Church of Boris and Gleb, Kideksha: description, history, architecture, interesting facts. Where is the Church of Saints Boris and Gleb in Zyuzino: exact address and schedule of services

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I continue my story about visiting the Kidekshi temple ensemble, an ancient small village in which the princely residence of Yuri Dolgoruky was once located.

This time it is entirely dedicated to the main temple of the historical and architectural ensemble - the white stone church of the 12th century.

Church of Boris and Gleb in Kideksha, 12th century

Surely, many have heard about it, and most (at least those who are at least a little interested in history) have a great idea of ​​what it looks like. But the Church of Boris and Gleb is rarely mentioned among the masterpieces Ancient Rus'. Although it is she who is the oldest on the land of Suzdal.

An exhibition dedicated to the history of the Kidekshi temple complex. Western porch of the temple

Boris and Gleb Church was built by order of Yuri Dolgoruky, the son of Vladimir Monomakh, as the main temple of his residence in 1152.

The basis for choosing the site for the construction of this church was the legend about the meeting here of two brothers, Boris and Gleb, the sons of Prince Vladimir Krasnoe Solnyshko. Here, on the banks of the Nerl River, their camp was located.

Subsequently, the brothers were killed by their own brother Svyatopolk, nicknamed the Accursed, and became the first Russian holy martyrs.

Holy princes Vladimir, Boris and Gleb with the lives of Boris and Gleb. Frontier XVII-XVIII— XX century

This church was built in honor of the brothers Boris and Gleb. And it has stood here for almost nine centuries.

Boris and Gleb Church - the oldest white stone monument Vladimir region. It is believed that she laid the foundation for the white stone churches of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality. Nowadays this church is a monument of history and architecture and is included in the UNESCO list.

Apse of the Church of the Holy Princes Boris and Gleb

Various sources say that initially the Boris and Gleb Church was similar in appearance to the oldest white-stone Vladimir churches - the Demetrius Cathedral in Vladimir and the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl, so it is not difficult to imagine what it once looked like.

Left fresco in the central apse

But the Boris and Gleb Church was not so richly decorated - both in the interior decoration and in the external white stone carvings. The facade of the church in Kideksha is decorated only with an arcature belt, which later became an obligatory element of the carving of temples of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality.

Fresco above the window in the central apse

Right fresco in the central apse

The temple in Kideksha was built using the same technology as other white stone temples of that time: from hewn white stone of a rectangular shape, using the backfill method (this is when two parallel walls are laid out, and the space between them is filled with stones with lime mortar). Due to this, the temple walls were very strong and thick.

Internal masonry of the temple

The cobblestone foundation of the Boris and Gleb Church goes one and a half meters deep into the earth. They knew how to build in ancient times! And, perhaps, thanks to the art of the builders, the white stone masterpieces of ancient architects still stand.

An exhibition dedicated to the history of the temple. Western porch

The temple was badly damaged during the Mongol-Tatar invasion in 1238, but a year later it was put in order.

Then the Boris and Gleb Church was partially rebuilt at the turn of the 16th-17th centuries after the collapse of part of the vaults.

Murals above the choir

The choir and its vaults, which were reached by wooden stairs, have survived to this day.

Staircase to the choir. View from the south

But the main thing is that frescoes from the 12th century have survived in the temple: Horsemen, Holy Wives, Christ Pantocrator and the remains of floral ornaments on the vaults and in the central apse, discovered during restoration in 2004.

12th-century fresco of Christ Pantocrator in a niche in the southern wall of the temple

In the excavation, which remains open to the gaze of tourists and enclosed only by railings, the original floor level of the 12th century is visible with a white stone place for the clergyman.

Fragments of frescoes and the original floor of the temple in the central apse

Subsequently, the Church of Boris and Gleb became a princely tomb. Here in 1159 the son of Yuri Dolgoruky, Prince Boris, was buried. He was buried in the right, southern arcasole of the temple.

Tombstone of Prince Boris, son of Yuri Dolgoruky

And two years later, here, opposite his burial, in the left northern arcasol, his wife Maria was buried, and in 1202 their daughter Euphrosyne was buried. Remains of princely burials in Soviet years disappeared somewhere without a trace.

