“The church building should be beautiful, but at the same time simple. Church approach to temple construction

There is a whole science (or rather existed before) about how to create sacred spaces, how to combine form and material in order to receive one or another response from your soul, and get one or another specific result. And all this leads to an improvement in the quality of human life.

Temples were not originally created as a place of God or a place of prayer. They were created as a place of accumulation or transformation of energy, where everyone can enter and use this energy for their needs.

It really was a long time ago...

Temples that were more than a thousand years old were built precisely as such energy accumulators. Some of them are still preserved in India and we will talk about them in more detail in the following articles. For example, about 5 temples dedicated to: ether, air, fire, water and earth.

Most have not survived, and there are those that are abandoned or are now used for another purpose. They no longer retained their original purpose...

• By the way, such temples existed not only in the territory modern India, but also in Europe. For example, the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.

Modern temples (which are less than 500 years old) were mostly built to worship various deities. It’s just that the time has come such that it has become easier for people to worship someone than to work with their own energy.

Initially, in the ancient tradition, including the Hindu one, there was no such thing that you should come to a temple, give money to someone there, worship someone...

The process happened differently: you come to the temple and just sit there. You watch yourself, your thoughts and feelings, meditate... and fill yourself with the energy for which this temple was built. It was just a way to recharge. It was very good to do this in the morning to set your day in harmony with the rhythm of the Universe.

The topic of our today's show is dedicated to modern problems construction and restoration of churches. Where does the construction of a temple usually begin?

First of all, I want to say words of gratitude to both the Lord and your television company that I can say these greatest words of greeting to the entire Orthodox Christian world that Christ has risen.

The fact is that the problems of building churches are indeed modern, but it was not like that before. Moreover, it is necessary to say why we, in fact, build churches, where it comes from and why we do it. After all, the first temple prayer, common, church prayer, was already among our first parents, Adam and Eve, when they prayed together and thereby praised the name of the Lord. It was the same with their children, Cain and Abel, but the Fall had already occurred, and then the Lord told people to make sacrifices.

Why was this done? So that people do not forget the promise that the Lord gave them about salvation. Then the marching tabernacle appears: the Lord has already legislated an order on what the temple should be like, gave us the commandment that we work all days, and spend the Sabbath day in prayer in the temple. And after the resurrection of Christ, for us Christians, this place was taken by Sunday.

Modern problems have been added to those problems that existed before. The business of building a temple is very difficult. Firstly, the place was chosen when they started from some event or there was some kind of sign. For example, our most main temple- Cathedral of Christ the Savior - built in honor of the victory of Russian weapons in Patriotic War 1812, and it was built with public donations, as well as at the expense of merchants and patrons, for more than fifty years.

Now the modern difficulty is that everything needs to be brought to the legislative level, starting from the choice of a plot of land (this issue needs to be resolved with the administration), and then there is a very large list of everything that needs to be fulfilled, otherwise the matter will not advance one iota. This requires a lot of time and money, because this includes the project, cadastral number, registration and all supervisory aspects, including all housing and communal aspects and infrastructure, as well as architecture. Because now we need to build with quality, this is very important today. This has always been important, especially in our climatic zone, because we have frost, snow, water, so everything must be done thoroughly, which requires a lot of investment, a lot of love, a lot of effort and a lot of prayer.

But first you need to gather a community of ten people, contact the priest, then the dean, submit a petition addressed to the ruling bishop, and when a positive decision is made, then it will go to the state level.

- And then our legal legislative authorities register the parish and parish life begins?

In fact, this is a rather long process that takes some time. After registration, you need to develop a charter, there must be a priest, or it may be some kind of assigned temple. It takes a lot of effort to do everything right.

- Not only financial, but also organizational...

Undoubtedly.

Since we started from Adam and Eve, from the tabernacle and so on, tell me why so many temples were built in Rus'? What significance did the temple have for ordinary Russian people ten centuries ago?

