Description of the attraction
The Church of St. Nicholas in 1st Golutvinsky Lane lost its relics and valuables twice: in 1812, when the temple was plundered by Napoleon's soldiers, and in the 1920s, when the temple was closed by the Bolsheviks. At the same time, some icons from the Golutvinsky church ended up in the Tretyakov Gallery and the Novodevichy Convent, and a little later, in the second half of the last century, the building itself was transferred to the gallery.
At present, the Golutvin Church of St. Nicholas is active, has the status of the Chinese Patriarchal Metochion, the state has recognized it as an architectural monument of federal significance. In the capital, it is located in the Yakimanka area.
The name of the area "Golutvino" was probably derived from the names of two monasteries - the courtyard of the Kolomensko-Golutvinsky monastery, which stood here in the second half of the 15th century, or the Rozhdestvensko-Golutvinsky monastery, on the site of which this temple was built.
The construction of the Nikolsky Church in Golutvin began in the 80s of the 17th century and was completed by 1692. It was erected on the site of an earlier wooden church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The main altar of the new church was also consecrated in honor of this holiday, and the southern side altar was consecrated in the name of Saint Nicholas.
In the XVIII-XIX centuries, numerous changes were made to the appearance of the temple, in particular, its refectory was rebuilt in the Baroque style, a free-standing bell tower was erected under a hipped roof, a northern chapel appeared in honor of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God, decorated in the Empire style. In the 19th century, the entire temple was redesigned in the Empire style, the painting inside the quadrangle was renewed. The architect Fyodor Shestakov took part in shaping the appearance of the temple in the 19th century.
In the 1920s, the temple was closed and stripped of the attributes of a religious institution: its chapters were removed, and the bell tower was dismantled. In the 90s, the building was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church, divine services were resumed in it, and its restoration began. The temple acquired the status of the Chinese Patriarchal Compound in 2011.
