Church of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin in Alexandrov
The first mention of the village of Alexandrovo dates back to 1607, when it was mentioned in one of the scribal books. Five years later, Boyar V.P. Morozov built a wooden church here in honor of the Assumption. A hundred and fifty years later, in 1779, V.V. Grushevsky, a senator, built a stone church on the site of the old wooden one. The church was consecrated on August 14. During the Patriotic War of 1812, A.I. Osterman-Tolstoy’s building was located near Alexandrovo, and before the fighting started, the French raided the village and “stole” two silver salvers from the ancient Gospel books. In April 1815, Brigadier I.S. Arsenyev, the uncle of A.S. Pushkin, V.L. Pushkin, witnessed the bill of sale. Soon, the village was given as a dowry to Arsenyev’s daughter, whose second cousin was Maria Mikhailovna Arsenyeva, the mother of poet M.Y. Lermontov. Later, Evdokia Arsenyeva built the chapel of the Holy Martyr John the Warrior at the Assumption Church. In March 1889, the estate was purchased by the Moscow manufacturer I.V. Shchapov. He was a philanthropist who magnificently restored the church and built two stone houses for the clergy. In 1892, he opened a parish school in the village of Alexandrovo. For this, Shchapov built a stone building, and from 1915 to 1925, future hieromartyr Peter Vorona served as a psalmist at the church. During the years of atheist rule, the temple was desolate and used as a forge, workshop, and fertilizer storage. The poisonous fumes caused the unique frescoes to crumble. In the mid-1980s, M.M. Boynovich, director of the Shchapovo agricultural company, began restoration of the temple to build a concert hall.. At the same time, a group of believers are petitioning for the transfer of the temple building to the Orthodox community. In 1990, the community gathered and parish life began. “The temple, which has risen from oblivion, like the Lord Jesus Christ who rose from the dead, will help us to live,” they said. In 1994, a joyful event occurred: a belfry with five bells was donated to the community. With the blessing of the rector, Alexander Gorokhovsky, a famous musician, became the bell-ringer of the temple. Since then, the belfry has been supplemented with new bells. Currently, the church has a Sunday school that caters to about 150 children. Since 2009, the church has also operated a bell-ringer’s school named after Saint Paulin, which welcomes children from Shchapovo and surrounding villages. For many years, the Polyphonic Choir, directed by Fr. Kuznetsov, has performed concerts that introduce listeners to the best works from the church’s musical treasury. These concerts are of a missionary nature.. Since 2015, our church has had a social department that provides targeted assistance to those in need. We support children’s institutions, boarding houses for elderly and single people, and build permanent humanitarian routes to various Russian regions. Every year, we hold charity fairs at Easter and Christmas. For several years now, our parish has published the newspaper “Uspensky Vestnik”. It has also become a tradition for us to prepare and publish parish books.
Address: Alexandrovo village, 21A