12th century fresco over the burial of Yuri Dolgoruky's son

It seemed to me that the temple was in dire need of careful and highly professional restoration. But even in this form it delights immensely.

Composition “Creation of the World” in Kideksha

At the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, a vestibule was added to the western façade of the church. For the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, in 1913, the vault of the vestibule was painted on the theme of the Old Testament.

Church of Boris and Gleb in Kideksha. Composition “Creation of the World”, 1913.

This composition is called “Creation of the World”. It consists of nine medallions.

The temple exposition contains a diagram of the location of medallions.

Medallion No. 1. “The first day of creation.”

“And God said: Let there be light...”

Medallion No. 2. “The second day of creation.”

“And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water...”

Medallion No. 3. “The third day of creation.”

“And God said: Let the waters under the heaven be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear...”

Medallion No. 4. “The fourth day of creation.”

“And God said: Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to illuminate the earth...”

Medallion No. 5. “The fifth day of creation.”

“And God said, Let the water bring forth living things; and let the birds fly over the earth, across the firmament of heaven..."

Medallion No. 6. “The sixth day of creation.”

“And God said, Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds. Cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth, water that creeps... And God said: Let us make man in Our image, in Our likeness..."

Medallion No. 7. “The seventh day of creation” (“Fatherland”).

“And God finished His work on the seventh day... and rested on the seventh day from all His work...”

Medallion No. 8 – “The Fall.”

By breaking God's commandment, Adam and Eve sinned by eating fruit from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Medallion No. 9. “Expulsion from Paradise”

Archangel Michael, with a sword in his hands, expels the crying Adam and Eve from Paradise.

This is a brief visual summary of biblical stories.

On the sides of the portal (entrance to the central part of the temple) are images of the Archangel Gabriel (left) and Michael (right).

Archangel Gabriel. Painting of the western porch. Left-hand side

Archangel Michael. Painting of the western porch. Right side

Still a wonderful place – Kideksha. Amazing. How did you get along here? different styles, different eras on several tens of square meters and even in one temple? From the 12th to the beginning of the 20th century - and all in one temple complex. And at the same time, nothing hurts the eye with its inconsistency. Simple, harmony, living history, in which every detail is important...

Fresco in the central apse

I would really like to visit Kideksha again. And take a closer look at what she glanced at only briefly, rushing to meet the bright and handsome Suzdal, a holiday city with which it is so difficult for the modest Kideksha to compete.

Many say that Kideksha pales in comparison to Suzdal. Most tourists are too lazy to look here. Considering that there is no need, if nearby, just four kilometers away - another living story, and much more famous - former capital principalities, .

And I really wanted to come here, to this village with such a strange name. And I was lucky. I saw this quiet, dim, but such majestic antiquity.

Have you been to Kideksha? And what do you remember most?

——————

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On July 30, 1021, the first church built in honor of Saints Boris and Gleb was consecrated. We invite you to travel around the country and find 7 Russian Boris and Gleb churches.

In Kideksha

In the small town of Kideksha you can find one of the earliest churches in North-Eastern Rus'. It was built in 1152 during the reign of Yuri Dolgoruky, who most likely ordered the foundation of the church in honor of his younger sons Boris and Gleb. For Dolgoruky, the names of the first famous Russian saints were especially significant - they were the patrons of the princely house. The restraint of the external decor and the simplicity of the lines of the temple, made of beautifully hewn and laid almost dry squares of white stone, indicate that it was conceived as main cathedral, located on the eastern borders of the Suzdal principality.

