Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Sennaya waiting for the rescuer Assumption Cathedral on Sennaya Square

About the Church in the name of the Assumption Holy Mother of God, which stood on Peace Square in Leningrad until February 2, 1961, has already been written many times. There are a huge number of drawings, lithographs and photographs of her. However, the authorship of this temple is a dark question. In appearance, the temple was somewhat reminiscent of Rastrelli's style, so the alleged authorship of Rastrelli is noted by many researchers, however, Andrei Kvasov is also called the author of the temple project.

1960, the temple still has domes, but the fence is already there - dismantling has begun.

I will not go into details of its construction in 1753, reconstruction and expansion in 1813 according to the design of Luigi Rusca and 1836 according to the design of A.I. Melnikov. I will only note that the extreme restructuring and superstructure designed by the St. Petersburg diocesan architect G.I. Karpov in 1867-1871 was the last, after which the temple was no longer rebuilt, maintaining its appearance until the 1960s. We’ll probably talk about the last years of its existence and demolition. Because the 50s-60s of the 20th century are my favorite time, as everyone knows.

The fight against everything ecclesiastical in this country after 1917 did not bypass the church. Church valuables were confiscated from it twice. In 1923, the temple was elevated to the rank of a cathedral. From January 25, 1932 until its closure in April 1938, the temple was the Renovation Cathedral. And yes, a little bit about “renovationism”. Renovationism (also known as the Russian Orthodox Church; later the Orthodox Church in the USSR) is a schismatic movement in Russian Christianity that arose officially after the February Revolution of 1917. Declared the goal of “renewal of the Church”: democratization of governance and modernization of worship. From 1922 to 1926, the movement was the only Orthodox church organization officially recognized by the state authorities of the RSFSR.

In 1933, eleven of its bells with a total weight of more than 1,200 poods (almost 20 tons) were handed over to the State Fund and, apparently, were melted down. Temple icons were transferred to the Transfiguration Cathedral and city museums in 1936-1938. In April 1938 the temple was closed. Having survived the years of the blockade, despite the fact that the temple was indicated as a landmark for German artillery, it did not survive the Khrushchev “thaw” and the new wave of anti-religious state policy.

May 9, 1945. A Po-2 plane drops leaflets announcing the end of the war. Below is Spas-on-Sennaya.

The main justification for the need to demolish the church was the need to build an inclined passage and exit of the Ploshchad Mira station of the second stage of the second line of the Leningrad Metro. The first signal for the upcoming anti-religious action was an article in the September 1960 issue of the newspaper “Evening Leningrad”, where the correspondent informed readers that soon “a shameful stain on the appearance of Peace Square”—inactive since 1913, the collapsing Spaso-Sennovsky Church— will be demolished and in its place an elevated pavilion of a metro station “made of glass and concrete” will appear.

However, the designers of the Lenmetroproekt Institute submitted three placement options for inspection new station on the arc of the underground track tunnel under construction between the Nevsky Prospekt and Technological Institute stations. The most preferable place for them seemed to be in the western corner of the square, where the so-called Denezhkin’s house is located (a corner building with three addresses: Sadovaya St., 39— Griboyedov Canal Embankment, 56 — Sennaya Sq.). They also proposed the option of a semi-underground solution for the station's lobby, without an above-ground pavilion, as is now practically implemented for Sadovaya (Ploshchad Mira −3 in maiden name), and, finally, the demolition of the church on Sennaya.

The latter, for a number of reasons, seemed the most appropriate. Firstly, the church was indeed in a very deplorable state, since back in 1913 work began on installing central heating to replace the stove, which was never completed due to the outbreak of the First World War. Secondly, already in April 1938, the temple was deprived of the status of an architectural monument and security privileges, not representing, from the point of view of art history, a stylistically integral example of architecture of the mid-18th century, which was a consequence of permanent reconstructions that distorted the original Baroque appearance of the church, and even in complete confusion with the attribution of the names of the authors not only of the original plan, but also of subsequent numerous reconstructions.

The portico of the temple is visible on the right, 1956.

1966, Remains of the temple fence are visible. The car belongs to a Finn who traveled around Leningrad and the region in 1966.

Then there was a series of meetings, disputes, meetings, letters to various ministries and departments. Until the very last moment, the demolition was not confirmed from Moscow, and no one in Leningrad took responsibility for it. However, dismantling of the domes and the remaining interior decoration began. And, later, planting explosive devices. At the same time, an expert group was created in Moscow, which was going to delve into the next General Plan for the Development of Leningrad (to be approved by the Council of Ministers of the USSR on July 15, 1966), and at the same time see what was there and how it was on Sennaya Square. It was decided that, regardless of the decision of the expert group, the temple should be examined and measured, and the measurement drawings should be transferred to the archive of the State Inspectorate for the Protection of Architectural Monuments of Leningrad.

Photo of Denisov and Smirnov shortly before demolition.

Several people with the latest equipment at that time took measurements and photographed the temple. The work was organized by the acting dean of the Faculty of Architecture of LISI (SPbGASU since June 1993) Vladimir Ivanovich Pilyavsky, he involved his graduate student Yuri Denisov in this. And the work was led by Associate Professor of the Department of Geodesy Pavel Ivanovich Polyakov, who also involved his graduate student Viktor Smirnov in this.

Photo taken during measurements of the building.

Then, for the first time in Leningrad, a stereophotogrammetric (using a stereophototheodolite) method of measuring an architectural monument was used, along with the use of conventional geodetic instruments. This method is used in cases where objects are difficult to reach for manual measurements. I’m not familiar with this method, is there anyone who could explain the principle of operation?

Smirnov and Denisov also took detailed photographs of the church during measurements, during demolition and during clearing of rubble. Some of the photographs in this article belong to them. Let me remind you that this was already January 1961. Why couldn't the measurements be taken in advance? The decision to build a metro was made at least in 1959. As always, “oh, we’ll do it later, there’s still time.”

Dismantling and removal of preserved utensils.

Simultaneously with the start of measurement work, work began on dismantling the church by Lenmetrostroy. It became clear that such a rapid process of destruction of the church was unlikely to leave the necessary time even for stereophotogrammetric recording methods. And these methods, as it turned out, are also quite labor-intensive and, most importantly, not always successful, given the complete lack of experience in carrying out such work and the short daylight hours of the twilight January days of the Leningrad wet winter. Therefore, it was decided to carry out, simultaneously with stereophotogrammetry, as much manual measurement of the church as possible, as far as the absence of scaffolding or any other scaffolding and, most importantly, the lack of workers would allow. The specialists almost worked together.

Smirnov recalls: “At the end of January, the foreman forbade us to enter the church - they began to prepare an explosion. We hurriedly took the last photographs and looked for gaps in the dirty and crumpled measurements. The explosion was scheduled for the night of February 1-2, 1961. But no matter how the metro builders rushed, they were still late. A letter came to GlavAPU a day before the explosion<Министра культуры СССР>Ekaterina Alekseevna Furtseva with a ban on destroying the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which has the unique historical and architectural significance of a large religious building of the mid-18th century. The letter was read there, sealed again and sent by express to the Lenmetrostroy Department, where they did not dare to open the letter and returned it back to GlavAPU on Saturday, February 1, a non-working day.

