Grigorovo is a selo (a larger village) in Bolshemurashkinskiy District of Nizhny Novgorod Region, known primarily as the birthplace of Archpriest Avvakum (born 1620/1621). It is located approximately 12–13 kilometres from the district centre of Bolshoe Murashkino.[1][3]
Connection with Archpriest Avvakum
In the 17th century, a wooden Church of Boris and Gleb stood on the site of the present stone church, where Avvakum was born into the family of a priest named Pyotr — the future Leader of the Old Believer schism and author of the celebrated "Life." [2] Avvakum himself identifies his origins in the "Life": "My birth was in the lands of Nizhny Novgorod, beyond the Kudma River, in the village of Grigorovo."[3]
On 5 June 1991, a monument to Archpriest Avvakum by the sculptor V. M. Klykov was unveiled in the village. A chapel dedicated to Archpriest Avvakum has also been erected in the village.[4][1] The monument has become a focal point for pilgrims and participants in the Avvakum Readings, which have been held since 2002 by the Bolshoe Murashkino Museum of History and Art.[1] Every year in July, a religious procession makes its way from the Church of the Holy Martyr Avvakum in Bolshoe Murashkino to Grigorovo.[3]
Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God
The village's principal architectural monument is the Kazan Church, built between 1698 and 1700 in the Naryshkin style. Its tiered composition of the "octagon on a cube" type places it among the churches that established the tradition of tower-like temples in the 18th century. In the quality of its decorative detailing, the building is on a par with capital-city examples of the same period.[2] In the early 20th century, a freestanding bell tower designed by architect A. N. Poltanov was added to the church.[2]
The Kazan Church complex is a federal-level monument of urban planning and architecture (state protection registration document no. 176). As of today, the church is inactive and is included in the federal conservation programme (2023 season).[2]
A place in Old Believer memory
Grigorovo holds a special place in the history of Russian Old Belief as the starting point of Avvakum's biography. Notably, the village of Veldеmanovo — the birthplace of Patriarch Nikon, Avvakum's principal ecclesiastical opponent — lies approximately 10 kilometres from Grigorovo, though already within the neighbouring Perevozsky District.[4] The Old Believer community of Bolshoe Murashkino (RPSC) regards Grigorovo as the foremost sacred site of the area: in addition to an annual religious procession, the community is working on plans to build a new church in time for the 400th anniversary of Avvakum's birth.[3] In the encyclopedic context of Nizhny Novgorod Old Belief, the village is mentioned alongside Gorodets, Semyonov, and Kerzhensky Nature Reserve as a key place name in the region's religious history.
Sources
- map.welcome-mir.ru — In the village of Grigorovo, in addition to the monument to Archpriest Avvakum, a chapel dedicated to him has also been erected. (archive)
- ngounb.ru — Bolshemurashkinskiy District — V.I. Lenin Nizhny Novgorod State Regional Universal Scientific Library (NGOUNB) (archive)
- sobory.ru — Grigorovo, Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (archive)
- rpsc.ru — Bolshoe Murashkino — Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church (archive)