At the end of the 14th century, when the victory on the Kulikovo Field and the terrible invasion of Tokhtamysh Khan that followed two years later were still fresh in memory, the Sourozh merchant Stefan appeared in Moscow, whose nickname, which soon became a surname, was Komra. Among his descendants, it changed to Khovra and gave the name to their ancestral estate - the very area where the Temple of the Sign in Khovrino is now located.
The first two churches in the family estate
The first evidence of the piety of the descendants of Stefan Khovra - a mention of their construction on the patrimonial lands of a wooden church in the name of the Holy Great Martyr George - dates back to the end of the 16th century. However, she was not destined to stand for long. During the Time of Troubles, the church was burned by apostates who exchanged the faith of the fathers for the Latin heresy.
The fire victim was restored only three decades later, and already at the very end of the 17th century, another church, wooden, but larger, was erected next to it, and its main chapel was consecrated in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”. It was destined to stand until 1740, when the owner of the estate, Count N. Golovin, in a fit of piety, ordered the wooden building, which was very dilapidated by that time, to be replaced with a stone one. So in its place a new Church of the Sign appeared in Khovrino.
Service schedule, operating hours
The temple is open to the public every day from 9 am to 5 pm. On days when the evening service is held, the church closes at 20:00. Every month, changes are made to the service schedule, depending on the onset of Orthodox holidays.
An approximate schedule is presented in the table:
| Day of the week | Service name | Time |
| Tuesday | Prayer service before the icon “The Sign” | 17:00 |
| Saturday | Liturgy | 8:30 |
| All-night vigil | 17:45 | |
| Sunday | Liturgy | 8:30 |
The pious deed of Count Golovin
For more than a hundred years, masses were served there, infants were baptized, and funeral services were held for those who were about to complete their earthly journey. Finally, in 1860, the new owner of the estate, court councilor E.I. Molchanov, like his predecessor, Count Golovin, wished to make a large donation for the benefit of the Orthodox Church for the salvation of his soul and forgiveness of sins. He conceived and soon carried out another reconstruction of the temple.
The court councilor entrusted the development of the project and the work to the famous Moscow architect Konstantin Mikhailovich Bykovsky, who, on his order, was already working on the construction of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity at the Intercession Gate. The Temple of the Sign of the Mother of God in Khovrino became the pinnacle of his work. Despite periodic technical difficulties, construction was carried out at a fairly fast pace. The temple, founded in 1868, was completed two years later and consecrated in 1871. Services there were conducted splendidly and decorously until 1917.
How to get there
The temple is located at the address Zhitomir, lane 2nd Krestovsky house 17. You can get to the monastery in two ways:
- to the metro station "Rechnoy Vokzal", bus 188.284, 857, 745, to the stop "Hospital, Korolenko Library",
- get to the Khovrino platform in the Leningrad direction. Then walk through Grachevsky Park.
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The Lord is always with you!
A time of spiritual darkness
After the October revolution, the Church of the Sign in Khovrino experienced the full extent of the troubles that befell the Russian Orthodox Church. The owners of the estate on whose territory it was located were kicked out, and their plot was transferred to an agricultural community. From that time on, endless litigation began, either with the new owners of the land or with the railway workers of the Khovrino station. Both of them, under various pretexts, demanded that the temple be closed. The “God-bearing people” who believed in the Marxist-Leninist heresy did not need him.
There is also a series of repressions against the clergy, as well as the most active parishioners. Many of them were shot or sent to camps. During this difficult time, trouble affected all Moscow churches. The Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” in Khovrino was no exception. The schedule of services in those years was not observed only because there was simply no one to serve. The parish priests: K. Vinogradov, N. Kasatkin, their successor, Archimandrite of the Chudov Monastery Ambrose (Astakhov) and a number of other sufferers for the faith, accepted the crown of martyrdom.
Clergy, mentors
Scroll:
- The rector is Archpriest Andrei (Grishytsin). In the world - Grishytsyn Andrey Evgenievich. Born in 1970. Ordained a priest on November 19, 1995 by Archbishop Gregory of Mozhaisk. He graduated from the Moscow Theological Seminary in 2003. In 2007 he received the rank of archpriest.
- The priest is Priest Alexy (Vtulov). In the world - Alexey Yuryevich Vtulov. Born in 1971. Graduated from the Kolomna Theological Seminary in 2013. Ordained a priest in 2013. Ordained a priest by Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna in the Novodevichy Monastery.
- Deacon - Konstantin Sergeevich Tregubov . Born in 1981. Ordained as a deacon on December 25, 2016 by Bishop Roman of Serpukhov in the Intercession Church of the Vysotsky Monastery. Graduated from Nikolo-Ugreshsky Seminary in 2016.
