Description of the attraction
Bolvanovka is another Moscow settlement, which got its name from the occupation of its inhabitants. Slobozhans earned their living by doing what "boobies" did - templates for the production of hats and, possibly, the hats and caps themselves. Funds for the construction of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker were also collected by the Bolvanov masters themselves.
The first wooden Nikolsky temple in Bolvanovka was mentioned in 1632, although there are suggestions that the first church was built much earlier, at the beginning of the 16th century. In the second half of the 17th century, fundraising for the construction of a stone church began among the parishioners. True, the fees were delayed, and the required amount was collected only towards the end of the century. The author of the project of the temple is called Osip Startsev, and the temple he built is the last building of the medieval period in Moscow.
The Nikolsky Church was erected on two floors: on the first there was a “warm” (or winter) church with a main altar in honor of St. Nicholas, and on the second - a “cold” one with a throne in honor of Peter and Paul. Two more chapels of the temple were consecrated in honor of two church holidays - the Entry of the Virgin into the Temple and the Beheading of John the Baptist. The princes Gagarins took part in the arrangement of the temple in the late 17th - early 18th centuries.
The temple was rebuilt several times: after fires in the middle of the 17th century and in 1812, in the second half of the 19th century. At the beginning of the last century, restoration work was carried out in the church, which restored its original appearance.
In Soviet times, the temple was closed, but before that it was devoid of valuables. In the 40s, the appearance of Taganskaya Square was changed, the Taganskaya metro line was being built, and the building of the former temple, which was occupied by various institutions, could be demolished. Fortunately, this did not happen, since the building was declared an architectural monument. Currently, the building has the status of a federal monument.
