The Church of the Intercession on the Nerl River is the famous monument of medieval Russia.

At a distance of one mile (one and a half kilometers) from the walls of the Bogolyubsky monastery, the graceful Church of the Intercession on the Nerl whitens. From the monastery gates there leads a paved path, laid through Bogolyubsky meadow.

Recently, Bogolyubsky Meadow received the status of a natural monument of federal significance, the landscape around the temple is protected. In a protected meadow, traffic is prohibited, so the whole way to the temple, even in winter, will have to be covered on foot.

The church was consecrated in honor of the feast of the Protection of the Virgin, established in Russia in the middle of the XII century on the initiative of Andrei Bogolyubsky. This is probably the first church of the Intercession in Russia.

The description of the Church of the Intercession as the most elegant architectural work of its time and one of the best examples of Russian white-stone architecture has already become a “common place”. In fact, everything that concerns the history and appearance of the temple is not so unequivocal.

For example, when was the temple built? The Life of Andrei Bogolyubsky says that the church was built “in one summer”, that is, in one year. But which one? In one chronicle there is a record where it is said that the church was erected in the 1160th year, but in later sources another date is indicated - the year 1165. This year, the son of Andrei Bogolyubsky, Izyaslav, died in the battle with the Bulgars and, according to the most common version, in memory of him, the prince ordered to build a temple. However, there is other information that the temple was built a year before the death of his son in honor of the victory of Andrei Bogolyubsky himself over the Bulgars.

This is not a complete list of dates, which can be found in various historical works.

The historian S.V. Zagraevsky in his work “On the issue of reconstruction and dating of the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl” justifies the dating of the church in 1158 as follows:
“First of all, let us recall the message of the “Vladimir chronicler”: “And then, Andrei Yuryevich came from Kiev and made the God-loving city and the small-sized tree, and put two churches in the stone.” There is no doubt in this message about the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin in Bogolyubovo and the Intercession on the Nerl, since the Novgorod I Chronicle says: "And put a temple on the Klyazma River, two stone churches in the name of the Holy Mother of God."

As we can see, both the chronicle posts clearly link the foundation of the city of Bogolyubov and the construction of the churches of the Nativity of the Virgin and the Intercession. And Novgorod IV Chronicle gives an unequivocal date for the foundation of Bogolyubov - 1158. Consequently, we are obliged to accept this year as a date for both the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin and the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl. This position is confirmed by the message of the Vladimir chronicler (XVI century) under the year 1158: "Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky placed here a stone Church of the Virgin Mary on Klyazma River, and another Holy Protection of the Holy Mother of God on the Nerl, and made a monastery." It remains to consider whether the Church of the Intercession could have been built during 1158. We believe that the message of the Life of Andrey Bogolyubsky that the temple was built “in the same summer” can be trusted in this case. In all the above chronicle reports it is said that the Church of the Intercession in 1158 was “set”, and in the ancient Russian chronicles the word “set” in relation to temples was synonymous with the word “built” and in weather chronicles most often meant that this year was both started and finished.”

Despite its apparent simplicity, the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl belongs to the so-called “ceremonial temples” - the best white stone of the highest quality was used in its construction. She designed the river entrance to Vladimir-Suzdal Russia and was built with this purpose.

In the 1950s, famous architect and restorer Nikolai Voronin showed that the original appearance of the temple was very different from the modest single-domed church we know today. In the XII century, the temple was surrounded by a massive gallery, half the height of the building. In addition, excavations have shown that the hill on which the church stands is artificial. Apparently, it had to be poured in order for the temple not to be flooded during the spring flood. At the same time, the foundation of the church was lowered to a depth of more than five meters. For greater safety, the hill outside was lined with stone slabs.

Professor Sergey Zagraevsky only partially agrees with the reconstruction of N. Voronin, however, it is obvious that the church in the XII century really looked different.

In the 18th century, the Pokrovsky Church, which had considerably decayed by that time, tried to break it down into stones in order to build a new bell tower. However, despite the absence of objections from the then authorities about the destruction of the temple, the Pokrovskaya Church was not dismantled. According to one version - they could not agree with the builders, according to another - more romantic - the workers, dismantling the temple, saw a divine sign and refused to work.

The original internal paintings of the temple are completely lost, and not in Soviet times, but in 1877, during the “renovation”. However, the décor of the facade of the building has been preserved perfectly, and the controversy over the fact that the rows of women’s faces carved from stone, lions and griffins (the so-called anthropomorphic ornament) symbolize, continue to this day.

The Church of the Intercession on the Nerl is included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site under the common name "White-stone monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal."

Currently, the temple is under the joint jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church and Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve. The church holds regular services, the rest of the time it is open as a museum exhibition. Excursion service is carried out.

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