Orthodoxy in Rus' was the state religion, and Christianity was a way of life, it was inseparable, absolutely everything was connected with the name of God, from birth to the funeral service, which also took place in the temple. This is another very important point, showing why it is necessary to build and restore temples and take care of them. Because our whole life is connected with the temple, in the temple we receive special grace in the sacraments, including the Sacrament of Communion. The sacrament of the Eucharist is the greatest sacrament when, under the guise of bread and wine, we partake of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

You said that there were baptisms and funeral services in the church. It turns out that a Russian person began his life in infancy in a church and ended it also in a church, when his funeral service was held. I would like to expand this question further. Why was the temple the center of life in every Russian town, every village and every city? When we drive along our roads, passing different settlements, we are sure to meet either the shiny dome of an already restored temple, or we see some ruins. What significance did the temple have in the spiritual life of Russian people?

Temple is a spiritual core for anyone’s life Orthodox man. The sign of Bolshevism was to destroy everything to the ground and then build a new one. The Russian Orthodox Church as a society and the temple as a building were the obstacles that prevented them from doing this terrible, thankless and ill-fated task, therefore both churches and Orthodox people were destroyed. We have a great host of new martyrs and confessors of Russia who did not die in vain; they left us that core, the grace of God and traditions, the successors of which we are now.

Of course, the Church prevented people from corrupting and leading an incorrect lifestyle, although it is very easy to destroy, but it is very, very difficult to build. And now it’s “time to collect stones”; this is exactly what we need to do. Moreover, the time of militant communism and atheism has passed, now everything is more prosperous with us, God willing, it will continue to be so. Now is a very favorable time for us, only we ourselves can ruin everything. Therefore, it is necessary to build temples both for the Church and for the soul, because our salvation lies in the temple; outside the Church there is no salvation. If we want to be saved, we must build temples, these are ships in our worldly sea that will lead us to the quiet harbor of the Kingdom of Heaven to our Lord Jesus Christ.

IN pre-revolutionary Russia churches also had educational significance; parish schools were opened at them. Even many of our revolutionaries were educated in these parochial schools. Now we have a favorable time, everything is fine, we can find funds to build churches, but what is happening now even in Moscow? Probably, the whole of Russia knows the case at Torfyanka: a temple is being built according to Program 200, and there are people who take advantage of the fact that they can now freely express their opinions and who oppose this construction in every possible way.

Quite recently, a meeting against the already built temple also took place on Kronstadt Boulevard. Please tell me why now, despite such a favorable time, there are people who do not want temples to be built, the significance of which is both in history and in modern life undeniable?

The Lord said that the owner of this world is the devil, and he, of course, resists through people. Our Lord Jesus Christ, Perfection Himself, came, and He could not please everyone. Out of hatred and envy, they betrayed Him and crucified Him, despite the fact that they walked with Him and fed from Him; They ate from His hand in the literal sense of the word - and betrayed Him.

Salvation is from the Church. Do you really think that the devil will so easily agree that people can be saved? After all, his task is completely different. We know that he, like a lion in the desert, “walks around looking for someone to devour.” But when the lion is satisfied, he simply lies there, herds of animals walk nearby, and he does not touch them. The devil has a completely different task: the more people he destroys, the better it will be for him, as he thinks. But he forgets that we have the Lord’s Passover, that the Lord has risen and “trampled death underfoot” and hell has no victory.

Therefore, there is such resistance through people whom the devil has greatly entangled in his networks, and you need to fight them with prayer, fasting and at the legislative level, but this should be a truly common matter. And one warrior in the field, this is correct, but if this is our common cause (after all, the Church is a society), then we must, as a whole, defend our desecrated shrines and build new ones for the salvation of human souls.

What if it is necessary to use force if provoked? Now on the Internet on some Orthodox blogs they are constantly calling: “Dear brothers and sisters, come help, we need to defend the temple.” Praying, fasting is all good and correct, but it turns out that if we don’t act on our own, come and show that there are more of us, then...

That's right, and that's what I mean. Indeed, you need to come together and express your spiritual, Christian, Orthodox point of view. If that side says that they don’t need a temple, farewell, you are not with us, but against us, go and serve your devilish superiors, and the Lord and I, expressing love for Him, “with one mouth and one heart” want to build here new temple. Therefore, of course, we all need to come together, jointly defend the point of view of the Russian Orthodox Church, blessing of our Holy Patriarch.

