The famous Moscow Maiden Field stretched into a long strip, conditionally starting from the Garden Ring and ending at the Novodevichy Convent. Borders can be considered in the east of Malaya Pirogovskaya, in the west - Pogodinskaya street. On the axis of the Maiden Field is located Big Pirogovskaya. These streets until 1924 were called Bolshaya and Malaya Tsaritsynsky, respectively. In this place was the court of Tsarina Evdokia Lopukhina - the wife of Tsar Peter I.
Name Maiden field. Where is it from?
Many people believe that the area owes its name to the nearby Novodevichy Convent, favored by Princess Sophia herself in the 17th century. Other hypotheses are being advanced, from which it follows that the Maiden Field was formed earlier. Moscow at an earlier date chose these places for festivities. Then it turns out the other way around - the monastery got its name from the neighboring area.
One version of the origin of the name Maiden Field says that during the time of the Tatar-Mongols, residents of local settlements brought the most beautiful girls here and sent them to the Golden Horde in payment of tribute. The second version is more pleasant. The name of the field came from the fact that in ancient times there were flood meadows, in the afternoon, village girls grazed cows here, and in the evenings they took walks, dances, sang, and arranged various games.
Place of mass festivities
In the history of Moscow, the Maiden Field is well known for its wide festivities and festivities. At the beginning, the holidays were arranged exclusively by the church, the main day being the veneration of the icon of the Mother of God of Smolensk. In her honor, the Novodevichy Convent was actually erected. Subsequently, Podnovinsky festivities, so beloved by the locals, moved to the Maiden Field. Often there were famous foreign guest performers who traveled all over Russia. Especially popular among the public were magicians Jenny Latour and Pinetti. The Russian treasury even allocated funds for which a wooden theater was built here. In it, for the ordinary people who walked, free performances were arranged. Unfortunately, the theater was abolished over time. In 1771, it ceased to operate due to the plague epidemic, and later the authorities did not begin to allocate money for its maintenance.
Coronation of Nicholas I
However, the walks on the field did not stop. I would like to pay special attention to the curious event that took place here in 1826. The celebration was dedicated to the coronation of Tsar Nicholas I. For the family of the emperor and high-ranking guests on the Maiden Field, a rotunda was built, galleries were stylishly decorated around it. Common people were invited to the celebrations. For them, in the open, they covered the usual tables with a varied diet: all kinds of pastries, beer, honey, fruits, smoked ham, fried meat and much more. Nearby were set fountains with wine (2 large and 16 small), white and red wine were beating directly from the nozzles. The maiden field was ready to receive guests. The holiday was widely publicized, and a huge crowd of suffering gratis treats arrived at the place. When a signal sounded to the beginning of the meal, the people stormed rushed to the fountains, tables. The crowd swept away everything in its path, and this, despite the fact that a decree was given, to act on signals. After a quarter of an hour it was impossible to recognize the richly cleaned area. The crowd turned everything here into ruins: tables, chairs were broken, eaten swept away in a matter of seconds, galleries destroyed. Such is the holiday.
After this solemn event, all the festivities in the area were covered. Conducted here only military reviews and military exercises. Only in 1864, the Podnovinsk festivities were resumed on the Maiden’s Field, and later wide celebrations of Maslenitsa and Easter were also held.
Novodevichy Convent
Being on the Maiden's Field, everyone notices the neighborhood of the Novodevichy Convent. The Prechistenka leads to it, by the way, its name happened precisely because the road led to the Novodevichy Convent, where the shrine was located - the icon of the Most Holy Mother of God. Above the walls of the monastery rises a multi-tier bell tower. Among the many monastic structures visible from the Maiden Field is the Smolensky Cathedral, which was built in memory of the liberation of the Smolensk Fortress in 1525.
Already in the first days of its existence, the Novodevichy Convent was known as the richest feudal economy. In the XVII century, the monastery owned many Russian lands, it was considered a major landowner. Here were the nuns Tsarevna Sofya, I.F. Godunova, E.F. Lopukhina. This explains the special interest in the monastery by the authorities and the good material security.
In the 15th century, from the western side of the Maiden Field, right up to the Moskva River, the courtyard of the Rostov bishop extended, surrounded by small settlements of its workers, in that place are now Rostov lanes. This area in those days was called here Dorogomilova Sloboda.
Clinical Town History
The maiden field at the end of the 19th century changed its format. This was closely connected with the medical faculty of Moscow State University. The number of students increased, in the classrooms of educational institutions on Rozhdestvenka and Mokhovaya there were not enough places. In 1884, the Moscow government decided to transfer to the university free of charge land on a maiden's field for development by the university of medical institutes and clinics. The total allocated area was 18 hectares. Earlier in 1882, the merchant, Morozova, presented the university with 6 hectares of land located nearby. The gift came in handy. At the expense of Morozova and Paschalova, the first buildings of the psychiatric and obstetric departments were erected.
Thus began the construction of the Clinical Town. The initiator of his construction was then the famous surgeon - N.V. Sklifosovsky, in 1880-1891 - a professor at the university. The complex of the Clinical Town was designed by Konstantin Bykovsky.
The official bookmark came in 1887, after Alexander III approved the estimates and the project of Bykovsky.
