St. Andrew's Anglican Church, Moscow

St Andrew's Anglican Church
A view of St Andrew's Anglican Church
55°45′30″N 37°36′17″E / 55.7582°N 37.6048°E / 55.7582; 37.6048
Address	Moscow
Country	Russia
Denomination	Anglican
Website	moscowanglican.org
History
Status	Church
Consecrated	1885
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architect(s)	Richard Knill Freeman
Architectural type	Church
Style	Gothic Revival
Completed	1884
Specifications
Materials	Brick
Administration
Diocese	Europe

St Andrew's Anglican Church in Moscow is the sole Anglican church in Moscow, and one of only three in Russia (The Anglican Church in St Petersburg was established 1723^[1]). It continues the tradition of Anglican worship in Moscow that started in 1553 when Tsar Ivan the Terrible first allowed the English merchants of the Russia Company permission to worship according to their own beliefs. The Russia Company, now operating mainly for charitable purposes, continues to financially support the Anglican Church in Moscow through the congregation of St Andrew's.

The current church building dates from 1883 and the parsonage from 1894. During the October Revolution in 1917 the church tower was used as a machine gun post by the Bolsheviks. The church was confiscated in 1920 and the chaplain expelled from Russia. During Soviet rule the church and parsonage were used as a hostel for girls and to house diplomats from Finland and Estonia. Starting in 1964 the state record company Melodiya used the church as a recording studio. Services returned on 15 July 1991, and during the visit of Queen Elizabeth II on 19 October 1994 the Russian government agreed to return the building to religious use. Melodiya vacated the premises in 2001.