Regarding the date of construction, opinions differ - it was 1762 or 1763. However, it is known that the building was small, and subsequently expanded and rebuilt several times.

The merchant family of the Prokhorovs took a great part in the life of the monastery. For almost a century they remained its patrons and trustees. By the way, the first school for girls in the capital worked at the temple. By 1900, more than 80 pupils studied there.

In 1860 a refectory and a bell tower were built. The new buildings were clearly out of harmony with the architecture of the main building of the church, so they decided to rebuild it. Although according to another version, the growing number of the local population was the reason. One way or another, the architect Georgy Kaiser took up the project, and in December 1902 a new Church of Nicholas on the Three Mountains has already been consecrated.

The architectural composition turned out to be voluminous and very interesting. Here, the smooth lines of the semicircular apses and keeled zakomara echo the clear, straight forms of the semi-columns decorating the facades. All windows of the temple are circular and designed in the same size. The temple has 3 onion domes: two of them are located on its main volume, and the third is crowned with a wide squat dome. The tent of the bell tower is decorated with dormer windows and ends with a magnificent small cupola.

In the 1920s Church of Nicholas on the Three Mountains was looted (more than 12 pounds of gold and silver were seized in the form of coins and various utensils), but remained active. It should be noted an interesting fact: one of the regents of the monastery at that time was Alexander Alexandrov, in the future the author of the anthem of the USSR.

In 1928, the church was closed, and a few years later it was rebuilt. Although it would be more correct to say mutilated. The building housed first the House of Culture, then the House of Pioneers. Pavlik Morozov.

The monastery was returned to the Church in 1992; regular worship resumed only in 2001, after many years of restoration. Today, the church has a Sunday school, youth and men's choirs.

It was built in 1762-85 in the "Three Mountains" tract, behind the Trekhgornaya Zastava, in the New Vagankovo ​​settlement on the site of the wooden church of the same name (1695). Here in 1678 the royal psars and buffoons were resettled, originally located in the settlement of Staroe Vagankovo ​​(near the Kremlin). There are several versions of the origin of the word "vagankovo": from "vaganit" - to amuse, joke; "Vaganets" - the place of collection of monetary tax; from "vagan" ("vazhan") - residents of the Vyazh region, resettled in Moscow. In 1860 a new refectory and a bell tower were built. Around 1892 the aisles of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and St. Demetrius of Rostov are taken out of the refectory forward in line with the main altar. In 1900-1902, at the expense of G.F. and N.F. Serebryakov, a new one with a main altar in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" was added to the old church (architect G.A.Kaiser). Painted inside in 1908.

In 1922, the authorities seized St. 12 pounds of gold and silver jewelry and church utensils. Closed in 1929. Strongly rebuilt. The domes of the temple and the bell tower were destroyed up to the first tier, the second row of windows was broken in the refectory.

Until 1990, the building housed the House of Culture, then it was in disrepair. In 1992 returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. Restoration work has begun. Services resumed in December 2000.

This church was first mentioned in 1683 in the New Vagankovo ​​settlement on the Three Mountains, where, according to Moscow legend, the buffoons, who originally lived in the Old Vagankovo ​​settlement, opposite the Kremlin behind Neglinnaya, were resettled. In 1695 a new wooden church was built to the east, closer to the Moscow River. After the erection of the Kamer-Kollezhsky shaft, the temple ended up within the boundaries of Moscow, at the Trekhgornaya outpost. A stone three-altar church with a refectory and a bell tower was erected in 1762-1785. The main altar is the icon of the Mother of God "The Life-Giving Spring", the chapels in the refectory are Saints Nicholas and Dimitri of Rostov. According to the old Moscow tradition, the temple continued to be called Nikolsky even in official documents. Built in the style of classicism, it was completed with a rotunda dome, the side facades had classical porticoes.

In 1860 a new refectory and bell tower were built. Around 1892, the aisles were taken out of the refectory to the east, in line with the altar of the main church. In 1900-1902. a new main temple was built, the funds for the construction of which were donated by G.F. and N.F. Serebryakovs. The design of the building and its interior decoration was created by the architect G.A. Kaiser. The consecration of the main altar in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" took place on December 1, 1902. A magnificent five-tiered iconostasis was arranged, the icons were painted on a golden background, new utensils and new vestments were made on the icons. In 1908, the temple was painted inside.

