The Kazanskaya Church was built in 1845 funded by the landowner sisters, with the maiden name Chulkova - Ekaterina Vasilievna and Anna Vasilievna.

The great Russian singer Fedor Shaliapin and the Italian ballerina Iola Tornagi were married in this church on the 27th of August 1898.

The wedding of Fyodor Shaliapin

Iola Tornagi in her wedding dress.		On the way to the church.

On Monday evening June 21st , 2004, a charitable concert in favor of the restoration of the Kazanskaya church in the Gagino village was held in the State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. The Russian Culture Fund, The Village Church Centre, the Fund of Irina Arhipova, the International Union of Musicians, Audit and Consulting Company FBK, and the Russian Publishing House of the Forbes magazine all took part in the organization of the event. To begin the night, the museum director I. A. Antonova addressed a welcoming speech to the guests, and a performance was given by the students of the Moscow Conservatory. The leader of the Bolshoy Theatre Opera Group, Makvala Kasrashvili, announced that the Bolshoy Theatre was going to give a charity performance for the restoration of the Kazanskaya Church in the Gagino village in commemoration of Fyodor Shaliapin. Chief Editor of the Russian Edition of the Forbes magazine, Paul Khlebnikov, spoke of the charity problems in Russia, and about the importance of "Village Church" work.

Paul Khlebnikov	Makvala Kasrashvili National Artist of the USSR soloist of the Bolshoy Theatre	Irina Antonova director of the State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts.

The planning of the territory	The holiday

The work continued…

September	October	October

II. The Nikolskaya Church (1824). The village of Vorontsovo, Kimry district, Tver region. In summer 2004 the walls and cornices of the church were cleaned from the plants. July, 2004. Students from Kaluga carried out the cleaning on the inside and the outside of the building. Young people cut down trees and bushes near the church walls as well as collecting refuse on a tractor craft.

III. The Nikolskaya Church (1845). The Sadunovo village, Kimry district, Tver region. August, 2004. Students from Poland and Ireland completed clearing the grounds around Nikolskaya Church from broken bricks and soil debris. The area around the church has changed for the better and the church appears elevated.

IV. The estate of Znamenskiy Rayok, Tver region The estate of Znamenskiy Rayok is one of the most beautiful estates in the European part of Russia. Russian financier Piotr Cherepnin from New York made a donation to the Nikolskaya Cathedral and the Chapel of Daniil Stolpnik. It was decided to reconstruct the 18th Century window frames of the Nikolskaya Cathedral, which included the restoration of the church's dome, and mounting of the gilded cross. The Chapel undertook the finishing of the ancient window carpentry, the cross and the angel's weather-vane. In 2004 the Centre 'Village Church" completed all planned work. The church and the chapel were crowned by the gilded crosses; new windows of the chapel were installed to protect the unique frescoes from rain and snow.