On Kolomna you’ll find the unique Old Believers’ Church of St. Nicholas. It is famous for its unusual decoration – its upper base is decorated with 106 kokoshniks arranged in 5 rows.
At the time of the Golden Horde, a church in the name of Nicholas “the Wet”, mentioned in the scribe’s books of 1577-1578, was erected in Kolomensky Posad. At the beginning of the 18th century, the church with the main altar in honor of the Resurrection and a side church in the name of St. Nicholas were built on its site. In the early 1990s, this one of the oldest and most beautiful temples in Kolomna was given to the Russian Orthodox Church of Old Believers by decree of the head of the Moscow region administration. The main festival of the temple is now on December 19, in honor of St. Nicholas the “winter”, and many people still know this church as the Church of the Resurrection of Christ.
The building is very original because of the abundance of brick carvings. Initially, the temple was built in the 17th century in the architectural style of “Moscow models”, and in the 18th century, the external architectural forms were changed to the early Baroque style. Majestic and austere, glorious and somewhat similar to the state song, with its bright tones, it rises among the quiet streets of the “old” city, as if taking us back to the days of holy Russia of the seventeenth century. Many tourists go to Kolomna, loving this old Russian city, remembering its historical merits on the way to the formation of the state and, of course, admiring the many churches, the most unusual of which is the Church of Old Believers of St. Nicholas on the Posad.
Currently, the members of the congregation gather in a small nave consecrated in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra-Licia. The main hall of the church is still waiting to be consecrated. Since Kolomna is the place of Bishop Paul’s ministry, the old local believers especially venerate the memory of this saint. Accordingly, the main altar, with God’s help, will be consecrated in honor of St. Paul of Kolomna, who was and is in the memory of all Old Believers a lamp of the dark night of struggle and error, which God allowed to come to Russia in the troubled times of the church schism of the 17th century. But the more he shines, the greater and more glorious he shows us action, example and edification. He, who accepted death for the faith, is the only one who did not turn out to be a traitor, is a guardian of the true Orthodox faith. This will be the only temple of the Old Believers consecrated in honor of St. Paul.
Today, this unique monument of Russian architecture is in need of serious restoration. There is still much work to be done to prepare the main hall of the church for consecration. The community has been collecting donations from local parishioners for a long time, but the amount collected is not enough. Attempts to appeal to local authorities have so far been unsuccessful, so the congregation is appealing to all believers for help with fundraising. We ask all benefactors and those who are not indifferent to help as much as possible in this God-pleasing cause.