And at night Yuri Mikhailovich and I<Денисовым>We witnessed the destruction of the church while standing on the corner of Sadovaya Street. and st. P. Alekseeva (Spassky Lane), that is, opposite the church, next to the corner toy store, whose windows, covered with sandbags, were reminiscent of the years of the siege. The associations became almost hallucinatory when, with a dull blow, the earth trembled, and the church somehow slowly settled down, becoming a huge heap of construction debris. The bell tower first tilted to the right, and then lay almost entirely in front of us. Despite the shouts of the guards, we rushed to measure the third tier and the crowning tent of the bell tower. The desire to complete the work temporarily overshadowed the bitterness of the irreparability of what had happened: instead of a church, a deep failure revealed some unsightly buildings, gloomy backyards, and shabby firewalls of outbuildings. »

Eyewitnesses said that before the explosion of the Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God, people went from house to house and, without explaining anything, persistently recommended that residents seal up the glass in their windows as during the war. But everyone already knew what was going to happen. Many did not go to bed the night before.

Explosion on the night of February 1-2, 1961.

On the night of February 1–2, 1961, the Church of the Savior on Sennaya was blown up using the method of overhead charges developed back in the 1930s with a millisecond delay for the safe demolition of large buildings. The charges were placed on the load-bearing structures inside the building and were triggered in turn - first the pillars collapsed, the roof and domes fell, then the walls. Thus, the fragments did not fly apart, and the destroyed building settled inside its walls, which were the last to fall. The bell tower, which had fallen almost entirely, was measured by Yu. M. Denisov and V. V. Smirnov on the ground. Behind the fence surrounding the church, a giant pile of broken bricks had formed.

It is said that dust hung over the square for several days. Although this is not noticeable from the photographs. By the way, about the photographs: they clearly show the almost complete absence of snow, and this is January-February. It turns out that half a century ago winters in Leningrad were different, including snowless ones?

After the demolition, all the actors who organized the “protest” were subjected to a demonstrative dressing down. Thus, V.I. Pilyavsky did not become the dean of the Faculty of Architecture of LISI, Yu. M. Denisov did not defend his dissertation.

Peace Square after the opening of the station of the same name, 1965.

Two years later the metro was completed. The metro station was opened on July 1, 1963 as part of the “Technological Institute” - “Petrogradskaya” section. It received its name due to its location on the square of the same name. Until July 1, 1992, it was called “Ploshchad Mira”.

Research and archaeological excavations at the site of the church have been going on for several years now. There are several plans for the restoration of the temple. Wait and see.

Artist M. Koneev “Leningrad, 1960”

Various sources were used in the preparation of this text. The author's position may not coincide with the positions of the authors of the materials used.

History and Architecture of St. Petersburg Spas-on-Sennaya

SPAS-NA-SENNOY

The idea of building a temple arose among Sennov merchants in 1743, but permission for it came only 8 years later. At first, the merchants bought the wooden Church of the Savior of the Origin of the Honest Trees on the Vyborg side and, having moved it, consecrated it on July 18, 1753 in a new location. After 2 days, 20(31).7.1753, a stone church was founded by Archbishop Sylvester. Its author was Andrey Kvasov. The plan and proportions of the structure, the elegance of the installation of the main dome suggest that B.-F. participated in the construction of the church. Rastrelli, who built the unpreserved mansion of the merchant Savva Yakovlev nearby.

The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, better known among the people as “Spas-on-Sennaya”, or “Sennaya Spas”, was built in 1753-1756 on the corner of Sennaya Square, on the site of the current vestibule of the Sennaya Ploshchad metro station. It was a monument of the late Baroque.

The exterior of the temple was completed in the year of the coronation of Catherine II, and to perpetuate this event, a crown was placed on the cross of the main dome. To her pleasant surprise, Catherine II, entering the capital after the coronation, saw the 1st church on the border of the city, crowned.

Unlike the Kazan and Peter and Paul Cathedrals, where the noble public predominated, Spas was visited mainly by small market traders, visiting peasants, and artisans. Until 1869, there was a beautiful fence of a small picturesque garden around the church. However, due to the fact that houses in this area brought a lot of income, a large 4-story house with shops was built on the site of the garden (Sadovaya St., 40). The five-domed, light and airy temple became the architectural dominant of the square. Capable of receiving up to 5 thousand believers, it was one of the most large temples Northern capital.

The temple was built at the expense of the wealthy merchant Savva Yakovlev on the site of an ancient wooden church. Next to the temple stood a 40-meter, three-tier bell tower with a bell weighing 542 pounds. His tongue alone weighed more than 17 pounds. The vain Yakovlev wanted to carve the inscription on the bell: “Assessor of Savva Yakovlev in the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on Sennaya.” The bell was famous. There were legends about him in St. Petersburg. They said that during the life of Savva Yakovlev, “a very vain man who came from the peasants of the Tver province, this bell was rung only when he allowed it, and as if the tongue was attached to something with a special chain, which Yakovlev locked with a lock and the key kept it with him and gave it out when he wanted.”

In St. Petersburg, Yakovlev was generally known as a legendary person. One of the city legends tells how Catherine II ordered to express her royal displeasure to him because, contrary to the royal instructions, on the day of her accession to the throne he refused to give the people vodka for free. They said that for such disobedience Yakovlev was given a cast-iron medal weighing a pound with orders to wear it around his neck on holidays.

According to the original plan, the church was divided into a warm half with two aisles and a single altar cold one. After 5 years, the temple was ready, but a commission of architects proposed to redo the vaults in it, which is why the consecration of the first, left, side-chapel of the Three Saints was delayed until June 20, 1761. Yakovlev transferred the remains of his parents from Sampsonievskoe cemetery to the crypt below it. Externally, the church was completed by 1762. On October 2, 1764, it was the turn of the right aisle in the name of St. Savva the Sanctified, whose name the temple builder bore, and, finally, on December 5, 1765, the main, cold one, consecrated first in the name of the Presentation of the Lord. Later it was reconsecrated in the name of the Dormition of the Mother of God. The image in this chapel was painted by the famous painter M.L. Kolokolnikov. The majestic and spacious temple was crowned with five domes standing on multifaceted drums. Adjacent to the high refectory was a three-tier bell tower, ending in a slightly elongated dome.

In 1816-1817, the architect L. Ruska slightly remodeled the bell tower, which had been damaged by uneven settlement, and connected the warm and cold churches together. The entrance to the church was decorated with a multi-columned portico with a pediment, the same type as that of the guardhouse standing in the northern corner of the square, erected by the same architect.

In 1833-1835, architect A.I. When renovating the church, Melnikov redid the domes and vaults. Even earlier, on January 14, 1822, the chapel he created on the south side of the main altar was consecrated - in the name of the All-Merciful Savior, and later on February 14, 1835 - the northern chapel in the name of Archangel Michael, built by P.F. Votsky. As a result, the building somewhat lost its stylistic unity. In 1867, according to the project of G.I. Karpov began a major remodeling of the top of the temple and the bell tower: the wooden structures were replaced with brick ones, the shape of the domes was slightly changed and the porticos were redone. First updated main church, and after its consecration and a small one. All five thrones were removed from their places, so the new consecration of each was complete. Work continued until 1873, although on October 1, 1870, the renovated temple was already consecrated.

In 1897-1898 V.V. Windelbandt added concrete vestibules and covered the domes with gilded copper. In 1902-1903, the side chapels of the temple were lengthened according to the design of I.I. Yakovlev, repairs and restoration of the images were carried out. Three years later, the clergyman of this huge and frequently visited church asked to raise the temple to the rank of a cathedral, but this rank was received only in 1923.

