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 kilometers from the district settlement 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; it was there that 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, in his "Life," states his origins: "I was born in the lands of Nizhny Novgorod, beyond the Kudma River, in the village of Grigorovo."[3]
On June 5, 1991, a monument to Archpriest Avvakum, created by sculptor V. M. Klykov, was unveiled in the village.[1] The monument has become a focal point for pilgrims and participants in the Avvakum Readings, which have been organized by the Bolshemurashkinsky Museum of History and Art since 2002.[1] Every year in July, a religious procession (krestny khod) 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 landmark is the Kazan Church, built between 1698 and 1700 in the Naryshkin style. Its tiered composition of the "octagon-on-square" (vosmerik na chetvyerike) 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 free-standing bell tower designed by architect A. N. Poltanov was added to the church.[2]
The Kazan Church complex is a monument of urban planning and architecture of federal significance (state protection document no. 176). At present the church is not in use and has been included in the federal conservation program (2023 season).[2]
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. The Old Believer community of Bolshoe Murashkino (Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church) regards Grigorovo as the principal shrine of the area: in addition to an annual religious procession, the community is developing 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 selo is mentioned alongside Gorodets, Semyonov, and Kerzhensky Nature Reserve as a key place name in the region's religious history.
Sources
- ngounb.ru — Bolshemurashkinskiy District — V. I. Lenin Nizhny Novgorod State Regional Universal Scientific Library (NGOUNB)
- sobory.ru — Grigorovo, Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God
- rpsc.ru — Bolshoe Murashkino — Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church