The history of the Church of the Exaltation of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord in Altufevo (XVII–XIX centuries) in the light of archival data

Abstract

The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Altufevo has its own unique history. She keeps in her milestones the memory of various periods of glorification of the name of the Lord by people. However, at present there is no complete comprehensive study devoted to the history of the church and its parish, which contains in its structure a consistent analysis of all the main historical, cultural, social and spiritual characteristics of this Orthodox church. This article is devoted to the history of the church, parish, and personalities in the period of the XVII–XIX centuries. The most important source of the research was archival data related to the documentation of the Russian Orthodox Church in various periods of its existence. In the course of researching the history of the church and parish, more than 150 archival files from the most important state archives of the State Archive of the Russian Federation (GARF), the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts (RGADA), the Russian State Historical Archive (RGIA), the Central Archive of the City of Moscow (TsGA), and the Central State Archive of the Moscow Region (TsGAMO) were reviewed and transcribed. In addition, data from private archives were analyzed. Thanks to this work it was possible to identify five main types of parish archival documents: 1. Clearing lists; 2. Census books; 3. Confession lists; 4. Metric books; 5. Revision tales. On the basis of the analysis, we collected and structured data on the events of construction, rebuilding and renovation (restoration) of the Church of the Holy Cross, as well as created a synodic with the names of its rectors of the XVII–XIX centuries.