As far as I know, you have built quite a lot of temples. Could you tell us about your activities and what difficulties you encountered? I think that now it would be very interesting to hear not about some general points, but about a living example. You are not from Moscow, but from the Vladimir region, maybe there are other opportunities there, tell us about yourself.

The Lord vouchsafed me to work for the glory of God and to build several churches in very hard times. Even now, building or simply restoring a temple is not easy. Even today I have one of the poorest and most destroyed churches in the Vladimir region. Everything comes very hard, with a lot of work and a lot of love. And above all, great self-sacrifice.

But there must also be comrades-in-arms here, those people who believe in this cause and in the priest. This is very important, therefore, in the construction of churches, it is necessary that the priest really “burns” with this, so that for him it is not some kind of burden or just obedience. If you don’t live by this, then doing such a thing is very, very difficult. And it has always been this way, especially now, because at present the spirit of freedom has become so perverted that it is now understood as a spirit of resistance, due to which very great difficulties arise. It is necessary to have comrades-in-arms, a team, and, of course, one cannot do without philanthropists, patrons of art, and sovereign men.

For example, our stone temple, which will soon be four hundred years old, was built at the expense of the Moscow merchant Pantelei Fedotov. The man took it and helped, it was targeted, targeted charitable assistance, and “the little man and the horse” made a magnificent temple, which then befell tragic fate, but still God cannot be mocked. Slowly, by God's grace, with the help of good people (now, of course, there are no such merchants, but the Lord lives and the soul lives Orthodox people) happened. “A thread from the world - and it turned out to be a shirt” - and so it is with us: crosses, and domes, and a roof appeared. Since we have the Mother of God Church of the Intercession, now almost our entire temple is under a blue roof and truly under the Protection of the Mother of God.

You and I are the heirs of the greatest shrines. Look how many churches there are in Russia, truly pearls! This heritage is worthy of the attention of the international organization UNESCO, it is a world heritage, and it needs to be addressed. Russian North, Vologda, Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Vladimir, Tambov, Ryazan, Tver regions - there are very, very many churches that need help, historically they are truly pearls, they also need to be restored and put in order. And we, as worthy heirs, must fulfill this.

Here, in the Vladimir region (for example, Kolchuginsky, Aleksandrovsky districts), the priests have several ascribed churches that need to be restored. This is a matter of our honor.

- Are there enough priests for these parishes?

I have already said that each priest has several assigned temples.

- It turns out that the priest is torn...

Yes, somewhere there is a main church, somewhere there are attached churches and parishes that are being restored. Let's face it, the wealth there is not very great, so hiring a separate priest, of course, is difficult. Nevertheless, there is a need for clergy. We will be glad if someone comes for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, and not for the sake of bread, although, of course, there will be a parish, a priest - and everything will be glory to God. There may not be much income, but nevertheless today not a single priest can say that he lives very poorly, that he has big problems with food and shelter. Now almost everyone has their own car, at least a Zhiguli, people have become mobile, so it is possible, even necessary, to live, you just need to love your Motherland, your Orthodox Church, and everything will work out for us, everything will be glory to God.

When you first came to the temple to which you were assigned, I understand that the temple was destroyed and there was no roof. What were your first thoughts?

I serve in this Church of the Intercession and we have been restoring it for nine years, which is quite recent. Honestly, when I arrived at this parish and saw the temple, I thought that there should no longer be churches in this condition, because the temple had already been given away some time before me, there were priests there who worked and did a lot, that is I didn’t come completely out of nowhere, but nevertheless we must burn with love for God, the Church, the temple, and then we will do more. As the Lord said, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few(Matthew 9:37), but during the harvest everyone rejoices, although one sowed, another plowed, a third brought grain, a fourth was engaged in agricultural chemistry. Then people came and removed it all, but everyone is happy about what happened good harvest. So it is now in the Church: maybe it’s difficult for me now, although many of the difficulties are already a little behind me, but it will be much better and easier for the priest who comes after me.