In Borisoglebsky

On the Norwegian border, on the left bank of the Pasvik River, in the village of Borisoglebsky, in Murmansk region, you can find another church of Boris and Gleb. In the 16th century, the Pazretsky churchyard was located in this place, and in 1565 its founder, Saint Tryphon, decided to build a small wooden church with a bell tower here, thereby trying to facilitate his missionary work to spread the Orthodox faith among the indigenous population - the Kolts and Sami. In the 20s of the 19th century, the left bank of the Pasvik River, where the church is located, went to Norway, however, the one square kilometer area on which the church is located was left to Russia. Prince Alexey Alexandrovich, who visited the Pazretsky churchyard in the summer of 1870, allocated funds for the repair of the dilapidated church, and then initiated the construction of a new building. Four years later, the consecration of the temple took place. IN this moment It is not so easy to get to the church due to the fact that it is located in the border area.

Mention of one of the main Ryazan churches can be found as early as 1152. True, in those days it was not a white-stone cathedral, but a wooden church, which in the time of St. Basil became the see of the Ryazan bishops. The next mention of the church is found only in 1568. Modern look the temple received a century later: in 1686-1687 it was built on the ruins old church at the expense of the bishop's treasury. Before the revolution, ancient icons were kept in the temple: a carved image of the Savior, an image of the passion-bearing princes Boris and Gleb, a copy of the 1611 Theodotevskaya icon Mother of God and the Korsun Icon of the Mother of God. As usual, we were in the life of the temple hard times: in 1924 it was used as a granary, and in 1934 it was completely closed. After the war, in 1946, services were resumed in the temple. The cathedral status received by the temple in those years has been retained to this day.

In Veliky Novgorod

The Church of Boris and Gleb in ancient Novgorod was built in 1536 on the foundation ancient temple, which was dismantled. The chronicler emphasizes that the temple was erected in 5 months by twenty Novgorod “great masters” with the help of residents of Zapolskaya and Konyukhovaya streets and the participation of “Novgorod and Moscow guests.” The appearance of the church fully reflects the new trends that were characteristic of Novgorod architecture of the 16th century: five domes, facades ending with decorative keeled arches, a belt of pentagonal flat two-stage niches is repeated many times on the drums and apse of the temple. Like other Novgorod buildings of that period, the Church of Boris and Gleb was made of brick. In the 60s of last year, the church bell tower “did not fit in” with the new look of the embankment - it was dismantled, and the church was turned into a warehouse. In the 80-90s, after research, the church was restored, and services were resumed there in 1992.

In Rostov

The Rostov Church of Boris and Gleb is the only surviving architectural monument of the Rostov appanage principality. According to legend, the stone temple was built at the behest of Prince Konstantin Vsevolodovich on the site of the ancient wooden church of Kirik and Iulita. It was in this temple that during the baptism of Rus' the christenings of the residents of Rostov took place, so the place was called the “common Khreshchatyk”. In the Laurentian Chronicle, the construction of the temple dates back to 1214-1218. The Rostov Church of Boris and Gleb received its modern appearance in 1761 thanks to financial assistance local merchants. Unfortunately, our contemporaries were never able to come to a unanimous decision regarding the forms of restoration of the temple - the unique monument today is in a deplorable state.

In Suzdal

Boris and Gleb Church was built in Suzdal on the right bank of the Kamenka River in late XVII- beginning of the 18th century. Until this time, the Boris and Gleb Monastery was located on this site, which was burned during the Time of Troubles. The temple supposedly received its modern appearance at the end of the 17th century - this fact has not been documented, however, experts came to this conclusion while studying the architecture of the building. Built in the local “Baroque” style from red brick, the temple is richly decorated with carved platbands, a portal and pilasters. Of particular interest is the system of transition from four to eight, made in the form of deep niches. Inside the temple you can find paintings from the 18th and 19th centuries.

Another temple in memory of the noble princes Boris and Gleb can be found in the ancient village of Gosoma Bryansk region. Unfortunately, there is no exact dating of the construction of the temple; however, the first mention of the village’s parish is found in church books in 1610. Two centuries later, landowner Ekaterina Tyutcheva ordered the construction of a new stone church instead of a dilapidated wooden one. The landowner’s desire came in the difficult year of 1812: either due to hasty construction, or due to some construction miscalculations later, the temple “began to crack,” and in 1895 it had to be dismantled. True, almost immediately work began on the construction of a new temple in the name of Boris and Gleb. By the beginning of the last century, the temple was completed, consecrated, and services began to be held in it. In the years Great War the temple was badly damaged. New life the temple, the shape of which from a bird's eye view is a cross, received in 1992 - the parish community was revived in it, restoration work first with the residents’ own efforts, and then with the help of regional budget funds.

