Around Fili Metro Station

Intercession Church at Fili

Intercession Church at Fili (April 2011)

Although the Intercession Church at Fili is rather remote from the city centre it is nevertheless worth visiting as it is one of the best surviving examples as what is known as the Naryshkin baroque architectural style of churches.  The church was built between 1690 and 1694 using the funds of Lev Naryshkin (hence the name of the architectural style), the maternal uncle of Emperor Peter the Great.  It is believed Lev had the church built in memory of his two brothers who were killed during the Streltsy Uprising of 1682.  In form the church is a standard 'octagonal-on-cube' structure with an additional four corner side chapels, but it is its beautiful decorations that make it special. The pink church features golden domes and ornately carved window frames and borders.  Originally the church had a carved iconostasis, but this was destroyed along with the rest of the interior during the Napoleonic War of 1812 when French troops used it as stables.  In 1941 the church was closed, but later restored in the 1950s.  In 1971 it became part of the Andrey Rublev Museum and a museum was opened inside in 1980.  Today the church is shared by worshipers and the museum.

Location 6 Ulitsa Novozavodskaya
Metro Fili
Website http://www.pokrov-fili.ru/