The high gilded iconostasis of the church in the Baroque style with icons from the mid-18th century was considered one of the best in the capital. In addition to it, in the church there was a magnificent throne from 1786 with a gilded rotunda, decorated with silver bas-reliefs, distinguished by the perfection of artistic embossing and weighing more than 100 kilograms - a donation from the creator of the temple. There were no such altars in any other metropolitan church. The temple builder Yakovlev also donated a shroud made of crimson velvet, embroidered with silver, gold and pearls, for which in 1856 the famous jeweler F.A. Verkhovtsev made a new tomb from silver weighing 7 pounds, the model of which was later used for the tomb for St. Isaac's Cathedral. Most of all in the temple, the local image of the Assumption in a gilded silver frame with a robe strewn with pearls, a list of the Tikhvin Mother of God from the chapel, which on June 27 was exhibited on the porch for worship, and the image of Christ the Savior, before whom the Vologda community prayed on October 18 in memory of deliverance in 1605, were revered their cities from the plague. The large icons “Burial of the Savior” and “St. Andrew, Bishop of Crete” by V.M. had artistic value. Peshekhonov, paintings by G.G. Myasoedova. The pride of the temple were also its bells, the incomparable sound of which delighted St. Petersburg residents and guests. Among the fifteen bells, some could easily compare with the best works of Russian artistic casting. The largest of them weighed 542 pounds 18 pounds and was cast in Moscow at the Yason Strugovshchikov plant.

In the 1820s, there was a parish theological school at the Spaso-Sennovskaya Church. In addition, widows and orphans of clergy were placed in church houses. This church was considered a special shelter for orphans. In December 1871, a Charitable Society was established at the Spaso-Sennovskaya Church to help poor parishioners; it began operating on December 16, 1873. The Society had an almshouse for old women and a shelter for children.

In the 1920s, all valuables from this rich church, despite strong resistance from the parishioners, were confiscated; in April 1938, the temple was closed and removed from security. The older generation of townspeople still remembers this dark green five-domed temple with a high bell tower above the entrance, which was blown up in 1961 to make way for a new metro station. The absurdity of this action is still striking: according to a number of experts, the temple in no way interfered with the wretched stall that is the station pavilion, and even speaking about the aesthetic side, the appearance of the city was greatly lost with the disappearance of this ancient monument.

The tragedy of Sennaya Square occurred at the height of the Thaw. In 1952, Sennaya was renamed Peace Square. It was decided to build the Ploshchad Mira metro station. The main decoration of the square, its dominant feature, was still the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. There have been no annual restorations of the church since 1916. but the awareness of its significance as a rare architectural monument has been preserved - it was not for nothing that it survived the blockade and survived the second reconstruction... now it is difficult to understand what caused its destruction? And why did this happen during a relatively favorable period of history for the country? The height of the thaw, the first flight into space, another year before prices rise... Few people remember that, along with many positive features, church-fighting tendencies intensified during this period. And the weakening of the party apparatus led to an increase in bureaucratic tyranny in the localities. There is a legend that the secretary of the Leningrad City Committee was in a hurry to attend a meeting in Moscow, and when asked where to build a new metro station pavilion, he made a hasty and vague gesture in the direction where Spas-on-Sennaya stood...

The designers of the Lenmetroproekt Institute submitted for consideration to the State Inspectorate for the Protection of Architectural Monuments, as KGIOP was then called, three options for locating a new station on the arc of the underground track tunnel under construction between the Nevsky Prospekt and Technological Institute stations. The most preferable place for them seemed to be in the western corner of the square, where the so-called Denezhkin’s house (now the Ocean store) is located. Next, the option of a semi-underground solution for the station lobby was proposed, without an above-ground pavilion, as is practically implemented now, and, finally, the demolition of the church on Sennaya. The last option seemed the most suitable to A.V. Pobedonostsev, who was from 1938 to 1961 the head of the Department for the Protection of Architectural Monuments of Leningrad. Firstly, the church was indeed in a very deplorable state, since back in 1913 work began on installing central heating to replace the stove, which was never completed due to the outbreak of the First World War. Secondly, already in April 1938, the temple was deprived of the status of an architectural monument and security privileges, not representing, from the point of view of art history, a stylistically integral example of architecture of the mid-18th century due to permanent reconstructions that distorted the original appearance of the church.

The most ardent and persistent defender of the idea of preserving the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was V.I. Pilyavsky, known for his works and lectures on the history of Russian architecture. To the then Minister of Culture of the USSR E.A. Furtseva was sent a letter, signed by leading teachers of the departments of the Faculty of Architecture of LISI, with a request to prevent the destruction of another local, but very important urban planning ensemble of the city. The answer, which came unexpectedly promptly, contained information that the consideration of the issue of the fate of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was entrusted to a group of Moscow specialists under the leadership of academician of architecture N.V. Baranova. However, the management of the metro construction began preparations for the demolition of the temple. Then, by the way, a line was discovered between the masonry of the walls, which was carried out by masons invited by the merchant guild of the Hay Market - the original customer for the construction of the church - and what today would be called “outright hack work,” after the owner bought the right to continue construction a huge territory from Sennaya Square to Fontanka between Gorokhovaya Street and Moskovskaya Road, “millionaire” Savva Yakovlevich Sobakin. As the legend testifies, Savva Yakovlevich was in a great hurry to complete the construction of the church by the time he returned from Moscow from the coronation of Empress Catherine II, which is why the masonry of the walls was distinguished by the imprint of extreme haste, and the entire crowning part of the temple and the bell tower was hastily erected in wood. Nevertheless, the Empress favorably accepted the invitation to the service of thanks, after which Savva Yakovlevich Sobakin was awarded a bronze medal weighing a pound “For stinginess” and received permission to change his surname and become the founder of the Yakovlev family.

The arriving commission turned out to be unusually energetic and prompt: not afraid to get their clothes and shoes dirty, the academicians quickly climbed around the entire church, examining with interest the soundings of the supporting structures and being indignant at the arbitrariness of the Metrostroy leadership and the irresponsibility of the State Inspectorate for Inspection. Leaving, N.V. Baranov promised to urgently report the situation with the temple to the government and ensure that the destruction of the unique and one-of-a-kind monument of Russian architecture of the mid-18th century is stopped immediately. But the next morning, the metro construction authorities announced the introduction of three-shift work due to the need for “timely preparation of the construction site for bringing the inclined escalator tunnel of the future metro station to the daytime surface.”

But the chief architect of Leningrad in those years, V.A. Kamensky, who replaced N.V. after World War II. Baranov, was in a very strained relationship with the latter, condemning him for the strategic shortcomings of the current General Plan of the city, for the economic imperfection of low-rise residential construction in the first post-war years, etc. Therefore, V.A. Kamensky, having learned about N.V.’s threats. Baranov, demanded, as he put it, to gather “his academicians” in order to achieve the signing of a document at a closed meeting in his office on the complete worthlessness of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Sennaya Square area.

The explosion was scheduled for the night of February 1-2, 1961. But no matter how much the metro builders rushed, they were still late. A day before the time appointed for the explosion, a letter from the Minister of Culture E.A. was delivered to the GlavAPU of the Leningrad City Executive Committee. Furtseva with a prohibition to destroy the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which has the unique historical and architectural significance of a large religious building of the mid-18th century. The letter to the APU was read, sealed again and sent by express to Ostrovsky Square, where the Lenmetrostroy Department was then located. There they did not dare to open the letter and sent it back to GlavAPU, where it was returned on Saturday, February 1, 1961, which was a non-working day. In the dead of night, there was a dull thud, the earth trembled underfoot, and the church somehow slowly, in complete silence of the spectators, sank, turning into a huge heap of construction debris. The exception was the bell tower, which first leaned to the right, and then, almost without collapsing, lay along the southern side of the square. The church was no longer there, but there was a deep hole that revealed some unsightly buildings, gloomy backyards and shabby firewalls of courtyard outbuildings.

Construction waste from the destroyed church was used to fill the pit of the Gorkovskaya metro station under construction.

