190 years ago, on April 17, 1818 (April 29, new style), at 11 a.m., a son was born into the family of Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich and Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna. He was born and this alone greatly influenced the further course of Russian history. Emperor Alexander I, who had no sons, learned that his younger brother had an heir, and decided to transfer the throne to Nicholas, and not to his brother Constantine, who was next in seniority to Alexander. This became one of the reasons for the interregnum at the end of 1825 and the reason for the Decembrist uprising.

“If the art of ruling consists in the ability to correctly determine the urgent needs of the era, to open a free outlet for viable and fruitful aspirations lurking in society, from the height of impartiality to pacify mutually hostile parties by the force of reasonable agreements, then one cannot but admit that Emperor Alexander Nikolaevich correctly understood the essence of his vocations during the memorable years of his reign 1855-1861.”
Professor Kiesewetter

Lavrov N.A. Emperor Alexander II the Liberator. 1868
(Artillery Museum, St. Petersburg)

Alexander's mentor since 1826 was the famous Russian poet Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky. For six months Zhukovsky developed a program for training and educating Alexander. The program did not allow concessions or leniency. Emperor Nicholas regretted that he did not receive the education necessary for a monarch, and decided that he would raise his son worthy of the throne. He entrusted the selection of teachers to the court poet, who once wrote heartfelt poems addressed to the mother of the newborn Alexander. There were these lines:

May he meet a century full of honor!
May he be a glorious participant!
Yes, on the high line he won’t forget
The holiest of titles: man...

Zhukovsky declared the goal of educating and training the heir to be “education for virtue.” Here is the routine of a typical school day “like a king.” You need to get up at six in the morning. After finishing your morning toilet, go to the palace chapel for a short prayer and only then for breakfast. Then - textbooks and notebooks in hand: at seven in the morning the teachers are waiting in the classroom. Lessons before noon. Languages ​​- German, English, French, Polish and Russian; geography, statistics, ethnography, logic, the law of God, philosophy, mathematics, natural science, chemistry, physics, mineralogy, geology, domestic and general history... and even a course on the history of the French Revolution of 1789, banned in Russia. And, in addition, drawing, music, gymnastics, fencing, swimming, horse riding, dancing, handicraft, reading and recitation. In the afternoon there is a two-hour walk, at two o'clock in the afternoon there is lunch. After lunch, rest and go for a walk, but at five in the evening there are classes again, at seven there is an hour reserved for games and gymnastics. At eight there is dinner, then almost free time, during which, nevertheless, one is supposed to keep a diary; record the main incidents of the day and your condition. At ten o'clock - go to bed!

Alexander Nikolaevich Tsarevich in the uniform of a cadet. Engraving. 1838

Alexander Nikolaevich Tsarevich with mentor V.A. Zhukovsky. Engraving. 1850s

On April 22, 1834, St. George's Hall and the large church of the Winter Palace were decorated in honor of Alexander Nikolaevich. The day of his coming of age is celebrated. From the Diamond Room they brought a “power” - a golden ball strewn with diamonds and the rarest precious stones, a scepter topped with the Orlov diamond (bought in Europe for a lot of money, long before that it adorned a Buddha statue in India), and on a red pillow - a golden crown The ceremonial part ended with the singing of the imperial anthem “God Save the Tsar!” shortly before the composition. On that day, an amazing precious mineral was mined in the Urals. In the sun it was bluish-greenish, and in artificial light it became crimson-red. It was called alexandrite.

In 1841, Alexander married Princess Maximiliana Wilhelmina Augusta Sophia Maria of Hesse-Darmstadt, or Maria Alexandrovna in Orthodoxy (1824-1880). Children were born from this marriage: Nikolai, Alexander (the future Emperor of All Russia Alexander III), Vladimir, Alexei, Sergei, Pavel, Alexandra, Maria. Alexander II ascended the throne on February 19, 1855, during an extremely difficult period for Russia, when the grueling Crimean War was nearing its end, during which economically backward Russia found itself drawn into an unequal military confrontation with England and France.

Kruger F. Portrait led. book Alexander Nikolaevich, around 1840.
(State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg)

Coronation celebrations took place in Moscow from August 14 to 26, 1856. To carry them out, the Great and Small Crowns, a scepter, an orb, porphyry, crown insignia of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, the State Seal, a sword and a banner were delivered to the old capital.

For the first time in the history of the state, the ceremonial entry into Moscow was carried out not by a solemnly slow procession consisting of carriages, but rather modestly - by rail. On August 17, 1856, Alexander Nikolaevich with his family and brilliant retinue drove along Tverskaya Street to the ringing of numerous Moscow bells and the roar of artillery salutes. At the chapel of the Iveron Mother of God, the Tsar and his entire retinue dismounted (the Empress and her children got out of the carriage) and venerated the miraculous icon, after which they walked on foot to the Kremlin territory.

Botman E.I. Portrait of Alexander II. 1856

Makarov I.K. Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, wife of Alexander II. 1866
(State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg)

Timm V.F. Most Holy Confirmation of the Sovereign Emperor Alexander II
during his coronation in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin on August 26, 1856

At the coronation, something happened that is popularly called a bad omen. Standing with the “power” was old man M.D. Gorchakov suddenly lost consciousness and fell, dropping the pillow with the symbol. The spherical “power”, ringing, rolled along the stone floor. Everyone gasped, and only the monarch calmly said, referring to Gorchakov: “It doesn’t matter that he fell. The main thing is that he stood firm on the battlefields.”
Alexander understood well that the crushing defeat of Russia in the last Crimean War, the fall of Sevastopol and the subsequent complete political isolation of Russia in Europe were a direct consequence of the disastrous domestic policy of his father. Radical and immediate changes were required. Already in 1856, Alexander II signed the Paris Peace Treaty with Turkey, and in 1861 he took one of the most significant internal political steps in the entire history of the country - he abolished serfdom. While still an heir, Alexander Nikolaevich came to the conclusion that fundamental reforms of the existing system were necessary. Soon after the coronation, the new tsar, in his speech addressed to the nobles of the Moscow province, clearly said that serfdom could no longer be tolerated. A secret committee was created to develop peasant reform, which in 1858 became the Main Committee.

Alexander II calls on the Moscow nobles to begin liberating the peasantry. 1857.
Engraving. Early 1880s

Emperor Alexander II, photo from the mid-1860s

Lavrov N.A. Portrait of Emperor Alexander II in the mentic of His Majesty's Life Guards Hussar Regiment. 1860
(From the collection of the Regimental Museum before 1918, Tsarskoe Selo)

On February 19, 1861, the day of accession to the throne, the “Regulation” on the liberation of the peasants was delivered to the Winter Palace. The manifesto about this act was compiled by Metropolitan of Moscow Filaret (Drozdov). After fervent prayer, the Emperor signed both documents, and 23 million people received freedom. Then judicial, zemstvo and military reforms follow one after another. Alexander approved the “Rules” about the Old Believers. The Old Believers, loyal to the secular authorities, were allowed to freely worship, open schools, hold public positions, and travel abroad. Essentially, the “schism” was legalized and the persecution of Old Believers that took place under Emperor Nicholas I stopped. During the reign of Alexander II, the Caucasian War (1817-1864) was completed, a significant part of Turkestan was annexed (1865-1881), borders were established with China along the Amur rivers and Ussuri (1858-1860).

