The official name of the tithe church. tithe church

The first temple of ancient Russia

One of the most famous monuments of architecture and history in Kyiv is the remains of the foundation of the Church of the Tithes. The first stone temple of Ancient Russia was built in the 10th century. He witnessed many historical events and trials that befell the mother of Russian cities. And even those few traces that have survived to this day can tell a lot to an attentive observer.

The Church of the Tithes is the first stone church in Russia, built in 989-996 with funds from the princely income (that is, for the tithe). It is interesting that the funds allegedly allocated for the construction of the temple were actually intended for the development of the entire church infrastructure of the then Russia, and the church only played the role of the treasury. The church, erected after the baptism of the pagans, was consecrated in honor of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. According to historians, it was here that Vladimir the Baptist and his wife, the Byzantine princess Anna, were buried. And also the brothers of Grand Duke Vladimir - Yaropolk and Oleg. His grandson, the son of Yaroslav the Wise Izyaslav, also rests here.

In memory of the martyrs

Chronicles say that the place of construction of the temple - on Starokievskaya Hill, near the princely chambers - was not chosen by chance. It was there that the court of the first Varangian Christians stood - Theodore (Tour) and his son John, who were killed by pagans in 983. Prince Vladimir decided to atone for the death of the Kiev martyrs and began the construction of the Church of the Tithes.

During excavations in 1908, below the foundations of the main ledge of the church, archaeologists found the remains of a 10th-century log house, which they suggest could be the home of Theodore and John. It is possible that their relics were in the newly erected Christian shrine.

It is believed that the first stone church of Kievan Rus became a tomb for many Kievan princes. True, the opinions of historians and archaeologists are divided on this issue. Scientists admit that, yes, burials were found that are identified with the graves of Princess Olga and Vladimir Svyatoslavich, as well as the brothers of Vladimir - Yaropolk and Oleg - and the son of Yaroslav the Wise Izyaslav. But the relics have not been preserved, and the tombs that are on display in Sofia are also not completely identical. Where which was, outside or within the cathedral, is an open question. The idea that it was the remains of the princes that were found, the researchers were prompted by marble sarcophagi. And almost no more facts ...

Church of the Tithes, designed by Vasily Stasov. 1911

Until the appearance of the St. Sophia Cathedral, the church of Prince Vladimir served as a cathedral church. Like the brainchild of Yaroslav the Wise, she had her owntotype in Byzantium. The tithe was built on the model of the church at the imperial palace in Constantinople. But the masonry technique is already the merit of the master builders of Kyiv. Mixed laying of plinth and stone in the technique with a hidden row was not recorded in the Byzantine buildings of that time.

None of the researchers dare to say exactly what the Tithe Church was originally. Their cautious assumptions are based on written sources, as well as materials from archaeological excavations. Many fragments of marble columns, slabs, carvings, mosaics and frescoes were found in the ground. Now they are stored in the funds of the National Reserve "Sofia Kievskaya".

Unfortunately, from the very beginning, this majestic temple was plagued by troubles. The first damage to the Church of the Tithes occurred in the distant 11th century, during a great fire. Subsequently, it was rebuilt and surrounded on three sides by galleries.

After 100 years, in 1169, the church was damaged during the attack on Kyiv by the troops of Andrei Bogolyubsky, and in 1203 by Rurik Rostislavich. In 1240, Kyiv was captured by the Mongol-Tatar Horde. The tithe church became the last stronghold of the city's defenders. The people of Kiev hid there along with their property. But the structures of the building, considerably weakened by the recent earthquake, could not stand it and collapsed. Other sources claim that the church fell under the onslaught of the infidels.

Memorial stone on the restored foundation of the Church of the Tithes

A holy place is never empty

In 1635, the Metropolitan of Kyiv Peter Mohyla "ordered the Church of the Tithes of the Blessed Virgin to be dug out of the darkness of the underground and opened to the light of day." That is, the Nikolskaya Church, as it was called by the people, was erected on the site of the old one. But was it really so? During the time of Peter Mohyla, the southwestern corner of the Church of the Tithes was completely preserved. At the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th centuries, the rear opening was closed with a wooden wall, forming a small chapel, in which, according to a document of 1616, they served only on holidays.

It was this old wooden wall that Mogila dismantled, replacing it with a new, brick one. The dismantled wall dates back to the time of ancient Russian repairs, made several decades before the invasion of the Mongol commander Batu.

