3017 RUSSIA (Nizhny Novgorod Oblast) - Churches of the Smolensk and Vladimir icons of the Mother of God in Gordeyevka

3017 Church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother
Of God (in front) and Church of Our Lady of
 Smolensk (in back) in Nizhny Novgorod

The Stroganovs (the richest businessmen in the Tsardom of Russia from the reign of Ivan the Terrible, elevated into the nobility as Barons of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great, and later as Counts) built a number of remarkable Baroque churches throughout Russia in the late 1600s-early 1700s. Only four survived until today, and two of them are in Nizhny Novgorod: the Virgin's Nativity Church and the Church of Our Lady of Smolensk. The last one is located in the former village of Gordeyevka (now, part of the city's Kanavinsky District), where the Stroganov palace once stood.

Built between 1694 and 1697, it became a parish church after the Stroganovs moved to Moscow in 1705. In 1930 it was closed, and in 1934 narrowly escaped demolition, at the insistence of the staff of the Gorky Regional Museum. Until the early 1990's, its building was used as a museum warehouse. In 1993 it was transferred to the Nizhny Novgorod diocese, and.in 2005-2006 the main dome was gilded. Next to it is the Church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother Of God, rebuilt between 1902 and 1907. It was also closed in 1926, and in 1998 was transferred to the Nizhny Novgorod diocese.

About the stamps
The first stamp is part of a series designed by Bezmenov A. and issued on March 20, 2006 on the occasion of the 100th birth anniversary of A.S.Yakovlev. Alexander Sergeyevich Yakovlev was a Soviet aeronautical engineer. He designed the Yakovlev military aircraft and founded the Yakovlev Design Bureau. All five stamps are the same face values (5 RUB).
• AIR-1
• Jak-42
• Jak-54 - It's on the postcard 3017
• Jak-130
• Jak-141

The second stamp is part of the series The History of the World War I. Native Military Equipment, issued on July 28, 2016, and designed by Beltyukov V. All the four stamps are the same face values (24 RUB).
• The Fedorov Avtomat
• Mgebrov-Isotta-Fraschini armored vehicle
• Grigorovich M-5
• Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya dreadnought - It's on the postcard 3017

The last stamp is part of the series Fauna. The endangered animal species, issued on October 10, 2007. The stamps were designed by A. Moscovets after photographs by A. Avalov.
• Oriental Stork (5 RUB)
• Snow Leopard (6 RUB)
• Wisent (7 RUB) - It's on the postcard 3017

References
Смоленско-Владимирский приход в Гордеевке - Wikipedia

Sender: Tatyana Apostolova (direct swap)
Sent from Sosnovskoe (Nizhny Novgorod Oblast / Russia), on 28.03.2017
Photo: O. Aleksandrova