The Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in Preobrazhensky is an Orthodox church in the Preobrazhenskoye district of Moscow, on Preobrazhenskaya Square. Belongs to the Moscow diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. The main temple of the Ground Forces of the Russian Federation since October 1, 2015.
The temple was destroyed by the Soviet authorities in 1964 and rebuilt in 2015.
By 1768, the construction was completed, and the temple began to work. In 1781, a chapel of Peter and Paul and a bell tower were added.
During the Moscow fire of 1812, the church was not damaged. Services in it did not stop during the entire stay of the French army in Moscow.
Beginning in 1830, with the active participation of the merchant Kotov, elected churchwarden, the temple started to improve and grow rich. In 1856, the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment donated the icon of the Transfiguration of the Lord to the church.
On May 23, 1883, before celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, Alexander III visited the church. After the emperor’s visit, a second chapel was built in the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Church in the name of Alexander Nevsky.
Under the pretext of building a metro in 1963, the Moscow City Executive Committee demolished the temple. As a result, the metro station “Preobrazhenskaya Ploshchad” was built in a different place, and a square was laid out on the temple site. The parishioners collected more than 2,500 signatures to defend their church. The temple was blown up at 4 am on July 18, 1964.
The restoration project was based on the drawings of 1883, as well as archival photographs. Archaeological excavations were conducted during the temple’s reconstruction preparations. An altar cross, a bell tongue, some elements of church utensils, and fragments of the soldiers’ ammunition were discovered.
Architectural style: Russian classicism.
Working hours: Mon-Sat 07:00–21:00; Sun 06:20–21:00.
Address: Preobrazhenskaya Square, 9A, Moscow.
Metro: Preobrazhenskaya Square, Semyonovskaya, Elektrozavodskaya.
See also architecture of Moscow, churches and cathedrals of Moscow