Boris and Gleb in Degunin first mentioned in a scribe's book in 1584 as a wooden, rectangular building (like an ordinary hut), and with it several courtyards of the church clergy and arable land. How long ago Borisoglebskaya was built in Degunino - no information has been preserved. The holy passion-bearers Princes Boris and Gleb have long been revered in Rus' as heavenly patrons the Russian land, the princes especially worshiped them, seeing them as almost personal assistants. Therefore, it is not surprising that in the village, which was once the patrimony of princes and their wives (first mentioned in the Spiritual testament of Ivan Kalita), there was a church dedicated to the noble princes Boris and Gleb.

During the Time of Troubles, the village and its inhabitants were devastated by the interventionists. Degunino turned into a run-down village. However, it did not disappear completely and gradually began to revive over time. So in 1633 the church was restored, also building a chapel in honor of John the Evangelist.

Icon of St. Boris and Gleb on the external wall before restoration

In 1700, by decree of Peter I himself, Degunino, together with the dilapidated temple, was separated from the estate of the Nativity Cathedral and granted to the Moscow Alekseevsky Nunnery in Chertolye (where Christ the Savior now stands). The villagers, together with the sisters of the Alekseevsky (rather poor) monastery, collected funds and in 1762 built a new wooden, but on a stone basement, single-altar church, consecrating it again in the name of Sts. blgv. knn. Boris and Gleb. However, already in 1764, Catherine II separated Degunino from the monastery possessions, the peasants became “economic”, and the Boris and Gleb Church was an ordinary parish church.

Nikolaevskaya played a special role in the life of the village and church Railway, laid here in 1843-1851. Land was transferred for its construction, for which in 1863 the state paid quite decent compensation to the peasant society.

15.05.2009
Patronal holiday

This made it possible to fulfill a long-standing dream - to build a decent stone one instead of a small wooden church that could no longer accommodate all the parishioners. Having secured the consent of the Bogorodsk merchant V.A. Prorekhov, who rented land for a brick factory from the peasant community, paid the rent in kind for 12 years in advance (which amounted to 36,000 bricks), the rural community petitioned Metropolitan Philaret to build a stone three-altar church (all 3 altars are nearby) and received a charter . A new temple in pseudo-Russian style was placed next to the old wooden one. The main volume of the massive parallelepiped was adjoined from the east by a semicircular apse, and from the west by a two-tier bell tower (on the lower rectangular tier there was an octagon with a wooden tent). In 1866, the temple with three altars was consecrated in the name of St. Princes Boris and Gleb, St. Nicholas of Myra and the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow.” The old wooden church next to the new temple stood until 1884.

Prayer room in Children's home № 28

In the first years of Soviet power, the temple was not touched. In 1925, they even registered the charter of the Borisoglebsk community of believers, however, thanks to the policies pursued by the authorities, already in the early 1930s. services stopped because there was simply no one to serve them. At the beginning of 1941, empty Temple of Boris and Gleb in Degunin they turned it over to an outpatient clinic, then the Rodina factory sewed knitted sports suits in God's House, and since 1987 the cars of the Eye Microsurgery Center have been parked.

09.05.2012
Honoring veterans of the Great Patriotic War

In 1960, the village became part of Moscow. The temple building was placed under protection as an architectural monument, thanks to which it has survived to this day. In 1991, the Boris and Gleb Church with a destroyed bell tower, hidden behind a reinforced concrete fence, was nevertheless returned to the believers, who began its revival. Today it has been restored and pleases the eye with its beauty, modestly hidden among the high-rise buildings.

For many years, the church community has been patronizing orphanage No. 28 for children with disabilities, psychoneurological boarding school No. 25, hospice No. 2 and others. medical institutions, where prayer services, conversations, concerts and matinees are held for patients, and pilgrimage trips to holy places are organized.