Metropolitan Petro Mohyla

Consequently, Metropolitan Peter Mogila did not build a new church, but, on the contrary, “mothballed” and preserved the remains of the Old Russian church, dismantling the old wooden structures and strengthening the remaining remains of the medieval walls. By the way, just under his leadership in 1635, marble sarcophagi with male and female skeletons were found, which the Grave proclaimed the relics of Prince Vladimir and Princess Anna.

In the 19th century, the Bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galicia Eugene (Bolkhovitinov) made his contribution to the study of the temple. He organized excavations, thanks to which the foundations of the Church of the Tithes were discovered. Based on archeological data, the story about the discovery by Metropolitan Peter Mohyla of the remains of Prince Vladimir cannot be true. The relics, now given out by the Orthodox Church as the remains of Prince Vladimir, most likely belonged to one of his distant descendants.

The next and last restoration of the Church of the Tithes took place on August 2, 1828 - based on the project of the St. Petersburg architect Vasily Stasov. The project of Andrey Melensky from Kiev (the author of the project of the church on Askold's grave and Gostiny Dvor on Podol) was rejected.

The construction of the temple, which lasted 14 years, took more than 100 thousand rubles in gold, but the resulting "monument of Russian Orthodoxy" was subjected to crushing criticism. Firstly, they built it with deviations from the intended Russian-Byzantine style and did not save the old masonry due to fear of precipitation. Secondly, the church turned out to be rather heavy, especially in comparison with the neighboring Andreevskaya. In 1936, the church was dismantled on the occasion of the construction of a government quarter in this area. Fortunately, then managed to save the St. Sophia Cathedral.

Illumination of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kyiv. Miniature from the Radziwill Chronicle, 15th century

mystical connection

The destinies of many people who were related to the Church of the Tithes developed dramatically. Its founder - Prince Vladimir - died, intending to go to war against his son Yaroslav. And after the death of the Baptist of Russia, his sons immediately got involved in a bloody fratricidal war.

It is worth remembering the Kursk landowner Alexander Annenkov, who initiated the restoration of the Church of the Tithes in the 19th century. Even then, historians had suspicions that his good intentions were only a cover. In fact, he was driven by the desire for material gain - he was looking for the legendary ancient Russian treasures. And even, according to rumors, found. However, the treasures found did not bring happiness to Annenkov: he himself drank himself, squandered his property, did not leave a good memory, and his only pride - the rebuilt church - was destroyed.

Archaeologist Kondrat Lokhvitsky in his essays did not at all hide the fact that he began to engage in amateur archeology for the sake of fame, honor and awards. However, his plan for the restoration of the Church of the Tithes was not recognized by either Metropolitan Eugene or the imperial commission due to numerous shortcomings. But the Russian professor of architecture Nikolai Efimov made a really quite accurate plan for the foundations of the church. However, his project did not pass.

The fate of a number of archaeologists who explored the shrine at the beginning of the 20th century was completely tragic. Dmitry Mileev died of typhus during excavations. Sergei Velmin and Theodosius Molchanovsky were repressed in the 1930s. The only "lucky one" from this group of researchers of antiquity was the Leningrad archaeologist Mikhail Karger. But his archive with all the results of the excavations of the Church of the Tithes disappeared without a trace.

Alexandra SHEPEL

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The Church of the Tithes (Church of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos) in Kyiv is the first stone church of Kievan Rus, erected by the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir on the site of the death of the first martyrs Theodore and his son John. The beginning of the construction of the Church of the Tithes is attributed to the year 989, which was reported in the annals: "In the summer of 6497 ... Volodimer thought about creating the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos and sending masters from the Greek." - "The Tale of Bygone Years"

In other chronicles, 990 and 991 are also called the year of the founding of the church. Construction was completed in 996. The church was built as a cathedral not far from the prince's tower - a stone north-eastern palace building, the excavated part of which is located at a distance of 60 meters from the foundations of the Church of the Tithes. Nearby, archaeologists found the remains of a building that is considered the house of a church clergy, built simultaneously with the church (the so-called Olga's tower). The church was consecrated twice: upon completion of construction and in 1039 under Yaroslav the Wise. Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich, who ruled at that time, allocated a tenth of his income for the maintenance of the church and the metropolis - the tithe, from where its name came from. At the time of its construction, it was the largest Kiev temple. The annals reported that the Church of the Tithes was decorated with icons, crosses and precious vessels from Korsun. Marble was abundantly used in decorating the interior, for which contemporaries also called the temple “marble”. In front of the western entrance, Efimov discovered the remains of two pylons, which supposedly served as pedestals for bronze horses brought from Chersonese. The first rector of the church was one of the "Korsun priests" of Vladimir - Anastas Korsunyanin.