Sverchkov N.E. Riding in a stroller (Alexander II with children)
(Yaroslavl Art Museum, Yaroslavl)

Kustodiev B.M. Reading the manifesto (Liberation of the peasants). 1907
For publication by I.N. Knebel "Russian history in pictures"

Thanks to Russia's victory in the war with Turkey (1877-1878), in order to assist the Slavic peoples of the same faith in their liberation from the Turkish yoke, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia gained independence and began their sovereign existence. The victory was won largely thanks to the will of Alexander II, who, during the most difficult period of the war, insisted on continuing the siege of Plevna, which contributed to its victorious completion. In Bulgaria, Alexander II was revered as the Liberator. The Cathedral of Sofia is the temple-monument of St. blgv. led book Alexander Nevsky (heavenly patron of Alexander II).

The people greet the Tsar Liberator on Palace Square, February 19, 1861, lithograph Rozhansky B.

The popularity of Alexander II reaches its highest point. In 1862-1866, at the insistence of the emperor, a transformation of state control took place. In April 1863, the imperial decree “On the limitation of corporal punishment” was issued. People called him the Liberator. It seemed that his reign would be calm and liberal. But in January 1863, another Polish uprising broke out. The flame of the uprising spreads to Lithuania, part of Belarus and Right Bank Ukraine. In 1864, the uprising was suppressed, Alexander was forced to carry out a number of progressive reforms in Poland, but the authority of the tsar was already undermined.

Svrchkov N.E. Portrait of Emperor Alexander II
(Museum-Estate "Ostankino", Moscow)

Alexander II had long lived under the tormenting sign of a prediction allegedly given at his birth by the holy fool Fyodor. The incomprehensible, mysterious words of Blessed Fyodor have been passed down from mouth to mouth for several decades among the people: “The newborn will be mighty, glorious and strong, but he will die in red boots.” The first prophecy came true; as for the words about “red boots,” their meaning was still understood literally. Who could have imagined that the explosion of a bomb would tear off both the king’s legs, and he, bleeding, would die in terrible agony a few hours after the diabolical assassination attempt.

Makovsky K.E. Portrait of Emperor Alexander II. 1860s
(Nizhny Novgorod Art Museum, Nizhny Novgorod)

Sons of Alexander II and photo from 1856 of Alexander II’s wife Maria Alexandrovna

Emperor Alexander II with his wife on the 25th anniversary of their marriage, 1866

Emperor Alexander II with his second wife, Ekaterina Dolgoruka and children

The first attempt on the life of Alexander II was made on April 4, 1866 during his walk in the Summer Garden. The shooter was 26-year-old terrorist Dmitry Karakozov. He shot almost point blank. But, fortunately, the peasant Osip Komissarov, who happened to be nearby, pulled away the killer’s hand. Russia praised God with songs, who prevented the death of the Russian emperor. In June of the following year, 1867, the Russian emperor was in Paris at the invitation of Napoleon III; on June 6, when Alexander was riding in the same carriage with the French emperor through the Bois de Boulogne, the Pole A. Berezovsky shot at the king with a pistol. But he missed. Seriously frightened, Alexander turned to the famous Parisian soothsayer. He didn't hear anything comforting. Eight attempts will be made on his life and the last one will prove fatal. It must be said that people have already told a legend about how once, in his youth, Alexander Nikolaevich met the famous ghost of the Anichkov Palace - the “White Lady”, who in a conversation with him predicted that the tsar would survive three assassination attempts. But eight?! Meanwhile, two of the assassination attempts predicted by the Parisian prophetess had already taken place by that time. The third will occur on April 2, 1869. Terrorist A. Solovyov will shoot at the Tsar right on Palace Square. It will miss. On November 18, 1879, terrorists blew up the railway track along which the imperial train was supposed to travel, but it managed to pass earlier, before the explosion.
On February 5, 1880, the famous explosion in the Winter Palace took place, carried out by Stepan Khalturin. Several guard soldiers will be killed, but the king, by a lucky chance, will not be harmed.

Dining room of the Winter Palace after the assassination attempt on Emperor Alexander II. Photo 1879

In the summer of the same year, terrorists Zhelyabov and Teterka would lay dynamite under the Stone Bridge across the Catherine Canal at Gorokhovaya Street, but fate would again be favorable to Alexander II. He will choose a different route. This will be the sixth attempt on the Tsar's life. New assassination attempts were expected with constant, unrelenting fear.
A couple of weeks before the last, fatal attempt on his life, Alexander drew attention to a strange circumstance. Every morning, several dead pigeons lie in front of his bedroom windows. Subsequently, it turned out that a kite of unprecedented size had taken up residence on the roof of the Winter Palace. The kite was barely lured into the trap. The dead pigeons no longer appeared. But an unpleasant aftertaste remained. According to many, this was a bad omen.

Finally, on March 1, 1881, the last assassination attempt took place, ending in the martyrdom of the Tsar-Liberator. If we count the bombs thrown by Narodnaya Volya members Rysakov and Grinevitsky with an interval of several minutes as two assassination attempts, then the Parisian sorceress managed to predict the serial number of the latter. No one could understand how this whole state, huge and powerful, could not save one person.

The chapel erected on the site of the mortal wound of Alexander II. Designed by architect L.N. Benois

He died on the very day when he decided to give way to the constitutional project of M. T. Loris-Melikov, telling his sons Alexander (the future emperor) and Vladimir: “I do not hide from myself that we are following the path of the constitution.” Great reforms remained unfinished.

At the beginning of 1881, the City Duma created a commission to perpetuate the memory of Alexander II. Similar commissions were created throughout the country. The scale of the mourning events is evidenced by the materials of the report of the Technical Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for 1888: monuments to Alexander II were erected in the Moscow Kremlin, in Kazan, Samara, Astrakhan, Pskov, Ufa, Chisinau, Tobolsk and St. Petersburg. Busts of Alexander II were installed in Vyshy Volochyok, in the villages of Vyatka, Orenburg, and Tomsk provinces.

Makovsky K. E. Portrait of Alexander II. 1881

After the assassination of Alexander II, the artist Konstantin Makovsky painted a portrait: the king and next to him a shaggy dog. The state, in the form of a helpless dog, did not look so powerful. They said that another artist, Vasily Vereshchagin, having seen the portrait, suggested calling it: “The Dog Who Didn’t Save the Tsar.” The people were sure that the tsar was killed by the nobles “in revenge for the liberation of the peasants.”

Makovsky K.E. Portrait of Alexander II on his deathbed. 1881
(State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow)

At the site of the assassination of the emperor in 1883, the Church of the Resurrection of Christ (“Savior on Spilled Blood”) was erected - an outstanding architectural monument, one of the main shrines of St. Petersburg. For the construction of the temple-monument, the state allocated an estimated 3 million 600 thousand rubles in silver. This was huge money at that time. However, the actual cost of construction exceeded the estimate by 1 million rubles. The royal family contributed this million rubles to the construction of the memorial temple.

