The city that held Europe by the throat for a day
Everything was mixed in October 1812 on the banks of the Luzha River. Smoke, mate, iron. People climb on each other’s corpses because there’s nowhere to retreat. Behind the Russians — Kaluga and bread. Behind the French, Moscow turned out to be a mousetrap.
That day, he became a meat grinder. The city changed hands eleven times. Imagine: you are walking down the street, you can no longer shoot — your own and others are mixed. Just bayonet and fist. “Clutched whiskey,” the soldier wrote.
And over this chaos, a priest with a cross in his hand leads the regiment into attack. He does not bless from afar, he goes forward. For which he will receive the officer George Cross. The case is the only one in the history of awarding a clergyman with a military order.
By morning, the French had taken the city, but did not feel themselves victorious. Napoleon realized that he could not pass the Kaluga road. Russians are worth their lives. The emperor turned on the ruined Smolensk highway. From that day on, his Great Army did not advance, only fled.
The temple that was built in gratitude
It’s been almost a hundred years. In 1903, on a high hill between two ancient moats (and this is the place of the first city detinets) began to build not just a church. A monument. In this way, the bricks wanted to say: we remember.
The building in the pseudo-Russian style — with kokoshniks, five-domed, generous stucco — was put on the subclade of the old stone church of 1756. The architects Sklovsky and Savitsky worked. It turned out elegant, even toys, if you do not know what this temple is dedicated to.
It was closed in Soviet times. We set up a club, then a warehouse. It seemed like forever. In 1948, they were returned to the faithful. They didn’t take it anymore.
Silence over the meadow
It’s quiet on the hill today. Branches, grass, lazy river down there. On the other hand, the Black Island Monastery. On the left and right are two ravines that look like moats. If you squint, it is easy to guess the silhouette of an ancient settlement.
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Russian Temples and Monasteries
