The merchant Grigory Dmitriyevich Stroganov funded the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Work began in 1696 and was almost finished by 1701. A fire damaged it, and Stroganov's wife, Maria Yakovlevna, restored it. It was consecrated in 1719. The article calls the style Stroganov Baroque, and it names no original designer. White stone carvings decorate the interior and exterior.
The belltower is an octagon on a cube. From the 1860s it began to lean, reaching about 4 feet (1.2 m) of deviation. In 1887 its upper tiers were dismantled and reassembled. Lev Dahl and Robert Kilevain carried out a thorough restoration in the 1870s and 1880s.
Peter the Great closed it in 1722. In the Soviet era a demolition decision was made, but the rector preserved it. It was reconsecrated in 1993.
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