Description of the attraction
The idea of building a temple arose in connection with the rapid development in the early 20th century. Taitskaya railway. The celebrations in honor of the 300th anniversary of the reign of the House of Romanov became the impetus for the implementation of the conceived project. In addition, by this time, Taitsky summer residents had already collected some funds for the construction of the church, and a construction commission was formed, which was supposed to solve all issues related to the construction of the temple.
The site for the construction of the stone temple was set aside next to the existing wooden temple. On June 15, 1914, its foundation was made. The project of the church was developed by the architect I. V. Ekskuzovich, the construction was supervised by S. I. Baret and N. I. Postnikov. The church was sustained in the Old Russian style, had a helmet-shaped dome and was designed for 1000 parishioners. During its construction, reinforced concrete structures were used, which at the beginning of the 20th century. have just begun to be used in church architecture.
The rough construction of the temple was completed by 1916, but until 1917 they did not have time to consecrate the temple. But divine services began here long before its consecration. The newly built stone church was consecrated only in 1921 in the name of St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow. The consecration was conducted by the Bishop of Kronstadt Benedict (Plotnikov, the future martyr). The old wooden church was dismantled two years later and moved to the new Taitskoye cemetery.
On September 8, 1922, the young priest Peter Belavsky became the rector of the church, who had previously co-served with his father Ioann Petrovich Belavsky in the village of Aleksandrovskoye. Further spiritual path of Fr. Peter was identified as the future Hieromartyr Vladyka Gregory (Lebedev). Living in Taitsy at the dacha, he often served and preached in the local church. It was during this period that the heyday of the temple's activities took place. In the period before the revolution and for a certain time after it, festive fireworks were arranged in Thais on Easter, the temple was decorated with multi-colored lanterns.
The icons of John the Baptist, St. Alexis, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, St. blgv. Anna Kashinskaya with a particle of her relics, the Feodorovskaya Mother of God. Above the entrance to the choir was a painting depicting the Savior and Mary Magdalene. In the 1920s and 1930s. never sang in the choirs themselves. The church choir was always located on the right choir, completely covered with large icons.
Since 1927, Father Peter Belavsky had close contact with Metropolitan Joseph (Petrov) and other bishops who refused to support the declaration of loyalty to the Soviet regime. At this time, the Thais became one of the centers of "Josephite". November 29, 1929 about. Pyotr Belavsky was arrested, and a year later he was sent to Solovki. Many priests who served in the church after Fr. Petra were arrested by the Soviet authorities.
The first attempt to close the church by the authorities was made in May 1936, but then it was not implemented. On May 11, 1939, the church was closed, and a club was located within its walls. Icons and other church utensils were looted. The icon of St. Alexis was saved by A. I. Savvin. The iconostasis was dismantled and most likely destroyed.
During the German occupation, the temple was opened, put into proper form, and at the end of 1941, services began to be held in it. The first priest who resumed divine services in the church was Ioann Petrovich Chudovich. In August 1943, the last divine service was held in the Aleksievskaya church, as the Germans began to prepare for the retreat.
After the war, despite the repeated appeals of the inhabitants of the Thais to the Metropolitan and Patriarch, the Aleksiev Church was never opened. Only by 1990, thanks to the efforts of local residents, the dilapidated church with a flooded basement was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. From the beginning of 1991, services began again in the church. Its first abbot was the priest Peter Molchanov. In 1992, the parish was headed by Igor Kovalchuk, during which, through the efforts of parishioners, both ordinary residents and benefactors, the side domes, the dome were restored, the walls were cleaned and whitewashed, the ceiling was decorated with a massive gilded chandelier, and the central side-altar of the church - a new four-tier iconostasis.
The Taitsky temple is also a memory of the fallen soldiers. On the territory of the temple, 386 Soviet officers and soldiers who died on the battlefields of the Great Patriotic War are buried in a common grave.
