Nikolay

Saint Nicholas with a some what pensive expression on the wall of the Church of the Resurrection (St. Philip) on the Arbat.

This is one of few churches left to operate during the Soviet Union.  Prior to the Revolution, the Church acted as representative of the Orthodox Church in Jerusalem and that may account for it being left relatively intact and operating.  Real politik more so than Religion.

The church goes back in one form (wooden structure) or another (later stone) to the second half of the XVI Century.  The existing stone church was erected in 1688.  During the war of 1812 the Church was robbed and desecrated by French troops.  In 1817, part of the site was granted to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem to enable monks to base up in Moscow and collect donations for the restoration of the own burned down ' Temple of the Holy Sepulchre' in Jerusalem.   In 1917, this facility for monks was closed down but the church remained open.  The facility was again restored in 1989.

Photo taken with my Nokia Lumia 820 phone helped along by the lights from a passing car.