Temple of the Martyr Tatiana at MSU

The Church of the Martyr Tatiana at MSU is located at the corner of Mokhovaya and Bolshaya Nikitskaya streets. The temple is the home temple of Moscow State University.

The order to establish the university was signed on January 12 (25), 1755, the day of commemoration of the Roman martyr Tatiana. Since then, the saint has been considered the patroness of the university and all Russian students.

The first house church appeared at the university in 1791, but it was destroyed during Napoleon’s stay in the city and the fire of 1812. Subsequently, the new church was built in the wing of the Pashkov mansion, acquired for the needs of the university in 1833. The building on the corner of Mokhovaya and Bolshaya Nikitskaya was converted, it had an audience and a library. In 1837, a house church was consecrated in the right wing, which became the home church for several generations of the Moscow intelligentsia.

In 1918, the temple was closed. Under Soviet rule, there was a reading room and a student theater. Divine services in the temple resumed in 1995. At the beginning of the XXI century, the interior of the temple was restored, and a mosaic icon of St. Tatiana appeared on its facade and the inscription “The Light of Christ enlightens all”.