Some scholars believe that the church was dedicated to the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It kept the relics of the Holy Hieromartyr Clement, who died in Korsun. In the Church of the Tithes there was a princely tomb, where the Christian wife of Vladimir, the Byzantine princess Anna, who died in 1011, was buried, and then Vladimir himself, who died in 1015. Also, the remains of Princess Olga were transferred here from Vyshgorod. In 1044 Yaroslav the Wise buried in the Church of the Tithes the posthumously "baptized" brothers Vladimir - Yaropolk and Oleg Drevlyansky. In the first half of the 12th c. The church has undergone significant renovations. At this time, the southwestern corner of the temple was completely rebuilt, a powerful pylon appeared in front of the western facade, supporting the wall. These events, most likely, were the restoration of the temple after a partial collapse due to an earthquake. In 1169, the troops of Prince Mstislav Andreyevich, the son of Andrei Bogolyubsky, plundered the church, in 1203, the troops of Rurik Rostislavich. In 1240, the hordes of Khan Batu, having taken Kyiv, destroyed the Church of the Tithes - the last stronghold of the people of Kiev. According to legend, the Church of the Tithes collapsed under the weight of the people climbing onto the vaults, trying to escape from the Mongols, however, Yu.S. Aseev suggested that the building collapsed after the besiegers used ramming guns.

In 1824, Metropolitan Evgeny (Bolkhovitinov) instructed to clear the foundation of the Church of the Tithes. The Kiev amateur archaeologist K. A. Lokhvitsky, and then the St. Petersburg architect N. E. Efimov, first discovered the plan of foundations, found the remains of marbles, mosaics, and frescoes. On August 2, 1828, the beginning of the construction of a new church was consecrated, which was entrusted to another St. Petersburg architect, Vasily Stasov. The temple was built in the Byzantine-Moscow style and did not repeat the original architecture of the ancient Church of the Tithes. During the construction, the church of Metropolitan Peter Mohyla of the 17th century was completely dismantled, as well as about half of the foundations of the 10th century church that had survived by that time. The construction of the temple cost 100 thousand gold rubles. The iconostasis was made from copies of the icons of the iconostasis of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg, created by the artist Borovikovsky. On July 15, 1842, Metropolitan Filaret of Kyiv, Archbishop Nikanor of Zhytomyr and Bishop Joseph of Smolensk consecrated the new Tithe Church of the Assumption of the Virgin.

In 1908-11. the foundations of the original Church of the Tithes (where they were not damaged by the Stasov building) were excavated and examined. The remains of the foundation were studied only in 1938-39. after the final demolition of the new church. Under Soviet rule, in 1928, the second Church of the Tithes, like many other monuments of culture and art, was demolished. In 1936, the church was finally dismantled into bricks.

When it comes to the earliest stage in the history of Christian Russia, one has to come to terms with the fact that very, very little is known about it from written sources. Imagine, more than 120 years have passed from the time of Epiphany to the time of the creation of The Tale of Bygone Years. It was not for nothing that by that time they were already arguing where Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich himself was baptized: who said - in Korsun, who - in Kyiv, and who - somewhere else.

First Cathedral of Christian Russia

The same applies to the main cathedral of Kievan Rus - the Church of the Tithes. Almost eight centuries have passed since the death of this monument, but to this day there are disputes about it.

However, in fairness it should be noted: the Church of the Tithes was neither the first temple of Kyiv, nor the first cathedral of Kyiv, nor the first stone church of Kyiv, nor even the first building of Vladimir after baptism. Sources directly call the church of Elijah on Podil even before the Baptism of Russia, and they say that the temple was a cathedral, which means there were others. Mikhail Karger mentioned that he found the remains of this temple during the excavations of the Kiev Podil, and says that it was made of stone.

After baptism, Vladimir erected several wooden churches, and then started building the main church of his country.

In all ancient sources it is written that the temple was dedicated to the Mother of God, but it does not say which one. Dormition? Christmas? Reese's position?

This we do not know. Moreover, we do not know for sure even the year of laying the temple. Different chronicles name the years 989, 990 and 991. So what do we know for sure?

A bit of history

The temple was consecrated in 996 - on this date all sources converge. We know for sure that it immediately received the name of the Church of the Tithes - Vladimir allocated one tenth of the income of the prince's treasury for its maintenance.

Then the bones of the brothers Vladimir - Yaropolk and Oleg, who fell in the struggle for the princely throne (and, I must say, not without the participation of the future baptist of Russia) were buried in the temple. At the same time, a unique procedure was done with the bones: they were baptized.