The most famous Russian artists and architects took part in the construction and decoration of the temple with mosaics, frescoes and icons: Afanasyev, Bondarenko, Bruni, Bunin, Vasnetsov, Dmitriev-Orenburgsky, Zhuravlev, Nesterov, Parland, Ryabushkin and others. On three sides of the temple, on the outer walls, luxurious granite slabs are inserted at the height of human growth, on which are engraved inscriptions about the major events of the reign of the King the Liberator.

Through the western, massive, silver-chased gates, the worshiper enters the temple and sees in front of him a canopy in the place where the mortally wounded king fell. The following are preserved in complete original form: part of the cast iron grate of the Catherine Canal, panel slabs and part of the cobblestone street with traces of the sovereign’s blood. This place is surrounded by a lattice with four columns, covered with a tent topped with a cross.

Monument to Alexander II in the Kremlin

The monument was founded in 1893, consecrated and opened in 1898 in the presence of the imperial family and representatives of all classes of Russia. The composition of the monument is unusual: a tented canopy over the figure of the emperor, crowned with a double-headed eagle (a motif for the completion of the Kremlin towers), is surrounded on three sides by an arched gallery, the vaults of which were decorated with images of the rulers of Russia from Vladimir the Saint to Nicholas I. The entrances to the galleries are also marked with tents, the left one is crowned the coat of arms of Moscow, the right one - the family coat of arms of the Romanov family. On the sides of the gallery there were descents to the Kremlin Garden, from which a beautiful view of Moscow opened. The three-tent composition of the monument organically fit into the existing ensemble of the Kremlin; the richness and elegance of the decoration aroused the admiration of contemporaries. The monument was created by sculptor A.M. Opekushin and architects P.V. Zhukovsky and N.V. Sultanov. The monument has not survived to this day. The figure of the Tsar-Liberator was thrown from the pedestal in 1918, the canopy and gallery were finally dismantled in 1928.

In June 2005, a monument to Alexander II was inaugurated in Moscow. The author of the monument is Alexander Rukavishnikov. The monument is installed on a granite platform on the western side of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. On the pedestal of the monument there is the inscription “Emperor Alexander II. He abolished serfdom in 1861 and freed millions of peasants from centuries of slavery. Conducted military and judicial reforms. He introduced a system of local self-government, city councils and zemstvo councils. Ended the many years of the Caucasian War. Liberated the Slavic peoples from the Ottoman yoke. Died on March 1 (13), 1881 as a result of a terrorist attack.”

A little about monuments and temples in honor of Alexander II. The history of the Ryazan temple, founded in honor of the Tsar-Liberator.

130 years ago, Emperor Alexander II (1818-1881) died at the hands of terrorists.
Monuments were erected in Russia in memory of the murdered Emperor.
Thus, the famous sculptor A.M. Opekushin erected monuments to Alexander II in Moscow (1898), Pskov (1886), Chisinau (1886), Astrakhan (1884), Czestochowa (1899), Vladimir (1913), Buturlinovka (1912), Rybinsk (1914) and in other cities of the empire. Each of them was unique; According to estimates, “the Czestochowa monument, created with donations from the Polish population, was very beautiful and elegant.” Alas, after 1917 most of what Opekushin created was destroyed.

The Bolsheviks barbarously destroyed monuments to the Tsar Liberator throughout the country. Now that the merits of the Sovereign Emperor Alexander II have been appreciated, Russia is trying to revive the destroyed monuments.

Divers were unable to find a monument to Emperor Alexander II thrown into the river by the communists at the bottom of the Volkhov River in Veliky Novgorod. The object, which was taken for a monument during sonar scanning of the bottom in 2004, turned out to be a bizarre pile of logs.
The stone monument to Alexander II was erected on the Trade Side of Novgorod at the end of the 19th century. In May 1920, participants in a communist subbotnik threw the monument into the Volkhov River.
(from here)

The monument to the Tsar in Moscow has its own history. On May 14, 1893, in the Kremlin, next to the Small Nicholas Palace, where Alexander was born (opposite the Chudov Monastery), it was laid, and on August 16, 1898, solemnly, after the liturgy in the Assumption Cathedral, in the Most High presence (the service was performed by Metropolitan of Moscow Vladimir (Epiphany) ), a monument to him was unveiled (the work of A.M. Opekushin, P.V. Zhukovsky and N.V. Sultanov). The emperor was sculptured standing under a pyramidal canopy in a general's uniform, in purple, with a scepter; the canopy made of dark pink granite with bronze decorations was crowned with a gilded patterned hipped roof with a double-headed eagle; The chronicle of the king's life was placed in the dome of the canopy. Adjacent to the monument on three sides was a through gallery formed by vaults supported by columns.

In the spring of 1918, the sculptural figure of the king was thrown off the monument. During the demolition of the monument, the bald, bloody short Lenin, seething with anger, threw a rope around the neck of the sculpture... The monument was completely dismantled in 1928.

But historical justice has triumphed. In June 2005, a monument to Alexander II was inaugurated in Moscow. The author of the monument is Alexander Rukavishnikov. The monument is installed on a granite platform on the western side of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. On the pedestal of the monument there is an inscription: "Emperor Alexander II. He abolished serfdom in 1861 and freed millions of peasants from centuries of slavery. Conducted military and judicial reforms. He introduced a system of local self-government, city councils and zemstvo councils. Ended the many years of the Caucasian War. Liberated the Slavic peoples from the Ottoman yoke. Died on March 1 (13), 1881 as a result of a terrorist attack.”

Those monuments that were located abroad were luckier.
For example, in Bulgaria Alexander II is known as the Tsar Liberator. His manifesto of April 12 (24), 1877, declaring war on Turkey, is studied in a school history course. The Treaty of San Stefano on March 3, 1878 brought freedom to Bulgaria after five centuries of Ottoman rule that began in 1396.
To this day in Bulgaria, during the liturgy in Orthodox churches, during the Great Entrance of the Liturgy of the Faithful, Alexander II and all the Russian soldiers who fell on the battlefield for the liberation of Bulgaria in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878 are remembered.
The grateful Bulgarian people erected many monuments to the Tsar-Liberator and named streets and institutions throughout the country in his honor.

Monument to the Tsar Liberator in Sofia

In the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland, Helsingfors, on Senate Square, in front of the Evangelical Lutheran Cathedral, on April 17, 1894, a monument to Alexander II, by Walter Runeberg, cast from the model of the sculptor Takanen, was unveiled. With the monument, the Finns expressed gratitude for strengthening the foundations of Finnish culture and, among other things, for recognizing the Finnish language as the state language.

Monument to Alexander II on Senate Square in Helsinki

I remember once a friend showed me photographs that he took in Helsinki. And he was very surprised when I explained to him that in one of the photographs he captured the monument to Emperor Alexander II...

Temples became a kind of monument to the Sovereign Liberator.
For example, in St. Petersburg, at the site of the death of the Tsar, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood was erected using funds collected throughout Russia. The cathedral was built by order of Emperor Alexander III in 1883-1907 according to a joint project of the architect Alfred Parland and Archimandrite Ignatius (Malyshev), and was consecrated on August 6, 1907 - on the day of the Transfiguration.

A temple was built in Ryazan in honor of the miraculous rescue of the Emperor from assassination attempt. But while the temple was being built, terrorists still killed Emperor Alexander II. And the Ryazan temple became one of the first temples in memory of the murdered Tsar.

