Ulitsa Varvarka gets its name from St Barbara's Church located at the beginning of the street (Barbara is Varvara in Russian). The first church dedicated to St Barbara was built here in 1514 by Aloisio the New (Aleviz Fryazin) the Italian architect who was responsible for Archangel Michael's Cathedral in the Kremlin. However the present day version was built between 1796 and 1801 by the architect Rodion Kazakov in the classical style. In the 1920s the church was closed, although subsequently restored between 1967 and 1967. It was returned to the Orthodox Church in 1991.

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