansky. Unfortunately, the exact author of this creation has not been identified.

The beautiful appearance is complemented by a beautifully landscaped garden around it, which is taken care of by the staff. Various flowers bloom here all summer. Moreover, there is also a small garden nearby where vegetables and fruits are grown.

What is the Vladimir Church famous for?

The Vladimir Church is interesting primarily for its unusual style, which is also called Russian Gothic. It is distinguished by the fact that it looks more like a building from a good fairy tale than like gloomy European temples. And if the latter are decorated with evil gargoyles, then the Vladimir Church shows us the faces of saints.

It is unlikely that you can find something similar in all of Russia. A very impressive building is the Vladimir Church. Bykovo, unfortunately, cannot boast of such beauty today. The fact is that the estate is gradually falling into disrepair, while the temple looks much more well-groomed.

The attractions also include a park that blooms in summer and large ponds.

Church history

The church existed on the site of the modern one from ancient times. Initially it was only a wooden building, but then, at the beginning of the 17th century, it was rebuilt by building a stone temple.

The modern church was built later. It was created according to the design of one of the most famous architects in Russia at that time. Vasily Bazhenov was able to create a real masterpiece of architecture that inspires people to find faith. The building was completed in 1789, and almost a century later a separate chapel appeared next to it.

Icons

The most famous icon in the church, without a doubt, is the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. It is located directly behind the altar, to the left of it. It is believed that the icon helps believers, and it really seems that this is so, because it is hung with rings, chains and crosses of people who received long-awaited help.

The temple servants are proud of another masterpiece - the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. It is notable for the fact that Emperor Nicholas I himself gave it to the owner’s family. Both icons can be seen in the church today.

The inside of the temple is beautifully painted, and many paintings are painted directly on the ceiling and walls. All this splendor was carefully restored, and today it evokes genuine delight among church visitors.

Surprisingly, despite all the hardships that the church has experienced, it still preserves the works of famous Russian artists - the Vasnetsov brothers.

Vladimir Church today

The Vladimir Church has survived all the hardships and become even more beautiful over the past years. Bykovo, the estate of M. M. Izmailov, unfortunately, is gradually falling into disrepair. However, the flow of tourists here does not stop, which is especially noticeable in the summer, in hot weather. In autumn, the church is also often visited, because at this time of year the Gothic features of the temple are especially clearly visible.

There is actually a lot to admire in the Bykovo estate. Vladimir Church, Bykovo - both attractions are located in a picturesque area. They are surrounded by tall trees, and in summer you can enjoy a walk through the blooming park.

Bykovo estate, Ramensky district

The estate of Catherine II's favorite and Governor General of Moscow is another interesting place. It is located in Bykovo, Ramensky district. However, it is not Izmailov’s house that has survived to this day, but a later version, built at the end of the 18th century by new owners under the leadership of the Vorontsov-Dashkovs. The house had to be rebuilt; only the foundation remained from the old building.

After the Vorontsov-Dashkovs, the house was sold by Ilyin, and in Soviet times it was privatized. At one time it was used as a shelter for homeless children, and then as a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients. Over the years, the interior decoration of the once luxurious estate has changed beyond recognition.

Now it is not recommended to go inside the building, but there is definitely something to see from the outside. Thus, the main element that attracts the attention of visitors are the magnificent caryatids located at the very top of the columns supporting the balcony.

Today you can’t see the former splendor around the estate, but even just walking along the shady alleys is a great pleasure. Tourists especially like to visit the old gazebo, which has survived from the time of Izmailov.

How to get there

Those interested in visiting the church will certainly want to know a detailed route to such attractions as the Vladimir Church, Bykovo. How to get there is actually a fairly common question. Fortunately, the temple is located not far from the capital, just a couple of kilometers away, so there shouldn’t be any problems with transport.

You can get there by train to Usadba station, and then by buses No. 23 and No. 39. You can also just take a bus from Moscow under number 424 to the Temple stop.

You can also use a taxi to get to the monuments Vladimir Church, Bykovo. The driver who will take you will probably know the address, so it is not necessary to know the exact route.

Opening hours

Be careful when visiting attractions. From the outside, at any time of the day, you can see what the Vladimir Church (Bykovo) looks like. Opening hours must be checked to enjoy the interior of the temple. Since we advise you to dress appropriately, it is advisable to have modest closed clothing and a headscarf for women.

Services are held daily in the Vladimir Church. Every day they start at 9.00, and on holidays they can be added to during the day, evening or night. The exact starting time can be checked on the church website.

If you would like to take part in the service, all you have to do is show up. The Vladimir Church is a place where excursions are not held, it is intended for private visits. However, this will not prevent you from coming here as a group - the number of visitors is not limited.

Original taken from alex_des to the Church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God in Bykovo. Russia.

I have wanted to see and photograph the Vladimir Church in the village of Bykovo, Ramensky district, Moscow region for a long time. The church attracts with its unusual appearance and resembles a medieval castle.

After looking at other people’s pictures on the Internet, I finally decided to go there on the weekend, since it’s very close to Moscow.

The Bykovo estate, on the territory of which the temple stands, was founded by the former Governor-General of Moscow and favorite of Catherine II M.M. Izmailov in the second half of the 17th century. All that remains of its former splendor are the remains of a once beautiful park with ponds, a manor house, one gazebo on an island on a pond, and this very church.

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It turned out that the church building is located inside a courtyard, and right in front of the entrance to the church there is a bell tower, so we had to shoot panoramas to get something right.

The photo below (No. 3) is a two-row panorama of six horizontal frames.

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I was a little upset that I was unlucky with the evening sunset light, but there was a good sky.

Here is also a panorama, from four vertical frames - I took it standing on the steps of the bell tower with my back resting against the door.

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The next two frames have already fit into the width

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It should be noted that the temple and its neighboring buildings are being slowly restored. Therefore, building materials lie near the temple.

Wikipedia has very modest information:

The Church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God is a famous monument of Russian pseudo-Gothic style of the 18th century in the village of Bykovo, Ramensky district, Moscow region.

The church was built in 1789 in a pseudo-Gothic style on the territory of the estate of M. M. Izmailov. In terms of stylistic features, the project is attributed to V.I. Bazhenov. The temple has two floors. The outside of the church is lined with white stone.

The bizarre combination of Baroque and Gothic forms is reminiscent of the work of the Czech Jan Santini. In the 1830s. A separate bell tower was built next to the church, designed in the same style as the temple itself.

In the 1930s the church was closed. The temple building housed a garment factory and later a warehouse. Only in 1989 the church was returned to believers.

It is interesting that there are two churches in the church building - on the second floor in honor of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God and in the basement - the Nativity of Christ.

Finally, I shot this panorama of six vertical frames

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