The temple was closed in January 1930. For a long time the building was occupied by a children's club named after Pavlik Morozov. The domes of the temple and the bell tower were broken up to the first tier. They made a second floor in the refectory and pierced the second row of windows. In 1990, Pavlik Morozov's children's club drove out of the building, leaving a broken statue of a pioneer inside; the roof has partially collapsed. In mid-1991, the St. Nicholas Church was returned to the community of believers. Major reconstruction lasted almost ten years. As a result, the temple was returned to the look it had after the last pre-revolutionary reconstruction in the early 1900s. Divine services resumed in 2001. Shrines of the temple: a particle of the relics of St. Nicholas, a venerated icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands of the 16th century, brought from the church of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called, where Maria Mironova transferred it after the death of her son, artist Andrei Mironov.

Mikhail Vostryshev. Moscow Orthodox. All churches and chapels

This long-suffering church is somehow surprisingly located between three lanes: Novovogankovsky and two Trekhgorny. The Church of St. Nicholas on the Three Mountains has changed its name more than once and has been rebuilt several times over its centuries-old history. In the annals of 1628, its progenitor is mentioned - the Church of St. Nicholas in Psary. It received this name due to the transfer of the Royal Kennel here in the middle of the 17th century. This parish church community moved around the city several times, and, surprisingly, it always carried the church with it, which is probably why for some time it was called "the church of St. Nicholas on a chicken leg."

Church of St. Nicholas on the Three Mountains

In 1695, the kennel was located in the tract Three Mountains, behind the outpost, called Trekhgornaya. Initially, it was a wooden temple, then in 1762-1775 it was rebuilt in stone in the village of Novoe Vagankovo ​​with three altars. The main one - in honor of the icon of the Virgin "Life-Giving Spring", two limits - in honor of the saint. Over time, its limits gradually expanded, and in 1860 a high bell tower and a refectory were rebuilt, the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe possessions more than doubled.

The Church of St. Nicholas on the Three Mountains is an architectural monument of the 19th century and an object of cultural heritage. There is a very curious fact associated with this structure. It turns out that in the 20s of the twentieth century, A.V. served as regent here. Alexandrov, who became the author of the anthem of the Soviet Union.

The parishioners of the church were ordinary people, peasants and workers, but there were also quite wealthy people, including the Prokhorovs, the factory owners who owned the Trekhgornaya manufactory.

All extensions did not create a harmonious architectural ensemble, so it was decided to completely rebuild the church itself according to the project of the famous Russian architect G.A. Kaiser with the money of wealthy merchants Kopeikin-Serebryakov, who lived in the parish of the church. On December 1, 1902, the renovated church was consecrated. However, all construction and finishing work was finally completed only by 1908.

Church of St. Nicholas

The same workers of the Trekhgornaya manufactory saved the church from pernicious destruction. In the most turbulent and dangerous years of 1905 and 1917, they organized the protection of the cathedral, which was right at the epicenter of all the revolutionary events that took place on Presnya. Thanks to this, the temple was not looted and destroyed.

However, in the early 1920s, the church could not be saved; at first it was ruined, and then completely closed. In 1929 it was rebuilt, the dome and the bell tower were destroyed. The new government placed a club there, and a little later the house of the pioneers. The lane, which had the name Nikolsky, also began to bear the name of the pioneer hero.

The long-awaited thaw

And now, in our time, after the collapse of the USSR, the Moscow government signed an order to return the building with the territory adjacent to it to the possession of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Church of St. Nicholas on the Three Mountains was immediately subjected to major restoration and restored to its original beauty. Today it works, even a Bible college, a Sunday school, a club for the reconstruction of medieval folk cultures are open.

You can visit this temple at the address: Moscow, Novovagankovsky lane, house 9, bldg. 1. The current rector is Archpriest Dmitry Roshchin, who was appointed on February 11, 2016.

Worship Schedule

Matins Liturgy - beginning at 8.00 (Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays). On great holidays and on Sundays - beginning at 9.00. The day before at 17.00 - Vespers. At 6:00 pm on Wednesdays, the akathist to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. At 8.00 on Sundays - a prayer service and the water is consecrated.

The commemoration of St. Nicholas is held to the present: September 11 - the birth of the saint, May 22 - the day of the transfer of his honest relics, December 19 - the feast of honoring St. Nicholas.

The temple also has its own shrines. with the relics of St. Nicholas (for veneration he is taken out of the altar only at Sunday liturgies), as well as St. Nicholas with the relics and the reliquary with the relics of St. Dimitri Rostovsky.