On August 30, 1879, in the Ryazan suburban Troitskaya Sloboda, the foundation stone of a church in the name of St. Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky. His Grace Vasily, Bishop of Mikhailovsky, Vicar of Ryazan, expressed his thoughts in the following words:
“With a prayerful invocation of God’s blessing, the foundation of a temple of God was laid among peasant dwellings... The construction of the beginning of the temple in this locality, in addition to the desire to have in it the most convenient satisfaction of their spiritual needs, was undertaken by the pious inhabitants of this area and with the aim of perpetuating in posterity the memory of the phenomenon of the greatest God's mercy to the Russian people in the miraculous salvation of the precious life of our beloved Monarch, the most pious Sovereign Emperor Alexander Nikolaevich from the hand of a vile villain. Therefore, this temple is being built with the highest permission, dedicated to the name of St. Blessed Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky. The foundation of this temple is fittingly placed on the day of His Majesty’s name day.”

And in his speech, the bishop touched on the idea that the residents of the suburban settlement of Ryazan, concerned about the future of their children, without anyone’s instructions, decided to build this temple in this very place. “With a sense of common sense, they assume that their children are in danger of trouble (how right they were!) - and so they rush to avert this misfortune, to create a temple of God, in which their children would learn to fear God and honor the king...”

The temple in Trinity Sloboda was conceived in honor of the miraculous salvation of Emperor Alexander II, which occurred on April 2, 1879. The story of the tragedy and miraculous salvation of the sovereign is as follows. Alexander II, as always, walked in the morning near the Winter Palace. Suddenly an unknown man, who unexpectedly appeared, grabbed a revolver and fired several shots at the sovereign. Fortunately, the bullets did not hit God’s anointed one - the sovereign remained alive this time, and the attacker was caught. “Why this time?” you ask. Yes, because six attempts were made on the life of the sovereign. The last one, committed in 1881, ended his life.

“Before my mind’s eye,” wrote I.S. Aksakov in the days of popular mourning for Tsar Alexander II, the liberator of the peasants: “steadily standing is the bloody image of the good, meek, benign Tsar, killed in broad daylight... On a tight police sleigh they carry him, the first a man of the Russian land, already half-dead, with his head naked, bowing from weakness, is being taken as the liberator of millions of people of his own and foreign peoples, who gave all of Russia a new existence, who bestowed such a spaciousness of life that she had not yet known... A Russian becomes ashamed and ashamed to look at the light of God . It’s as if someone had publicly desecrated us, publicly disgraced us with the most shameless disgrace, and we, defiled, stand before the whole world, before that world where everywhere the name of the deceased is revered with reverence...”

Almost 5 years have passed since the foundation of the temple in Ryazan and 2 years since the last attempt on the life of the emperor and his tragic, terrible death. And so on September 8, 1884, the Right Reverend Theoktist (Popov), Bishop of Ryazan and Zaraisk, consecrated “in the Novoaleksandrovskaya (Troitskaya) Sloboda, a temple newly built by the inhabitants of the settlement in memory of the deliverance from the danger of life in God of the late Sovereign Emperor Alexander II, a stone church in the name of the Most Holy Trinity "

This celebration was attended by the rector of the Ryazan Trinity Monastery, Archimandrite Vladimir (Dobrolyubov), the cathedral archpriest Kh. Romansky, the rector of the seminary, Archpriest John Smirnov, as well as a large number of archpriests of monasteries and churches in Ryazan. This temple was special, which was emphasized more than once in the speeches of the speakers. The consecration was completed with the solemn words of priest John Alakrov. The temple was not yet completely ready, and the main celebrations were planned for the future. But this day turned out to be bright.

In a solemn speech, the speaker expressed the hope that the residents of the settlement would soon be able to see the temple completely completed with two more altars in the name of the blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. “Sincere love for the sovereign will not allow the construction of this sacred monument to be left unfinished,” the speaker said in conclusion.

And so on November 23, 1884, on the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, His Grace Theoktist (Popov) already consecrated two new limits. On the occasion of such a celebration, the settlement, which was called Trinity, because adjacent to the Trinity Monastery, by the Highest command it began to be called Novo-Alexandrovskaya on March 31, 1883.

The Ryazan Diocesan Gazette noted that the newly consecrated church, in terms of its historical significance, was the first church in Russia - a monument to the salvation of the sovereign-emperor. And therefore the celebration turned out to be grandiose for Ryazan.

The consecration took place in the presence of a large number of people, troops and clergy. Orthodox Christians flocked to the temple from all over Ryazan and local villages. According to eyewitnesses who left their unforgettable impressions on the pages of REV, two wonderful choirs accompanied the consecration ceremony, which was conducted by the Bishop himself. After the liturgy there was a concert and many good and warm words were spoken to the builders and beautifiers of the temple. Everyone could not fit into the temple, although it was very spacious.

At the end of the service, the troops were offered refreshments, which were accompanied by music and the singing of folk hymns. The honored guests were invited to a festive dinner at the house of the chairman of the committee for the construction of the temple of the merchant of the first guild, Pavel Aleksandrovich Khrushchev, who put a lot of effort into ensuring that this temple was erected.

Residents of the Alexander Nevskaya Sloboda were offered refreshments in the square near the newly consecrated church. The author of the article was not talking about the riotous fun that the reader of these lines might imagine. It was about high spiritual triumph that we were talking about genuine patriotism and love for Russia and the sovereign. You can thank the author of the lines - he focused not only on the external side of the holiday and the high spiritual rise of the Russian people. He led us inside the temple, a temple that, unfortunately, no longer exists.

“At the entrance to the temple, it amazes everyone with its majestic structure, the grace of the carved wooden iconostasis, the beautiful expressive painting of the icons and, most importantly, the completeness and completeness of the idea that the builders and experienced leaders tried to express in it... Without words, he expresses more eloquently than any words an idea that can be formulated in the following words: “Fear God, honor the Tsar, and keep the church statutes.”

On the left side of the western doors everyone was amazed by the picture of the crucifixion of Christ the Savior, on the right - the removal from hell of the righteous who were there before the Resurrection. In a high place in the depths of the altar, on the canvas there was an image of the Risen Christ, and on the dome above the very throne, where the gaze of the worshiper could not penetrate, there was an image of the Lord of Hosts. The temple was arranged in such a way that the iconostasis of all three limits was immediately visible.

In each area, the icons were arranged in such a way as to perpetuate the events that happened to the Tsar-Liberator, the martyr Tsar Alexander II, whom God’s providence more than once kept from the hands of murderers, hoping that the Russian people would not lose their minds to the end. No, that didn't happen. Therefore, the venerable martyr Evdokia, “struck by the horror of an unheard-of atrocity... The artist’s brush tried to express on her face the most terrible event in a number of atrocities....”

The throne in the name of Nicholas the Wonderworker symbolized a single church, the implementation of whose rules helps people become a true Christian. The icon of the Transfiguration of the Lord above the Royal Doors seemed to symbolize that, by becoming like God in our prayer, we, like Him, will be transformed.

