11/04/09Prince Dmitry Pozharsky Memorial Chapel Is Opened in Suzdal
On November 4, 2009, on the National Unity Day, an official ceremony of unveiling the monument to Dmitry Pozharsky took place at the Savior and St. Euphemius Monastery. Dmitry Pozharsky’s name is dear to every Russian. Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, together with Kuzma Minin, a citizen of Nizhny-Novgorod, headed the people's volunteer army, which liberated Moscow from the Polish troops in 1612. This event put the end to the so-called Time of Troubles in Russia.
   Russia’s national hero, Prince Pozharsky was buried in the family vault at the Savior and St. Euphemius monastery in Suzdal in 1642. In 1885, above Pozharsky’s grave a chapel designed by the architect A. Gornostayev was built on the money donated by the people of Russia. In 1933, the monument was dismantled; a political prison existed at the monastery at that time. In 1967, the monastery’s architectural ensemble was handed over to the Vladimir and Suzdal museum. A wide-scale work on the restoration and adaptation for the museum’s needs began there. The Dmitry Pozharsky, National Hero of the Russian People exhibition was opened in the Church of the Annunciation on the grounds of the monastery. In 1974, a monument to Pozharsky appeared at his burial place (sculptor – N. Shcherbakov, architect – I. Gunst).
  
In 2007, the idea to restore the destroyed mausoleum was proposed during the meeting of Alisa Aksenova (director of the museum) with G. Poltavchenko (Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of Russia in the Central Federal District). This initiative was supported by D. Medvedev (at that time – the First Vice-Premier of the government of Russia) during his visit to Suzdal. A Committee of Trustees was formed to support the noble matter. The Russian Athos Society headed the fund-raising. The reconstruction was organized by the Vladimir and Suzdal Museum and was carried out by the Kitezh Creative Workshops. Metal doors of the monument were cast by the Russian Academy of Fine Arts.
   
It was necessary to study all the preserved documents for the precise reconstruction of the monument. These documents were found in Russia’s richest archives. About 1800 sheets were found including architectural, design and measuring drawings, contracts and estimate lists.
Photographs of the tomb were preserved as well as vast documentation about how the monument had been built.
  
The Pozharsky memorial was restored in two years. A cross and tomb-stone were put to mark the burial place. The monument in the form of a chapel was built not far from the cross and tomb-stone. Dmitry Medvedev, President of Russia, took part in the ceremony. Eulogius, Archbishop of Vladimir and Suzdal, conducted a special service of consecration of the chapel. The President laid flowers to the memorial cross on the grave of Dmitry Pozharsky. Alisa Aksenova, the Museum’s Director, acquainted D. Medvedev with the new exhibition dedicated to the monument’s history.
  
Guests of the solemn ceremony were treated with a special gift. The Governor’s Symphonic Orchestra (conductor – A. Markin) performed the Minin and Pozharky, or The Liberation of Moscow oratorio by S. Degtyarev. The rare edition of this work was transferred to the Vladimir and Suzdal Museum from the M. Glinka Central State Museum of Musical Culture.
Those arrived to the celebrations in Suzdal, who had taken part in the recreation of the “marble miracle” Among the guests were – G. Poltavchenko, President of the Committee of Trustees; A. Avdeyev, Minister of Culture of Russia; Z. Tzereteli, President of the Russian Academy of Fine Arts; A. Goryachev, head of the project (the Kitezh Creative Workshops).
| 
