The Mother of God Nativity Monastery and the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Zvonary - courtyard of the Pukhtitsa Monastery

The Russian winter this year still will not gain its legal force. But the weather, nevertheless, is far from summer. In order not to expose the parishioners of our temple to hypothermia, it was decided in the winter to focus on shrines, one might say, within walking distance. Moreover, the Mother See abounds in shrines. On December 12, a large group of pilgrims from our church, led by priest Pavel Karev, visited the Mother of God Nativity Stauropegial Convent and the Church of St. Nicholas in Zvonary - the patriarchal metochion of the Estonian Pukhtitsa Holy Dormition Stauropegial Convent, all on Moscow Rozhdestvenka Street.

Stavropegia literally translated from Greek means “raising the cross.” In the Church, stauropegy means a status assigned, as a rule, to Orthodox monasteries and making them independent of local diocesan authorities and subordinate directly to the Patriarch.

The Mother of God Rozhdestvensky Monastery was founded in 1386 by the wife of Prince Andrei Serpukhovsky and the mother of the hero of the Battle of Kulikovo, Prince Vladimir the Brave - Princess Maria Konstantinovna. Princess Maria Konstantinovna took her hair here before her death with the name of Martha in 1389. Over time, the monastery gave its name to the street, which was originally the road leading to the monastery. The current main monastery stone Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was erected in 1501-1505 on the site of the previous one, from which remains of the foundation masonry have been preserved.

In 1525, in the Nativity Monastery, under the name Sofia, the wife of Vasily the Third, Solomonia Saburov, was forcibly tonsured. Nun Sophia lived here before her transfer to the Intercession Monastery in Suzdal. Subsequently, Solomonia Saburova was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as St. Sophia of Suzdal (December 29 (December 16, old style). The icon of St. Sophia of Suzlal with a particle of relics is now one of the shrines of the Moscow monastery.

In the second half of the 17th century, the monastery became the burial place of the Lobanov-Rostov princes. The princely family supported the monastery. Thus, the stone Cathedral of St. John Chrysostom was built in 1676-1687 through the efforts of Princess Photinia Ivanovna Lobanova-Rostovskaya. Also, at her expense, a stone fence with four towers was erected.

In the 19th - early 19th centuries, a bell tower with a gate church of the Holy Martyr Eugene, Bishop of Kherson (1835-1836, in the style of late classicism) and a refectory church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in the Russian-Byzantine style (1904-1906) were built in the Nativity Monastery. The vaults and walls of the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Virgin Mary are made in the style of the art school of the late 19th - early 20th centuries (modern).

In 1922 the monastery was closed. Abbess Yuvenalia and several sisters ended up in the Gulag. Most of them were tortured and killed in the 1930s. The nun of the monastery, Tatiana (Besfamilnaya), was subsequently added to the Council of New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church.

The monastery housed various institutions; some of the cells were given over to communal apartments. Some nuns were allowed to remain in the former monastery. Two nuns lived on the territory of the monastery until the 1970s.

During the Soviet years, the monastery cemetery (along with the grave of the founder) and the garden were destroyed, and part of the walls were demolished. Many buildings were not repaired and fell into complete disrepair.

In 1974, part of the buildings of the Nativity Monastery was transferred to the Moscow Architectural Institute for the organization of a museum-reserve of ancient Russian art and architecture. The restoration of the bell tower and the Nativity Cathedral, which housed the archives of one of the research institutes, was carried out. In the late 1980s, some of the premises were occupied by various companies and tenants.

In 1989, the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1993, a decision was made to revive the ancient monastery. The first nuns of the monastery were nuns from the Estonian Pukhtitsa Monastery. From the first days, the abbess of the Mother of God Nativity monastery was nun Victorina (Perminova), who in 1998 was elevated to the rank of abbess. Restoration work is continuously carried out in the monastery. Basically all the churches of the monastery have already been restored, except for the Cathedral of St. John Chrysostom, where before any work can begin it is necessary to go through an infinite number of various approvals.

