The Church of the Deposition of the Robe was built from 1719 to 1722 instead of an old wooden one.
Side chapels: the northern side chapel is dedicated to the Icon of the Virgin of the Burning Bush, 1719; the southern side chapel is dedicated to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, 1719.
The Levonova Wasteland was first mentioned in the Church's cadastre of 1573–1574.
In 1626, Leonovo estate was gifted to Duke Ivan Khovansky, who soon built a wooden church of the Deposition of the Robe at the same place where the present church stands. It was mentioned in 1633 for the first time, and in 1635, for the second time.
At first, in the time of Khovansky's heirs, brothers Ivan and Peter Khovanskys, the settlement was quite small and didn't have its own parish. A priest was paid by the owners.
In the early 18th century, Leonovo became a property of Vasiliy Khovansky, a nobleman of the Peter's warehouse, where a deplorable incident happened described by a certain Bergholc, a Kammerjunker of Duke Golshtinsky, who lived in his Sviblov country house near Leonovo one summer. The young Duke Vasily invited guests, mainly high society young people. They had a fair amount of drink themselves and made drunk the host. Then they put him in a coffin and brought to the Church, where blasphemously performed a requiem service over him and left the host alone in the Church. Only next morning, a priest Philip Leontiev helped Vasily out. After Chancellor Shafirov informed Peter I about the incident, all participants of this prank were sentenced to death that later was replaced with corporal punishment in the presence of the Tsar. After the event, Khovansky petitioned to the Synod for a permission to build a new stone church. However, due to the 1714 decree prohibiting stone constructions everywhere but in St. Petersburg, it was allowed to build a stone church as late as 1719.
The new church, built of stone from 1719 to 1722, was consecrated on 2 July 1722 (Old Style), the Day of the Deposition of the Robe. The decree on the construction reads as follows: "The church should be consecrated by Archpriest Feodor Pankratiev and his brethren from the Dormition Monastery."
In 1767, the estate was sold to Pavel Demidov, who lived there for 54 years. He laid out a beautiful park, ordered rare trees from Siberia, arranged greenhouses and ponds with many fish and birds. By the end of his life, he suffered from nervous disorder. Particularly, he "hated" bell-ringing and insisted on closing the Church.
The Church was shut down in 1800. It remained closed until 1859 and had gone to rack and ruin.
One of the first images of the Church was an engraving dated back to 1806 and depicting the Church in its present appearance except two small domes placed on the slopes of the roofs above the still existing side chapels.
In 1812, the Napoleon's soldiers defaced the Church making a stable of it.
After Demidov died in 1821, his heirs sold the estate. The new owner, in his turn, sold it to merchant Kozhevnikov in 1825. He cut down the forest and almost the whole park.
In 1859, manufacturer Molchanov, who built the Rostokinsky cotton-printing factory shortly before, repaired the Church for spiritual needs of his employees. Most likely frescoes on the side walls of the central cube were painted during that time. The Church had not been heated until it was reconstructed by Molchanov. We can see an iron chimney in the photograph of the late 19th century. The last owners of the estate before 1917 were the Kapustins.
On 23 April 1922, 26 poods and three zolotniks of silver were confiscated from the Church.
According to the Agreement of 17 December 1918 concluded between the District Soviet and parishioners, the Church in Leonovo was handed over to the believers for free use. The Agreement stated that it was a bonded church situated in Sviblov Holy Trinity Parish. In the same year, many icons and holy vessels were given to the Church in Leonovo from the Church of St. Michael of Grodno Diocese. Now, the icons are kept in the side chapels. The Icon of the Mother of God "Of the Three Joys" is near the right choir of the high altar, and the Icon of Fyodorovskaya Theotokos, near the left choir.
There is the only gravestone of Archpriest Joachim Smirnov in the Church's area, who served in the Church for 46 years and died at the age of 87 in 1917.
From 1917 to 1929, his grandson, Father Vladimir Smirnov, served there too. Then the Church was evidently shut down, since next time it was mentioned in 13 years only. Later, from 1942 to 1955, Archpriest John Markov served there. During his time, the Church was electrically wired, and furnace heating was replaced with hot-water heating. He purchased a church chandelier and directed his efforts to icon restoration. During World War II, the Church greatly contributed to the Red Army.
The high altar's antimension was consecrated by Patriarch Alexy on 11 (24) April 1948. Apparently, the Patriarch served in the Church during that time. The side chapel of the Burning Bush's antimension was consecrated by Metropolitan Philaret Drozdov. After it became decrepit, it was replaced with a new one consecrated by Patriarch Pimen on 1 November 1971.
The side chapel of St. Nicholas's antimension was consecrated by Metropolitan Vladimir of Moscow (Bogoyavlensky, killed in 1918, the first Russian New Martyr) "for the Church of St. Xenia in Moscow orphan asylum of St. Xenia" on 20 August 1900. (The Church was destroyed.) On 10 September 1923, with the blessing of Patriarch Tikhon, "the antimension was handed over to Nikolay Gromov, a priest of Moscow Church of St. Nicholas in Arbat Street".
In the early 1930s, Archpriest Pitirim (Krilov), a leader of Moscow Diocese, turned over the antimension to the Church in Leonovo, as evident by an inscription on its back: "For the Church of the Deposition of the Robe in Leonovo. A. Pitirim."
In 1972, the Church celebrated its 250th Anniversary. However, the celebration ceremony was carried over to the next year patronal festival, when, on 15 July, with the blessing of Patriarch Pimen, the liturgy and festival church service were held by Archpriest Pitirim of Volokolamsk.
Several old icons, survived since the times of the 17-century wooden church, are kept in the Church. These are two equal in size, painting style and decoration icons of the Virgin Mary dated back to the early 18th century. The Assuage My Sorrows Icon and the Our Lady of Kazan Icon are placed one opposite another on the side chapels' walls in the refectory. The Church's Icon of the Deposition of the Robe was oil painted in the 19th century.
The four-tire icon-stand with finely painted icons dates back to the 19th century. The walls were painted at different times. The painting "Massacre of the Innocents" on the western wall of the side chapel of St. Nicholas is very interesting. It dates back to the late 18th century and is a work of the Ivan Argunov's school, academician of painting, a bondman of Duke Sheremetev. A fresco on the outer wall survived from the left side only.
Bells survived too. They regularly chime. The Church is fenced around. It is protected by the State and listed as No. 185.
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