Almost gone

The last of the leaves are leaving or have left, Moscow had a first smidgin of snow last night, and the temperature dropped below zero.

The is the Church of St Nicholas on the Sands (Церковь Николы на Песках) at Arbat. A church was first recorded on the site in 1633, it later burnt down (they all seem to burn down) and the current structure was built in 1711. In 1931, the Soviet government closed the church, had the long-serving priest, Sergey Uspensky, sent into exile and later shot. The Church was converted into a hostel for metro workers, and later into the puppet office for the state film studio. Some history. It was 'returned to the faithful' in 1991.

The Church was also the inspiration for 'A Yard in Moscow' by the landscape painter, Vasily Polenov, which now hangs in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. Very interesting to see how rural Moscow was as - relatively - recently as 1878. See also why St Nicholas is called "on the sands"!