Coordinates: 55°52′00″ n. w. 37°32′03″ E. d. /  55.8667750° N. w. 37.5342611° E. d. / 55.8667750; 37.5342611(G) (I) architectural monument

Temple of Boris and Gleb in Degunino- an Orthodox church belonging to the Znamensky deanery of the Moscow city diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. Located at: Deguninskaya street, building 18a.

Story

The first mention of the Boris and Gleb Church in the village of Degunino dates back to 1585, in connection with its destruction by the Polish-Livonian army, although the settlement itself has been listed as a village since 1339. In connection with the destruction of the temple, from the beginning of the 17th century Degunino was mentioned in documents as a village. In 1633, on the site of the burnt church, a new, wooden one was built, with a chapel in the name of the Apostle John the Theologian, financed by a local priest. In documents for 1676, the temple is listed as the Church of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, with a chapel of Saints Boris and Gleb in the village of Degunin. At the beginning of the reign of Tsar Peter Alekseevich, Degunino, together with the temple, was transferred into the possession of the church and, by decree of Patriarch Adrian, was assigned to the Alekseevsky nunnery. By a fortunate coincidence, the temple was not damaged during the War of 1812, but in documents for 1820 the temple is listed as single-altar. There is no reliable information about why there is only one altar left in the temple. According to documents from 1847-1850, the temple is included in the Pavshinsky deanery and is listed as wooden, single-altar, strong, on a stone foundation with a bell tower.

After the revolution, the temple operated until 1930, after which services were stopped due to the lack of clergy, and only in 1941, by decision of the Moscow Regional Council, the temple was officially closed and the building was converted into an outpatient clinic. In the 60s of the 20th century, the temple building was transferred to the Rodina artel of disabled people and it was adapted into a production workshop, the upper tiers of the bell tower were broken, the domes were removed, extensions were made, the building was surrounded by a reinforced concrete fence. The factory vacated the building only in 1985; the building was abandoned, but in 1987 it housed the garage of the MNTK Eye Microsurgery. The restoration of the temple began in 1991, when its building was transferred to the Orthodox community.

Thrones

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Notes

Literature

• Palamarchuk P. G. Outskirts of Moscow. Heterogeneity // Forty forties. A brief illustrated history of all Moscow churches. - M.: Astrel, 2004. - T. 3. - P. 50-56. - 696 s. - 7000 copies. - ISBN 5-17-026209-4.

An excerpt characterizing the Temple of Boris and Gleb in Degunin

- Well then! Do you know what is there and that there is someone? There is - future life. Someone is God.
Prince Andrei did not answer. The carriage and horses had long been taken to the other side and had already been laid down, and the sun had already disappeared halfway, and the evening frost covered the puddles near the ferry with stars, and Pierre and Andrey, to the surprise of the footmen, coachmen and carriers, were still standing on the ferry and talking.
– If there is God and there is a future life, then there is truth, there is virtue; and man's highest happiness consists in striving to achieve them. We must live, we must love, we must believe, said Pierre, that we do not live now only on this piece of land, but have lived and will live forever there in everything (he pointed to the sky). Prince Andrey stood with his elbows on the railing of the ferry and, listening to Pierre, without taking his eyes off, looked at the red reflection of the sun on the blue flood. Pierre fell silent. It was completely silent. The ferry arrived long ago, and only the waves of the current faint sound hit the bottom of the ferry. It seemed to Prince Andrei that this rinsing of the waves was saying to Pierre’s words: “true, believe it.”
Prince Andrei sighed and with a radiant, childish, tender gaze looked into Pierre’s flushed, enthusiastic, but increasingly timid face in front of his superior friend.
- Yes, if only it were so! - he said. “However, let’s go sit down,” added Prince Andrei, and as he got off the ferry, he looked at the sky that Pierre pointed out to him, and for the first time, after Austerlitz, he saw that high, eternal sky that he had seen lying on the Field of Austerlitz, and something that had long fallen asleep, something that was best in him, suddenly woke up joyfully and youthfully in his soul. This feeling disappeared as soon as Prince Andrei returned to the usual conditions of life, but he knew that this feeling, which he did not know how to develop, lived in him. The meeting with Pierre was for Prince Andrei an era that began, although in appearance the same, but in inner world his new life.

