Church of the Nativity of Christ in Varvarino
On May 6, 1689, a patriarchal decree was issued on the construction of a stone church in honor of the Nativity of Christ with a chapel of the Prophet Elijah in the village of Varvarina. The owner of the village, stolnik Sergei Ivanovich Miloslavsky, petitioned for the construction of a new church. In 1693, the Church of the Nativity was ready: “… 202 (1693) on November 14, two antimins were given to the Moscow district, to the newly built Church of the Nativity, and in the chapel of the Prophet Elijah, and Priest John took the antimins of the church.” Since that time, the village has been given a second name – Rozhdestvenskoye. In the second half of the 18th century, after a series of divisions, the village of Rozhdestvenno and the village of Varvarino were jointly owned by Nikolai Mikhailovich Miloslavsky and Anna Nikitichna Naryshkina. Subsequently, among the owners of the estate were representatives of famous Russian surnames: the real privy councilor and cavalier Sergei Petrovich Rumyantsev, Princess Lyubov Petrovna Golitsina. Presumably in 1803, a three-tiered bell tower was added to the church. During the invasion of the French army in 1812, vessels and other utensils were stolen from the Church of the Nativity. On December 27, 1813, the church was consecrated again. In 1864, a north aisle was added to the church in the name of the Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky. On April 27, 1922, church valuables were seized in the Church of the Nativity. In 1923, believers submitted an application for registration of a religious community. Apparently, it was registered, because services were held here (albeit intermittently) until 1938, when the last rector of the church, Priest Alexander Minervin, was arrested. Alexander’s father was sentenced to capital punishment and shot at the Butovo training ground. In 2000, he was canonized by the Council of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia. In 1938, the Church of the Nativity of Christ was closed, its building was used as a utility room for the pioneer camp. The interior decoration was completely lost in the 20th century. The interior painting has not been preserved to this day. In 1992, the church was returned to the faithful, and restoration work began. Most of them were completed by 2020, and on October 4, 2020, the great consecration of the Church of the Nativity of Christ took place.
Address: Varvarino village, 70
