The Fedorovskaya Church in the village of Tolchkovo in Yaroslavl for more than 30 years, in the period from 1987 to 2010, was the main cathedral of Yaroslavl. In 2010, the large Assumption Cathedral, destroyed in Soviet times, was recreated on the Volga Embankment. After that, the status of the main cathedral was assigned to the Assumption Cathedral, and the Fedorovsky church became a parish church.
The construction of the Fedorovskaya Church in the village of Tolochkovo began in 1682, and was completed in 1687. In the same year, 800 meters away, on the bank of the Kotorosl River, another temple was consecrated – the Church of John the Baptist. Both churches are masterpieces of the Yaroslavl architectural school, however, if the Church of St. John the Baptist stands out for its bright decor and 15 domes, then the Fedorovskaya Church is an example of the classical proportions of an Orthodox church.
Both churches were consecrated in one year with the blessing of Metropolitan Jonah Sysoevich of Rostov, whose residence was in the Rostov Kremlin. The stricter decor of the Fedorovskaya Church is explained by the fact that it was not built by rich merchants, but with people`s money collected by residents of the village of Tolchkovo.
The main shrine of the Fedorovskaya Church is the list of the Fedorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God, made by the famous Kostroma icon painter Guriy Nikitin. The original of the miraculous icon of the Fedorovskaya Mother of God is kept in the Epiphany-Anastasia Monastery in Kostroma.
The walls and columns of the church were painted in 1715 by the artel of Yaroslavl icon painters Fyodor Fedorov and Fyodor Ignatiev. The frescoes of the Fedorovskaya Church are more strict in color, in comparison with the frescoes of the neighboring Church of John the Baptist. These frescoes can also be recognized as a masterpiece of the Yaroslavl school of icon painting. The subjects of icons and frescoes are connected with the Fedorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God. Some frescoes are associated with military victories that were won after the blessing of the soldiers by the Fedorovskaya icon.
The carved iconostasis of the Fedorovskaya Church was created by Yaroslavl craftsmen Vasily Komar and Stepan Vorona in 1705. More than 60 icons were brought from the Tolga Monastery, which is located on the Volga River in the vicinity of Yaroslavl.
In Soviet times, the church was closed, but not destroyed. For a long time it was used as a warehouse, but in 1987, an unusual event occurred. The city authorities handed over the Tolga Monastery and the Fedorovskaya Church to the Orthodox Church. This happened 5 years before the mass return of churches to the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church in the early 1990s. The Fedorovskaya Church immediately became the main cathedral of Yaroslavl.