And so, the temple was conceived and executed as a symbol of the unity of God (the Trinity limit) - the anointed king of God (the limit of Alexander Nevsky) - and the Church, its statutes (Nicholas limit) and reflected the history of Christianity, the Russian state and the Russian Orthodox Church. For many years the temple delighted the parishioners of the settlement with its beauty.

In 1906, the Ryazan Diocesan Gazette noted that the Trinity Church is the best church in Ryazan. This temple evoked many thoughts and feelings. After all, its builders and decorators openly declared war on unbelief, as was repeatedly stated in the spoken words during the consecration of the temple. The organizers also believed that for many years to come the Trinity Church “will serve as a sign of the struggle of faith against unbelief and as a measure of the civil and political well-being and power of the people” (think about these words spoken in 1884). The temple was loved. His parishioners did not hesitate to make sacrifices, because they were doing it to God. Next to the temple there was a cemetery, 2 dessiatines of land for which benefactors also donated.

A well was dug next to the temple, which provided the settlement with clean water. A chapel was erected near the well. Another chapel attached to the temple was built in memory of saving the life of Alexander II, and was located near the Ryazan station. In the parish there were a two-class exemplary school for men and women, which was maintained at the expense of the Ryazan-Ural Railway Society, a two-class Ministerial School at Art. "Ryazan", Alexander Teachers' Seminary and elementary zemstvo school. Residents of the Troitskaya Sloboda were pleased with their arrival.

By 1917, the temple had three altars. The main one is in the name of the Life-Giving Trinity, the right one is in the name of the blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky, the left one is in the name of the saint and wonderworker Nicholas of Myra. He had enough utensils. According to its staff, it was supposed to have three priests, a deacon and three psalm-readers, who were not paid a salary.

The church had 3 ½ acres of land.

In 1923, the Trinity Church was described in documents as follows: “The church is made of stone, with the same bell tower with 11 bells on it, covered with iron, durable, with three altars and iconostases.” “The church has a stone dome with an iron cross over it. There are 18 windows in it. The church is surrounded by a stone fence.” Eleven bells of the temple carried their ringing over the city for a long time. They hindered some, but helped many survive during that terrible period.

S.D. Yakhontov, a Ryazan historian and archivist, recalled after his stay in the Ryazan prison in 1929: “...It was especially difficult for me during the holidays. Standing in front of the window towards the Trinity Church, when the gospel was heard from there, I grieved at the distance from the temple. There they pray, open their souls in prayer and thereby alleviate their grief, but I am deprived of this medicine. Loneliness would not be possible if it were not for religious desire. Temple! Temple! How long did I stand there like that, imagining myself in the temple and tears... tears! The Lord heard me and saw the tears. This saved me from despair. This was my life, invisible to others. Take care of God!...Whoever has no religion has had a bad time.” It was a difficult time for the Orthodox. Do not believe that churches were closed without Christian tears. There were many of them, our relatives, who grieved in their souls when the domes of the temples were lowered...

During this period, many house churches and city monasteries began to close. S.D. Yakhontov wrote: “At the beginning of the revolution, all house churches in Ryazan were destroyed. I will name some of them so that they do not completely disappear from the memory of history: 1 - Under Eparch.zh. uch., 2. spiritual male. Learned. 3. When archri. Forerunner 4.St. Stratiga under the Archbishop. same house 5.Technical. city. School, 6. At the House of Labor, 7. At the prison. 8.Eparh. diocesan Vicariate, 9. Almshouse of the Nobles, 10. Gymnasium. boarding house, 11 Seminaries. 12.Regimental Church."

Icons that were collected by still functioning churches and monasteries began to be removed from institutions and from the streets. Trinity Church received holy icons from the Ryazan station and depot. When the Kazan Convent in Ryazan was closing and the issue of its property was being resolved, the temple council made an interesting note in pencil on the letter accepting the property of the monastery: “It is advisable to have St. Icon of the Kazan Mother of God. Unfortunately, the temple could not accept any other icons. And the miraculous icon was transferred to the Resurrection Church in Ryazan.

In January 1924, Bishop Gleb (Pokrovsky) arrived in Ryazan. In his archival investigative file there are memories of the Trinity Church. They are touching, and involuntarily take us back to those times: “Trinity Church. The clergyman reverently performs the service, with strict rules, they preach, a wonderful choir, the regent has changed his proud disposition, he is rather a nervous person, he treats his duties very conscientiously. Always, when I serve in Trinity Church, I am touched by the beautiful singing; the temple is kept clean. The church elder and the council always treat me with respect; you feel like you are in your family. Would it be possible for Your Eminence to allow me to perform divine services here, and in the cathedral on the twelve feasts and local revered ones? Here I will find a tolerable apartment and some peace for myself. The Church Council willingly agrees to do everything necessary for me. Evening conversations are well organized here, and I could always take part.”

For a long time, the rector of the Trinity Church was Archpriest Nikolai Mikhailovich Urusov. He experienced difficult years of persecution of the Church of Christ. And he was one of the first to experience this persecution in our diocese.

The State Archives of the Ryazan Region preserved a letter written by Archimandrite Ioannikiy of the Solotchinsky Monastery, Archpriest of the Trinity Church in Ryazan Nikolai Urusov and the priest. Solotchinsky Church by Theodore Orlin to Vladyka John (Smirnov), in which they congratulated Vladyka on the day of the Angel and thanked him for the help provided to them, the prisoners of the Intercession camp. “With sincere filial love and devotion, we congratulate you on Angel Day and earnestly ask for your Archpastoral blessing and holy prayers for us imprisoned prisoners.” The prisoners also thanked Patriarch Tikhon, who also showed fatherly care for them, and reported: “In the Pokrovsky camp, among the imprisoned clergy, one is from Petrograd, and the rest are all from Ryazan. Of the Ryazants, four are in Nizhny Novgorod - priests Mikhail Ozersky, Gavriil Speshnev, John Mostinsky and Andrei Timofeev, and one in the Yauzinsky hospital Nikolai Volynsky. 1919 September 26/October 9"
This letter is priceless, as it reveals a certain secret about the priesthood that they wanted to hide from us. There are many holy martyrs, many of them we do not know, but God reveals these secrets...

Nikolai Mikhailovich Urusov returned to his native church after the camp. He put a lot of work in this field. In 1926, he was unfairly dismissed from his duties by a decision of members of the community, among whom people who were far from religion began to appear. The indignant parishioners of the Trinity Church could not come to terms with this. They asked for justice to be restored and Fr. Nicholas. Many letters were written, and in all of them there was a request to return the beloved shepherd. This time, justice was restored. It was already 1928.

In 1935, the temple was transferred to the renovationists, allegedly at the request of the parishioners. Even more indignant parishioners wrote a protest, but this time it was all in vain. The Renovationists settled in a temple that did not belong to them. The parishioners forgot the way there, and by the decision of the Ryazgorsk Executive Committee dated September 16, 1935, it was transferred to the MKR club. Many years later it was demolished, as its beauty was turned into nothing. On the site where there once was a temple to the Tsar-Liberator, a trade union palace was erected, later renamed the MCC - a municipal cultural center.

From here: Sinelnikova T.P.

The temple of St. Alexander Nevsky, built in neo-Russian style at the foot of Mount Darsan in Yalta, is beautiful.

