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Tserkov Nikolaya Chudotvortsa v Khamovnikakh,
Church of St Nicholas the Wonderworker in Kamovniki, Black and white photo.
After the tsar ordered cloth workers from Tver to settle in this part of Moscow
near the Krymski bridge, they dedicated the church in honor of their patron
saint. At first they worked in the 'kadishi' the linen-makers shops whose trade
was well established a century before. The Kadashi made all the tools required
for linen making. The newcomers took their name from the Dutch word Kham. As
such they were excluded from taxation, but were forbidden to mix by marriage
with the other slobodas. It was also unlawful to live in their neighborhood
except by special permission after an argument was presented to the tsar. This
was the case of Khariton Dmitriyev, the son of Tmekov, who asked Tsar Feodor
Mikhailovich to move in with his family in 1627. Such requests were not all
that common. However, the sloboda grew and their church was built of brick in
1678. The stone church was begun in 1657 and consecrated in 1682. The chapel of
the Icon of the Blessed Virgin's Protection was built in 1872. The church is a
monument to the skill of Muscovite bricklayers.
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