The final act of this tragic mystery was an angry letter from the Minister of Culture of the USSR E.A. Furtseva addressed the chief architect with a reprimand for violating the ban on the demolition of the Church of the Savior on Sennaya, established by an authoritative government commission. So, in February 1961, the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was destroyed, the inventory value of which was 8 million rubles. The destruction of the temple cost approximately the same amount. At the same time, the request of the administration of the Institute remained unsatisfied. N.K. Krupskaya with wishes to take over the building of the former church in order to adapt it to the stage area of the theater department.

The metro station “Ploshchad Mira” (now “Sennaya Ploshchad”) was opened on July 1, 1963 next to the foundation of the temple: only the left edge of the steps reaches it.

In the 1980s, there was talk of restoring the church. As if a project had even been developed, to which the city fathers reacted favorably. Then they seemed to forget about the temple. Tragic circumstances suddenly forced me to remember him again. On June 10, 1999, the canopy of the ground vestibule of the Sennaya Ploshchad metro station suddenly collapsed. Several people died under its rubble. Many were injured. And they immediately started talking about heavenly punishment for desecrating a shrine. Even the evening before the disaster, a thunderstorm broke out in the city, and many observed some signs in the form of crosses over Sennaya Square. They talked about the bad energy of the entire square. And witnesses to the tragic collapse claim that the fall of the visor itself was accompanied by a certain mysticism. It was as if someone had “pressed on him from above.” And how could it be otherwise, if the station lobby, experts added, “at an angle goes to the foundation of the Assumption Church.”

How will they develop further events, it is difficult to predict, but the project to restore Spas-on-Sennaya has not yet been rejected. In post Soviet time a chapel was erected on the site of the destroyed church (2 Sennaya Square). On May 15, 2003, the cross was consecrated and raised onto its dome.
The exploded Spas-on-Sennaya will be restored

On February 11, the KGIOP (Committee for State Control, Use and Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments) held the first meeting of the Board of Trustees on the issue of reconstructing the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Sennaya Square (Spas on Sennaya).
View of Sennaya Square in 1814

At the moment, previously voiced ideas for a slight expansion of the chapel standing on the site of the temple and construction under Sennaya Square (as they once wanted to do under the Champs of Mars) of a large underground parking lot have been revised.
"The concept of developing the underground space under Sennaya Square" presented at the end of last February at the presentation "Ideas for St. Petersburg - development of territories"

An official decision was made to restore the temple, which was demolished in 1961, during the next reconstruction of Sennaya Square. The situation with a complete restoration is somewhat difficult due to the fact that the entrance to the metro, as well as the newly built horrifying glass-vulgar shopping mall "Pik" and the "Pik-2" under construction, will not allow the construction of the cathedral in the form in which it was before destruction.
The project of the facade "Pik-2" without taking into account the project of recreating the temple - design by LLC "SUAR.T-project"

However, during archaeological excavations, which were carried out during the repair of the asphalt pavement at the Sennaya Ploshchad metro station adjacent to the lobby, the foundation of the church was discovered in good condition, including under the altar and the entrance to the basement where the burials should be.
View of the Seine Square in 1822

In-depth archaeological excavations will begin again in the near future, after which various city utilities will be dismantled and moved, and only by the beginning of 2014 is it planned to begin construction of the church.
Project view of Sennaya Square with a restored temple - design by LLC "SUAR.T-project"

With the continuation of archaeological excavations, which will begin in March, many interesting things may most likely be discovered. There really should be burials in the underground part - so in 1763, the builder of the church, collegiate assessor Savva Yakovlev, transferred the ashes of his parents to the “Three Hierarchs”, and, practically, the church became their family tomb. The silver boards with which the throne of the main temple was covered, of course, were stolen long ago by revolutionary expropriators, but church steps were found already during the first excavations.
The interior of the church in the 1910s

The church, best known to this day as Spas-on-Sennaya, was originally supposed to be consecrated in the name of the Presentation of the Lord, but then it was named the Dormition of the Mother of God, although its foundation was made in 1753 on the day of Elijah the Prophet. After many years of construction (nowadays, the time frame is likely to be more compact), the church was completed by 1762 - for the coronation of Catherine II, in commemoration of which an imperial crown was erected on the cross, so that the new empress would see it when entering the official capital borders of that time from the Moscow outpost.
Photos of the 1890s (left) and 1910s (right) of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Sennaya Square

By the way, the entire territory covering the space from Gorokhovaya to the Semenovsky Bridge belonged to S. Yakovlev, where he built himself a dacha with a garden overlooking the Fontanka (architect Rastrelli), part of which has survived to this day. Yakovlev’s large house (corner of Sadovaya and Sennaya), to which Spas-on-Sennaya adjoined, has also been preserved. The temple had a beautiful fence and a “Rector’s” garden around it, but in 1869 a four-story “apartment” house was erected on the site of the garden.
Dismantling of the church - before the explosion in 1961

Spas-on-Sennaya managed to survive the thirties, when churches were being actively destroyed throughout Russia, but he could not survive the construction of the metro. It was blown up in 1961 (and a year later the Greek Church was destroyed for the construction of the Oktyabrsky Concert Hall), when such events could already be called nonsense.
After the explosion - 1961

He gave way to the well-known, shabby-looking box of a metro station, notorious for the fact that in the recent past people died under its collapsed concrete canopy. Now there is a project to move the metro lobby to the Pik-2 complex under construction, the facade of which, by the way, could use a more decent look that fits into the overall ensemble of the square.
The lobby canopy (now dismantled) of the Sennaya Ploshchad metro station

The renovation project exists for the entire section of Sennaya Square and the surrounding territory, affecting most of the former Yakovlevsky possessions. And for now it is difficult to say how much this will not worsen the current situation, when new buildings and architectural and structural confusion have practically destroyed this one of the most pleasant areas of the old “non-tourist” St. Petersburg.
Project view of Sennaya Square after the restoration of the church - design by LLC "SUAR.T-project"

The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Sennaya Square is currently officially classified as one of the lost main city landmarks, and therefore must be reconstructed, which will be supervised by KGIOP. Restoring what was lost is a more noble cause, which has many facets and goes beyond narrow church boundaries, than the endless construction of standard churches among new buildings, sometimes in very unsuitable places for this.

Lost during the years of Soviet power big number historical architectural monuments, including churches, and many of which, if possible, should be revived in our days. Here is the question - how much of the lost St. Petersburg architecture will have to be restored by future generations after the rapid demolition and construction in the historical center of the city at the beginning of the 21st century...

This paradox is explained simply: archaeologists, having completed the excavations, came to the conclusion that it was impossible to use the remains of the foundation they found for the construction of a new building. In fact, these are ruins that can only be museumized. However, neither the Russian Orthodox Church nor the city leadership have yet abandoned plans to recreate the church in the same place where it stood before 1961.

INSTEAD OF A SACRED PIPES AND WIRES

For several months now, everyone who leaves the metro pavilion on Sennaya Square sees a long blue fence in front of them. Excavations have been going on here since the end of May. In two months, archaeologists explored more than one and a half thousand square meters. They dug up a central apse next to the chapel - a semicircular protrusion of the building, as well as the bases of arched vaults and many basement partitions.

The few walls that have survived from the original temple are made of bricks from the 18th century,” the head of the archaeological expedition, Sergei Semenov, conducts the tour. - You see, the yellowish solution is lime - that is, masonry was carried out here back then. And the edge of the passage is laid out from bricks of a later time and covered with cement on top, that is, this is a reconstruction of the beginning of the 20th century.

Traces of reconstruction are on both the floor and the walls. However, archaeologists are happy that they were able to find something at all. In those days, when the temple was blown up for the construction of the metro, newspapers also admired how quickly and efficiently it was razed to the ground.

