History of the Kazan Church of the Village of Shemetovo

Abstract

The article is devoted to the history of the ancient church of the village (selo) Shemetovo (Sergiev Posad district, former Aleksandrovsky district) near Moscow. In 1676, the Boyars Miloslavskys founded a stone church in honour of the Kazan icon of the Mother of God (baroque, with two side-altars: of St Nicholas and Our Lady of the Sign) in their patrimonial estate Altufievo (Shemetovo). For centuries the church, as well as the village itself, was owned by the well-known noble families of the Naryshkins and Dolgorukys, who maintained the parish and were engaged in improvement of the church complex. The clergy of the Church of Kazan was of a closed class nature, the priestly place was considered hereditary, and adjustments to this tradition led to parish interior conflicts. On the territory of the parish there is a large necropolis with preserved old tombstones (of landlords, priests). From the end of the 17th century up to the present time the church in the village of Shemetovo has been active. Shemetovo is active, was not closed during the Soviet period, since 1974 has the status of a monument of architecture.