When the Assumption Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra was built, egg yolk was added to the solution. All the eggs that were in the area were given for construction; people did not eat eggs for at least twenty years - this is how temples were built in Rus'. What were your highlights of temple construction? Happens a lot different cases, we read about them, starting from the ancient patericons, when people were already in despair and suddenly the Lord shows His mercy. Have there been such examples in your practice, in your parish life?

Certainly. In the construction business, everything comes with great difficulty, but I say in the words of the Lord’s Prayer: “Give us this day our daily bread.” Sometimes it really happened that there is something today, but it is unknown what to do tomorrow, and in the evening a man comes and says: “Father, you are building here, will you go for bricks? I want to help you with the bricks.” - “Of course, I’ll go.”

There were such cases with both wood and scaffolding. I was looking for forests - they were nowhere to be found, I had to start tomorrow, I almost despaired, because finding them is quite difficult, expensive and difficult. And suddenly one servant of God says: “I work for one man, and for him construction firm, I said, and he replied that he would bring it to us.” We had to start construction tomorrow, and he brought it that same evening scaffolding. The Lord really helps! If you rely on your own strengths, you think: “What should I do?” There is nothing to do, you give up, and you realize that it’s not working, you need to do it somehow differently. But no - the Lord sends help.

Or, for example, there was such a case. When people build a temple, they also earn a little money, because life is difficult now and people are also trying to earn something, there are certain prices and contracts. And now we have to pay, but there is no money. They finished work, it’s time for them to go home, and we don’t have enough money to pay. A man comes and says: “You are building here, I want to donate to the temple.” As a rule, people give either in an envelope or in some other way, but no one says how much. “God bless you, write your name so that we remember.” Because you take money, you have to answer for it before the Lord. You open the envelope - “Lord, have mercy”: the Lord sent as much money as was missing. This is a miracle! There have been such cases in my life, and I talk about them with joy. And now there are such miracles, I have had them more than once. Glory to You, Lord, that this was exactly the case, that the Lord did not leave me at the very last moment, but always gave me the hand of His saving help.

- So there is always a special commemoration of such people, builders?

Of course, I especially remember people, because a person came, sacrificed, we need to pray and wish that everything goes well for him, thank God, that the Lord bless his works, guide him, correct him in some way, if he was wrong somewhere, saved him from some temptation, trouble or misfortune. The task of a priest is first of all to pray; a priest is not a builder. He finishes the seminary, academy, master's degree, and then he is busy checking what kind of mortar: lime or cement, what rows the masonry will go in, what cornerstone is laid, where is what bond, how the slabs lie, what tolerances are there, what kind of welding will be done, what kind of steel, what brand of brick and much more.

If you do only this, then this is just a foreman, but nevertheless in modern conditions this needs to be done and known. And in each diocese there is an architectural and construction department that controls how restoration work, construction, current work, such as covering the roof, installing joists, rafters, how to make lathing, what the load should be. And in every diocese there is a priest who, along with the architect and the architecture department, oversees all this construction and restoration work. Now all this is very strictly controlled by the state, especially if it is an object of cultural or historical significance. But even if it is just a temple, it must fit these standards so that it can stand for many, many centuries, according to the words of the Savior: “I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”

- As far as I know, according to secular education You're an engineer.

There is such a thing.

- It turns out that you yourself were involved in the construction of your temple, if you are a professional builder?

I gained much more construction experience in the bosom of the Russian Orthodox Church, but the fact that I also have theoretical knowledge is a completely different story. But I completed my internship in the Church, for which I thank the ruling bishop and the bishops who trusted me and gave me such complex and responsible obedience. Therefore, I will always remember the builders and beautifiers of those churches in which my hand was present as the hand of a master, for which I express great filial gratitude to our rulers and the Lord.

Do you feel any kind of tired? It happens that a person is engaged in very complex and painstaking work and gets tired. If the ruling bishop now calls you and says: “You are so good at building a temple, let’s build a few more,” how would you react to this? It is clear that obedience must be fulfilled, but what will be your attitude towards this situation?