Many of our pilgrims came to the monastery early in the morning for the Divine Liturgy, where our priest Pavel Karev served with the monastery priest, Father Roman Chistikov, and they confessed and received communion. The parishioners of our church venerated the shrines of the monastery, among which, in addition to the already mentioned icon, St. Sophia of Suzdal is still a particle of the relics of St. the Great Martyr George the Victorious in the ark, the icon of the holy great martyr and healer Panteleimon with a particle of the relics of the saint, the miraculous icon of the holy righteous Simeon of Verkhoturye with a particle of the relics, other relics of the monastery. At the end of the service, at half past ten, a tour of the monastery began, which was wonderfully conducted by the resident of the monastery, Mother Sergia. Our pilgrims were greatly impressed by the leisurely monastic service, temple icons and shrines, expressive images of the refectory church, and the scope of restoration work.

At the end of the excursion, our pilgrims moved to the nearby Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Zvonary.

The first church on the site of the modern temple appeared in the time of Ivan the Terrible. It was a wooden church of St. Nicholas of Bozhedomsky, since a “poor house” was organized near it, where in winter the bodies of dead tramps and drowned people, people who died an unfortunate death, were taken and left until the spring until the next burial. The temple, which burned repeatedly since 1657, has now been rebuilt as a stone one. Gradually, Zvonarskaya Sloboda was formed on Rozhdestvenka, in which the bell ringers of the bell tower of Ivan the Great and the guards of the Kremlin churches settled, which is why the temple began to be called “Nicholas in Zvonary”. This name was officially established in 1677. In 1760, with the money of Count Ivan Ilarionovich Vorontsov (who had an estate nearby), according to the design of the architect Karl Blank, construction began on a temple in the Baroque style with a slight influence of classicism. Construction was completed in 1781.

In 1933 the temple was closed. Its premises housed a warehouse. There were repeated threats of demolition. Since the mid-1960s, the Department of Drawing of the Moscow Architectural Institute has been located in the temple building.

In 1993, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II signed a decree on the formation of the Pyukhtitsa Monastery at the Church of St. Nicholas in Zvonary. Work on the restoration of the temple began in 1994, and in 1996, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II performed the great consecration of the main altar and two side chapels of the temple. The abbess of the metochion is Abbess Philareta (Smirnova), a long-time assistant to the late Patriarch.

The main altar of the temple is now consecrated in honor of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. One of the side chapels is named after St. Nicholas. Another chapel is consecrated in memory of the Beheading of John the Baptist.

Mother Adriana (Malysheva), whose beginning of spiritual life is inextricably linked with our Church of the Resurrection of the Word, took part in the restoration of the temple, the creation of a monastic community, until her death in 2012. The difficult life path of Mother Adriana is reflected in the book “Nun from Intelligence,” which some time ago could be purchased in the bookstore of our church.

Shrines of the temple: revered icons of the Dormition of the Mother of God and the Theotokos “Seeking the Lost.” The icon of the Mother of God “Seeking the Lost” was donated to the church by a noble family at the beginning of the 19th century. After the closure of the temple, she wandered for a long time through the storehouses of various Moscow churches being destroyed by the authorities, until she was saved by one pious woman and transferred by her in 1981 to the Estonian Pukhtitsa Monastery. When the Moscow courtyard of the monastery was created, the icon, having made such a difficult journey, again took its rightful place in the Church of St. Nicholas in Zvonary.

The obvious spiritual connection between our Church of the Resurrection of the Word and the Church of St. Nicholas in Zvonary is surprising. This was noted by all participants in our pilgrimage. Having left the courtyard fence, our parishioners again plunged into the noisy and bustling life of a huge metropolis...

Photo: Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Zvonary

Rozhdestvenka Street arose in Moscow at the end of the 14th century as a road leading from the Kremlin to the Nativity Monastery, founded in 1386. In the book by P.V. Sytin “From the history of Moscow streets” about Rozhdestvenka it is written: “In the 15th century, only the eastern side of the street was built up; the western one was occupied by monastery gardens, which remained here for a very long time. At the end of the 15th century, a Cannon Yard and a settlement of blacksmiths were built between Rozhdestvenka and the Neglinnaya River. In the 16th century, to the north of this settlement the bell ringers and guards of the Kremlin cathedrals and churches were settled, setting up the Church of St. Nicholas of Bozhedomsky on the street, later called “St. Nicholas in the Bell Ringers.”

