Main Church of the Armed Forces of Russia

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Main Church of the Armed Forces of Russia
View of the interior during the inauguration (2020)

The Main Church of the Armed Forces of Russia ( Russian Главный храм Вооружённых сил России ) is a Russian Orthodox church in Patriot Park in Moscow Oblast . The church is dedicated to the armed forces of Russia under the patronage of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ .

location

The church is located in the northern area of ​​the Park Patriots in the Russian city of Kubinka, about 60 km west of Moscow . Europastraße 30 runs a few hundred meters north .

history

Blessing of the Bells (2019)

Plans to build the main church of the Armed Forces of Russia first became known in 2018. The idea goes back to the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu , who laid the foundation stone together with Vladimir Putin in 2018.

The church building is said to have been financed exclusively through donations. The donors include the Russian director Nikita Michalkow and the sports official Vyacheslav Fetissov . However, it was also reported that state funds and state defense companies were invested in the construction. According to media reports, the construction will cost a total of six billion rubles (around 75 million euros).

The opening was originally planned on May 9, 2020, the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Russia . Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the opening has been postponed. The inauguration finally took place on June 14, 2020 in the presence of the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu by the Patriarch Kyrill I.

architecture

The church consists of a main building and an adjoining bell tower . Six golden onion-shaped domes crown the building. One of the domes is on the bell tower, the rest on the main building. The main dome in the center of the structure reaches a height of 95 meters, making the building the fourth tallest church in Russia.

Certain characteristics of the church are based on historical data and references to the armed forces of Russia. The main dome, based on the end of the Second World War, has a diameter of 19.45 meters. Based on the 1418 days of the German-Soviet War , part of World War II, one of the six domes is 14.18 meters high. Due to the 75th anniversary of the end of the war, the height of the bell tower was set at 75 meters. The facades were designed in camouflage green and the glazed ceiling vaults were decorated with images of military orders. Weapons of the German Wehrmacht , which the Red Army captured in World War II, are built into the steps of the main entrance . The two-winged entrance door made of metal shows the imperial eagle . Inside the eagle is a sword that doubles as a door handle.

A large number of mosaics were installed inside the church. These represent, among other things, Russian military operations and politicians.

The building offers space for 6,000 worshipers and has a total area of ​​10,950 m².

Controversy

Criticism of the building's architecture was increasingly expressed on social media. The church has been compared to a rocket launcher or an air defense battery, among other things.

In the meantime, wall mosaics installed inside the church, which were supposed to represent Vladimir Putin and Josef Stalin , led to discussions . Putin was depicted in connection with the annexation of Crimea and Stalin in connection with the Moscow Victory Parade of 1945 in front of St. Basil's Cathedral . Due to growing criticism, the mosaics were removed before the church was inaugurated.

Web links

Commons : Main Church of the Armed Forces of Russia  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Christian Esch: Second World War - 75 years of the end of the war: Vladimir Putin, Joseph Stalin and the Mother of God. In: Der Spiegel. May 8, 2020, accessed May 8, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Adam Robinson, Martin Morgan: Russia plans 'Game of Thrones' cathedral . In: BBC News . September 11, 2018 ( bbc.com [accessed May 8, 2020]).
  3. ↑ Putin mosaic "adorns" the new military church. In: n-tv news. April 30, 2020, accessed May 8, 2020 .
  4. ↑ a b c Silke Bigalke: Universe of symbols. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. May 7, 2020, accessed May 8, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Andrew Higgins: A 'Breakdown of Trust': Pandemic Corrodes Church-State Ties in Russia . In: The New York Times . May 5, 2020, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed May 8, 2020]).
  6. ↑ a b Russia's military inaugurates the «Church of Victory». faz.net, June 14, 2020.
  7. ↑ Chiara Giordano: New Russian cathedral glorifies Putin and Stalin in mosaics. In: The Independent. April 28, 2020, accessed May 8, 2020 .
  8. ^ First day June 22, 1941, see Operation Barbarossa , last day May 9, 1945, see Unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht #Repit (ratification) in Berlin
  9. ↑ Thielko Grieß: Ceremonial opening of a "Church of Victory". In: Deutschlandfunk Kultur. June 13, 2020, accessed June 15, 2020 .

Coordinates: 55 ° 34  '44.4 " N , 36 ° 49' 17.4"  E