RUSSIA Stroganov Church in Nizhny Novgorod Church of the Nativity of Our Lady, built by the Stroganovs A number of remarkable Baroque churches throughout Russia were built by the Stroganov family in the late 17th and early 18th century. They include the Cathedral of the Presentation of Mary in Solvychegodsk (1688–1696), Church of Our Lady of Kazan in Ustyuzhna (1694), Church of Our Lady of Smolensk in Gordeyevka (part of todays Kanavino district of Nizhny Novgorod) (1697), and the Church of the Synaxis of the Mother of God in Nizhny Novgorod (started in 1697, consecrated in 1719). The Stroganovs or Strogonovs referred to in French as Stroganoffs, were a family of highly successful Russian merchants, industrialists, landowners, and statesmen. Since the reign of Ivan the Terrible, they were the richest businessmen in the Tsardom of Russia. They financed the Russian conquest of Siberia and Prince Pozharskys reconquest of Moscow from the Poles. The Stroganov School of icon-painting is named after them. Peter the Great elevated the Stroganovs into the noble rank of Baron of the Russian Empire. The last member of the family died in the Stroganov Palace in 1923.
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 02:09:00 +0000