TheChurch of the Nativity of theTheotokos at Putinki is one of the most picturesque churches inMoscow and the last majortent-like church in the history ofRussian architecture. The snow-white church with its multiple tents and azure-and-gold domes resembles a daintily carved piece of ivory.
The Nativity church at Putinki consists of six exquisitetented roofs arranged in a highly unusual composition. Three candle-like tents, placed in a row, crown the church, while itsrefectory is surmounted by several rows ofcorbel arches and the fourth tent. The fifth tent is abelltower placed between the church and refectory. The porch also terminates in a pyramidal roof.
The church was commissioned by TsarAlexis Mikhailovich in 1649 in order to grace a highway leading from Moscow to theTrinity Monastery. Construction works were completed within three years. As the story goes,Patriarch Nikon, when passing the church on his way to the Trinity Monastery, was so scandalized by its unorthodox design that he prohibited the construction of tent-like churches altogether.
After theVysokopetrovsky Monastery was closed down by the Soviet authorities in 1929,ArchimandriteBartholomew Remov arranged for the monks and nuns to continue their monastic life in secret at the Nativity Church, where he was the Rector. The spiritual life of the monastery continued at Putinki until theNKVD was informed and arrested everyone involved in 1935.[1]
The Soviet authorities closed the church in 1938 but they also funded repair works in 1957. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the church was reopened as the patriarch'smetochion.
55°46′01″N37°36′24″E / 55.76695001°N 37.60675001°E /55.76695001; 37.60675001