I am ready for this situation, I am ready to restore what was destroyed, to create something new for the glory of God and the glory of the Russian Orthodox Church. Of course, I am ready, because this is our calling, the Church is built both as a building and as a society, and this is inseparable. You can also be baptized in the Jordan River, and have a funeral service in the cemetery. Nil Sorsky generally said: “You can give my body to the dogs.” But we have customs, foundations, traditions, the law that the Lord gave us. And temple life, construction, restoration, restoration - all this is useful for our salvation, this is our way of life.

If we don’t do this, if it collapses, if we forget it, then nothing will happen, no stone will be left unturned. Even the Temple of Jerusalem, no matter how much it was destroyed, people always came and restored it in order to preserve this way of life and these traditions. Therefore, now, in order to preserve and pass on faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, it is necessary to restore those churches that need it, and build new ones as necessary. I'm ready for this.

Temples, thank God, are being built, but there is another problem, because in churches there must be people, parishioners. How have your relationships with people and parishioners been in your parish life since its beginning? How did you find a common language and encourage people to help in the construction of the temple? Were there people who helped build the temple for the glory of God?

They still exist today, truly helping for the glory of God.

I know of such a case when one young family could not conceive a child, and after the parents helped in the construction of the temple, the Lord rewarded them with a child. Did your parishioners who helped you in this construction experience any miracles or acts of God’s special grace?

Of course, you can treat this as you like, but there have been cases when people were healed from serious illnesses. When they came, it was clear that they were working and praying in illness. Prayer is also a very big help. And people prayed or asked permission to read the Psalter so that the matter would be resolved. I said that we were already reading, and they answered that they would read at night. Try reading at night, it turns out that you want to sleep, this is a very difficult thing.

Our opponents, the God-fighters, may have a question: why do we build churches, but there are not always many people in them, they are not always visited and filled? It seems so only at first glance. In our village parish before the revolution there were more than a thousand people, only men. The village seems small, but the temple is large. It would seem, why such a big temple? Because there were a lot of people. When the Lord fed people with bread, they were seated and counted according to the number of men.

Nowadays it is easy to destroy and corrupt, but the restoration of the human soul, the image of God in man, proceeds slowly, with patience, work is needed, and only then the fruit is obtained a hundredfold. Faith has been destroyed for almost a century, during the reign of the atheistic government, and now we want everything to be restored overnight. It won't work that way. The pig population can be easily restored. A farmer comes, takes over an empty building, and three months later it’s all grunting. But these are pigs, the number of which can be easily restored, but correcting the image of God in a sinful person is very difficult; time must pass.

Therefore, in this regard, you need to constantly work, preach, talk about the law of love for God and neighbor. If you don’t live in this love, in these traditions, then it is very difficult to correct something, a person simply will not know it.

Last Sunday we remembered the Lord’s conversation with the Samaritan woman, and she asked him almost theological questions that no one else asked Him. People lived by this: Jews and Samaritans quarreled among themselves, they had conflict situations, but they lived in traditions. Although she was a simple woman caring for animals, she was so intelligent in matters of religious tradition, so religiously educated, that her conversation with the Lord was almost theological. And at the end, Christ said that He is the Messiah for whom they are waiting.

All these are our traditions created around the temple, and so that they do not go into oblivion, we need to lead a religious life in the temple. We are saved only in the temple, outside the Church - the world in which evil spirit. And it is very, very difficult for us to resist without the grace of God, which we receive in the temple.

- People often say: “I believe in God, why should I go to church?”A clear example of the fact that society has a slightly different attitude and does not understand the significance of the temple.

They have a different attitude because they don’t understand, because the clergy, the priests didn’t convey to them that at home there is home, cell prayer, where a person alone, like a small candle, burns and warms. And it’s good if there is no draft, but if there is, the candle will go out. There are many temptations, but you are alone, weak and infirm, if you are not strengthened by conciliar, church, common prayer, do not profess dogmas, do not sing the Creed and the “Our Father” in church, because this is our conciliar unity.

In Rus' there were practically no choirs; there was a tradition of the whole church singing, and this was the strength of both the Church and Rus'. During the Mongol-Tatar yoke, it was forbidden for the entire choir to sing in church. If it was not possible to defeat the Russians in battle, then they decided to use the principle of “divide and conquer” so that in the church everyone would not sing in chorus, with one mouth and a common prayer.