Afterwards, workers dug shafts, built the “Sennaya” pavilion - then “Peace Square” - and laid utilities, so that today part of the excavated territory is just trenches along which pipes and wires stretch.

IN SEARCH OF TREASURES

In the middle of the 18th century, the church was built with funds from the famous entrepreneur and philanthropist Savva Yakovlev. Its size and central location predetermined both the large parish and the rich interior decoration. A gilded iconostasis, a shroud embroidered with silver, gold and pearls, a silver tomb, images in silver frames - already in the 1920s it was decided to remove all these valuables from the temple, so archaeologists did not count on a serious catch.

This is a pawn coin,” demonstrates Natalya Solovyova, deputy director of the Institute of Material Culture. - Silver ruble with the image of Catherine the Second, minted in 1776. If we carefully lift it, we will see that the coin was still placed in the damp solution.

The surprising thing is that the temple itself was built twenty years earlier. Scientists think that the mortgage ruble appeared during one of the first reconstructions, when the central dome was redone.

Other finds included fragments of crockery, tiles, remains of lamps and several cinders. The most valuable things - a chain and a cross - were found in the burial places. It is already known for certain that at least six people were buried in the crypts, under the floor of the temple - in total, archaeologists discovered about six hundred bone fragments.

We found several burials, and they were all disturbed,” says Natalya Solovyova. “For example, a gold cross from a child’s burial was preserved, but the burial was literally torn apart. THE FENCE WILL REMAIN FOR A LONG TIME

Now that the excavations have already ended, a historical and cultural examination should take place. It will be conducted by Moscow accredited specialists. It depends on them whether the found remains of the foundation are recognized as a monument - and accordingly whether they will be preserved. In the meantime, before the onset of cold weather, the territory is going to be preserved by covering it with sand.

This will save networks and archaeological finds, - explains the rector of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Priest Mikhail Malyushin. “But they won’t be landscaping the area or laying tiles, so the fence will remain.” This is not just our decision - it is the governor's decision.

Already in the spring, as the Russian Orthodox Church expects, networks will begin to be moved to the square. True, who will do this, and most importantly - with what money, is still unknown. The church expects that a fund will soon be organized: such tasks cannot be accomplished by one investor, since we are talking about billions of rubles.

However, if we all work together, we can, as they say, move mountains. More precisely, not even mountains, but a metro pavilion. Otherwise, the temple simply cannot be restored within its former boundaries.

Whether this should be done is an open question. However, the design documentation is not yet ready, and therefore what Sennaya Square will look like in ten years’ time is anyone’s guess. Will new shopping centers appear on it in addition to the pavilion of the Spasskaya metro station, or will the entire space be occupied by the recreated Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, for the sake of which something will now also have to be destroyed.

It was proposed to build a 70-meter bell tower on Sennaya Square

Church of the Savior on Sennaya. Watercolor by K. Beggrov based on lithography by A. Bryullov
Photo: wikimedia.org
The construction of the bell tower is expected to be the first stage of the construction of the temple on Sennaya Square. The proposal was voiced by Priest Mikhail Mamoshin (rector of the church on Sennaya Square). Officials have taken a break for now.

It was proposed to build a 70-meter bell tower on Sennaya Square according to the design of the architectural bureau of Rafael Dayanov. The rector of the church on Sennaya Square, Priest Mikhail Mamoshin, approached Vice-Governor Igor Albin with such a proposal. Officials, in turn, were not enthusiastic about the idea.

Previously, in the center of the square stood the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. But it was demolished for the construction of the Sennaya metro station in 1961. The reconstruction of Sennaya Square began in 2003, it was then that instead of spontaneous stalls, shopping pavilions appeared on the square, and a chapel was built in memory of the demolished Assumption Church.

According to M. Mamoshin, the construction of the bell tower will be the first stage in the restoration of the temple. At present, it is impossible to recreate the main part of the temple due to the need to rebuild the machine room of the Sennaya Ploshchad metro station.

“We propose to restore the temple step by step. First build the bell tower and the refectory. There will be five meters left to the steps - this can be left for the future. This will be almost half of the temple,” said M. Mamoshin.

The vice-governor responded that the decision to build a temple on this site must be submitted to the Council for the Preservation of the Cultural Heritage of St. Petersburg. “There are very dense buildings here, architectural monuments, an area gravitating towards the exit from the metro,” noted I. Albin. According to him, the authorities are trying to find a solution to the issue that will suit the residents of St. Petersburg, but will also take into account the transport situation. The official also added that the authorities want to meet the diocese halfway, but the final decision on the project has not yet been made.

The head of the KGA, Vladimir Grigoriev, in turn, said that it is impossible to build a temple in a stripped-down form due to the metro pavilion, but it is theoretically possible to erect a bell tower, “from an urban planning point of view.”

The construction of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which will be located directly at the exit from the lobby of the Sennaya Ploshchad station, was included in the large-scale reconstruction project of Sennaya Ploshchad. But the authorities immediately faced the problem of financing it, because earlier the Ministry of Culture had refused to pay for this work. The competition itself for the reconstruction of Sennaya Square (worth 1.2 billion rubles) was held last fall. The Baltstroy company was chosen as the general contractor for the work. BaltStroy CJSC is part of the Forum holding company, whose owners, according to Forbes, are Dmitry Mikhalchenko and Nikolai Negodov. N. Negodov is a retired FSB major general, and D. Mikhalchenko participated in the creation of the ANO “Administration of the Affairs of the FSB Support Fund.”

The initial completion date for the reconstruction of the entire area is the end of 2016. But in the budget adjustment for 2015, only 10 thousand rubles were allocated for Sennaya Square (in the current version - 350 million rubles), for the next two years - 100 million rubles each. Due to budget cuts, it was decided to use the money earmarked for Sennaya Square for “other purposes.”

More details on RBC:

In St. Petersburg, a bell tower may appear on the site of the Church of the Savior on Sennaya

The rector of the Church of the Savior on Sennaya, Priest Mikhail, proposed to build a bell tower 70 m high on the site of the demolished church building, as well as a refectory for the parishioners. He expressed his proposal to the vice-governor of the city, Igor Albin.

The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Savior on Sennaya) was erected on Sennaya Square in 1761. In 1961 it was blown up. Now the city has decided to restore the facility.

The history of the temple dates back to July 20, 1753, when on Sennaya Square, Archbishop Sylvester of St. Petersburg solemnly laid the foundation stone for the temple in the name of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was built at the expense of one of the richest industrialists of that time, Savva Yakovlevich Yakovlev, over the course of 12 years. The people also called the church Spas-on-Sennaya, or, in everyday life, Spaso-Sennovskaya. This widely used name was due to the fact that before the construction of the Assumption Church, in its place there was more ancient temple in the name of Christ the Savior, or rather “in the name of the all-merciful Savior of the origin of the Honest Trees of the honorable life-giving Cross of Christ.”

Construction of the church was completed in 1762, the year of the accession to the throne of Empress Catherine II. The magnificent five-domed temple became the dominant feature of the entire Sennaya Square. Its height to the cross of the main dome was 23 fathoms 2 arshins, that is, about 50 meters. At the time of its heyday, the temple had beautiful interior decoration, and its bell tower was the second in height in St. Petersburg, second only to the bell tower Peter and Paul Cathedral.

During its existence, it was rebuilt several times. The last time this happened was in 1867-1871. A major alteration was made to the top of the temple and the bell tower: the wooden structures were replaced with brick ones, the shape of the domes was slightly changed and the porticos were redone. All five thrones were removed from their places, and therefore the consecration of each of them was complete. On the site of the church garden, a four-story house of the clergy of the Spaso-Sennovskaya Church was built (today – Sadovaya building 40). At the same time, the bell tower of the temple acquired its “Tonovsky” (Russian-Byzantine) completion in the form of onion domes. Later, in the 1960s, this detail would play a fatal role in the fate of the temple. Then the elements of the Tonov style will “detract,” according to “specialists” and architects, the value of the Church of the Assumption as an architectural monument.

