?
Военные храмы в Российской империи начала ХХ в.: деятельность комиссии для удовлетворения религиозно-нравственных нужд войск и образцовый проект Ф. М. Вержбицкого
Military churches not only played a signifi cant role in the spiritual life of
Russia in the New Age, but also represent a important cultural phenomenon. Military
cathedrals, placed in large cities, primarily in St. Petersburg, performed a memorial
function, but on the edge of the empire, ery in places of deployment of military
units, temporary churches, small in size, were most often used. The beginning of the
20th century is characterized by an unprecedented intensifi cation of the construction
of regimental churches: from 1900 to 1917 more than 100 military churches were
erected. First of all, this was due to the creation of a special commission on the
religious and moral needs of the troops which was instructed to develop the type of
military churches and to ensure that each regiment had its own stone church. An
energetic protopresbyter of the military and naval clergy, Fr. Alexander Zhelobovsky
and General of Infantry I. D. Tatishchev. The development of an exemplary project of
a church for military offi cials was entrusted to a civil engineer F. M. Verzhbitsky. On
April 13, 1901, the project was approved by Emperor Nicholas II. The exemplary temple
was a one-nave red-brick basilica with a high hipped bell tower above the narthex,
crowned with one dome and richly decorated in the spirit of uzoroch'e — architectural
style of the 17th century. In total, about 69 churches were built. However, the offi ce
work of this commission has not yet been included in scientifi c circulation. We have
found and analyzed the documents of the above-mentioned Commission, which
includes extensive correspondence with the Military Ministry, the Main Engineering
Directorate and the headquarters of military districts and garrison units. In addition
to the petitions of priests and regiment commanders for fi nancing construction, cover
letters from protopresbyter A. A. Zhelobovsky and I. D. Tatishchev to the Engineering
Department, the fi les contain cost estimates and construction plans from 1901 to
1908. Another type of military temple was represented by three three-nave regimental
basilicas in the Western Territory (civil engineer M. M. Prozorov). The construction of
regimental churches was carried out mainly on the “national outskirts” of the Russian
empire: in Poland, the Baltic States, the North-Western Territory, Central Asia,
Transcaucasia. They not only symbolized the presence of the Russian imperial power
and the army, but also became important accents constructed in new architectural
style.