They buried in the Church of the Tithes and the first Christian ruler of Russia - Olga. During the excavations, a marble sarcophagus was found - it is believed that it was in it that the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles princess rested.

In 1039 the Church of the Tithes was re-consecrated. Why? Unknown. Maybe it was being completed, maybe there was a fire. In any case, there is very little information about her further: around 1037, a new “main cathedral” was erected in Kyiv - the St. Sophia of Kiev, which has survived to this day, and the center of the spiritual life of Russia under Vladimir’s son Yaroslav the Wise moved here.

The tithe church stood until 1240, when it was destroyed during the capture of Kyiv by the troops of Batu: it collapsed - either the attackers tried hard, or the fleeing people crowded so much that the temple could not withstand its weight.

In the 1630s-1640s, Metropolitan Peter Mohyla built a small church in the southwestern corner of the ruins of the ancient temple. The temple stood until 1828, when instead of it on b about On the territory of the ancient church, a new one was built, according to the project of the architect V.P. Stasov, having previously carried out excavations. In 1824, they were led by archaeologist K.N. Lokhvitsky, but the quality of his work was recognized as terrible even at that time, so in 1826 Lokhvitsky was replaced by the architect N.E. Efimov. In 1908-1911, those parts of the Church of the Tithes that did not fall under construction were excavated by D. Mileev, his work in 1912-1914 was continued by his student P. Velmin. In 1938-1939, after the demolition of the Stasov church, the unexcavated by Mileev and Velmin were studied by M.K. Karger, whose master plan of excavations has become a textbook.

But even these excavations turned out to be incomplete, the recording of their results was not very satisfactory, and they themselves practically destroyed a significant part of the surviving ruins of the monument. Therefore, most of what we know about the temple is debatable information. A simple indicator: even if we talk about the plan of the church, more than a dozen of its reconstructions have been introduced into scientific circulation - and how many attempts have been made to reconstruct the appearance of the Tithe Mother of God!

The temple was quite large: 35 x 37 m (on the foundations, without apses). It was built from plinths (an ancient thin brick) - tiles measuring 31 x 31 x 2.5 cm. Here is such an example of ancient Russian architecture.

A little about the word "architecture" itself. In Ancient Russia, only stone construction was called this word. "Build" - build, create; "zdo" - clay, from which the plinth was made. By the way, in this way, the word "Creator" literally means "sculpted from clay" - let's remember how (according to the Old Testament) a person was created. Yes, and the annals separated stone and wooden construction: when the term “congress” was used, then a stone building was definitely meant, when “post a vi" - wooden. So from the point of view of an ancient Russian person, “wooden architecture”, the museums of which now exist both in Russia and Ukraine, is an oxymoron.

It would seem that after the excavations of Karger and the museification of the “plan” of the church, one can put an end to it - there is a lot of obscurity, but where do you get new data from?

New discoveries

However, it turned out that there is where.

Since 2005, the foundations of the temple have been completely excavated again by Russian and Ukrainian archaeologists (the excavations were led by outstanding archaeologists Gleb Ivakin (Kyiv) and Oleg Ioannisyan (St. Petersburg). This time, the excavations were carried out as carefully as possible, slowly, fixing each stone.

Scientists have come to the conclusion that the temple was actually not at all what architectural historians thought it was. And all existing reconstructions contain at least one very serious error.

Firstly, it can be considered proven that this temple was built immediately. Until now, it was believed that the core of the monument was built in 989-996, and in the 11th century it was additionally built with galleries (at least partially). It turned out that all the elements of the plan of the temple, from the laying to the consecration, took shape in one period, but in the process of construction, the design and type of construction changed.

At first, as it was believed until now, the temple was built as a cross-domed one. Almost all ancient Russian churches were erected in this way before the Mongol invasion, with the exception of several rotunda buildings.

But the Church of the Tithes is the main temple of the new Christian state. He had to be big. Of course, Russia did not have its own master architects, and in Byzantium of that time they simply did not build such large cross-domed buildings.

Having already begun construction, the architects realized that cross-domed vaults of this size would not work for them, and they built a basilica that was easier to work with and familiar to them. Archaeologists have established a very interesting fact: the builders even had to dismantle a part of the already built building - fragments of masonry were found in the ancient moat, which was filled in during the construction of the Church of the Tithes.

