Information about the building

Today, the Georgievskaya Church is almost hidden behind tall buildings nearby, making it difficult to notice from both the Vodootvodny Canal and Pyatnitskaya Street. Previously, it was one of the most prominent structures in the area, and its bell tower served as an important height point on Sadovnicheskaya Street, not far from Balchug.

The Church of St. George the Victorious is first mentioned in 1612 as a wooden structure. In 1653, it was replaced by a stone church, the main altar of which was consecrated in honor of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. One of the two chapels was dedicated to St. George, which allowed the church to retain the name Georgievskaya. In the 1680s, a new refectory and the Nikolsky chapel were built.

The church is designed in the style of Russian ornamentation from the mid-17th century: the facades of the main part are adorned with windows featuring a variety of unique surrounds. The windows of the refectory and chapels are decorated in the style of Moscow Baroque, with window surrounds topped with crests. The traditional five-domed structure is supported by two rows of decorative kokoshniks. Proximity to the Moscow River brought many problems to the church: during floods, it was regularly inundated. In 1786, a severe flood led to the collapse of the bell tower, which was located near the now-filled Yegoryevsky Canal, connecting the Vodootvodny Canal with the Moscow River. A new bell tower was built with funds from Pavel Grigorievich Demidov in 1806 on the side of Sadovnicheskaya Street. The last major flood in 1908 nearly destroyed the church, but thanks to urgent work organized by the elder Efim Yermilovich Privalov, it was saved.

The church was closed in 1935, after which the building passed to the NKVD and later became a dormitory for Metrostroy. In 2001, a monument was erected near the church to all those who suffered during the years of repression: a large cross on a base made of stones brought from Solovki.

Reconstruction and Restoration

Only in the 1970s was a restoration carried out, returning the church to its historical appearance. It housed a production workshop, and the former church houses around it were demolished. After the restoration, it contained a storage facility for the exhibition directorate of the Artistic Fund of the USSR, while the bell tower came under the management of Minmontazhspecstroy. In 1992, the church was handed over to the believers, and soon a representation of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Solovetsky Monastery was established there.