In Crimea before the revolution there were three churches in honor of the holy prince-warrior. The very first appeared in Feodosia in the century before last, for this purpose a special decree of Emperor Alexander I was issued, then in Simferopol. The long and difficult history of the cathedral in honor of Alexander Nevsky and only at the beginning of the last century in Yalta.

Saint Alexander Nevsky was the patron saint of the Russian emperors Alexander I, Alexander II and Alexander III. A patron saint in the Christian religion is considered to be a saint who protects an individual, a temple, a locality, a people, a country, and representatives of certain professions. Among the glorious cohort of Russian saints, a worthy place is occupied by the Russian prince Alexander Nevsky, who is also the heavenly patron of the Russian army. It is noteworthy that the Order of Alexander Nevsky existed both in Tsarist Russia and during the USSR, as well as in modern Russia.

On March 1, 1881, Russian Emperor Alexander II (1818 -1881) was assassinated. Throughout the Russian Empire, churches and chapels began to be built in honor of St. Alexander Nevsky, the heavenly patron of Emperor Alexander II. It was believed that heavenly patrons protected the interests of their wards even after their death. Yalta did not remain aloof from this process; already in July 1881, a chapel in honor of St. Alexander Nevsky appeared on the embankment. The chapel was under the spray of sea storms.

Most of the money for the construction of the chapel was allocated by Baron Andrei Lvovich Neil-Wrangel von Gubenstahl, who was the mayor of Yalta from 1879 to 1888.

Time passed and the public of Yalta decided that a chapel in honor of the deceased emperor was not enough and it was necessary to build a temple. The committee for the construction of the temple met exactly 9 years after the death of Alexander II, on March 1, 1890. They found a place near the Livadia Bridge, but the Yalta city government considered that the temple would not bring money to the treasury, and that the advantageous location near the bridge would be better used for commercial purposes. Baron Wrangel was no longer the city mayor and could not influence the decision. Then he offered a piece of land that belonged to him free of charge at the opposite end of the city, where as a result the cathedral was built. On the next anniversary of the death of the emperor, the first stone was laid in the foundation of the temple, the laying of which was attended by Empress Maria Alexandrovna. Emperor Alexander III did not object to the construction of a cathedral in memory of his father, but refused to come to the memorial service and the stone-laying ceremony.

If Emperor Alexander II had not been killed by the Narodnaya Volya, then perhaps the next emperor of the Russian Empire would have been George the First, and not Alexander III. The times and relationships between people in the imperial family were difficult.

Initially, the heir to the throne was the eldest son of Emperor Alexander II, Grand Duke Nikolai Alexandrovich (1843 - 1865). After Alexander II became emperor in 1855, Nikolai Alexandrovich began to be prepared for his upcoming ascension to the throne. In 1861 and 1863, he made numerous trips to Russia, then in 1864 he went to Europe, where he met the Danish princess Maria Sophia Friederike Dagmar and proposed to her. The engagement and betrothal took place. But it was not his destiny to become an emperor - in April 1865, the Tsarevich died in Nice. So Russia did not receive Emperor Nicholas II earlier and in a different guise. The heir to the throne was Alexander Alexandrovich (the future Emperor Alexander III), who married his late brother's fiancée a year and a half after his death and who became the Russian Empress Maria Feodorovna.

The wife of Emperor Alexander II, Empress Maria Alexandrovna (1824 -1880), mother of the crown princes Nicholas and Alexander, died of tuberculosis on the night of May 22, 1880. Usually, crowned widowers and widows, after the death of their spouses, mourned for them for a year and did not marry. But Alexander II did not care about secular rules and on July 6, 1880, he married his long-time mistress (since 1866), Princess Ekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgorukova (1847-1922). The emperor and princess already had four illegitimate children, the eldest being George (1872-1913). On December 5, 1880, Princess Dolgorukova was granted the title of Most Serene Princess Yuryevskaya, which correlated with one of the family names of the Romanov boyars. All children were legitimized retroactively and received the surname Yuryevsky. But nevertheless, despite the emperor’s decrees, Catherine was the emperor’s wife, but not an empress according to the laws of the Russian Empire. Her children were not members of the imperial family and had no rights to the throne.

When the future Emperor Alexander II married Maria Alexandrovna, his mother Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was categorically against the marriage, because The Danish princess was illegitimate, the illegitimate daughter of the Grand Duchess of Hesse, Wilhelmina of Baden, and her chamberlain, Baron von Senarklen de Grancy. Her husband, Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse, recognized Mary as his child in order to avoid scandal in the noble family. This story resurfaced after the emperor's new marriage. At the same time, Alexander II did not hide that he wanted to make George the Grand Duke. After all, Georgy was Rurikovich, and Alexander Alexandrovich, through his mother, was only a descendant of some mongrel Swiss. Rumors spread throughout the empire that the emperor gave instructions to study the circumstances of the ascension to the imperial throne of Catherine the First, who was of humble origin.

But before Alexander II had time to make Catherine empress, or even transform the monarchy into a constitutional one, the Narodnaya Volya members killed him. Contenders to the Russian imperial throne will have no luck if their name is Princess Ekaterina Dolgorukova. A century and a half earlier, on November 30, 1729, Russian Emperor Peter the Second became engaged to Princess Ekaterina Alekseevna Dolgorukova (1712-1747). The wedding was scheduled for January 19, 1730, but on this day Emperor Peter the Second died.

When, after the death of his father, Alexander III became emperor, Princess Yuryevskaya became uncomfortable within the Russian Empire and she left with her children for France, to a villa near Nice.

Alexander III's attitude towards his mother and father was completely different: “If there is anything good, good and honest in me, then I owe it only to our dear dear Mother... Mom constantly took care of us, prepared us for confession and fasting; with her example and deeply Christian faith she taught us to love and understand the Christian faith as she herself understood. Thanks to Mom, we, all the brothers and Marie, became and remained true Christians and fell in love with both the faith and the church. There were so many different, intimate conversations; Mom always listened calmly, gave time to express everything and always found something to answer, to reassure , scold, approve and always from an exalted Christian point of view... We loved and respected Dad very much, but due to the nature of his occupation and being overwhelmed with work, he could not deal with us as much as dear, dear Mom. I repeat once again: I owe everything, everything to Mom: both my character and what I am!”

On the territory near the cathedral there are several stands with various information. One of them contains a list of those who “made their selfless contribution through labor and donations to the reconstruction of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.”

But those who contributed money for the construction of the cathedral are not here. Only the names of Major General Bogdan Vasilyevich Khvoshchinsky and winemaker I.F. were preserved in the memory of descendants. Tokmakov 1000 rubles, but the names of ordinary Yalta residents who donated money have not been preserved.

The crowned family did not like the first design of the temple, created by Karl Ivanovich Eshliman (1808 - 1893). The second project, created by the two main architects of Yalta, the current Platon Konstantinovich Trebnev (1841 - 1930s) and the future Nikolai Petrovich Krasnov (1864 - 1939), was approved. Construction of the temple began and this process dragged on for 11 years. But on December 1, 1902, Emperor Nicholas II arrived with his wife and numerous retinue for the consecration of the temple.

The icons for the temple were made in Mstera, Vladimir province.

