Old Sloboda (Vladimir region)

The village is located 6 km northwest of the city of Alexandrov .

Since time immemorial, the village of Staraya Sloboda has been a palace belonging to the Grand Ducal court. Since the time of the Pereyaslavl Zalessky princedom there has been a summer residence of the Russian Grand Dukes. The structure of the grand-ducal estate with the name of Aleksandrov Sloboda included: a large wooden palace tower, a wooden church, a large stable and a horse carriage, as well as other outbuildings. The estate was extremely convenient in location: from it the roads led to Pereslavl-Zalessky , and to Dmitrov , and to Moscow , and to Suzdal and Vladimir . Since the center of the land was Pereslavl-Zalessky , all the princes of Pereyaslavl, including Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky, visited the estate of Alexandrova Sloboda . The foundation of the estate and the church is supposed in the second half of the XII century. Presumably, the original wooden church was consecrated in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The manor here lost its main significance at the beginning of the 16th century, when in December 1513 the tsarist-princely estate moved to the New Alexandrov Sloboda , on the site of which now stands the Assumption Monastery of Alexandrovsky . The palace village of Old Sloboda remained in its former place. In the summer of 1689, the village turned out to be at the center of events related to the maneuvers of the so-called amusement troops , which were conducted by the young tsar Peter Alekseevich and the English general Patrick Gordon with the Preobrazhensky and Semenov regiments ^[2] .

In the XIX and first quarter of the XX century it was part of the Alexander volost of the Alexander district . Population ( 1859 ) - 280 ^[3] people.

During the years of Soviet power until 1998, the village was part of the Balakirevsky village council .

In the village is the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. The construction of the stone temple began at the direction of Tsar Peter I on August 10, 1696 in fulfillment of the bequeathed will of the king’s brother, John V , who died in January 1696. The work was led by the spiritual guide of the Great Sovereign (Peter Alekseevich), father Feofan Feofilaktovich, archpriest of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin . The construction of the temple was completed on May 4, 1698. In the church there are 3 chapels - the main one in honor of the icon of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God . Northern in the name of the Beheading of the Head of St. John the Baptist - the patron saint of Tsar John Alekseevich . The later southern aisle of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker . The bell tower at the temple dilapidated in the XVII century. And a new three-story stone was built in 1865 with funds from the Moscow Kremlin Annunciation Cathedral.

After the revolution, with the formation of the collective farm and then the Slobodskaya state farm, the church was used as an agricultural warehouse. In the 1960s, the building was partially restored by the regional monument protection service. From 2002 to 2006, work continued on the restoration of the temple under the supervision of the priest of the Assumption Monastery John Devlikamov. Since the fall of 2006, services have been regularly performed in the church within the limits of the Beheading of the Head of John the Baptist ^[2] .

• Internet Encyclopedia "Virtual City Vladimir" .
• Old Sloboda