Bell tower of the Church of St. Sophia of the Wisdom of God

Date of publication:
Section: Moscow
Bell tower of the Church of St. Sophia of the Wisdom of God

The Church in the name of St. St. Sophia of the Wisdom of God in the Middle Gardeners was built in the XVII century, and a free – standing three-tiered tent bell tower was built almost two hundred years later. This area of Moscow is striking in the absence of any trees. The name of the locality – Gardeners-is due to the fact that in the time of Ivan III there was a settlement of royal gardeners here. There were magnificent gardens around, which were burned to the ground during numerous fires. The picturesque bell tower is the decoration of the Sofia Embankment. The lower floor of the first tier in the center has a through passage, on the second-the temple in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Recovery of the dead", on the third tier there are bells. The bell tower, built in the Russian-Byzantine style, rivaled the height of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. An amazing fact is that the bell tower does not in any way echo the building of the Church of St. Sophia of the Wisdom of God itself, but it is in harmony with the Kremlin towers and the bell tower of Ivan the Great, located on the other bank of the Moscow River. And this is not accidental – the bell tower was supposed to become part of the "Sofia ensemble".

The idea to build a temple complex of St. Sophia of Constantinople in the center of Moscow, opposite the Kremlin, referred to the well – known idea "Moscow is the Third Rome". Grandiose plans were not destined to come true: the architectural commission found that the temple building would not fit into a narrow plot of land. Currently, a full-scale restoration of the bell tower has been carried out. It is recognized as an object of cultural heritage of federal significance.