For the bell tower of the cathedral, 11 bells were cast in Moscow, the main bell weighed 428 pounds. The bells were a gift from the Crimean winemaker and philanthropist N.D. Stakheeva Dacha of the philanthropist - the prototype of Kisa Vorobyaninov. Anton Pavlovich Chekhov spoke warmly about the bell ringing of the new cathedral: “Here, in Yalta, there is a new church, big bells are ringing, it’s nice to listen, because it looks like Russia”

On the bell tower there are two mosaic icons: St. Zosima of Solovetsky (date of birth unknown - 1478) - one of the founders of the Solovetsky Monastery and St. Archippus, one of the seventy apostles.

On the south-eastern side of the temple, in a granite icon case with an onion, there is a mosaic icon of St. Alexander Nevsky by the Venetian artist Antonio Salviati.

The inside of the cathedral was designed by the architect S.P. Kroshechkin and the artist I. Murashko.

The temple was conceived as the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, but, as often happens in Crimea, there are two temples in it.

The upper one is in the name of Alexander Nevsky (for 1200 people), the lower one is in the name of St. Artemy (for 700 people), the church honors this saint on October 20, and on this day Emperor Alexander III died. It turned out that the cathedral was built in memory of one emperor, and after construction it turned out to be dedicated to two emperors, father and son. The emperor, grandson and son were present at the consecration of the temple.

In June 1918, the funeral service was held for the wife of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, Anna Grigorievna, in the lower church. She was buried in the cemetery in Alupka, and only many years later her ashes were transferred to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg, where F.M. is buried. Dostoevsky. In the same 1918, the residents of Yalta hid from shelling within the walls of the cathedral.

There are several separate buildings on the territory of the cathedral. In one there is a church shop.

A three-story building for a parochial school.

It was built in 1903-1908. In addition to the school, there was a large assembly hall for the Alexander Nevsky Brotherhood and a shelter for weak-chested patients. The school was named after Tsarevich Alexei.

At approximately the same time as the school building, a two-story clergy house was built, reminiscent of an ancient Russian tower.

The temple was closed between 1938 and 1942, the bells were removed and the temple housed a sports club. During the German occupation, services were resumed and have not stopped to this day. But the domes shone gold again only in 2002.

After the closure of the temple, the school building housed the Teacher's House. The resumption of services in the temple did not automatically lead to the return of the school building; it was returned only in 1995.

When you go to the temple from the embankment, you need to go through a small underground passage under Kirov Street, but this is not scary at all. The temple is worth viewing up close.

February 19 (March 3) will mark the 150th anniversary of the signing by Emperor Alexander II of the Manifesto on the abolition of serfdom and the Regulations on peasants emerging from serfdom.
March 1 (13) - 130 years since the death of Alexander II at the hands of a terrorist.
Let's look at the current state of St. Petersburg monuments to the Emperor-Liberator

On Suvorovsky
This monument was unveiled on May 31, 2003 in front of the building of the former Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff at 32b Suvorovsky Prospekt. It is a gift from Ukraine for the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg and an exact copy of the statue created by the sculptor Mark Antokolsky (1843-1902).
Newspaper "Kievlanin" dated November 23, 1910. reported: “Yesterday, November 22, the Kyiv mayor received a notification from Baron V.G. Ginzburg that he intends to donate to the city of Kiev a statue of Emperor Alexander II, the model of which was made by the famous sculptor Antokolsky. This statue will be made of bronze and on will be cast in Paris in a few days, after which it will be sent to Kiev. Baron Ginzburg expresses a desire for the statue of Emperor Alexander II to be installed in the hall of the city public library."(now the Parliamentary Library in Kyiv).

The original statue was installed in 1910. in the lobby of the city public library, and now resides in the courtyard of the Kyiv Museum of Russian Art.

This is the only one of the 3 monuments to Alexander II in Kyiv that has survived to this day. The author's plaster version of the sculpture, made in the late 1890s, is in the collection of the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.

Near the Central Bank
The monument to Emperor Alexander II on Lomonosov Street near the Main Directorate of the Central Bank for St. Petersburg was opened on June 1, 2005. The red ribbon was cut by the then head of the Russian Central Bank, Viktor Gerashchenko. Alexander II is considered the founder of the State Bank of the Russian Empire (1860), from which the current Central Bank of the Russian Federation traces its history.

The bronze bust of the Emperor, according to available information, was cast before the revolution and is a copy of the work of sculptor Matvey Chizhov (1838-1916), the original of which is also in the State Russian Museum. On the pedestal plate there is the inscription: “...The State Commercial Bank, in accordance with the Charter approved by Us, is given a new structure and name of the State Bank...”.
The architect of the project is a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Arts, St. Petersburg resident Vyacheslav Bukhaev.

The choice of location is explained by the fact that only financial assistance from the Central Bank in the installation of the monument made it possible to complete it.

In the University yard
A bronze composition by sculptor Pavel Shevchenko was installed in the courtyard of the Faculty of Philology of St. Petersburg State University on March 1, 2008.

According to the author, she recreates a tragic moment - a terrorist attack. The semantic center of the composition is a copy of the death mask of the martyr king. Next to the figure of Alexander II there is a cross, a wing of a Guardian Angel who seems to have turned away from him, and a torn coat of arms of the Russian Empire.
The building of the Faculty of Philology was erected by decree of Alexander II, who also transferred the neighboring Collegiums - the current administrative building - to the University. During the reign of the reformer tsar, the charter of the Imperial University was adopted.
You can see what the entire monument looks like.

I frankly don't like this monument. I consider the idea to be blasphemous, and the execution and installation location do not correspond to the scale of the personality and historical significance of the Sovereign.

Ruin
At 132 Fontanka embankment there is a dilapidated pedestal covered with snow.

This is all that remains of the monument to Alexander II, unveiled here in 1892. Sculptor - N.A. Lavretsky, architect - P.A. Samsonov.

In house 132 there was the Alexander Hospital for laborers in memory of February 19, 1861. It was opened in 1866. at the personal expense of the Emperor. The hospital building was built in 1864-66. according to the project of the architect. I.V. Shtrom.

The bronze bust of the Emperor was mounted on a figured stand and a high stepped pedestal made of blocks of colored granite. He was depicted in a hussar uniform, with a ribbon and aiguillette, in shoulder straps, with the St. George Cross, orders and stars. Inscriptions on the pedestal: on the front side: “To Emperor Alexander II. To the founder of the hospital"; on the side faces: “The hospital was founded in memory of February 19, 1861, built by the City Public Administration in 1892.”

The monument was destroyed in 1931. The leader of the world proletariat stood on its pedestal for a long time. Then he too disappeared, but the inscription “The Invisible Man” appeared. With this name, the object entered urban folklore.

According to the newspaper "My District"
working on the reconstruction of the monument since 1996. the sculptor Stanislav Golovanov works.

However, after 15 years, the 2 million rubles required to make the bust were never found. I would really like to reach out to the city authorities in this anniversary year. Although I don't believe in such a possibility.

Now let's walk through the nearest suburbs of St. Petersburg.

This is what the monument to the Tsar - Liberator in the village of Murino, opened in 1911, looked like. next to the chapel of St. blgv. Prince Alexander Nevsky

This is a modern looking chapel. The tree has grown, and the snow-covered mound on the left is apparently the remains of the monument's pedestal.

