The Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is located in the center of the village of Alshan in the Oryol region, on the left bank of the Oka River, between a dirt road and a small ravine.

The village of Olshanyets is first mentioned in the inventory book of clerk Leontiy Sofonov and scribe Dementiy Yakovlev of the Oryol district in 1594-1595. At that time, it was part of the Korchakovsky stan of the Oryol district. According to legend, the village got its name due to the thickets of alder.

In 1723, a wooden church in honor of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker was built at the cemetery through the efforts of local landowners. By 1755, it served 89 parish households. In 1844, Countess Sofia Prokofyevna Bobrinskaya (Sokovnina), the wife of Decembrist V.A. Bobrinsky, erected a new stone church in honor of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and a stone chapel was built on the site of the old church. The church had three altars: the main, cold altar in honor of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the right altar in honor of Saint Nicholas, and the left altar in honor of Saint Great Martyr Procopius. In 1894, thanks to the funds of Pyotr Dmitrievich Svyatopolk-Mirsky and peasant Ivan Logvinov Shchukin, the church was surrounded by a stone fence with three gates. Until the early 20th century, the church did not undergo reconstruction. Since 1874, a chronicle was kept at the church.

In 1928, the Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary was closed. In the post-war years, it was used as a prison and warehouse. Today, the church building is abandoned, but ancient frescoes have survived in places on its walls.