Chief architect of Moscow: on Khodynka you can find a place for the Orthodox Church

The chief architect of Moscow Sergei Kuznetsov said on the air of the Moskva.fm radio station that an Orthodox church may appear on the capital's Khodynsky field.

“The construction of the temple on the Khodynsky field is still not excluded. It is necessary to carefully listen to all opinions. If necessary, I think, you can find the site for this,” Kuznetsov quotes the Interfax -religion portal. He noted that recently a meeting of the city authorities with representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate took place.

The statement of the chief architect of the capital was a response to a number of shares of Orthodox activists who took place in October. So, on October 7, a prayer standing in support of the restoration of the temple in honor of St. Sergius of Radonezh took place at Khodynka. Many public organizations - the Union of Russia's paratroopers, the Union of Veterans of Special Parties Alpha, Night Wolves and others came to support believers. On October 10, believers held single pickets at the buildings of the Moscow City Hall and the Muscovitecture.

The temple of Sergius of Radonezh was supposed to be built on the site of an exploded church. According to a number of historians, it was this central military temple that became the first in a series of Moscow shrines defeated by the Bolsheviks at the beginning of the 20th century. Before the revolution, the majestic cathedral was built for the troops of the Moscow garrison. Its restoration was planned to be completed for the upcoming 700th anniversary of the birth of St. Sergius in 2014 and as part of the program for the construction of 200 new temples.

Within the boundaries of the temple complex, believers also want to build a chapel in memory of the dead aviators, because it was here that dozens of pilots were killed during the tests, among whom was Valery Chkalov.

The historical project of the destroyed church could not be found, so the monument protection society ordered a historical and archive study. According to its results, the recreation of the shrine according to the available visual data was recommended.

The community of St. Sergius was created in 2000. In March 2012, the abbot was appointed - priest Vasily Bixie. A worship cross was installed on the site, and prayers began to be performed. The parish consists not only of the residents of the surrounding houses, but also of the descendants of test pilots (in Soviet times, the Central Airfield of Frunze was located on the Khodynsky field).

In May 2012, the authorities of the Khoroshevsky district of the capital reported their intention to restore the destroyed shrine. However, recently, a message was published on the Moscow Murchitecture website about the open international competition for the development of the concept of the Khodynsky Field Park, which did not have a mention of the construction of the Church in the future park, which served as an occasion for the shares of Orthodox activists. The documentation of the open international competition for the development of the architectural concept of the Khodynsky field park, which had at the disposal of the interfax-religion portal, said: "Architectural concepts should harmoniously integrate the park into urban space, take into account the construction plans of the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Moscow Metro Museum, the Khodynsky Field of the Khodynsky Field, etc.".

It was also noted that several functional zones will be provided in the designed park. Among them-a area of ​​quiet relaxation, a relaxation area for children, a sports and fitness area, a zone of cultural and educational events, a zone of mass events and an economic zone. There was no mention of the temple in the project.