The Lord said: Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of you … That is why general, church prayer is so important, it is important to go to church. Because you can graduate from seminary and academy, master's and graduate school, but it will be scholastic knowledge, you will know a lot, but you will not be able to apply it in practice, because you do not know how. Eat Holy Bible and Sacred Tradition, and if in the Church, in a living organism, you have not received this experience, then you will not be able to do anything (no prayer service, no baptism, etc.), which is why catechetical meetings, conversations before many Sacraments: baptism, wedding, unction and confession.

Even in our outback, people come, including me, and say: “Father, this is my first time at confession, I don’t know anything.” And when the confession itself is going on, when the Divine Liturgy has passed, at such a moment you need to explain everything to the person with tenderness and accuracy, not to push him away, but to say that in order to confess well, you need to prepare a little: “Let’s stay with you after.” services and we’ll talk to mark some specific milestones so that you learn about this sacrament.” Nowadays there is a lot of periodical literature, books, there is the Internet, you can read and come to confession already prepared. And all this can be learned only in a living organism, namely in the Church.

Sitting at home and praying is good and important, but it is not complete. If a person wants to live the fullness of a Christian life, then, of course, he must go to church, try to observe the laws of the Church, and, if possible, find a confessor who will help him correctly navigate this complex modern life.

I really want to ask you to give some instruction to our TV viewers, so that you emphasize how much we would not like to see those decades of godless, godless power that we have already talked about repeat.

Go to church, fulfill the law of Christ, believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, in His resurrection, and then the gates of hell will not prevail against you. And we will hear the words that so many people who come to God have heard: “Go in peace, your faith has saved you. Amen".

Presenter Sergey Platonov
Recorded by Elena Kuzoro

Construction of an Orthodox church is a very difficult task. Everything is important in the temple; there are no trifles in its structure. Every detail in it is subject to canons and traditions, and even modern projects Orthodox churches are developed taking into account their strict observance. The first thing people pay attention to is the choice of location for construction. Previously in Rus', according to traditions, the location for the construction of an Orthodox church or monastery was chosen to be elevated, visible from afar. should have dominated among the surrounding buildings, reminding people of the sublimity of the spiritual world compared to the earthly one. They tried to choose the place where the temple would stand so that it would be “blown by four winds” - the sound of the bells could then be heard several dozen miles away.

Church traditions claim that very often the place for the construction of an Orthodox church or monastery was indicated by the Lord Himself, the Mother of God, or one of the holy saints of God - through visions, appearances in dreams, and other signs. The result of such a scrupulous choice is that to this day, when we come to the sites of even destroyed old churches, we clearly feel that they are special and blessed.

Orthodox church project and external landscaping

After choosing a location, workers compacted the site for its construction. The location of the Orthodox church was also important: its design was always calculated in such a way that the church altar would necessarily face the east. For lack of compasses and other measuring instruments, the eastern direction was determined in the following way: we woke up before sunrise, and on the temple site an axis was drawn strictly parallel to the first ray of the rising sun.

This factor is still taken into account when building an Orthodox church, and exceptions are made only in very rare cases. Why is this so important? Some researchers argue that this contains the legacy of the ancient solar cult of the Slavs, others rely on the fact that in Christianity the East has always been associated with light forces, and the West with dark ones.

An equally important part of an Orthodox church is its top part, topped with domes. The number of domes is always odd, and can reach up to thirty-three, and they are all crowned with a cross.

An excellent example of temple architecture is the 33-domed wooden Church of St. Nicholas the Pleasant on Trinity Hill in St. Petersburg.

The main parts of the Orthodox church

When creating a project for an Orthodox church, all its components are strictly taken into account. Since ancient times, the church has symbolized the three-dimensionality of the Universe: its divine part, the heavenly and the earthly. That is why Orthodox church consists of three parts: the altar where the priests pray, the central part intended for the prayer of faithful (baptized) Christians, and the vestibule in which the catechumens used to pray - those who were just undergoing catechesis and were preparing to receive holy baptism.