Construction completion
The girl’s field, the photo of which confirms the scale of the territory, began to fill up with medical facilities. The clinical town grew. The state financed the construction, but entrepreneurial charitable contributions played a huge role in the construction of clinics and institutes.
In 1897, construction was completed. As a result, 12 clinics, 1 outpatient clinic and 8 institutes were erected for Moscow State University. Since then, the Maiden Field has been closely associated with its history with the development of medicine in Russia, and later the Soviet Union.
As for the mass festivities, they continued here for several years after the opening of the Clinical Town. But in 1911 they were transferred to Presnya. The noise produced had a negative effect on the health of patients, and at the request of the clinic staff, the Government decided to transfer. In 1930, the medical faculty was transformed into the First Medical Institute, which later received the title of Sechenov.
Until now, the Maiden Field is considered the main place where the leading medical clinics are concentrated not only in Moscow, but throughout Russia.
Clinics
What clinics on Maiden Field were built?
The construction was completed in 1890:
- therapeutic clinic of Dr. Zakharyin;
- surgical Sklifosovsky;
- clinics of nervous diseases;
- Filatov Children's Clinic;
- Klein Institute for General Pathological Anatomy;
- Institute of General Pathology, Pharmacology, Hygiene.
In 1892, hospital clinics:
- Ostroumov therapy;
- Surgery
- propaedeutics of internal diseases;
- eye diseases.
In 1895, the general clinical laboratory of the ear, throat, and nose was opened.
Now the facades of surgical and therapeutic clinics are looking at Bolshoi Pirogovskaya. The head of the department of therapy was the famous Ostroumov. In his clinic with pulmonary hemorrhage was A.P. Chekhov.
The most beautiful building of the Clinical Town is the general clinical outpatient clinic, which was built by the architect Zalessky and opened in 1896. Now the building is hosting the MMA administration. In front of the building is a monument to Sechenov - the founder of the school of physiology; it was designed in 1958 by Karbel.
In the southwest, there are two buildings in the neoclassical style - the pathological institute and the clinic of skin diseases. Nearby in 1960 a monument was erected to the sculptor Postov's Abrikosov.
Michael Bulgakov
History is so closely connected with medicine here that it turned out that even the writer Mikhail Bulgakov, who had been living here since 1927, was a doctor by profession. His house on Maiden Field has always been open to guests. Frequent visitors were Ilf and Petrov, Olesha, artists of the Moscow Art Theater Yashin, Khmelev. In the 30s, Bulgakov just started his career in the Art Theater. Mikhail Bulgakov lived here with his wife, Lyubov Beloselskaya-Belozerskaya. The famous novel “The Master and Margarita” was born right there, the original name of which was “Consultant with a Hoof”. The master also worked on the play “The Cabal of the Holiness” and the story “Moliere”.
Square
The arrows of Bolshoi Pirogovskaya and Elanskogo streets will lead to Maiden Field square. This single piece of land in a once deserted field was not built up. It was in this place that the same festive celebrations took place, which opened here since 1864. As we already said, after the construction of the Clinical Town, noisy fun at the request of the medical faculty was transferred to Presnya in 1911. They decided to turn the local squares, squares, boulevards into a large park, which was equipped in 1912-1913.
The green, cozy square now extends into a triangle, which is formed by Bolshaya Pirogovskaya, Elanskaya street, which goes into Plyushchikha, as well as the passage of the Maiden’s field. Colorful greenery, well-groomed paths, a fountain, benches - a world of peace, sometimes you can’t even believe that the Garden Ring is very nearby. A monument to Filatov, a pediatrician who supervised the nearest pediatric clinic, is installed on the corner of the square.
Temple of Michael
Not far from the clinic of obstetrics and gynecology is the temple of Michael at the clinics on Maiden Field. It was built according to the design of Nikiforov, Meisner in the main section of the Clinical town. This pearl that adorns the hospital complex gives it completeness and integrity.
In 1894, Alexander III approved the project of architects, and the laying of the temple was immediately carried out. The territory occupied a dominant position in the clinical town. There was also a symbolic meaning, in the obstetric corps babies were born. In the same temple they were often baptized. Both physical and spiritual life was born here at the same time.
Construction went quickly, and already in 1897, the church of St. Michael on the Maiden Field was consecrated. Its consecration marked the complete completion of the construction of the Clinical Town; it was the crown of labor of all those who built the medical complex. Michael’s Temple filled the life of the town with special inspiration and meaning. The parishioners here were doctors, students, and patients, as well as residents of local neighboring houses.
Hard times. Recovery
In 1922, in difficult atheistic times for Russia, the Bolsheviks looted the temple on the Maiden Field. The property was seized and declared "the property of the people." In 1931, the church was closed, the domes were destroyed, all this despite the mass protests of local residents. At first, a cultural enlightenment was organized in the temple building, then a sports hall was equipped here, then a pharmacy, office premises, and a warehouse. In 1977, the temple was almost destroyed at all to make way for the construction of the food block. Only the incredible efforts of the public helped stop the vandals. For many years, the dilapidated temple was empty. Only in the early 1990s the building was finally handed over to believers. The remains of the temple for a long time restored, restored. In 2002, the church of Michael reopened its doors to believers, a prayer sounded in it again, its former beauty and glory returned.
