Church of Kazan Icon of Our Lady in Konstantinovo

The church of Kazan Icon of Our Lady on the steep bank of the Oka in the village Konstantinovo was built as far back as the 17 century. The first records of the church date back to 1676, but then, of course, that was a wooden church. 

When the village was owned by the Golitsyns, the prince Andrei Mikhailovich turned to the well-known capital architect Ivan Starov with an offer to build in Konstantinovo a stone church in honor of the Icon of Our Lady of Kazan.

In 1779 Starov set about the work, deciding to build the church in the style of classicism, which wasn’t widely spread at that time. The church building consists of the central aisle devoted to the Icon of Our Lady of Kazan and some small aisles devoted to the Roman martyrs Vera, Nadezhda and Lyubov and their mother Sophia. In 1827, when the village was owned by the Dolgorukovs, a refectory and a bell tower were added to the church. 

The house of Sergey Yesenin`s Parents is located directly opposite the church. A small chapel is near the church on the bank of the Oka. The chapel was pulled down in the 30th of the 20 century. But in the 70th of the 20 century, with the appearance of the museum of Yesenin, it was restored. According to the legend, Yesenin liked to sit near the chapel and admire the beautiful river landscapes.