In 1897-1898, concrete vestibules were added to the temple, and the domes were upholstered in gilded copper. In 1902-1903, the side aisles were lengthened, repairs and restoration of the images were carried out.

The main shrine of the temple was the temple image of the Dormition of the Mother of God, iconographic, covered with a pearl robe and sprinkled with diamonds. In addition, among the shrines of the temple were: the throne of the main Church of the Assumption with a gilded rotunda, decorated with silver bas-reliefs donated by Savva Yakovlev, late 18th century,

icon of St. Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky in memory of March 1, 1881 - the day of the tragic death of Tsar-Liberator Alexander II at the hands of the “populists”; a large icon of the position of the Lord in the tomb; local icons in the main iconostasis - the Savior and the Mother of God.

There were two shrouds in the temple. One is ancient, again built by the founder of the church, Savva Yakovlev, which was used for almost 100 years, remarkable for its value, high cost and elegance: crimson velvet, with embroidered images of the Savior and the faces of those burying him “issued” on it in silver and gold, and in the corners - holy evangelists and holy angels. In 1856, a new shroud was installed, skillfully made by the artist Fyodor Verkhovtsev. The chandeliers and candelabra of the temple were made at Chopin's factory

Every year on the feast of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God, on June 26, an all-night vigil and prayer service with blessing of water were served in the church in the church chapel. The list of the Tikhvin icon, kept in the chapel, was exhibited on this day on the porch for worship.

On Mokry Spas, August 1, after the liturgy, a religious procession was held from the church across Sennaya Square, to the Fontanka, to the Obukhovsky Bridge for the blessing of water.

On July 4, a religious procession with the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God took place from the Kazan Cathedral in memory of the deliverance of the capital from cholera in 1848 to the Sennovskaya Church, and a solemn prayer service was served on the square in front of a huge crowd of believers.

By the way, it was Sennaya Square that in 1831 became the center of the cholera riot in the capital. Then Emperor Nicholas I arrived here, at the Church of the Savior on Sennaya. Having driven into Sennaya Square in an open carriage, throwing off his dusty overcoat, he gave a speech to the people. Nikolai behaved firmly and confidently. “Atrocities were committed, the general order was violated. “It is a shame for the Russian people, having forgotten the faith of their fathers, to imitate the violence of the French and Poles,” said the Tsar, after which he called an old man, kissed him three times and left. The cholera riot was stopped. In thanksgiving to the Lord for deliverance from cholera, which was rampant in St. Petersburg in 1848, an image of St. Andrew of Crete was erected in the church.

A lot of educational and charitable work was carried out in the parish of the Church of the Assumption. From the first years of the existence of the Spaso-Sennovsky parish, many widows and orphans were looked after here.

In 1871, a charitable society was established at the church, and two years later a charitable society was opened to help poor parishioners. The merchant and famous philanthropist Alexander Vodenikov donated a plot of land behind the temple to the society, and on it a three-story almshouse was erected for elderly elderly women, and on February 19, 1880, an orphanage school was opened in the same building with the merchant’s donations. In 1884, Vodenikov also offered his own mansion, adjacent to the Spaso-Sennovskaya Church, for an almshouse and an orphanage-school. In 1885, Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna visited these establishments.

In 1890 the house was rebuilt, expanded and landscaped
(parquet floors, bathrooms, sauna, water closets, etc.). A garden with a gazebo was created under him. All repair work was paid for by the chairman of the society, Alexander Vodenikov, who allocated another 40,000 rubles for maintaining the house. In total, the new building cost him 107,000 rubles. For this gift he received the highest gratitude. Later, he donated another 10,000 rubles so that a percentage of the capital would go to the poor brides kept in the shelter.

Participating in the work of the society were Archpriest Gabriel Rozov and John of the Annunciation, who later replaced Father Rozov as rector of the church, Archpriest Konstantin Timofeevich Nikolsky, as well as many merchants and homeowners of Sennaya Square: F.M. Pochkin, Ya.I. Rozhnov. I.D. Shustrov and others. For 23 years, Vodenikov was the chairman of the society and donated more than half a million rubles to it during this time. Initially, the almshouse cared for 30 old women, later their number grew to 80, and approximately the same number of children were in the shelter of the Spaso-Sennovskaya Church.

On September 19, 1899, the Church of the Assumption became the center of the opening ceremony of the Yaroslavl Charitable Society. Among the trustees of the Yaroslavl Charitable Society were the merchants brothers Eliseev, F.M. Pochkin and other Yaroslavl residents. The purpose of the community and the charitable society was to help Yaroslavl natives in St. Petersburg, their employment and care; a shelter was set up for orphans living in the capital.

The temple was the heart of the Orthodox people's Petersburg - the Petersburg of the merchants, bourgeois, peasants. The importance of Spasan-on-Sennaya on a city scale is evidenced by the fact that an entire part of St. Petersburg – Spasskaya – got its name from it.

The parish of the church consisted mainly of ordinary people, so the days of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and St. Elijah the Prophet were especially revered in the church.

Sennaya Square itself in the middle - second half of the last century became one of the most crowded squares in St. Petersburg, Sennaya Market turned into one of the largest St. Petersburg wholesale trade centers. But that is another story.

After the Bolshevik revolution it began to decline. All valuables from this rich church, despite the strong resistance of the parishioners, were confiscated. From November 1923 until its closure in April 1938, the temple belonged to the Renovationists.

In 1933, eleven bells of the Spaso-Sennovsky Church with a total weight of 1,200 pounds were handed over to the State Fund and, apparently, were melted down. Temple icons in 1936-1938. were transferred to the Transfiguration Cathedral and city museums. In April 1938 it was closed and removed from security.

The temple, which miraculously survived the years of the siege, despite the fact that it was indicated as a landmark for German artillery, already in peacetime, was destroyed in January 1961 on the orders of Comrade Khrushchev, under the pretext of building a metro station. But first they tore off the roof (gilding and copper) and only then blew it up. Nowadays the Sennaya Ploshchad metro station stands on this site. Having lost its architectural dominant, the square has lost its unique appearance and looks dull and monotonous.

In the late seventies I had the opportunity to live in St. Petersburg for a long time. I often had to visit Sennaya. Then from my friends I first learned that there had once been a majestic temple here, and the sad story of how the Savior-Sennovsky Church was wiped off the face of the earth. Then I realized that the memory of her continues to live in the souls of real St. Petersburg residents.

I hope, and there are all the prerequisites for this, that in the foreseeable future Sennaya Square will once again be decorated with the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and those traditions for which it was so famous will return.

Sennaya Square is located at the intersection of Moskovsky Prospekt and Sadovaya Street in St. Petersburg. This area has always been important and at the same time problematic for the city. During its history, Sennaya Square changed its name several times. At the place where it is located, hay was traded, for this reason it received its modern name.

How to get there

The nearest metro stations are Sennaya Square (blue line), Sadovaya (purple line) and Spasskaya (red line)
Ground transport - buses No. 49 and No. 181 and tram No. 3.

From the history

The fires of 1736-1737 in the Morskaya Sloboda of St. Petersburg almost completely destroyed the buildings of the area, and the Marine Market located there was also damaged. The city authorities decided to move it further from the center, beyond the Moika.