The upper part of the Orthodox church - the nave (ceiling) - symbolizes the sky, and is covered with paintings depicting the Holy Trinity, God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Mother of God. The floor underfoot means earth, and therefore it is also decorated with mosaics and ornaments.

Where to begin?
It is important to begin the construction of the temple with the blessing of the ruling bishop of the diocese. Since the temple is not built on its own, but for a church community, if there is no such community in a city or village, it must be created and registered. To register a community, it must include at least ten people - the so-called “ten”. Community is entity, and it is registered with the federal registration service.

A holy place should not be empty
When the community is registered and has received the blessing of the bishop for the construction of the temple, it is necessary to contact the local authorities with a request to provide for this land plot. If this is, for example, a district city, then to the city or district administration, it is best to go straight to the head of the administration. Better yet, draw up an official letter from the bishop and contact the authorities with this letter. The community must understand in advance what kind of temple it would like to build, for how many people, in what style, and in whose honor the main altar will be consecrated.

IN different places The allocation of land by the authorities can occur in different ways. Somewhere, an administration is inspired by the idea of ​​building a temple in its area, takes into account the opinion of the community’s rector, and highlights beautiful plot downtown; somewhere they give what they give, often this is an area where construction is difficult - for example, there is a ravine nearby, and then before you start building, it will be necessary to strengthen the soil.
As Svetlana Pokrovskaya explained to us, Executive Director legal company "Business Consultations", dealing with real estate, if there is a forested area or river next to the proposed land plot, or there are important communications underground, and in the future it is planned to build a road nearby, all this can greatly complicate the approval process.

To obtain a construction permit, you need to collect a package of documents, among which the cadastral passport is very important. The passport must indicate the type of permitted use of the land plot - specifically for the construction of a temple.

On the advice of Priest Daniil Sysoev, rector of the community of the Prophet Daniel on Kantemirovskaya, which has been building a temple on the outskirts of Moscow for five years, it is better to ask for land with a small reserve, because if you ask back to back, the plot may be given a little less, and there will not be enough land.

Project
The design of the temple is done by an architectural design studio. The problem may be that there are not many workshops that specialize specifically in the construction of temples. How do you know which one is best to contact? As Priest Daniel advises, the first thing you need to do is find out whether the workshop has a state license, and a new one, since the licensing form has recently changed.

The project is approved and agreed upon by various authorities: in the general plan, in the local committee for architecture, etc. - therefore, it makes life very easy if the architectural studio has access to organizations that will conduct various examinations for approval.

Father Daniel advises to beware of architects who, instead of taking into account the wishes of the parish when designing, begin to engage in self-expression and the embodiment of their creative ideas, - the result may be something that does not look very much like a temple. It is best, of course, for the church to be designed by an architect who has experience in the construction of churches.

Construction
The question of where to find good workers in the regions is often one of the most difficult. Hieromonk Bartholomew (Kolomatsky), who was building a church in honor of St. Spyridon of Trimifuntsky in the city of Neya, Kostroma region, brought workers from Ukraine: even though they had to be registered as foreigners from afar, he knew them as experienced and conscientious builders.

Large design workshops often have a construction license, therefore both the project and construction works can be ordered from the same organization, on a turnkey basis.

Where can I get money?
The Temple of the Prophet Daniel on Kantemirovskaya is valued at half a billion rubles. "This is because we have very difficult place for construction: there is a river flowing nearby, a slope, a ravine,” says Father Daniil. “And in general, many things are more expensive in Moscow than in the regions, for example, just connecting a church to electricity costs one and a half million rubles.” According to Svetlana Pokrovskaya, in the regions everything may be different - and for three million rubles you can completely build a temple somewhere.

Where to get money? The temple in honor of the Cathedral of Moscow Saints in Moscow Bibirevo has been under construction since 2002, now the walls have already been built, and it is planned to finish the roof by the end of the year. The church currently has no major sponsors; construction is being carried out with donations from private individuals, plus the community has a publishing house and a subsidiary farm in the Moscow region - this way they earn money for construction, and business is moving, albeit slowly. “Everything is done with the help of God, both money and people are found,” says Hieromonk Sergius (Rybko), rector of the temple. — One architect did the project for us free of charge, now we have a team of builders working for us. The company that allocated it to us has practically nothing from this, only the workers themselves receive wages - this is the decision of the head of the company (by the way, he immediately received a lot of good orders).”

