Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Kurilovo)

The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, located in the Pustopolsky churchyard, is an Orthodox church of the Shatura deanery of the Moscow diocese. It is located in the Kurilovo tract, Shatura district, Moscow region, not far from the village of Kurilovo, which no longer exists.

History of the temple

The church on Nikolsky Pogost (Nikola-Empty Field) arose at the beginning of the 17th century. In 1773, a new wooden building was erected on the site of the old church. In 1832, after a fire that destroyed the wooden church, construction began on the stone St. Nicholas Church. This brick temple was a typical octal structure on a quadrangle with a refectory and a bell tower. Three altars served in it: the main one in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as well as in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and St. Sergius of Radonezh.

The church was closed in the late 1930s, and in 1956 the village of Kurilovo was evicted due to the construction of the Kosterevsky artillery range. Currently, the temple is located 25 km from the nearest settlement, and its condition is characterized as abandoned and difficult.

Architecture and condition

The temple rises surrounded by nature, completely immersed in forests. It was built in the style of typical Russian Orthodox architecture of the 18th-19th centuries, representing an octal building on a quadrangle with a refectory and a bell tower. After many years of neglect, new interest in this place began. Tourists, geocachers and local historians began visiting it, reviving interest in the history and cultural heritage of this temple.

Kurilovo tract

The Kurilovo tract is located seven kilometers north of the village of Severnaya Griva, next to the Spiridovo and Bazhanovo tracts. On this site, half a century ago, there was a village mentioned in the census books of 1705. In the village of Kurilovo there were then nine courtyards, and it belonged to the landowners Ivan Stepanovich Yumatov and Andrei Trofimovich Sushchev. Before the revolution, the surrounding lands were used by the glass factory of the manufacturer Kosterev. The village was evicted in 1956 due to the construction of the Kosterevsky artillery range in this area. Residents were resettled to Northern Griva, Shatura and new villages built for peat mining. Now there is no trace left of the village.

Road to the temple

The road to the tract from Northern Griva, which was impassable ten years ago, now allows you to get to it by an ordinary car, both in winter and summer. Some intersections of the forest path even have signs: “To the Temple.” Several years ago, former residents of this disappeared village visited the church in Kurilovo and served a prayer service there.

Important events

In 1877, a zemstvo literacy school was opened at the temple. In 1938, the temple was closed, and the village of Kurilovo was resettled in 1956. Despite this, interest in the temple and its history continues to attract the attention of researchers and tourists.