The Church of the Holy Great Martyr Varvara (Barbara) on Varvarka is a parish Orthodox church in the Tverskoy district of Moscow. It belongs to the Iversky deanery of the Moscow Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The temple in the name of Barbara the Great Martyr supposedly existed
in the XIV century a little south of the modern church. In 1514, a stone
building was built under the direction of the Italian architect Aleviz
Novy. In 1796-1801, artillery major Ivan Baryshnikov and the Moscow
merchant of the first guild, the owner of a large bell foundry Nikolai
Samgin (1750-1838) ordered a new church building. It was built by
architect Rodion Kazakov. At the beginning of the 19th century, the
writer John Kandorsky was first a presbyter and then an archpriest in
the church.
There is an urban legend that in 1812 the French used
the temple as a stable. But due to its architectural features: narrow
steep stairs, high plinth — it was simply impossible to do this. The
building was badly damaged by looters and fire and was restored in the
1820s.
In the 1920s, the church was rebuilt (the upper tier of
the bell tower was dismantled) and closed. In 1965-1967, during the
landscaping of the territory near the erected Rossiya Hotel, it was
restored, under the guidance of architect Georgy Makarov, the bell tower
was restored.
In 2007, during archaeological excavations under
the temple, the foundation of the ancient Aleviz church of the XVI
century was discovered. The next restoration was carried out in
2014-2015. The project provided for the restoration of the appearance of
the temple in the 1880s based on preserved photographs. During the work,
the plaster surface of the facades and the elements of the stucco
decoration of the facades were restored. The completion of the bell
tower and crosses were recreated based on old photographs.
In the temple of Varvara on Varvarka, a part of Varvara's finger with a ring was kept, transferred to the church of John the Warrior on Yakimanka.