The area in the Kostroma region where Father Bartholomew is building the temple is very poor, and the local funds raised, according to the priest, are the widow’s contribution. But the construction is being helped by one wealthy person who venerates St. Spyridon - thanks to him, the construction is moving forward. “What is associated with the construction of a temple is always a miracle. The miracle is how the money is found, how all sorts of approvals are resolved. It seems to me that it is not we who are building the temple, but Saint Spyridon himself,” says Father Bartholomew.

In the temple under construction on Kantemirovskaya, the issue of money is resolved as follows: “We call and send letters to various organizations, asking for help,” says Tatyana Predovskaya, assistant to the church elder. -- If you just send a newsletter and wait for a response, only one percent of organizations respond. If you call and communicate individually, they respond much more often.” Residents of the surrounding houses also help as best they can: many people want to be involved in the construction of a temple in their area.

Eat interesting way to raise funds for the temple - personalized bricks. A person pays a certain amount, and his name is written on a personalized brick, which is then built into the temple.

“The eyes are afraid, the hands are doing”
How long does it take to build a temple? In rural areas, this issue, as experience shows, is resolved faster: in the city of Neya, Kostroma region, the first bucket of the pit for the foundation was removed in June 2006, and today all that remains is to build a bell tower and conduct interior work. In Moscow, everything is not so fast: the community of the Temple of the Prophet Daniel on Kantemirovskaya was created in 2003, and the collection of documents and funds immediately began. By now, a large stage - pre-design work - has almost been completed. The construction itself has not yet begun; the service is being held in a small temporary church nearby, but although slowly, things are still moving.

Association of Restorers. Workshops of Andrey Anisimov. Design and construction of chapels.

Instructions

The decision to provide land can be quick and successful, but it can be delayed if there are some underground communications under the selected plot of land, and there is a forest park area, river or ravine nearby, and also if this place is planned for some other construction .

After the land plot for construction has been officially allocated, find a suitable architectural and design studio for development architectural project temple A. Make sure that the workshop has an updated state license and has experience in the construction of churches, which should then be approved by the local architectural committee and other examinations.

The search for a conscientious and skilled construction team deserves special attention. If your architectural design studio has its own workers and a construction license, you can order construction work from them in addition to creating the project temple A.

Probably the most difficult question facing those who build temple a - this is financing, since construction and related expenses result in serious amounts of money - from three million to half a billion rubles, depending on the region and the complexity of construction.

The source of funds can be very different - from a bank loan to searching for sponsors, organizations and organizations that are ready to invest their capital in the construction temple as well as part of the money can be raised through charitable contributions and donations from community members and residents of the region.

Depending on how quickly you are cash and organizational issues are resolved, construction period temple and can either shrink or stretch long years.

In construction temple and it is very important to know how its internal structure differs from an ordinary building. All internal elements temple and symbolic - it should have an altar and, symbolizing the divine world, where the sacraments are performed, and a middle part for parishioners, symbolizing the earthly world, separated from the altar by an iconostasis.

If temple has only one throne, then it is single-domed. If there are several thrones, temple In addition to the main one, several additional domes are being built. Also some temple there are small room in front of the entrance, called the vestibule, the entrance to which is from the porch.

IN Lately The society in which we live has increasingly begun to think about the revival of long-forgotten or lost spiritual values. Enough is enough now a large number of people began to believe in God. Many of us, in the most difficult moments of our lives, despite various circumstances, find the strength and opportunity to come to the temple and ask for help from the Lord. We all pray to God, all the saints and ask for health, happiness and love for our loved ones. Naturally, we want to come to church and light a candle near the icon, but it happens that there is nowhere to come, so the desire arises to build a temple in your city or village. This is, of course, a difficult task, but it can be done.

Instructions

Receive a blessing from the ruling bishop. To do this, you need to have a project for the future temple, which is approved by the architectural department of the mayor's office, information about those responsible for construction, about funds for construction, or a list of investors who are ready to invest money in construction.