Saint Nicholas lived at the turn of the 3rd–4th centuries and was a bishop in the city of Myra in Lycia in Asia Minor. He became famous for many exploits during his lifetime, but more miracles happened after his death. There is not a single Christian land in the world in which the miracles of St. Nicholas did not happen. He was at the same time the patron of rulers, princes and an intercessor for ordinary people in all troubles and sorrows. In Rus' they revered the name of Nicholas the Wonderworker - the Russian people's saint of God. Every year on the sixth of December - on the day of remembrance of St. Nicholas - the boys went from house to house, glorified the saint and sang special poems in his honor:

Mikola, St. Mikola,
Mozhaisky, Zaraisky,
Passer of the seas,
Confessor of the earth...
And to him, the world, glory,
Glory is a power
All over his land
Throughout the entire population,
Glory until now
And centuries, amen

St. Nicholas Church on Rozhdestvenka was called Bozhedomskaya. This name comes from the fact that back in the 16th century, next to the wooden church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, there was a “poor house” or “house of God” - a place where the corpses of people who were killed or suddenly died on the street were brought. After the construction of the walls of the White City and Skorodom, the “poor house” was moved to the Sushchevskaya part on Bozhedomskaya Street, but the name of the church “Bozhedomskaya” remained. The temple was first mentioned in written sources in 1619. The first stone church was built in 1657. The bell ringers of the bell tower of Ivan the Great and the guards of the Kremlin churches lived in this area since the 16th century.

Numerous proverbs testify to this: “Not having been a bell-ringer, having not been a sexton,” “Not all sextons, but rarely have anyone not rung the bell!” Since 1677, the temple has been called “St. Nicholas in Zvonary”. Forty-eight bell ringers served at the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. They were led by the bell ringer. There are many legends and traditions associated with the Kremlin bell ringers. Ethnographer S.V. Maksimov wrote: “On December 12, the bell ringer of the Moscow Assumption Cathedral was admitted to the Kremlin Palace, before the bright royal eyes, to report on the annual daily changes. On December 12, he announced to the king that “the sun will now return from winter to summer, the day will increase, and the night will decrease.”

In 1762, by order and at the expense of Count I.I. Vorontsov, a new stone church was built. Some researchers suggest that the temple built by Vorontsov included the old building of the St. Nicholas Church. Ivan Illarionovich was a senator, actual chamberlain and president of the Patrimonial Collegium in Moscow. His brother Mikhail Illarionovich participated in the palace coup, as a result of which Elizaveta Petrovna became empress. The Empress did not forget the Vorontsov brothers and generously presented them with money, rank and favor. Elizaveta Petrovna married her second cousin Maria Volynskaya to Ivan Illarionovich.

Vorontsov rose to the rank of lieutenant general and already under Catherine II, taking advantage of the manifesto on the freedom of the nobility, he retired. Ivan Illarionovich moved with his family to his Voronovo estate and only occasionally returned to Moscow. In the Mother See of Moscow, Vorontsov lived in an estate on the banks of the Neglinka River not far from the Church of St. Nicholas in Zvonary (modern address: Rozhdestvenka Street, house No. 11). His neighbor was the famous Baroque architect K.I. Form. According to his design, a manor house, the Spasskaya Church in the Baroque style and a Dutch house similar to burgher houses of the 16th century were built in Voronovo.

Vorontsov, as a neighbor, asked Blank to build a new one in the Baroque style not far from their houses instead of a dilapidated 17th-century church. Blank used a typical axial design, when the temple, refectory and bell tower are located along the same axis. The main volume of the church - an octagon on a quadrangle - is characteristic of the architecture of the 18th century. Most likely, St. Nicholas Church was considered the home church of the Vorontsov counts. This explains its small size. The main altar was consecrated in honor of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. There were three chapels in the temple - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the Beheading of the Venerable Head John the Baptist and Demetrius of Rostov.