In the 10th century, the main building of the capital city and the first stone church of the times of Kiev? Russia was the Church of the Tithes. Was it built in honor of the saint? Mother of God in 986-996, during the reign of Vladimir the Great, who? donated a tenth of his income - tithing - for the construction and maintenance of the temple. In the tithes? The church was the Grand Duke's tomb, where Prince Vladimir, his wife - the Byzantine princess Anna, Grand Duchess Olga were buried.

Tithe Church - the second temple (1842-1928)

The temple was repeatedly destroyed. In 1240, the hordes of Batu Khan, having taken Kyiv, destroyed the Church of the Tithes - the last? stronghold of the people of Kiev. According to legend, the church collapsed under the weight of many people who filled it and tried to escape from the Mongols.

For a long time there were only ruins on the site of the magnificent temple. In 1824, on behalf of the Kiev Metropolitan Yevgeny (Bolkhovitinov), they began to clear the foundations of the Tithes? churches. This work was carried out under the guidance of archaeologists Kondrat Lokhvitsky and Nikolai Efimov. And in 1828-1842, huge buildings were erected here? stone? temple, newly named? the name of the Mother of God. Petersburg became the author of the project? architect Vasily? Stasov.

In 1935 the temple was barbarously destroyed.

Official name: Tithe Church in Kyiv

Address: Starokievskaya Gora (foundation)

Date built: 996

Basic information:

Tithe Church in Kyiv- the first stone temple on the territory of Kyiv and the then Kievan Rus, one of the oldest Kiev churches, located on the historical part. The temple was destroyed during the Tatar-Mongol invasion of Kyiv, rebuilt in the middle of the 19th century and completely destroyed by the communists in 1928. To date, only the foundation of the church has remained in Kyiv, located on, not far from.

Story:

Tithe Church. View from . Photo from 1980

History of the Church of the Tithes. According to chronicles and historians, the construction of the church began in the late 980s and was completed in 996, during the reign of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich. The church had a typical exterior in the Byzantine architectural style, the interior was richly decorated with frescoes and mosaics. The tithe church in Kyiv was built not far from the alleged location of the citadel - the princely palace and related buildings. The name "tithe" was due to the fact that Prince Vladimir allocated a tenth of his income for the construction of the church. Also, the church was called "marble" in connection with the abundance of marble in the interior of the temple, in addition, in the ancient chronicles, the Church of the Tithes appears as the church of the Most Holy Theotokos.

The tithe church was consecrated twice - the first time immediately after the completion of construction, the second time - in 1039, at the time. Prince Vladimir and his wife, brothers of Prince Vladimir, were buried in the Church of the Tithes, and the remains of Princess Olga were transferred from Vyshgorod.

The first minor reconstruction of the Church of the Tithes took place in the second half of the 12th century. In 1240, the Church of the Tithes was almost completely destroyed by the hordes of Batu Khan who entered Kyiv, and another tragic story of Kyiv is connected with this event. During the brutal massacre in Kyiv, arranged by the Tatar-Mongols, many Kievans tried to hide in the Church of the Tithes and on its vaults. Under the onslaught of people, the church could not stand it and collapsed, burying the people of Kiev under it.

Already at the end of the 17th century, the first archaeological excavations of the Church of the Tithes began, for the initiative of Metropolitan Peter Mohyla. Then the tombs with the relics of Volodymyr the Great and his wife were found, and Peter Mohyla bequeathed 1,000 gold pieces after his death to restore the Church of the Tithes. Most of the remains of the foundation of the temple, as well as the plan for its construction, as well as some of the interior frescoes and mosaics, were found in the first half of the 19th century.

The first temple appeared on the site of the former Church of the Tithes in 1635, the initiator of the construction of which was Peter Mogila. It was a small church called the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. After numerous archaeological excavations at the beginning of the 19th century, it was decided to completely rebuild the Church of the Tithes in Kyiv, on the site of its old foundation. The first stone for the construction of the new temple was laid in August 1828, and it was completed in 1842. The tithe church was rebuilt according to old plans, but its appearance only partially corresponded to that of the original church. The New Church of the Tithes was built in the Byzantine-Moscow style. This temple was completely destroyed by the communists in 1928, leaving us again only the foundation of the temple.

To date, for several years now, there have been disputes about a new building and the revival of the glory of the Church of the Tithes. Representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate repeatedly intended to build a new temple on the former foundation of the Church of the Tithes in Kyiv, but this idea did not have support from both archaeologists and the public.

Interesting Facts:

Church of the Tithes - the first stone church on the territory of Kyiv and Kievan Rus

The foundation of the Church of the Tithes on the map of Kyiv:

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