Church of Saint Afanasy and Saint Cyryl, Eastern Orthodox church in Arbat District, Russia
The Church of Saints Afanasy and Kirill stands at Filippovsky Lane 3, a stone building whose present form dates from 1899, when the side-altar apses were rebuilt. Its composition includes a bell tower, a refectory and a light drum added in the 1836 Empire-style reconstruction; the interior holds three altars.
A wooden church existed here by the early 16th century; it was rebuilt in stone before 1722. After the 1812 fire, the church was restored in 1815–1817 and rebuilt in the Empire style from 1836, with a new bell tower and refectory. The renovated church was consecrated on 19 September 1856, and the side-altar altars were rebuilt in 1899. Closed in 1932, the building housed warehouses and workshops before being returned to the Russian Orthodox Church on 7 April 1992.
The church keeps three altars: the Resurrection, Saints Athanasius and Cyril, and Saint Nicholas. Its name comes from a chapel added in 1749 at the request of Lieutenant Pleshcheyev. The main icon of Saints Athanasius and Cyril was returned here on 11 September 1993 from the Church of the Resurrection on the Arbat. The Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, brought from Smolensk in 1812, was first placed in this church before being moved to the Kremlin's Dormition Cathedral.
The church is located on Filippovsky Lane in central Moscow and is accessible by public transportation. Visitors should be aware that this is an active place of worship, so appropriate dress and respectful conduct are expected.
The church keeps the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, brought from Smolensk in 1812 and kept here before being moved to the Kremlin's Dormition Cathedral. A reproduction of the image is said to have appeared on the glass of its case.
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