Description of the attraction
One of the oldest churches in the city of Murom is the Temple of Cosmas and Damian, which is located on the banks of the Oka River. According to an old legend, the church was built in 1565 by order of Ivan the Terrible, who stayed in Murom when he was traveling to Kazan. Ivan the Terrible, while staying here, took an oath that if the campaign against the Tatar army was successful, he would order to erect stone churches over the relics of his distant relatives, namely the holy princes of Murom Mikhail, Constantine, Peter, Fedor, Fevronia. An old chronicle story called "The Tale of the Revival of Christianity in Murom" tells that in 1555 the tsar sent specially trained stonemasons from Moscow, after which impressive stone churches with white walls were erected near the wooden buildings.
The temple of Cosmas and Damian was built on the place where the royal tents were previously located. As you know, the tsar was directly related to hipped-roof architecture, because during his reign, a huge number of churches were built on Russian soil, including one of the most remarkable temples - the Church of the Intercession on the Moat or Basil the Blessed, located on Moscow's Red Square. Hip-roof temples were erected as monuments, which is why their area was small, and the height of the tent, on the contrary, was too huge. For example, the Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed is still considered the highest in all of Moscow. The hipped height of the Murom temple was 12 meters.
As for the plan of the temple of Cosmas and Damian, it is presented square, with the quadruple being exposed on the octagon, which was decorated with a number of carved kokoshniks. It was the octagon that served as a support, supporting a slender tent - the most effective and basic decoration of the church. The figure eight was made in the shape of a sixteen-pointed star, with the base surrounded by triangular kokoshniks, fly and curb. The facades of the main building stand out for their simplicity, because they are separated by smooth blades, and the most ordinary cornice runs along the upper part of the quadrangle. Several doorways flank the perspective keeled portals that were especially characteristic of the time.
In the interior decoration of the temple, rather dark colors were used, and in the walls there are two small windows and several more - in a semicircular large apse to illuminate the altar. The general architecture of the temple and its decor suggest that the designers of the church were the Moscow masters Postnik and Barma.
The consecration of the temple took place in 1565, and the same year the icon of Damian and Cosmas is dated, today located in the local history museum of Murom.
In 1868, the temple suffered a great disaster - from the displacement of the ground, the tent collapsed. By a lucky coincidence, at that moment there was no one in the building of the Kosmodemyanskiy temple. All available church utensils were transported to the nearby small Smolensk church, located slightly higher along the banks of the Oka.
For a long period of time, the temple was in a dilapidated state. In 1901, a roof was placed on the octagon to prevent further destruction of the church.
Today, on the banks of the Oka, there is a once inconspicuous, completely small temple, but even in this state it makes a strong impression. During the period of Soviet restoration, there were proposals to restore the temple of Cosmas and Damian, but no one took up the development of the project.
In 2005, work began on the restoration of the temple tent according to the developed project of the architect V. M. Anisimov with funds from the Murom Trinity Monastery. In 2009-2010, the building was reconstructed with the construction of a new tent.
