In 1892, there were two churches in Novorossiysk: the Nikolayevsky and the Skorbyashchenskaya. The Nikolayevsky church, the oldest in the city, was built in 1846. It was located in the first part of the city in a square known as Church Square (now Lenin Park). The church was made of stone and had an iron roof. The Skorbyashchenskaya church was located in the second part of the city, the Zatsemeskaya, which until 1900 was not considered part of the city limits. This church was wooden and was in a dilapidated state. The first parish schools for boys and girls began to open at both churches. The earliest mentions of such schools are associated with the Nikolayevsky Cathedral. The organization of parish schools was handled by the priest himself, who submitted requests for their opening and allocation of land plots near the church. The priest of the Nikolayevsky Cathedral was Archpriest Mikhail Pavlov.