The market was set up on the outskirts of the city, where they cut down the forest and equipped a square for trade, which was initially called Bolshoi, then Konnaya, and from the end of the 18th century it received the name Sennaya, since it was used for trading in hay, straw and firewood.

The road along which merchants traveled to St. Petersburg (now Moskovsky Avenue) led to Sennaya Square. Here they stopped and traded everything they brought into the city. The market was the cheapest and most populous; here people bought and sold from stalls, from carts and carts, and the peasants did not pay for the right to trade.

Soon the first houses appeared nearby and a wooden church was built.

Church of the Savior on Sennaya

In 1753-1765, on the site of a wooden church, at the expense of the millionaire merchant Savva Yakovlev, the stone Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was erected, which was often popularly called the Church of the Savior on Sennaya.

The temple was an example of late Baroque architecture. It was so beautiful and perfect that for a long time art historians believed that it was created by Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Later it was established that the church was built according to the design of the Russian architect Andrei Kvasov.

The temple had five domes, but it looked light and airy. Up to 5 thousand believers could be in it at the same time. In terms of its height, its bell tower was the second architectural dominant in Northern capital after the spire of the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

In the 19th century, the temple was rebuilt three times: in 1816-1817, the reconstruction was carried out according to the design of the architect Luigi Rusca, in 1833-1835 - according to the design of Abraham Melnikov, and in 1867 - under the leadership of the architect Grigory Karpov. Despite all the reconstruction, the church has retained its baroque appearance.

During the war, by luck, the temple was not damaged by German air raids, but, unfortunately, did not survive the construction of the metro.

In 1961, due to the need to build the vestibule of the Ploshchad Mira metro station, they decided to destroy the temple. The domes were removed from it and then blown up.

In the 18th and early 19th centuries, Sennaya Square was a place where public punishments for theft and fraud were carried out, the so-called trade executions, when the guilty were beaten with whips and whips in front of all the people. This area was known for its slums; it was inhabited by the poorest townspeople, whose life and morals were described by Fyodor Dostoevsky in the novel Crime and Punishment.

In 1883-1886, according to the design of Hieronymus Kitner, four buildings of the Shopping Center were built on Sennaya Square. Despite all the efforts to improve the area, this area was always dirty and crowded; it was the hottest place in St. Petersburg with many drinking establishments and brothels, flophouses and brothels.

Cholera riot on Sennaya Square

In 1831, a cholera epidemic began in St. Petersburg. The massive mortality was due to the lack of effective treatments and a shortage of medical personnel. At the same time, a rumor spread among poor people that people in the hospital were deliberately infecting people with this disease.

On June 22, crowds of indignant citizens gathered on Sennaya Square and decided to destroy the Central Infectious Diseases Hospital located here. Nicholas I decided to suppress the protest by force. Guards regiments surrounded the area, and soon the emperor arrived and stopped the uprising. The plot of one of the bas-reliefs of the monument to Emperor Nicholas I on St. Isaac's Square tells about the pacification of the cholera riot.

In the 1930s, the old market buildings were dismantled and the market was moved to the beginning of Moskovsky Avenue. Nearby houses were built on and their facades were restored. The market was called Oktyabrsky, and since 1952 Sennaya Square began to be called Peace Square.

In the 90s, there were many stalls and trading tents here, the products of which were cheaper than in other places. During the day, people lined up at the tents to buy pasta, stewed meat and cereals, and at night this place became a huge garbage dump.

In 1991, the square was returned to its historical name - Sennaya Square, and the metro station was also named.

On June 10, 1999, a tragedy occurred: during rush hour, a concrete canopy of the lobby collapsed at the subway exit, killing 7 people and injuring 12.

The last reconstruction of Sennaya Square took place in preparation for the celebration of the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg in 2003. Trees were planted here, benches were installed and the Neptune fountain, designed by the famous architect Thomas de Thomon, was installed.

Also, for the anniversary of the city, an 18-meter-high Peace Tower, donated by the French, was installed, on which the word “Peace” was written in 32 languages. The tower, which had stood for seven years, cracked and, for safety reasons, the city authorities decided to dismantle it. In addition, according to many experts, the structure did not fit into the architectural ensemble of the square at all and served only as a kind of beacon.

Shopping complex "Sennaya"

On the square there is a shopping complex, which was the first in St. Petersburg where you could combine relaxation with shopping. On the first three floors there are more than a hundred shops with a wide variety of goods. Visitors can also take advantage of the shopping center's numerous services - there is a hairdresser and beauty salon, a dry cleaner and a pharmacy, a bank and a car wash.

On the second floor there is a food court with Russian, European, Eastern and Asian cuisines, and on the third floor you can go bowling, play billiards and visit a restaurant.

TRC PIK

TRC PIK is a five-story shopping and entertainment complex, whose panoramic windows allow visitors to admire beautiful views central part of St. Petersburg.

It houses stores of many famous brands. The panoramic restaurant "BARASHKI" is located on the top floor of the building, offering a magnificent view of St. Isaac's Cathedral. There is also an Orange cafe, and for coffee lovers there is a Coffee House and Coffeeshop.

There are billiards and a shooting range, an 8-screen cinema center is open, and the Perekrestok hypermarket is located on the ground floor.

There are also many shops located on Sadovaya Street. Nearby is the Apraksin Dvor market, where goods are offered at affordable prices.

At present, a decision has been made to reconstruct Sennaya Square, during which the church and the adjacent 70-meter bell tower will be restored. Construction will be carried out at the expense of investors, and funds are being collected for the reconstruction of the temple.

The reconstruction project involves the construction of a new shopping center “Pik-2” above the metro vestibules, as well as the restoration of the facades of the apartment building, which was blown up along with the temple in 1961.

Sennaya Square, under which there are three metro stations, is sometimes called the belly of St. Petersburg, by analogy with the belly of Paris - the Les Halles quarter, under which there is a four-level commercial center and the largest underground Train Station in the world. Sennaya Square has always been the center of attraction for residents of St. Petersburg and the object of attention for businessmen.

Total 47 comments

Temple was the architectural dominant of the Sennaya retail space.

The church was founded in 1753-1765. - perhaps its author was B. Rastrelli or A. Kvaso V, was built with the money of S. Ya. Yakovlev.

Otherwise it looks “meagerly spoken” - a lot of repetitions.

By the way, in the journal. “Arch-ra and construction of L-da” - both before the Second World War and almost immediately after, sketches of projects for the redevelopment of the square were given.

Church services will begin again on Sennaya Square. The first will take place this coming Sunday, August 28th. True, there is no church here yet, and Sunday services will be held in a chapel built in the post-Soviet years. But the parishioners are determined to restore the Assumption Church and are ready to begin work “even tomorrow” - the long confrontation between believers and business is over, and a plot of land has already been allocated for the reconstruction of the Savior on Sennaya.

The temple and parking lots will fit into Sennaya Square

The Sennaya Square reconstruction project is planned to be submitted for state examination in October of this year, its implementation is scheduled for 2012. The project leaves room for Spas-on-Sennaya and underground parking.

The start of reconstruction of the Sennaya has already partially taken place given this year by the demolition of one of the shopping pavilions and the construction of a blue fence around the future "Peak-2". The demolition of the remaining pavilions and improvement of the square are scheduled for next year, said Alexander Suponitsky, director of the SUAR-T bureau, which is responsible for the architectural part of the project.

After reconstruction, Sennaya should turn into in a comfortable European square, convenient for both pedestrians and motorists. It is planned to construct underground pedestrian crossings, lay tram tracks, and organize convenient public transport stops. Subsequently, there will also be an underground parking lot for 400 cars; a place for it has been reserved in the western part of the square. Alexander Suponitsky still finds it difficult to name the timing of the parking lot’s appearance.