The chapel of St. Sergius of Radonezh was built in 1766. After the Napoleonic fire, the Church of St. Nicholas in Zvonary needed reconstruction. Two porches and a stone fence with two gates were replaced, a new refectory and a bell tower in a classic style were added. Moscow expert V.V. Sorokin, in an article dedicated to Rozhdestvenka, notes: “In the mid-1880s, M.S. Mostovsky carried out a major renovation of the Church of St. Nicholas in Zvonary, using photographs from the paintings of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in creating new paintings and ornaments. The metal decoration of the church was made in the workshops of San Galli, Bundley, and Matthiessen.”

The Church of St. Nicholas in Zvonary was closed in 1933. After closing, it housed a warehouse, and later the drawing department of the Moscow Architectural Institute, which was located in the former Vorontsov estate. The clergy and parishioners of the church love to tell a wonderful story that happened during the years of Soviet power. One old woman, who visited the temple just before its closure, risking her own life, managed to preserve the main shrine of St. Nicholas Church - the miraculous icon “Recovery of the Lost.” The old woman did not part with the icon even during the evacuation, and after the war she transferred the shrine to the Pukhtitsa convent, located not far from Tallinn.

After the collapse of the USSR, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II proposed to the Pyukhtitsa Monastery to create a metochion in Moscow. And then a miracle happened! The abbess of the future metochion, Mother Philareta, of all the Moscow churches offered to her, chose the Church of St. Nicholas in Zvonary on Rozhdestvenka. It was then that they remembered the miraculous icon that was located here, which was solemnly returned to the temple. Now, like many years ago, it is the main shrine of St. Nicholas Church. The life of the Moscow courtyard of the Pyukhtitsky Monastery is described in an article by Moscow expert Dina Myasoedova in the newspaper “Moscow Perspective”:

“The first three novices from the Pukhtitsa monastery settled in the house next to the church on Rozhdestvenka, 13 in May 1994. It was they who began work on clearing and tidying up the territory of the temple, preparing it for restoration. Life was getting better gradually, Nikola in Zvonary “grew up” with parishioners who, along with the novices, were putting in order the chapels, future cells, outbuildings and internal church aisles, when the department of drawing of the Moscow Architectural Institute, located in the temple, finally moved out. The lion's share of the restoration work was paid for by the city. OJSC Mosremstroy took patronage of the temple back in 1994.”

Today, the Church of St. Nicholas in Zvonary has been finally restored. Large, richly drawn finishing details create a typical Baroque ceremonial image of the building. The eastern wall of the wide rectangular apse is located on the red line of the street. Of course, the creation of the great Blanc has its own unique features. The high octahedron of the St. Nicholas Church seems to contrast with the massive base, and the plasticity of the lucarnes and the crowning dome is contrasted with the flat design of the octagon’s faces, which adds tension to the architectural masses. Today, another unique feature of St. Nicholas Church is the choir, which sings in a special Pukhtitsa chant.

Denis Drozdov

At the beginning of the 17th century. on this site there was a “Wretched House” with a wooden St. Nicholas Church, which was replaced with a stone one around 1657. Later, this area was inhabited by the bell ringers of the Ivan the Great bell tower and the guards of the Kremlin cathedrals. Since 1677, the church received the name that has become common - “in Zvonary”. In 1760, by order of Catherine II, with the money of Count I. I. Vorontsov, who had a vast estate here, going down to the Neglinka River, they began to build a new stone church (architect K. I. Blank). St. Nicholas' Church was completed two years later, apparently as a house church, which explains its small size.

Three chapels (Nicholas the Wonderworker, the Beheading of John the Baptist, Demetrius of Rostov) existed before 1762, and the chapel of St. Sergius was built in 1766.

The building that has survived to this day (Rozhdestvenka, 15/8) was built in the Baroque style. It successfully combined a classical basis with Russian traditions, combining a compact domed composition with a cruciform interior space. The temple is distinguished by a tall, slender octagon, skillfully placed on the rectangle of the main volume of the building, elongated from south to north. A well-drawn dome, topped with a small dome, gives its silhouette a certain grace and sharpness. The church consists of a two-aisle church with an apse, a two-aisle refectory and a bell tower. The emphatically rich decorative design of the main volume in the form of lush composite capitals on corner pilasters and large platbands decorated with seraph heads contrasts with the simplified, somewhat flat modeling of the finishing details on other volumes. Small extensions adjacent to the sides of the bell tower were made at the end of the 19th century. The fence of the church site was erected in the 19th century.

