Church of the Epiphany in Gonchary, Orthodox church in Kolomna, Russia.
The Church of the Epiphany is a church building in the Gonchary district combining Neoclassical features with traditional Russian Orthodox architecture. The structure has clear symmetrical proportions and is situated within an established residential neighborhood.
The church began in the village of Babyshevo, owned by Moscow's grand princesses since the 14th century. Around 1480 Sophia Palaiologina, wife of Ivan III, built a Church of the Conception there to mark the birth of heir Vasily III. The wooden church burned in the 16th century; only an icon of the Saviour Not Made by Hands survived, and a new church was consecrated in its honour. Stone construction began in 1680 and the church was consecrated to the Epiphany in 1689.
The church's name comes from the Goncharnaya sloboda, where brickmakers and potters settled in the 1520s to build the Kolomna Kremlin. Before 1680 it was known as the Church of the Saviour Not-Made-by-Hands, after the icon that survived a 16th-century fire. The parish is the ancestral home of Saint Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow, born in the church house on 26 December 1782.
The church stands near the Kolomna railway platform of the Moscow line, in the former Gonchary sloboda. The 1800–1804 bell tower and classical refectory face the street; the 1689 quadrangle with its small five-domed crown stands behind. It is an active parish, so visits are best arranged outside service times.
The church was never closed during the Soviet period, so from the 1940s to the 1980s it served as the cathedral for the Metropolitans of Krutitsy and Kolomna. Saint Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow, was born in the church house on 26 December 1782; his great-grandfather Afanasy Filippov had been priest here, recorded in city documents from 1751.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,015 contributors worldwide.