Church, factory, church again: History of the Church of Saints Florus and Laurus in Zatsepa

Who were the Saints Florus and Laurus?

According to their Life, the brothers Florus and Laurus were Christian martyrs who lived in the Roman province of Illyria (modern Albania and Croatia) in the 2^nd century A.D. Both the Orthodox and Catholic Churches venerate their memory on 31 August (18 August Old Style).

The two young converts to Christianity were master masons and preachers of the new faith. The local ruler ordered that Florus and Laurus be thrown into a well and covered with soil for smashing the statues of pagan gods in the temple they built. In the Middle Ages, Christians found their incorruptible relics and transported them to Constantinople. There are reports of Russian pilgrims seeing them in the 13-14^th centuries.

As the legend has it, a miracle preceded the finding of the relics, as cattle pestilence came to an end all of a sudden in the surrounding country. Since then, Russian Christians have worshipped these saints as patrons of the animals, particularly of horses. Some ancient Russian canons even insist that horses should be painted on their icons, though their Life and foreign sources make no mention of it. The names of the saints is another interesting element: Florus was often called Frolus and Laurus, Laverus.

Popularity in Russia

Peasants and coachmen alike highly respected Florus and Laurus, and refrained from using horses on their commemoration day. Instead they fed them well, and cleaned and washed the animals. Women baked special biscuits impressed with the image of a horse hoof. Horses were decorated with flowers and ribbons and taken to church where priests sprayed them with holy water. Some Russian proverbs mention the saints: “If you have prayed to Frolus and Laverus well, you can expect horses to thrive,” or “Frolus and Laverus are kind to work horses.”

Literature also testifies to the fact that these two saints were very popular. For example, in War and Peace, the soldier, Platon Karatayev, prays: “‘O Lord, Jesus Christ, St. Nicholas, Frolus and Laurus, O Lord, Jesus Christ, St. Nicholas! Frolus and Laurus, O Lord, Jesus Christ – have mercy on us and save us!’ Then he made a low bow, got up and, with a sigh, sat down on his straw.” Another example, from the Soviet classics: the priest, Father Fyodor, a character in The Twelve Chairs by Ilf and Petrov, officiated at the Church of Saints Florus and Laurus.

However, the main indicator of the saints’ popularity is the number of buildings bearing their name. Some estimates suggest that Russia had about 250 chapels and churches consecrated in their honour; there were also many   church buildings with side altars dedicated to Florus and Laurus in the early 20^th century. Moscow alone had five of these:

• Two with side altars: the Church of the Three Holy Hierarchs in Kulishki (4/6 Maly Tryokhsvyatitelsky Pereulok) and the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity at the Yermakovskaya Almshouse (2/23 Korolenko Street; no longer in use);
• Three churches named after the two saints: the Church of Florus and Laurus at the Yermakovskoye Technical School (11 Prechistenskaya Embankment); the Church of Florus and Laurus near Myasnitskye Vorota (pulled down in 1935) and the Church of Florus and Laurus in Zatsepa, Zamoskvorechye District (9/1 Dubininskaya Street).

According to a legend, there used to be a Church of Florus and Laurus near the  Kremlin wall, which is why a gate was called Frolus Gate. Allegedly, the church was moved to Myasnitskaya Sloboda on Ivan the Terrible’s orders. In the mid-17^th century, the Vernicle Image of the Saviour was placed above the gate entrance, and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich ordered to call them Spasskiye Gate (Spas is the Russian for Saviour). There is still Frolov Pereulok as a reminder of the Church in Myasniki .

The Church in Zatsepa and its history

One of the theories suggests that the name of Zatsepa Street near Paveletsky Railway Station means “beyond the chain.” In the late 17^th century, Zemlyanoi Gorod (Earth City), which later became the Garden Ring, was a customs border and there was a security checkpoint which inspected all the carts that were entering the capital city. This gradually became a place-name for a square, rampart, blind alley and several driveways.

Before the year 1922, what is now Dubininskaya Street was known as Kolomenskaya-Yamskaya Street. “Kolomenskaya” indicates that the Kolomensky Highway began at Zatsepa, while “Yamskaya” means the area was settled by coachmen. The coachmen moved there in the late 16^th century, and this is why the Church of Florus and Laurus, then wooden, was built in the area in the year 1625. The church stood for slightly over 100 years until it was destroyed by fire in the year 1738.

At the request of local parishioners, a stone church was built at the site a year later. This church was named after the Icon of the Mother of God “Consolation of All the Afflicted.” In the year 1835, its belfry was rebuilt in Empire style along with the side altars and the refectory, and then most of the quadrangle in 1861–1862. The church’s west wing was extended in the year 1909.

Following the 1917 revolution, the church was used to store church valuables – icons, sanctities and church plate – brought from all over Moscow, including from the Church of Christ the Saviour. Worship was irregular and virtually stopped in 1937 after the priest, Nikolai Vinogradov, was arrested and executed for “anti-Soviet propaganda.” In 1938, the church was closed down and began to serve unusual purposes: the Moscow City Council’s archives say part of the church was used as a club for the blind, which then let the place to animal catchers in 1940.

Later on, the former church became a factory for metal graphics and engraving works. The manufacturing process caused serious damage to the building: some murals were destroyed, others painted over, and the remaining images were exposed to acid and alkali vapors and equipment vibrations. The tram circle line around the church, where the famous A tram (Annushka) made a U-turn, did not help either.

The building changed dramatically both on the inside and the outside: it had partition walls and inter-floor constructions, and a small dome had disappeared. In 1957, an attempt was made to blow up the belfry; but the explosion destroyed only the top tiers, while the foundation survived. As rumours had it, the wreckage was later used for … decoration: crushed brick was sprinkled over some streets during the 6^th World Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow. But it could be just another Moscow legend.

In 1960, the building was belatedly recognised as an architectural monument and placed under government protection, but only on paper. It continued to function as a factory until it was moved to 21 Zhukov Proyezd in 1989, though some shops continued to operate for another few years. In January 1991, the city officially handed the building over to the Russian Orthodox Church, and on Easter Day, 7 April, religious services resumed for the first time in years. Interestingly, the first side altar to be consecrated was that of the Saint Martyrs Florus and Laurus. Currently, the church has two names – the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Consolation of All the Afflicted” and the Church of Saints Florus and Laurus in Zatsepa.

The long-awaited restoration

The research and design works for the church restoration began in 1978. Seven years later, a restoration plan was drafted for the belfry and the dome but it was not until 1995 that the plan began to be implemented. The Russian Orthodox Church received the building “in an unsatisfactory technical condition” and was expected to do the restoration work at its own expense, as the City Council decided. The restoration proceeded slowly and was frequently put on hold.

In 2015, the church was included in the city programme for support to cultural heritage sites. The city authorities offered a targeted subsidy to the patriarchy. The restoration work was completed within 18 months (from June 2015 to December 2016).

The restoration project covered all elements of the building:

• the façade: the dome and the cross were renovated along with the roof, the rotund and the porticos, the northern and southern porches (including the stone steps), the moldings were recreated and the protective plastering reinstated;
• the dome: the unique structure of wooden beams was restored, damp proofing was installed and the inside bricks of the dome were insulated;
• interior – most of the wooden parts in the main entrance and the entrance hall were replaced, stone tiles took the place of the old wooden floors inside the church;
• utilities – water and heating were installed in the building along with electricity and telephone communications, sewage and lightning protection fitted too.

The Moscow Government has concluded that all the works were implemented at a high professional level, and awarded the Moscow Restoration-2016 Prize to the project heads. This is how the restoration of the Church of Saints Florus and Laurus ended 40 years after it was formally begun.