The destruction of the temple
If previously services were held in the church at least periodically, then in 1939 a decree was issued to close it. Moscow old-timers still have memories of how domes and belfries were mercilessly demolished, high reliefs were broken and icons were burned. Only three images were miraculously saved from the fire - the Savior, the Most Holy Theotokos and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. This is all that remains of the church's former splendor.
The acacia bushes that formed a hedge around the temple were cut down and replaced with a gray plank fence. Production workshops were set up in the building itself, the mosaic floor was filled with asphalt and the marble walls were covered with blue oil paint. Later, the former Church of the Sign in Khovrino was again converted, this time turning into a garage of one of the government institutions.
Where is it located, what is in the surrounding area, how to get there
To the north-west of the Church of the Sign there is a spring with healing water, consecrated in the name of the Great Martyr Paraskeva. It is located among the forest, on the steep bank of the Desna River. According to legend, in ancient times, in the Church of the Intercession, which was in the village of Erino, there was an image of the Great Martyr Paraskeva.
But one day he disappeared. They searched for him for a long time and found him in the middle of the forest. He was hanging on a tree, having got there in an unknown way. At first, the image was returned back to the Church of the Intercession, but at night the priest dreamed of Saint Paraskeva. The Great Martyr ordered the icon to be taken back to the forest. When the order was fulfilled, a spring with healing water began to flow under the tree.
The source is mentioned in historical reports of the early 19th century. Before the revolution, peasants revered the spring and held prayer services there. Later, the authorities tried to cover the source with earth. However, believers did not stop visiting it, calling it a holy well.
In 2000, work began to restore the source. A chapel and a diving site were built there, and the surrounding area was landscaped. The temple is located in the Podolsk district of the Moscow region, in the village of Dubrovitsy. You can get to it by car, train or bus.
| Kind of transport | Way to get there |
| Car | Along the Varshavskoe highway, to the sign “Dubrovitsy Estate”. Turn to the right. The road will lead to the village. |
| Metropolitan | Bus 417 runs from Yuzhnaya station to Dubrovitsy. |
| Electric train | Go to Podolsk station from Kursky station. Next by bus number 65 |
In 2022, the Temple of the Icon of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin in Dubrovitsy celebrated 315 years since its consecration. It is currently being actively restored.
Author: Kukuruzova
Article design: Oleg Lozinsky
The beginning of perestroika
In the second half of the eighties, a process of comprehensive liberalization began in the country, which then affected the Church of the Sign in Khovrino in a very original way. The schedule of the evenings of the discotheque located inside it is the only thing that perestroika brought to the church building. Another blasphemy was initiated by the local district Komsomol committee, which by that time had not yet been dispersed.
But gradually everything fell into place. Following biblical wisdom, the times of “throwing away stones” gave way to a period when it was appropriate to collect them, and since a lot had been scattered over the years of general atheism, a lot of work lay ahead. In 1991, the temple was returned to believers, and the process of its restoration began. The new rector, Father Georgy (Polozov), had to literally raise the building from ruins.
Sunday School
Children's Sunday school classes are taught by parishioners who have pedagogical and theological training. Parents actively participate in lessons.
Children study in Sunday school for 5 years. During this time they take courses:
- the law of God;
- Church Slavonic language;
- Church history;
- church singing.
The children prepare creative crafts and festive performances. For them, walks to the nearest churches of Podolsk, boat crossings to the source of St. Paraskeva and pilgrimages to famous monasteries are organized. The spiritual director of the Sunday school is Archpriest Andrei Gritsyshyn.
Works on the restoration of the temple
Over the course of five years, with money raised by parishioners, it was possible to re-lay the floor mosaic, once destroyed by asphalt, and recreate the former appearance of the walls. After many years of separation, three holy images, which were saved from the fire during the destruction of the temple in 1939, returned to their original place. New icons also appeared, donated by other churches and ordinary pilgrims.
It took special effort to restore the central dome and high reliefs for which the temple was once famous. The best specialists of the capital were involved in their production. They also erected four belfries, accurately reproducing the appearance of their originals. The building was completely freed from scaffolding in 2005.
Coming
The Soviet government destroyed the parish of the Znamensky Church. In 1930, the then priest Mikhail Poretsky was sent into exile, where he died. From 1989 to 1990, devout people fought for the transfer of the Znamensky Church to church jurisdiction. On October 14, 1990, the first Liturgy was held.
There is a Sunday school on the territory of the temple. There is a parish council. Help is provided for elderly and sick people.
Related works
In addition to all of the above, a new spacious brick house was built for the parable, and the entire complex was surrounded by an openwork metal fence. The territory provided to the temple by the city authorities is small, it does not exceed half a hectare, but several more structures had to be placed on it, without which the modern parish cannot do.