Temple in the 17th century

The history of the church of St. Nicholas on the Three Mountains begins with the wooden church of St. Nicholas in Psary, mentioned in the annals since 1628. Its name is associated with the Sovereign Kennel, which was responsible for hunting and royal menageries, which in 1637 was transferred from the western wall of the Kremlin to Three mountains.

Metrics of the Church of St. Nicholas on the Three Mountains in Novy Vagankovo

Opinions differ about the origin of the name "Vagankovo". According to legend, the royal psari-Little Russians used vagans - large troughs hollowed out in a tree - for cooking, for which they themselves were nicknamed wagons, and their place of residence is Vagankovo. Settlement on Presnya in the 17th century received the name New Vagankovo, and the settlement behind the Kutafya Tower remained Old Vagankovo.

True, there is another version of the origin of the toponym. This part of Moscow was located at the intersection of two large roads - Znamenka, leading to Novgorod, and Arbat, leaving for the western lands. In the XV century. a village arose here, in which the sovereign's amusing yard was organized. Wandering artists and musicians, who were then called vagants, flocked to him, as well as wandering poet-bards in medieval Europe.

There is evidence that in 1695 the church began to be rebuilt by the Duma clerk living nearby, Gavriil Feodorovich Derevnin, who also built the famous stone church of St. Elijah the Ordinary on Ostozhenka.

18th - early 20th century

In the first half of the XVIII century. Three Mountains are becoming a summer cottage for wealthy Muscovites. Over time, the rich "summer residents" turn into permanent residents of New Vagankovo ​​and are assigned to St. Nicholas parish.

It was at this time that permission was obtained for the construction of a stone church on the site of a wooden one: according to some sources, it dates back to May 1763, according to others - 1762. In any case, the new church was small. But in subsequent years, it was repeatedly expanded, adding chapels - first, St. Demetrius, Metropolitan of Rostov, and then, in 1785, in the name of the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring".

In 1799, near the St. Nicholas Church on the banks of the Moskva River, the merchant Vasily Prokhorov and the master of dyeing Fyodor Rezanov founded a cotton-printing factory, which eventually became the famous Tryokhgornaya manufactory.
Vasily Ivanovich Prokhorov (1755-1815), merchant of the 3rd guild, founder of the dynasty of Moscow industrialists, was born into the family of a peasant assigned to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Until 1771 he worked as a brewery clerk. However, he left this occupation, "incompatible with Christian piety", and took up the cotton business. Over time, V.I. Prokhorov became the sole owner of the manufactory, having bought out the share of Fyodor Rezanov.

For almost a hundred years, until 1896, the Prokhorovs were patrons and trustees of the St. Nicholas Church. Their activity left a noticeable mark in the church life of Moscow. The industrialists were also involved in charity, established hospitals and shelters for orphans and the homeless.

Temple reconstruction project, architect G. A. Kaiser, 1900

After the cholera epidemic of 1848, in gratitude for getting rid of it, it was decided to rebuild St. Nicholas Church. By the end of 1860, a large refectory and a high bell tower appeared near the temple, its area increased by two and a half times. The construction was carried out with the money of parishioners.

In the second half of the XIX century. Through the tireless pastoral labors of the rectors, Archpriest Ruf Rzhanitsyn, and Priest Yevgeny Uspensky, who succeeded him, St. Nicholas parish became the most numerous in Moscow. Evening and morning services were performed in the temple every day, and on Sundays and holidays three liturgies were served. The parish carried out active patronage and social activities. In 1861, the Board of Trustees was established at the temple, which collected information about the poor parishioners and provided them with assistance. Father Ruf also founded the first women's two-year parish school in Moscow, by the beginning of the 20th century. almost 90 pupils were engaged in it.

The project of the northern facade, architect G. A. Kaiser, 1900

The constant growth in the number of parishioners required another major rebuilding of the temple. It began in 1900 based on the project of the famous architect Georgy Alexandrovich Kaiser (1860-1931), personally approved by Emperor Nicholas II.

Funds for the work were allocated by the Kopeikin-Serebryakov family, owners of a large retail firm. The rebuilt church was re-consecrated on December 1, 1902, but the reconstruction was fully completed only in 1908. The design of the temple by G.A.Kaiser also formed the basis for restoration work in 1991-2000.

The events of 1905, the center of which was Presnya, as well as the October Revolution of 1917 miraculously did not affect the life of St. Nicholas parish. Its number remained stable, and the order around the temple was maintained by the workers of Trekhgorka themselves - the parishioners of the temple.