In central Moscow, not far from the Kremlin, in Starovagankovsky Lane, there stands a small, modestly decorated church, the Church of the Holy Hierarch Nicholas the Wonderworker, with the side-chapel in honour of the Venerable Sergius of Radonezh.
The neighbourhood of Vagankovo received its name from the kennel-men and skomorokhs (Russian comic minstrels) who lived here in the 15th and 16th centuries, entertaining (Russian: "vaganili") the tsar and his entourage. Later, the jesters were resettled in New Vagankovo, the present-day area of Vagankovo Cemetery.
The Church is remarkable with its five-century history and the sacred objects that are kept in it.
During its long existence, the Church has been looted and has suffered damage many times, but each time by the efforts of honest people it was rebuilt, with its past glory not only restored, but surpassed.
The Church's original founding is lost in the depth of the first centuries of Moscow's history, being part of the history of the court of Moscow's grand princes and tsars. Vagankovo's elevated, beautiful location, close to the Kremlin, attracted the attention of the grand dukes, soon becoming their country estate.
Historically, this place is associated with the Blessed Prince Dmitry Donskoy, under whom Moscow started its rise. Prince Dmitry is known for his victory over the Golden Horde at the Battle of Kulikovo; he received a blessing for the battle from the Venerable Sergius of Radonezh. Before the battle, as a sign of encouragement, the icon of the Holy Hierarch Nicholas the Wonderworker appeared to the Blessed Prince Dmitry Donskoy.
In the 15th century, having appreciated the location of Vagankovo at its true worth, Sofya, the wife of Vasily I, the son of Dmitry Donskoy, bought the plot and built a country palace. Subsequently, a grandson of Prince Dmitry Donskoy donated a small part of this land to the Monastery of St. Nicholas the Holy Hierarch, which was situated on the site of the present-day church.
The presence of the tsar served as a ground for decorating Vagankovo. In Vagankovo, the Tsar's Court was erected and later replaced by the New Tsar's Court on the same site.
In 1531, in Vagankovo, Prince Vasily III built the stone Church of the Holy Hierarch Nicholas the Wonderworker, with the side-chapel of the Venerable Sergius of Radonezh. For this, the prince invited to Moscow the Italian master Aloisio da Milano. In the beginning, the Church was known as the Church of St. Nicholas the Holy Hierarch by the Tsar's Court, then the Church of St. Nicholas the Holy Hierarch by the New Tsar's Court, whereas in later times the Church of St. Nicholas the Holy Hierarch in Old Vagankovo.
In the late 17th century, the Church of St. Nicholas the Holy Hierarch in Old Vagankovo featured three altars and two side-chapels. On the right side, there was the side-chapel in the name of the Venerable Sergius, while on the left side the one in the name of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, the Christian soldiers who suffered for the Christian faith in 320.
In the 18th century, having stood for over two hundred years, St. Nicholas Church in Old Vagankovo became dilapidated. In 1745, the parishioners asked permission to dismantle the dilapidated building of the Church and to build a new one, in the name of the same saints: St. Nicholas the Holy Hierarch and the Venerable Sergius of Radonezh. With permission having been granted, in 1755, the side-chapel of the Venerable Sergius was built and consecrated, and, in 1759, the main part of the Church was completed. The Church's building was built of stone, resting on a 16th-century white-stone semi-basement floor, covered with a wooden roof featuring wooden shingles on its dome. The white-stone semi-basement floor has survived to this day, with the Church resting on it at present.
In 1782, a stone bell tower was erected, close to the western gate of the Church's main part.
In 1792, the diocese authorities gave permission to disassemble the side-altar of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, due to its dilapidated state. On its site, a stone containing the symbol of a cross was put, while the stone, of which the side-chapel had been built, was used to enclose St. Nicholas Church with a fence, which has survived to this day.
In 1812, during Napoleon's invasion, the Church shared the fate of Moscow: it was looted by the enemy. Since that time, the Church lost its independence, becoming a house church.
The main part of the Church was renewed and consecrated in 1814, while the side-altar remained unrestored until 1842. In 1842, its bell tower was disassembled, and the side-chapel of the Venerable Sergius was restored.
In the 18th century, Menshikov's house emerged on the site of Princess Sofya's palace. This house was bought by the millionaire civil servant Pyotr Pashkov (the descendant of a batman of Peter the Great); invited by the millionaire, the architect Vasily Bazhenov rebuilt the house. By 1842, the house was occupied by the Institute for Nobles; by 1849 by a gymnasium for boys; and in 1862 the Rumyantsev Museum moved in. Currently, the building belongs to the Russian State Library. In 1842, St. Nicholas Church in Vagankovo became a house church at the Institute for Nobles, later a house church at the Rumyantsev Museum.
Among historical memories of the recent past, it is worth mentioning one connected with the name of the great writer Nikolay Gogol. Those who had finished the Moscow Institute for Nobles in the 1840s retained memories of the fact that the great writer had liked visiting their Church. He had attended the Easter matins together with them, standing by the left choir gallery, next to the Russian historian and writer Mikhail Pogodin.
A new period in the history of the Rumyantsev Museum's Church started in 1896 when the priest Leonid Chichagov was appointed the Church's dean; he received a blessing to be ordained from the Righteous Father John of Kronstadt. Thanks to the efforts and pastoral care of the priest, the forgotten and abandoned Church became an attractive Moscow church. In the Church, murals of the Four Evangelists have survived to this day; the murals were created by Father Leonid Chichagov during his deanship. The Church keeps copies of the Icon of The Saviour in a White Tunic and the Icon of The Venerable Seraphim of Sarov Praying on the Stone, both painted by Father Leonid. Father Leonid found time and strength not only for successfully doing work of obedience as a dean, but also for preparing the canonisation of the Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, Russia's great man of faith. A miraculous manifestation of Divine Providence was "The Annals of the Diveyevo Monastery of St. Seraphim" compiled by him. This work was of defining significance for the entire life of the future bishop.
In 1898, Father Leonid left the Church to the attention and care of his spiritual children. He took monastic vows under the name of Seraphim, becoming one of the brethren of the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. Full of labour, sorrow and deprivation, the long and pious life of Metropolitan Seraphim was crowned with martyrdom for the sake of Christ. On 11 December 1937, being in the 82nd year of his pious life, he was executed by shooting at the so-called Butovo firing range. The Hieromartyr Seraphim, the metropolitan of St. Petersburg, was canonised on 23 February 1997.
In early 1902, the narthex of the Church of St. Nicholas the Holy Hierarch was enlarged, and an open belfry of the Pskov type was erected over it; the belfry has survived to this day (the architect Georgy Pavlovich Yevlanov).
In 1905, at the suggestion of Ivan Tsvetayev, the director of the Rumyantsev Museum, the Board of Trustees was formed, out of regular worshippers; the Board was charged with the task of raising funds to cover the expenses of the Church.
In 1924, the Church was shut down.
In 1926, the icons were taken from the Church, its crosses were knocked down and its bells thrown down and smashed. The Church was handed over to the Lenin Library to be used as a warehouse.
In 1992, the Church was handed back to the Russian Orthodox Church. By the efforts of a small team consisting of the people who continued the work of the Hieromartyr Seraphim, the metropolitan of St. Petersburg, under the supervision of the priest Viktor Sishkin, the Church of St. Nicholas the Holy Hierarch was restored and, in 1993, consecrated.
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