In 1933 the temple was closed. The church housed a warehouse, and from the mid-1960s, a department of the Moscow Architectural Institute.

In 1994, a farmstead was established in the church (Estonia). A particularly revered icon, the Mother of God of the Recovery of the Lost, which miraculously survived the years of the atheism, was returned here with honors.

The current Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Zvonary was built in 1762 by the famous Moscow architect Karl Blank. Karl Ivanovich, a master of Baroque and early classicism, gave Muscovites more than one wonderful architectural monument. According to his designs, a number of Orthodox churches were built in Moscow, but, unfortunately, not all of them survived. The architect himself lived for a long time on Rozhdestvenka, apparently in the domain of Count I.I. Vorontsova. It was Vorontsov who became the builder of the church in Zvonary. But the church on Rozhdestvenka first appeared long before the 18th century. In the old days, there was a “Wretched House” here, where people who had no relatives who died an unfortunate death on the street were taken for burial, and next to it was the wooden St. Nicholas Church, which received the name of St. Nicholas of Bozhedomsky. Later, when all the “poor houses” were transferred to the outskirts of the city, the temple became the parish church of the Zvonarskaya Sloboda and began to be called “St. Nicholas in the Bellers”: the bell ringers of the Kremlin bell towers and church watchmen have long chosen the high left bank of the Neglinka River not far from the Nativity Monastery.

The church burned several times, it was restored again, and in 1657 it was rebuilt in stone. A hundred years later, a decision was made to rebuild the temple. It was then that the new Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was built in Zvonary, which we know today. It was built in the Baroque style with elements of classicism and consists of a two-aisle church with the main Annunciation throne and an aisle in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, as well as a later two-aisle refectory and a bell tower. On an elongated quadrangle rises a slender octagon, crowned with a small onion-shaped dome. The temple is decorated with white stone, lush capitals and large platbands decorated with seraphim heads.

During the Patriotic War of 1812, the building was damaged, as a result of which the stone fence and two porches were rebuilt. At the same time, the church received a new refectory and bell tower in the classical style.

In 1933 the temple was closed. Initially, it was used as a warehouse, and later the building was transferred to the Moscow Architectural Institute, and the Drawing Department of the Moscow Architectural Institute was located here. In 1994, the church was returned to the believers, and work began on the restoration and restoration of the temple. At the same time, Patriarch Alexy II decided to create a metochion of the Pyukhtetsky Monastery in Moscow, and the church in Zvonary was chosen as the temple for the metochion. The story of the icon of the Mother of God “Seeking the Lost,” which today is in the St. Nicholas Church, is curious: it miraculously survived thanks to an elderly parishioner who saved it and transferred it to the Pukhtitsa convent near Tallinn. After the establishment of the courtyard of the Assumption Pyukhtitsa convent, the icon was returned with honors to the Church of St. Nicholas in Zvonary.

Nicholas, Saint, church in Zvonary (Rozhdestvenka Street, house No. 15/8).

In the 16th century, on this site there was a church of St. Nicholas of Bozhedomsky, which probably stood on the “Wretched Houses,” that is, the mass grave of those who died an unnatural death, a poor woman. In sources it was mentioned in 1619 as wooden, but since 1657 - as stone. Later, when the Zvonarskaya Sloboda was formed on Rozhdestvenka, where the bell ringers of the Ivan the Great bell tower and the guards of the cathedrals and churches of the Moscow Kremlin lived, the Church of St. Nicholas of Bozhedomsky was renamed, and from 1677 it began to be called “Nicholas in the Bell Ringers”.

The design of the current church was drawn up by architect K.I. The form was commissioned by Count Ivan Illarionovich Vorontsov, whose city estate was in the possession that is currently occupied by the Moscow Architectural Institute (MARCHI). Construction of the church began in 1760 or 1762. Since it was consecrated only in 1781, it can be assumed that the finishing of the interior decoration continued for almost a decade, which, unfortunately, has not survived to this day.

