Catholic cathedral. Roman Catholic Cathedral in Malaya Gruzinskaya in Moscow

The idea of the composer Alfred Schnittke that any of the Gothic cathedrals is a specific model of the world concerns both the Catholic and Protestant currents. Any of them must be realized as a big city. After all, the construction of temples provided for the entire population of the city. In other words, every temple should be huge. This task was helped to solve a brilliant decision regarding the construction of arches.

The Art of the Catholic Cathedral

Every Catholic cathedral with its inner volume seemed much larger than outside. Another achievement in the construction of Gothic cathedrals - unity in architecture, in the interior, in decoration. But on the other hand, the Gothic cathedral always combines art of a different kind and time.

In the Gothic style, such forms of art as sculpture, colored stained-glass windows, ornamental decoration in the form of wood carvings, stones, bones, and all this in musical accompaniment developed extraordinarily. The Catholic cathedral is decorated with sculptural works and compositions of them, various kinds of ornaments, figures of real and fantastic animals. A special iconography of Christian saints always adorns the western portals of the cathedral. And the main entrance is decorated with sculptures of saints. They can be up to eight dozen. Decoration of the internal space of the Catholic Cathedral - Stained-glass windows. Fading from them the light with shimmering shades and a variety of colors creates a feeling of the infinite reality of the sky. Sometimes the total area of the stained glass windows of the temple reached two and a half thousand square meters. Separately, you should pay attention to the music in the cathedral. Initially, the schools formed music schools. And these schools have cultivated many famous organists. Their sounding works in combination with light passing through the stained-glass windows create a sense of unearthly reality, confirming that the cathedral really is the prototype of the whole world.

The first of the three temples

Catholic churches in Moscow peacefully coexist with Orthodox churches and temples of other faiths. The first of the existing three churches was the church of Peter and Paul.

It was founded in the German settlement by the decision of Tsar Peter I at the beginning of the eighteenth century. But his fate was not long-term. Built on the money of the Polish community in Milyutinsky Lane, it lasted until the October Revolution. Then the church was closed and rebuilt. Removal of the dome, staging of interfloor overlapping turned the temple building into an ordinary three-story house. Subsequently, various state institutions began to be located there. In modern times, there is a research institute. It is difficult to recognize in this simple building the once majestic church. Only a sign on the wall reminds that there was a Roman Catholic cathedral.

The Second Cathedral of the City

The second Catholic Moscow Cathedral was the church of the settlers of Moscow - the French. This is the Cathedral of St. Louis. It was built in Malaya Lubyanka at the end of the eighteenth century.

It was rebuilt many times, but it still works today. The modern building was built in the middle of the nineteenth century. And at the beginning of the twentieth century, he opened a French lyceum. It should be noted that this Catholic cathedral was not closed in the seventeenth year, like most churches, and there was always a church service with little interruptions. Already in the nineties of the last century the church was given all the buildings that belonged to it before the revolution.

Briefly about the most famous cathedral

There is no doubt that the most important among the Moscow cathedrals is the Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. Its construction went from the end of the nineteenth to the beginning of the twentieth century along Malaya Gruzinskaya Street in Moscow. The beauty and monumentality of the structure amaze.

The thirties of the twentieth century the church was closed. Domestic war the building of the church survived without much destruction. Therefore, later the room was used for warehouses. And in 1990 the church was given to Catholics.

Necessity of discovery

In the middle of the nineteenth century a request was received to the office of the Moscow province for permission to build another church for Catholics. The petition described a significant increase in Polish settlers in the city. Soon the community received permission, but under certain conditions. It was prescribed to build a temple far from the central buildings of the city, as well as large Orthodox shrines. Above the temple there should be no tower buildings and different sculptures. Sculptor Bogdanovich developed and approved the project. The Catholic cathedral housed five thousand believers and had external sculptural ornaments.

History of the structure

The main buildings were erected at the beginning of the twentieth century at the expense of the inhabitants of the Polish nationality of the city and all of Russia. It should be said that in Moscow at that time there were about thirty thousand Catholics. The building itself cost the Poles up to two hundred and seventy thousand, and extra money was collected for the fence and decoration. Finishing lasted a long time.

At the very first persecution of the church, before the war, it was closed and transformed into a hostel. The war destroyed several temple towers. In the sixties of the twentieth century, a scientific research institute was located in the building of the temple. To do this, the internal volume of the room has been radically changed. Four floors are created. The nineteenth year of the twentieth century returned the Catholic Cathedral in Moscow to the church. After six decades of interruption, the first service was served. Hundreds of believers listened to the service standing on the steps. Only by 1996, after long negotiations and eviction of the research institute, the Catholic cathedral was transferred to its destination and consecrated. The Malaya Gruzinskaya, Catholic cathedral after the world prayer Catholic service was glorified through the space bridge and celebrations of the church's centenary in 2011.

Description of the temple

The legend says that the prefiguration of this cathedral was Westminster . The spire of the central tower enchants the cross, and the spiers of the side towers are the coats of arms of the founders. At the entrance to the cathedral stands a sculpture depicting the crucifixion of Christ. In the central hall are placed in two sectors of the bench with a passage between them. On the side are premises for confession. Organically located in the hall are massive columns. The ceilings are made in the form of arches with diagonal symmetry, which form vaults in the form of a cross. Windows with sharp upper corners and stained glass windows. Under the windows - wall bas-reliefs. At a certain altitude there are choirs designed for fifty singers. There is also an organ. The whole building of the cathedral from a distance resembles the shape of a cross. The architect's idea is obvious to represent the church as the body of Christ. A similar layout exists in other churches, and it is called a cross. Altar of dark green marble.

On the left, massive bells are fixed in the temple. They are only five, from the largest to the smallest. The mass of bells starts from nine hundred kilograms with the tendency of a gradual decrease in the weight of the subsequent bell. The bells set the electronics in motion.

Cathedral organ music

The third Catholic cathedral in Moscow has an organ instrument that has become the largest in the country. Works of different historical epochs are executed without problems. It is composed of seventy-three registers, four manuals and five thousand five hundred and sixty-three pipes. The organ is a gift from Switzerland. Created by craftsmen in 1955, he was transported to Moscow in parts and installed by the masters of the German firm Kaufbeuren free of charge. In 2005 the organ was consecrated.

Festivals and concerts

On the street the Little Georgian Catholic Cathedral, as a unique architectural monument, is simultaneously a concert hall in Moscow. Its walls are filled with music of festivals and concerts. Acoustics of the building creates a special sound of spiritual organ music. Here the heart becomes even softer than the most stale man.

Observing the ancient European cultural traditions, the Catholic Cathedral concerts Gives regularly and takes everyone who wants to get pleasure from sublime music. Here, all the cathedral vaults are filled with the sound of compositions of various musical geniuses from all points of the planet. Visiting the temple gives an opportunity to hear modern jazz music in organ performance at the same time as the medieval Gregorian chant . Visitors are always offered a large selection of performances and concert programs. The whole family can go to a concert in the afternoon, enjoy festive festivals, evenings of sacred music and medieval mysteries. It is also important that all money for purchased tickets is used for repair and restoration work in the church.