The Church of the Nativity of Christ was built between 1635 and 1644 on the banks of the Volga. Previously, there was a wooden Christorozhdestvenskaya church on this site, where in 1609 the residents of Yaroslavl preserved the miraculous icon of the Kazan Mother of God. The construction of the new stone church was initiated by Yaroslavl merchants, the Ankidin brothers, known as Druzhina and Guryi Nazaryevy, who participated in the militia of 1612. For their merits in the war against the Lithuanians, the Nazaryevy received a charter and the title of 'state guests' with privileges from Mikhail Romanov. The church's design was ambitious, and the Nazaryev brothers lacked the funds to complete the construction. It was finished in 1644 with the funds from Guryi Nazaryev's sons, Mikhail, Andrei, and Ivan Guryiev, who made changes to the original design. The ensemble of the church, located on the banks of the Volga, creates a unique silhouette along with other churches on the embankment. It includes the church itself and a separate tent-shaped bell tower, which also serves as the Holy Gates in the complex's fence. The Church of the Nativity of Christ resembles the Nikolai-Nadein Church in its structure: a five-domed church on a high podklet, surrounded by a two-tiered gallery on three sides, with a house-like porch on the western facade leading to the upper tier of the gallery. Chapels were arranged in the galleries on the north and south sides. Unlike the Nikolai Nadein Church, the bell tower stood separately and was connected to the church by a covered arched passage added in 1644 by Guryi Nazaryev's sons. At that time, they also added the Kazan chapel on the southwest side, expanding the gallery. In the 18th century, a new ornate cross appeared above the chapel's dome, which has survived to this day. The northern chapel in the lower church was the first to be consecrated in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the patron saint of merchants and travelers. This was not accidental, as the Nazaryevy were actively engaged in trade and traveled across the country. For a long time, the church remained unpainted, and only in 1683 did Yaroslavl masters create frescoes in the central part. The patrons were Ivan Guryiev and his sons. The names of the masters are unknown, but researchers suggest that they could have been the famous Yaroslavl artists Dmitry Semyonov and Fyodor Ignatiev. The remaining frescoes of the church appeared later. The church is richly decorated with glazed tiles of various shapes, such as rosettes, ribbons, and quadrilaterals. All five domes were covered with yellow and green glazed tiles. The church's decor particularly highlights the church-building inscription made in tiles. Interestingly, the merchants, considered common people, dared to display their names on the church's facade, which was usually done only by princes and boyars. The inscription reads: 'This church was erected by Ankidin, nicknamed Druzhina, and Guryi Nazaryev... and this church was completed by his children Mikhail, Andrei, and Ivan after their father Guryi Nazaryev...' The bell tower deserves special attention. It is not just a bell tower but a complex multifunctional structure that combines a bell tower, double gates, a small church 'for the bells,' and a tower with a clock. The bell tower is rectangular in plan, with two small tent towers on either side of the central tent, emphasizing the building's upward aspiration. On the second tier was a small church of Guryi, Samon, and Aviv, surrounded by an open gallery. The tent of the bell tower is adorned with lucarnes with various frames. Time has significantly changed the appearance of the church. Four small domes have disappeared, and the arcade leading to the bell tower has been dismantled. During the Soviet era, the church was closed, and in the 1920s, it was restored. The monument now belongs to the Yaroslavl Museum-Reserve. In 1989, unique icons were stolen from the church's iconostasis, taken abroad, and sold at auction. In 1995, they were purchased by a collector from Saratov, Vladimir Roshchin, who, upon learning of their origin, decided to return the icons to the museum for restoration. For a long time, the museum lacked funds to maintain the monument. In the late 1990s, the bell tower's wall began to collapse, and the church was closed for restoration. Only under the threat of the bell tower's collapse were funds found for restoration. Now the bell tower and the church itself have been restored.