Sunday, October 21, 2012

Hram Ilias – the hidden silence near the Red Place in Moscow



I’ve told you that you can find solitude and silence next to busy tourist hospots. The Hram Ilias (Храм пророка Божия Илии) is one of these places. Only a hundred meters off the Red Place(Красно площад), virtually next to GUM department store (ГУМ - Главный универсальный магазин), No. 3 on the map: http://www.hramilias.ru/temple/. The small church had been virtually destroyed, but there has been done quite a lot of work to rebuild the Hram Ilias. If you’re interested in the problems of architecture, here’s the link: sorry, only in Russian: http://www.archnadzor.ru/2007/09/24/il-ya-v-torgu/. More material at the following link: http://www.hramilias.ru/temple/history/ - have a look, where it reads “С 1999 года в здании храма начались противоаварийные и реставрационные работы.”, as that’s what the church looked like only a couple of years ago.

If you venture inside, you’ll find peace, quietness. Perhaps some when you can talk with the priest (the pope, which in the orthodox church simply means priest), who will tell you about the history. But all in all it’s a good place to get off the tourist track. And - I guess it's a good idea to leave some rubles as a donation.

 Hram Ilias from the outside


Hram Ilias, the inside

No comments:

Post a Comment