"There are a lot of networks going through here. and highways, so the installation of underground parking is technically difficult and will require large financial investments. The entire center will have to be dug up!” explained Alexander Suponitsky. The organization’s immediate plans include the construction of a parking lot for 400 cars in shopping center"Peak".

In what form and when will it be restored? Spas-on-Sennaya is also not yet clear. The temple was demolished in 1960, and the Ploshchad Mira station (present-day Sennaya Square) was built in its place. Part of the foundation of the temple is located on the territory of the metro station. This part of the station is occupied by the engine room, which is located on the underground floor and also rises 1.2 meters on the ground.

“The question is when the temple will be restored. If its construction is postponed for some time, and will take place when it becomes technically and financially possible to change the station, then the temple will be restored to its previous form. If we start restoration in the near future, then part of the temple will hang over the metro station,” said Alexander Suponitsky.

Alexander Suponitsky noted that construction"Pika-2" will in no way interfere with the further restoration of the temple, regardless of whether the metro communications change or not.

Funny article. The builders removed not the asphalt, but the tiles - I personally saw it today. “We found it by accident” - well, they didn’t tell the migrant workers in advance.

The foundation and its contours are well known, the foundation itself belongs to newly identified objects...

It is not the cathedral that has the address, but its foundation, which is an identified cultural heritage site ( Order of the Chairman of the KGIOP No. 15 dated February 20, 2001). Include cultural heritage sites (without territories) in the RGIS. The name will be:
"Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary "Spas na Sennaya" (foundation)".

Sennaya waiting for the Savior

PHOTO by Dmitry SOKOLOV

Older generations of townspeople remember Spas-on-Sennaya well. For more than half a century it has not been on the main shopping square of the city, and all these years it has been orphaned without this temple. It’s like an unhealed wound gapes in the middle of St. Petersburg. There has been a lot of talk about the restoration of the ancient church over the past twenty years. But only today these dreams are beginning to take on more or less real shape.

This year marks 250 years since the consecration of the temple. For a long time, Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli himself was considered its creator, but now the architect Andrei Kvasov is recognized as a more likely author. Subsequently, the church was rebuilt more than once, but retained the appearance inherent in Baroque architecture. It was considered a refuge for orphans; widows and orphans of clergy were placed in church houses.

Rare photographs taken in the temple in 1938, when it was closed and removed from state protection as a monument, testify to how magnificent its interior was even then. And this despite all the post-revolutionary confiscations of church property! Some of that beauty has survived to this day. Fragments of the rare main iconostasis and part of the altar accessories are in the collections of the Museum of the Academy of Arts, part of the temple icons are in the Transfiguration Cathedral, and liturgical vessels are in the Russian Museum. Will it be possible to return all this if Spas-on-Sennaya is restored?..

When in the early 1960s in Leningrad it became known about the impending destruction of a temple that had already been destroyed by that time for the sake of metro construction, something happened that the authorities did not expect. In the city, through which not so long ago the skating rink of the “Leningrad affair” rolled, there was an indignant roar. Experts and the public began to write letters to the Leningrad City Executive Committee and Moscow. Everything was in vain: the fate of Spas-on-Sennaya was predetermined. It was blown up on the night of February 1-2, 1961. But even after this, the intelligentsia continued to fight - now for the restoration of the church. The restoration project was developed by architect Dmitry Butyrin back in the mid-1970s...

In the 1990s, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was rebuilt in Moscow. We also have examples when ancient churches were rebuilt: not so long ago, the Catherine Cathedral in Tsarskoe Selo and the Church of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God on Pulkovo Heights returned to life. Next up is the Church of the Nativity on the Sands. You can often hear: they say, they are remakes, “counterfeits” of an antique... So be it, but living in a city with unhealed wounds is also no good.

Anastasia Zhukova, a lawyer for the parish of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Spas-on-Sennaya), assures: since the parish was registered in 2011, work on recreating the shrine has not stopped, but has only advanced. This is discussed at an exhibition that opened recently at the Museum of the History of Religion.

From spring to September 2013, archaeological research was carried out on the remains of the foundation. The artifacts found are on display at the exhibition. central place. These are genuine bricks, as well as a photograph of a mortgage ruble from the time of Catherine II - the original is now kept in the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

During the excavations, numerous remains of burials that were once made under the floors of the temple were also discovered. The remains in the decayed coffins may have belonged to the parents of the merchant Savva Yakovlev, at whose expense the temple was once erected. It is known that when he built a stone church on Sennaya, he reburied the bodies of his parents there. In addition to them, archaeologists found the remains (most often fragments) of another dozen and a half people. Most likely, these were rich merchants who donated to the temple. Now all the remains are in the chapel on Sennaya Square, awaiting their reburial in a historical place,” says Anastasia Zhukova.

Based on the results of excavations in March last year, the site where the foundation of the Church of the Savior on Sennaya was cut was recognized as a landmark - a monument of regional significance. As stated in the KGIOP document, the site itself becomes the subject of protection - as the main element of the urban planning and the site of the parish church. Now the territory of the destroyed temple can only be used for landscaping the site or for rebuilding the church.

At the same time, foundations discovered during excavations do not need to be preserved: they are not included in the subject of protection. However, as Zhukova assured, the most interesting and best preserved fragments of the foundation will be museumized in the space of the restored church.

Today, the place where the temple stood is surrounded by a blue fence, which has become a familiar attribute of Sennaya Square. It seems that he no longer bothers anyone: streams of people bypass him.

Currently, the site where archaeological research was carried out is fenced, and the results of the excavations are preserved. They're coming design work to remove utilities from the territory where the temple was and, we are sure, will again stand. They should begin in the spring and summer of this year,” explains Anastasia Zhukova.

The project for recreating the temple has not yet been developed, however, there is already a concept for recreating the temple approved by KGIOP, developed by the architectural bureau “Liteinaya Chast-91”, headed by Rafael Dayanov.

By the way, the exhibition presents a plan where you can see the corner of the Sennaya Ploshchad metro station superimposed on the temple. However, the existing ground lobby, which no longer meets modern requirements, will be reconstructed in any case. The entrance and exit will be moved towards Efimova Street. This is the kind of cycle that results: first the church was demolished to build a metro, now the metro is moved to build a church...

And the whole area is in for big changes. Last November, the Development Committee transport infrastructure entered into a government contract for its reconstruction. According to the project, the area will be partially rid of shopping pavilions, and all existing pedestrian crossings will be hidden underground...

The temple will fall into place historical place, - Anastasia Zhukova is sure. - Of course, I would like to see the revived church as quickly as possible, but the timing will depend on funding. The city budget partially paid for the removal of utility lines. However, direct construction will be carried out at the expense of non-state funds. Donations from citizens - a penny, a ruble - help a lot so that work on the project does not stop. We also count on the support of organizations willing to finance specific types of work. This exhibition at the Museum of the History of Religion is an opportunity to remind people of the situation around the temple and a call to help its revival.

In the meantime, anyone can look into the chapel that stands near the metro station and make a modest donation - pay for a personalized brick. Each brick is marked with the name of its owner, who is given a personal certificate as a keepsake.

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the incomparable Humus has 5 photos of the temple interior with good resolution- to help restorers

sent them to the discretion of the site curators.

By the way, old sources from the 1960s say that these 2 statues, some carved frames and decorations of the throne were then in the funds of the Academy of Arts

Yes, a guide to the Museum of the Academy of Arts in 1961 reports that at that time 4 statues from the iconostasis of the Savior on Sennaya were kept there - the Church, the Synagogue, St. Gabriel and St. Michael, as well as garlands of flowers - a detail of the altar canopy - ciborium, All the third quarter of the 18th century , tree. gilding.

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