Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in Meshcherskoye
The territory of the modern Meshchersky Park in the 16th-18th centuries was known as Vaulina Wasteland. Ponds were built here, and a church affiliated with the Vvedenskaya Church in Kitay-Gorod stood on their banks. Over different periods, these lands belonged to noble families-the Trubetskoys, Dolgorukovs, Sokolovins, and Potemkins. As early as the 16th century, Russian tsars Ivan the Terrible and Alexei Mikhailovich held falconry hunts here. In 1812, during the Patriotic War, units of Count Osterman-Tolstoy’s corps and General Dorokhov’s flying detachment were stationed in this area. As Napoleon’s army retreated along the Borovsk Highway, they burned down the village of Vaulino along with its church. Subsequently, this location was marked on maps of the Moscow Governorate with a cross, indicating the destroyed church. In 1903, the settlement of Knyaz-Meshchersky was founded here, named after the owner of these lands, Prince Sergei Borisovich Meshchersky. In the early 20th century, the surrounding area was actively developed as a dacha (summer house) destination. Then, in the 1930s, with the support of Maxim Gorky, the writers’ dacha settlement of Peredelkino was established nearby, intended for Soviet authors. During the Soviet era, the forest park was called Bakovsky and became a popular recreation spot for Muscovites. In 2001, a parish community was formed, and soon a decision was made to restore the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God on its historical site. Initially, a temporary wooden chapel was built, followed by a wooden church, which was later included in the “Program-200.” Starting in 2016, the construction of a stone church was carried out with funds from a benefactor. On December 30, 2018, the minor consecration of the new church was performed by Archbishop Matvey of Yegoryevsk, Vicar of the Most Holy Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. Then, on July 14, 2019, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia performed the rite of the Great Consecration.
Address: Moscow, Voskresenskaya St., 1/37
