Greater Church of the Ascension

The Greater Church of Christ's Ascension is one of the largest parish churches in downtown Moscow. It is a major landmark of Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street and Nikitskiye Vorota Square. It is named "greater" to prevent confusion with a nearby church of the same name.

The church was commissioned by Prince Potemkin, the owner of a neighbouring messuage, shortly before his death. The yellow-colored Neoclassical building was erected between 1798 and 1816. The name of the architect is not known for certain. It has been attributed either to Matvey Kazakov, who built numerous Moscow churches in the reign of Catherine the Great, or Ivan Starov, who frequently worked for Potemkin. The edifice was overhauled to Osip Bove's designs after the 1812 Fire of Moscow. It stood unfinished for several decades and was not completed until 1848.