The wooden church of Elijah the Prophet, built in 1789 in the village of Sandyri, existed until the revolution. The Tretyakov Gallery houses the icon "Compassion" from 1466 from this church, which local residents believed was painted in the 12th century. In 1887, priest Feodor Borisoglebsky reported that the icon was gifted to Count Sergey Borisovich Sheremetev by the Knights of Malta in gratitude for his patronage. However, considering his low rank, it is more likely that he donated his family icon to the church. The church also housed a 500-year-old icon of Elijah the Prophet, which was honored on August 2 with a procession from the Kolomna Cathedral. From 1626 to 1629, the village belonged to the mother of Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich Romanov, Ksenia Ivanovna, known as "the great nun" Martha. In 1649, the village was transferred to nobleman Semyon Ivanovich Zaborovsky, and in 1676 he sold it to Prince Mikhail Yurievich Dolgorukov. The Dolgorukov family owned the village until 1755, after which it passed to Count Sergey Borisovich Sheremetev and remained in his family until 1917. Historical documents mention two churches in the village: the wooden Dukhivskaya and the stone Ilyinskaya. Currently, in Sandyri stands the Church of Elijah the Prophet with chapels of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker and Saint Sergius of Radonezh, built in 1834 with funds from peasants Georgy Fyodorovich and Galaktion Gerasimovich Bakulins. The Nicholas chapel was consecrated in 1839, and the main altar of the Prophet Elijah in 1848 under priest Luka Uspensky. The brick building of the church with a white stone base and numerous decorative details was a magnificent example of the Empire style. The cube of the church was topped with a rotunda and a drum with a single dome, with the refectory adjoining from the west and a four-tiered bell tower. The main benefactors of the church remained the Bakulin family. Originating from the Sandyri peasants, they invariably held the position of church elder, passed down from father to son. Later, the Bakulins no longer lived here permanently, coming only a few times a year, but always attended the patronal feast, bringing with them a choir of Moscow singers led by a well-known deacon. On Easter night, illumination and fireworks were arranged at the church, which, according to eyewitnesses, were more luxurious than in the main cathedral.

The church was closed in the late 1930s, and the fate of the last rector is unknown. In the 1950s, the church was barbarically rebuilt: the bell tower and dome were destroyed, and the apse was raised. All the decoration was lost, and the building housed a children's home.