It was already dark when Prince Andrei and Pierre arrived at the main entrance of the Lysogorsk house. While they were approaching, Prince Andrey with a smile drew Pierre's attention to the commotion that had occurred at the back porch. A bent old woman with a knapsack on her back, and a short man in a black robe and with long hair, seeing the carriage driving in, they rushed to run back through the gate. Two women ran out after them, and all four, looking back at the stroller, ran into the back porch in fear.
“These are the Machines of God,” said Prince Andrei. “They took us for their father.” And this is the only thing in which she does not obey him: he orders these wanderers to be driven away, and she accepts them.
- What are God's people? asked Pierre.
Prince Andrei did not have time to answer him. The servants came out to meet him, and he asked about where the old prince was and whether they were expecting him soon.
The old prince was still in the city, and they were waiting for him every minute.
Prince Andrei led Pierre to his half, which was always waiting for him in perfect order in his father’s house, and he himself went to the nursery.
“Let’s go to my sister,” said Prince Andrei, returning to Pierre; - I haven’t seen her yet, she is now hiding and sitting with her God’s people. Serves her right, she will be embarrassed, and you will see God's people. C "est curieux, ma parole. [This is interesting, honestly.]
– Qu"est ce que c"est que [What are] God's people? - asked Pierre
- But you'll see.
Princess Marya was really embarrassed and turned red in spots when they came to her. In her cozy room with lamps in front of icon cases, on the sofa, at the samovar, sat next to her a young boy with a long nose and long hair, and in a monastic robe.
On a chair nearby sat a wrinkled, thin old woman with a meek expression on her childish face.
“Andre, pourquoi ne pas m"avoir prevenu? [Andrei, why didn’t you warn me?],” she said with meek reproach, standing in front of her wanderers, like a hen in front of her chickens.
– Charmee de vous voir. Je suis tres contente de vous voir, [Very glad to see you. “I’m so pleased that I see you,” she said to Pierre, while he kissed her hand. She knew him as a child, and now his friendship with Andrei, his misfortune with his wife, and most importantly, his kind, simple face endeared her to him. She looked at him with her beautiful, radiant eyes and seemed to say: “I love you very much, but please don’t laugh at mine.” After exchanging the first phrases of greeting, they sat down.
“Oh, and Ivanushka is here,” said Prince Andrei, pointing with a smile at the young wanderer.
– Andre! - Princess Marya said pleadingly.
“Il faut que vous sachiez que c"est une femme, [Know that this is a woman," Andrei said to Pierre.
– Andre, au nom de Dieu! [Andrey, for God’s sake!] – repeated Princess Marya.
It was clear that Prince Andrei’s mocking attitude towards the wanderers and Princess Mary’s useless intercession on their behalf were familiar, established relationships between them.
“Mais, ma bonne amie,” said Prince Andrei, “vous devriez au contraire m"etre reconaissante de ce que j"explique a Pierre votre intimate avec ce jeune homme... [But, my friend, you should be grateful to me that I explain to Pierre your closeness to this young man.]
- Vraiment? [Really?] - Pierre said curiously and seriously (for which Princess Marya was especially grateful to him) peering through his glasses into the face of Ivanushka, who, realizing that they were talking about him, looked at everyone with cunning eyes.
Princess Marya was completely in vain to be embarrassed for her own people. They were not at all timid. The old woman, with her eyes downcast but looking sideways at those who entered, had turned the cup upside down onto a saucer and placed a bitten piece of sugar next to it, sat calmly and motionless in her chair, waiting to be offered more tea. Ivanushka, drinking from a saucer, looked at the young people from under his brows with sly, feminine eyes.

