St. Nicholas Church in Tolmachi – About the Church

The Church of Saint Nicholas in Tolmachi is a unique temple museum in the Zamoskvorechye District of Moscow. It houses the great relic of Russia – the Vladimir icon of the Mother of God.

Thousands of pilgrims come to the temple to bow to this miracle-working image.

St. Nicholas church in Tolmachi was built at the beginning of the 17th century. The first written mention dates back to 1625. The church was rebuilt after the fires in 1812, it had been open till the Soviet period and shut down in 1929. Up until the 90s, the transformed buildings of the church had been occupied by the Tretyakov Art Gallery. Divine services resumed only in 1993.

Historically, the church is represented by a 17th century tetragon with Pentecost Altar and a 19th century belfry and a frater including Pokrovsky and Nikolsky side-chapels. Presently, the church has a status of the house church at the Tretyakov gallery. All the necessary conditions have been created here to take care of the unique sanctities, which are a cultural and spiritual legacy of our people.

Once a year, the Trinity icon by Andrei Rublev is brought to the church from the Tretyakov gallery during the Feast of the Holy Trinity.

Inside the church there are more than 150 exhibits from the Tretyakov collection. A special icon case holds the greatest relic and globally known artwork – the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. Its presence in the church allows to organically conflate the religious and artistic natures of that monument. Also, presented here are especially venerated sanctities, such as the Iberian Virgin and Assuage My Sorrows icons of the Mother of God, Dmitrovsky Cross, a reliquary. The church has air conditioning with temperature and humidity control to preserve the religious and historic valuables.

In the hours of divine services the church is open for all believers. Beyond that it is a part of the Tretyakov gallery where people can enjoy the religious art. More often than not they come back, but this time to the temple of God rather than the temple of art.

However, the parish is not the walls and sanctities of the church. First of all, it is a community of believers led by the clergy and bishop Nikolay Sokolov, the church rector.

The temple is under the auspices of its presently canonized former churchmen and parishioners. Most known and revered among those are venerable Alexis Zosimovsky who served in the church as a deacon for 28 years, canonized by the Bishops Council in 2000; hieromartyr Ilya Chetvertukhin, the last rector of the church before its shutdown in 1929, canonized by the Holy Synod in 2002, martyr Nikolay Rein, former parishioner.

The spirit of Tolmachi unites people of various trades, social status and personal aspirations. All that is promoted by social activities, mutual aid,  Sunday school for kids and educational courses for adults “The Basics of the Orthodoxy”, the orthodox library, pilgrimage, common efforts to publish the church newspaper called “Tolmachevsky Listok” and, of course, a marvellous choir created by a well-known choir-master A.Puzakov who was brought up at the kliros of N.Matveev. Alexey has been awarded the title of the Meritorious Artist of Russia which is a sign of acknowledgement by the secular culture.

In the church you can participate in the sacraments of Baptism, Matrimony, Anointing of the sick, Penance, Eucharist, pray for your loved ones at collective prayers or requiem services, speak to a priest on spiritual subjects.

During divine services you can enter the temple museum through the Tretyakov gallery door to the left of the belfry. You are supposed to leave your coats in the cloak-room before going up the stairs to the church.

Time-table of divine services:

Wednesday, 10:00 a.m.                 Collective prayer before the miracle-working icon of the Mother of God

Friday,  17:00 p.m.                          Matins with lauds

Saturday,  09:00 a.m.                      Canonical hours and Liturgy 

                  17:00 p.m.                      All-night vigil

Sunday, 09:00 a.m.                         Canonical hours and Liturgy

During twelve feasts    

                   09:00 a.m.                     Canonical hours and Liturgy

The day before,  17:00 p.m.          All-night vigil

The days of remembrance of the great saints and miracle-working icons

08:30 a.m.                                       Matins and Liturgy

Library opening hours:

Sunday                       after Liturgy till 14:00 p.m.

Saturday                    15:30 till 17:00 p.m.

The temple is also open for Tretyakov gallery visitors every day except Monday from 12:00 till 16:00 p.m. Entrance through the gallery main door.

Sacraments and occasional offices

In our temple you can participate in the sacraments of Baptism, Matrimony, Anointing of the sick, Penance, Eucharist, pray for your loved ones at collective prayers or requiem services, ask a priest to talk on spiritual subjects. Tel. +7(495) 957 07 81

Links

Contacts

9, Maly Tolmachevsky lane, Moscow. Entrance through Tretyakov gallery building to the left of the temple.

Location map