🏛 Church of St Nicholas on Shchepy

1-й Смоленский пер., 20

A white 17th-century church in the lanes behind Smolenskaya Square. Named after the Shchepnoy Dvor, where log frames for the tsars' palaces were hewn.

The stone church was built in 1686 on the site of a burnt wooden church of 1649.
"Shchepy" comes from the neighbouring sovereign's Shchepnoy Dvor (chip yard), where log frames for palace buildings were prepared.
In 1934 the church was closed and rebuilt beyond recognition — the domes and the top of the bell tower were removed.
In 1999–2002 the towers, domes and bell tower were restored.
The 1st and 2nd Nikoloshchepovsky lanes are named after the church.

Part of these routes

Novinsky Boulevard: Chaliapin, Brodsky and Nikola na Shchepakh