Church of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos in Fili
The Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fili is an Orthodox church in the Filevsky Park area of Moscow, belonging to the St. George Deanery of the Moscow Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. The modern building, built in 1690-1694 at the expense of Lev Naryshkin, is an example of the Naryshkin Baroque and belongs to the type of tiered centric temples. It was built on the site of a wooden church in 1619, built in honour of the victory over the Polish-Lithuanian troops. The architect is not known for certain, but researchers associate the project with Yakov Bukhvostov or Pyotr Potapov. The author of the carved decoration and iconostasis was Karp Zolotarev. Peter the Great donated significant funds to the temple and brought coloured stained glass windows after the capture of Narva. The temple includes the winter lower church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos and the upper church of the Savior Not Made with Hands, built in gratitude for the rescue of Lev Naryshkin during the Streltsy riot. In 1812, the interior was severely damaged due to the placement of stables and workshops in the building by French soldiers. After 1917, the temple went through difficult times: in 1941. it was closed, the domes were removed, the upper octagon was dismantled, and the lower temple was used as an infirmary, then as a warehouse. In 1955-1980, a large-scale restoration was carried out under the leadership of E.V. Mikhailovsky and I.V. Ilyenko, after which a branch of the Andrei Rublev Museum was located in the building. In 1992, worship services resumed in the lower temple, and after long legal disputes, in 2017 the building was transferred to the ROC for indefinite use, and in 2019 it was transferred to ownership. In 2021, restoration began, during which the relics of saints, presumably hidden during the Soviet era, were discovered. In 2023 the restoration of the facades was completed, and the temple reopened to visitors.
Address: Moscow, Novozavodskaya St., 6