The church consisted of a rectangular two-height quadrangle and an elongated octagon towering above it - elegant, decorated with magnificent capitals on corner pilasters and large platbands decorated with seraphim heads. At the beginning of the 19th century. Instead of the old refectory, a new two-altar refectory and a bell tower were added to the church. The simplified and flat modeling of their details, made in the style of classicism, give the church a more austere look. After the fire of Moscow in 1812, the fence and two porches of the temple were completely rebuilt in 1818.

In 1934, after the closure of the St. Nicholas Church, its icons were transferred to the still functioning Church of St. Sergius in Pushkari. And after the closure of the Sergius Church (later destroyed), some icons were transferred to the currently operating Znamensky Church in Pereyaslavskaya Sloboda. In the mid-1960s. The temple building was transferred to the Moscow Architectural Institute, which placed the drawing department in it. By chance, the icon from the St. Nicholas Church - the Mother of God “Seeking the Lost” ended up in the temple of the Pyukhtitsa Holy Dormition Monastery in Estonia. At the request of his abbess, a courtyard of the Estonian monastery was formed in 1993 at the Church of St. Nicholas in Zvonary, which had by that time been transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1994, restoration work began. The first service took place in December of the same year. In 1995, the icon of the Mother of God “Seeking the Lost” was returned to the temple from the Pukhtitsa Monastery. Twenty-five restored icons of the 18th-19th centuries were also given to the courtyard, and seven bells were raised to the bell tower. In 1999, a reliquary was erected with 137 pieces of the relics of holy saints. In the same year, most of the neighboring residential building was transferred to the temple for the construction of monastery cells.

In 2003, a baptismal chapel was erected on the territory of the temple. The decorative decoration of the tent chapel is similar to that of the temple, so together they create a harmonious ensemble. Now the temple has a main altar dedicated to the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, and four chapels: to the right of the altar is the Beheading of John the Baptist, on the left are St. Nicholas and St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow. Two small chapels are dedicated to St. Sergius of Radonezh (right) and the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary (left). Liturgical and singing traditions were transferred from the Pukhtitsa Monastery to the Moscow courtyard. Pyukhtitsa monastery singing is very different from the choir singing customary in Moscow.

Mikhail Vostryshev "Orthodox Moscow. All churches and chapels"

The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Zvonary is an Orthodox church, which since 1996 has belonged to the Moscow courtyard of the Pukhtitsa convent in Estonia. The building was built by architect Karl Blanc in 1762; the bell tower dates back to a later period.

The first church on the site of the modern one Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Zvonary appeared during the time of Ivan the Terrible. Then there was a wooden church of St. Nicholas the Pleasant, which was called St. Nicholas of Bozhedomsky, since there was a “wretched house” attached to it, where people who died an unfortunate death were taken for burial.

The church, which was mentioned in 1619 as a wooden one, subsequently burned several times and was restored with the help of parishioners, and since 1657 it is already mentioned as a stone one. Then, when the Zvonarskaya settlement was formed on Rozhdestvenka, in which the bell ringers of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower and the guards of the Kremlin churches settled, the church received the name “Nikola in Zvonary”, which was assigned to it in 1677.

In 1860, with the money of Count Ivan Illarionovich Vorontsov, who had a large estate nearby, construction of a new stone church began. The author of the project was the famous Baroque architect Karl Blank. Construction of the temple lasted until 1781. The church, built in the Baroque style with a slight influence of classicism, is a tall octagon on a quadrangle elongated from north to south, with a dome and a small traditional onion dome. It is decorated with carved white stone decor, the octagon is decorated with capitals on the corner pilasters, as well as large platbands. In this form Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Zvonary has survived to this day, having undergone minor changes - after the Patriotic War of 1812, two porches and a stone fence were redone, a new two-altar refectory and a bell tower in the classic style were added, and restoration was carried out in 1900.

In the 1930s, the temple was closed and converted into a warehouse; then there was the drawing department of the Moscow Architectural Institute located nearby.

In 1996, Patriarch Alexy II decided to create a metochion of the Pyukhtetsky Monastery in Moscow, and it was chosen as the main church for the metochion Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Zvonary. Work on the restoration of the temple began in 1994, with the help of three novices of the Pyukhtitsa monastery who moved to Moscow and new parishioners who came to the church. Subsequently, the restoration of the temple was continued by Mosremstroy.