Disappeared
Also in 1911. busts of Emperor Alexander II were unveiled:
- in Pargolovo, also in front of the chapel. Under Soviet rule, both the monument and the chapel were destroyed

In Staraya Derevne, destroyed

In Ropsha, destroyed.

In Yalta there is a beautiful cathedral in the name of Alexander Nevsky. He evokes genuine admiration from everyone who sees him.

In the 80s of the 19th century, churches were built throughout Rus' in memory of the martyr Tsar Alexander II, who died on March 1, 1881 from a bomb that exploded at his feet. They were consecrated in honor of Alexander Nevsky, who was the heavenly patron of the Russian tsars. In Crimea, churches were built in honor of this saint in Simferopol and Feodosia. The residents of Yalta also decided to build a large cathedral, especially since the city was growing and the Church of St. John Chrysostom became cramped. The intention of the townspeople was supported by Emperor Alexander III.

Portrait of Emperor Alexander II

On March 1, 1890, a construction committee was established, headed by the famous engineer, scientist, and local historian A.L. Berthier-Delagarde. The committee included thirty respected Yalta residents: among them Prince V.V. Trubetskoy, Count N.S. Mordvinov, Baron Chamberlain, engineer A.L. Wrangel, Privy Councilor P.I. Gubonin, Dr. V.N. Dmitriev, famous architects P.K. Terebenev and N.A. Stackenschneider, son of the architect who built the palace in Oreanda.

The committee turned to the Yalta city government with a request to allocate a place for construction near the Livadia Bridge. But it turned out that this place brought good income to the city, so they proposed another one, in the city center, at the intersection of Sadovaya and Morskaya streets at the foot of Mount Darsan. A large plot of land located nearby was donated by Baron A.L. Wrangel. Various people donated to the temple: the city government allocated 6,000 rubles for construction, the same amount was donated by Major General Bogdan Vasilyevich Khvoshchinsky, winemaker I.F. Tokmakov 1000 rubles. And ordinary Yalta residents brought as much as they could.


The first design of the temple was developed in 1889 by architect K.I. Ashliman, but he was not approved. The new project was assigned to N.P. Krasnov, who co-authored with P.K. Terebenev. On March 1, 1891, on the tenth anniversary of the death of Emperor Alexander II, the ceremonial laying of the foundation of the new temple took place. Archbishop Martinian served a prayer service right at the construction site. The first stone in the foundation of the future temple was laid by Empress Maria Feodorovna.

For the temple, the architect chose the Old Russian style, using many decorative architectural elements: pilasters, portals, icon cases, hearts. The cathedral was built on two levels, with open galleries and a hipped porch. They painted it in white and pink tones, which made it elegant and festive. The icons for the temple were made in Mstera, Vladimir province.

11 bells for the three-tiered bell tower of the cathedral were cast in Moscow, the main bell weighed 428 pounds. All the bells were donated to the temple by the Crimean winemaker and philanthropist N.D. Stakheev.

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Yalta

The consecration of the cathedral took place on December 4, 1902 by Archbishop Nicholas, who was assisted by the archpriest of the cathedral Nazarevsky, Archpriest Ternovsky and Yalta priests Serbinov, Shchukin, Krylov and Shcheglov. The new temple amazed with its originality: “The construction of the temple was excellent, fundamental, durable and stylish: the Russian style was remarkably maintained,” was the opinion of the commission that accepted the temple.

At eleven o'clock the imperial family arrived from Livadia. Empress Maria Feodorovna could not attend the ceremony, she sent a telegram: “I rejoice with all my heart at the consecration of the cathedral, at the foundation of which I was present in 1891, remembering all those who worked at its foundation and thinking with joy about the prayers that will now be offered for everyone in it " Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna venerated the holy cross, then the emperor lit the lamp. A procession of the cross was made around the cathedral and into the lower church for the holy gifts. After the liturgy, all the clergy went to the middle of the temple and proclaimed many years to the House of Romanov, and then eternal memory to Emperors Alexander II and Alexander III, Empress Maria Alexandrovna and Grand Duke George Alexandrovich, who died in the Caucasus. They proclaimed many years to the builders of the temple and to all Orthodox Christians.

The splendor and extraordinary beauty of the external appearance of the temple had to be combined with the interior design. Therefore, in 1901, an all-Russian competition was held, the winner of which could decorate the interior of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. The first place was taken by architect S.P. Kroshechkin. Based on projects by N.P. Krasnov, the Kiev artist I. Murashko painted the iconostasis, and he also completed the continuous painting of the dome and walls in the Byzantine style. On the outside of the temple, in a granite frame-case, there was a mosaic panel with the image of Saint Prince Alexander Nevsky. The mosaic was made by students of the Venetian master Antonio Salviati.

The temple is double-altared: the upper altar is consecrated in the name of St. Alexander Nevsky, and the lower altar in the name of St. Artemy; the church honors this saint on October 20, the day Emperor Alexander III died. All the domes of the cathedral were covered with gold. And the eleven bells were a special pride; their crimson chimes spread over Yalta, the surrounding mountains and the sea.


In one of the letters from A.P. Chekhov spoke about the new cathedral: “Here, in Yalta, there is a new church, big bells are ringing, it’s nice to listen, because it looks like Russia.”

In the same style as the temple, a two-story clergy house was later built, reminiscent of an ancient Russian tower. Its author was M.I. Kittens. In 1903-1908, another three-story house was built; there was a large assembly hall for the Alexander Nevsky Brotherhood. This house housed a parish school and a shelter for weak-chested patients. The school was named after Tsarevich Alexei.

The Orthodox Brotherhood of the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky was created by decree of Emperor Alexander III and the Tauride Spiritual Consistory at the Simferopol Cathedral on November 23, 1868. The founder of the brotherhood was Archbishop Gury (Karpov). The tasks of the brotherhood were varied: to create parochial schools, provide them and churches with material assistance, build new churches, take care of the poor, elderly and orphans, fight schisms and sectarianism. During the First World War, the Alexander Nevsky Brotherhood and the community of nurses of the Red Cross collected gifts, medicines, medicinal herbs for soldiers, and set up hospitals and sanatoriums for the wounded. The Brotherhood enjoyed well-deserved authority and was distinguished by a spirit of mercy and piety.


The first archpriest of the cathedral was Alexander Yakovlevich Ternovsky, who previously served in the Church of St. John Chrysostom. The cathedral became the favorite temple of Yalta residents. People came here on holidays and days of grief. The temple shared with its parishioners the hardships of the revolution and civil war; here they not only supported faith in people, the cathedral guarded and protected people’s lives. In 1918, during the shelling of Yalta by the Red Guards, city residents took refuge within its walls.

In June 1918, the funeral service for F.M.’s wife was held in the lower church. Dostoevsky Anna Grigorievna. She was buried in the cemetery in Outka, and only many years later her ashes were transferred to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg, where F.M. is buried. Dostoevsky.

In 1938 the cathedral was closed. The bells were removed and sent for melting down. A sports club was organized in the temple.

Divine services in the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral were resumed in 1945 and have not stopped since then. The building of the parochial school, where the teacher's house had previously been located, was returned to the temple. Now here again priests conduct conversations with children, and there is a children's choir at the school.