The Church of Boris and Gleb in Kideksha was built during the reign of Yuri Dolgoruky, and is usually dated to 1152 - based on a message placed in the Typographical Chronicle just under this year: “Then George was prince in Suzhdalba, and God opened his wiser eyes to the church building, and erected many churches throughout the Suzdal country, and erected a church on a stone on the Nerl, the holy martyr Boris and Gleb, and the holy Savior in Suzdal, and Saint George in Volodymeri on the stone, and Pereyaslavl transferred the city from the Kleschenie, and founded a great city, and built a church in stone in honor of the Holy Savior, and filled it with wondrous books and relics of the saints, and founded the city of Gergev and in it a church built in stone in honor of the Holy Martyr George” (PSRL. 24:77).

In Kideksha, the remains of defensive ramparts have been preserved - near the mouth of the Kamenka River (“Kamenka” in Finno-Ugric language - “Kideksha”), which merges with the Nerlya, which flows into the Klyazma. Probably, the church itself was founded by Yuri Dolgoruky in honor of his younger sons Boris and Gleb, who received the names of the first saints glorified in the Russian land - patrons of the princely house. The Kideksha Church served as a tomb for one of these sons of Yuri Dolgoruky - Prince of Belgorod and Turov Boris Yuryevich, who died in 1159. His wife Maria (†1161) and their daughter Euphrosyne (†1202) are also buried here.

The Boris and Gleb Church, apparently, was conceived as the main cathedral of the town of Kidekshi on the eastern borders of the Suzdal principality, which was reflected in the restraint of its external decor and simplicity of lines. We should not forget that the temple in Kideksha, along with the Transfiguration Cathedral in Pereslavl Zalessky, is the earliest white stone building in Northwestern Rus'.

However, here too there are obvious parallels with Western European Romanesque art, which are slightly more clearly manifested in other monuments of temple architecture of the Vladimir-Suzdal land. In particular, attention is drawn to the arcature belt made of the so-called. “Lombard arches”, dividing the side walls of the temple into two tiers. It is characterized by a perspective portal of a very simple profile - in the form of three ledges (preserved only on the northern side) - with a slightly raised keystone on the front arch. Above the arcature belt in the spindles - the so-called. "curb". The drum also had a crenate belt (its remains were found under the roof of the temple). The base of the Boris and Gleb Church (currently located under the castle) is of the simplest rectangular shape. Inside the temple there are cross-shaped pillars, the blades are simple, single-shouldered, and the outer ones are double-ledged. On some masonry stones you can see identical signs of the princely masters - the same as on the walls of the Transfiguration Cathedral in Pereyaslavl.

The Church of Boris and Gleb is single-domed, four-pillar, three-apse. It is made of beautifully hewn and laid almost dry squares of high-quality white stone. In plan, the temple, excluding apses, is very close to a square. The outer blades divide the walls into three unequal spindles (the middle spindles are wider and higher than the side ones). The ledge-like narrowing of the outer blades creates a “perspective” appearance of the spinning wheels. The inner blades correspond to the outer ones, and the cross-shaped pillars correspond to them. Above the western portal in the wall on the interior side there is a unloading arch.

Dimensions of the Boris and Gleb Church, side of the dome square, general proportions, design features, the profile of the blades, the decor are similar to another surviving temple from 1152 - the Transfiguration Cathedral in Pereslavl-Zalessky. In this regard, the top of the temple is quite adequately reconstructed by analogy with the Spassky Cathedral.

Most likely, Kideksha suffered during the Mongol invasion, but already in 1239 the building of the Church of Boris and Gleb was repaired and consecrated, and a white stone seat and a carved altar barrier were probably built in it. But soon the town itself fell into disrepair and its inhabitants moved to neighboring Suzdal. Kideksha is not included in the “List of Russian cities near and far” (XIV-XV centuries).

In the 16th and early 17th centuries, the dome and part of the vaults of the church collapsed. In the 1660s, the dome, vaults and eastern pillars of the temple were completely dismantled, and the apses and eastern parts of the northern and southern walls were demolished to the level of the arcature belt. Then the eastern pillars were folded again, and the temple was covered with a closed vault with a small dome. The temple has survived in this form to this day.

Pilgrimage trips to the Church of Boris and Gleb in the village. Kideksha