Temple of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo. Ilyinsky Church in Cherkizovo

The Moscow temple of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo was erected in 1690. Earlier in this place in 1370 there was a wooden church that burned down.

The foundation of the temple

The history of the church is connected with the history of the village - Cherkizovo. It is known that it was built in the XIV century. The village was named in honor of its owner - the prince Serkiz, who after baptism became Ivan Serkizov. He was a native of the Golden Horde. However, Serkizov did not own his village for long, since he soon sold it to his fellow tribe, Ilya Ozakov. In history it is said that he was a very devout person. Out of respect for his heavenly patron - Elijah the Prophet, he ordered the erection of the temple. This is how Ilyinskaya church was built in Cherkizovo.

It was located on the bank of the river Sosenka, in a very picturesque place. The Sosenka River is the right tributary of Khapilovka, its source is in the Golyanov area. Its length is 9 kilometers. Nowadays the main part of the channel is enclosed in a pipe. Only thanks to Cherkizovo pond, on the bank of which the church stands, people remember where the river once flowed over the surface. Now it flows in the collector along the eastern shore of the reservoir.

Wooden church. Stone temple

The stone church in Cherkizovo is built on the site of a wooden church, when there was still a suburban residence of Metropolitan Alexy. Until 1764 the village was the property of the Moscow metropolitans, after a while the church became a parish.

In 1883, a chapel and a refectory were added to it, in 1899 - a tent bell tower with three tiers. The decoration involved iconostases of the XIX century, the fence of a small cemetery - also of that time. On it is the grave of Ivan Yakovlevich Koreysh - the famous Moscow seer, local holy fool and saint (years of life: 1783-1861). At that time, the church was not closed, with the Sunday school functioning for all the villagers.

Cherkizovsky Metropolitan and Patriarchal Cottage

The village was very much liked by Metropolitan Alexy - the servant of Moscow and All Russia, namely: his picturesque location, surrounding expanses, proximity to Moscow. In 1360 he decided to acquire a village not only for himself, but also for his successors in the rank. Since that moment, Cherkizovo has become one of the main estates of the Moscow Chudov Monastery, an abbey with a large and spacious courtyard, as well as a well-developed mansion house.

For the Metropolitan Alexy the temple of Elijah the Prophet was a place of rest and solitude. In it, he could calmly look back at his past life, restore his strength, which would be useful to him in the future, or simply to see his people close to him. When the metropolitan of all Russia died, Cherkizovo for a long time remained a summer bedchamber of Moscow's metropolitans.

When the Patriarchate was restored, the Moscow Metropolitan, the Kolomna Prelate and the Wonderworker Tikhon became the Patriarch of All Russia. He began to call the dacha the Patriarch.

Throughout the history of its existence, the temple's courtyard has been rebuilt many times. Its history is connected with the saint and Metropolitan Innokenty, on whose orders another reconstruction was made in the middle of the XIX century.

Temple in the Soviet era

During the Soviet era, most of the churches in Moscow were completely destroyed, but the church of Ilyin stood. During the Great Patriotic War, all the faithful of the church were able to raise one million rubles for the construction of aircraft and sent them to Stalin. He sent a grateful telegram in return. Why aircraft? The fact is that the Prophet Elijah is an advocate of aviation.

In the middle of the 20th century, icons from all neighboring churches were brought to the temple of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo, which were to be destroyed. At that time the rector of the church was Protopriest Pavel Ivanovich Tsvetkov.

Ilyinsky churches of Moscow

The prophet Elijah is considered one of the most respected saints of the Old Testament. Three temples in Moscow are dedicated to him: the temple of the Prophet Elijah on the Vorontsov field, the temple of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo and the temple of the Prophet Elijah in the Obydenskiy lane. In any of them, there are many holy relics, various items that Christians worship, as well as icons.

Divine services are held here:

• Everyday liturgy - daily from 9:00 and 17:00;
• In great holidays and on Sundays - from 7:00 and 10:00, from 17:00 - evening service.

The church is open Sunday school.

A few words about Cherkizovsky Cemetery

Likewise, like the temple of Elijah the Prophet in Cherkizovo, the cemetery has its own ancient history. It is the oldest burial place. The name received from the village, next to which it was formed. There is a cemetery not far from the church. More precisely, it surrounds it. The cemetery is a very ancient historical necropolis. It was not ruined during the Soviet era. Since 1998, we began to maintain an archive, which indicates the registration of all graves, even related ones. On the territory there is a place for the rental of agricultural equipment for the care of graves. Cherkizovo cemetery is open daily from 9:00 to 19:00 (May to September) and from 9:00 to 17:00 (October to April). Funeral rites are performed from 9:00 to 17:00 daily.