"They did not save ": Churches of St. Petersburg, which gave way to metro stations

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Many churches and cathedrals of St. Pererburg have irrevocably disappeared under the onslaught of communist ideology. Among them there were those who were destroyed in order to make way for the metro under construction. And, perhaps, today not everyone knows what used to be on the site of some metro pavilions and escalators so familiar to the eye.

"Vosstaniya Square" - Church of the Sign (Church of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem)

Now the square is adorned with the magnificent pavilion of the metro station "Ploschad Vosstaniya", but not everyone knows that earlier there was the no less beautiful Znamenskaya Church, the most revered by the townspeople.

This church, originally called the Church of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, was built here at the behest of Elizabeth Petrovna at the end of the 18th century. At first, the church was entirely made of wood, then a stone one was built. The townspeople began to call it Znamenskaya in honor of the 12th century icon located in one of its side-altars - the Icon of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos. The built church became the architectural completion of the front part of Nevsky Prospect.

In 1930, they decided to close this church, however, then they did not do it - one of its famous parishioners, the scientist Ivan Pavlov, intervened. But in 1938, after the death of the scientist, the church was nevertheless closed, and in the spring of 1941 it was blown up. This was done in order to clear space for the metro pavilion.

With the disappearance of the Znamenskaya church, the square and the street associated with it were renamed, so instead of the Znamenskaya square and the street, the Vosstaniya square and street appeared.

And in 1955, one of the first seven stations in the northern capital, Ploshchad Vosstaniya, was solemnly opened.

"Sennaya" - Assumption Church (Church of the Savior on Sennaya)

This church had a very rich interior decoration, its high iconostasis was magnificent. The bell tower of the church was one of the highest in the city, only the bell tower of the Peter and Paul Cathedral was higher than it. The temple was given the status of an architectural monument, it is even assumed that F. B. Rastrelli. The Church of the Assumption stood for over two hundred years.

In 1933, the bells of the temple, deprived of its protection status, were sent for melting, the icons were transferred to another cathedral and museums in the city, and in the spring of 1938 the temple itself was closed.

In the fall of 1960, an article appeared in one of the Leningrad newspapers notifying the residents of the city that soon "".

And, indeed, on the night of February 1–2, 1961, despite the protests from the city residents, the temple was blown up, damaging several nearby buildings, even the piles of St. Isaac's Cathedral were damaged.

The temple, which served as a reference point for the German artillery and managed to resist during the war years, could not survive the Khrushchev "thaw" and the anti-religious policy of the native state.

Two years later, a new station was opened - "Peace Square".

In 1992, both the square and, accordingly, the station were renamed Sennaya. In 2003, a chapel was erected on the square in memory of the temple, and since 2011, work has been underway here to study its foundation and the possibility of restoring the church.

"Chernyshevskaya" - Church of Kosma and Damian of the Life Guards Sapper Battalion

The church, designed by M. Mesmakher, was erected in 1879, and twenty years later a monument to the "Exploits of the Life Guards Sapper Battalion" was opened opposite it.

This church was unusual in that it simultaneously served as a platform for military exercises, during which the altar and iconostasis were reliably covered with a special partition.

In 1933, the church was closed, and in the 50s of the last century, it was demolished, after which a metro station was also built in its place.

In addition to the described three temples, destroyed for the construction of the subway, many other churches were also demolished. And although they were destroyed for some other reason, over the years, new metro stations also appeared in their place, or will appear in the near future.

"Nevsky Prospect" - Chapel of Christ the Savior

So back in 1929 the Chapel of Christ the Savior, which was then considered "ugly", was demolished. And in 1963, a metro lobby appeared in its place in the city center.

Church of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Annunciation Square (present-day Labor Square)

Also in 1929, a very beautiful temple from the middle of the 19th century was destroyed. The reason for its demolition was the fact that the temple created some difficulties for the movement of trams.

They promise that the Teatralnaya metro station will soon be opened in its place.