The All Saints Metochion of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius is located among a quiet birch grove a kilometer and a half from the monastery. It is surrounded by low earthen ramparts and plantings of spreading old trees – these used to be the boundaries of the church cemetery. The Kokuevsky, or All Saints, churchyard acquired its own Church of All Saints in 1834, and 6 years later a side chapel of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos was added to it.
The Church of All Saints was built in the Empire style; its simple and laconic architecture with a classical columned portico creates an elegant appearance. A tall bell tower and a refectory are attached to the single-domed church. All the buildings are painted yellow with white decor and harmonize beautifully with the delicate greenery of the surrounding birches.
According to legend, this church was erected on the spot where, during the fire of 1746, the monks carried out the relics of Sergius of Radonezh, saving the shrine from the flames. When the Lavra was closed after the revolution, the monks came here for services until the All Saints Church was closed in 1938.
In the churchyard around the church, parishioners of three nearby parishes, monks of the Lavra, and those who died in the monastery's hospitals and almshouses were buried. In the 1930s, the Soviet authorities put forward the idea of making a park on the closed cemetery, but the war prevented this sacrilegious plan from being carried out. The fate of the old cemetery has still not been decided; it has become overgrown with trees, and now there is a quiet square here. Only here and there can low mounds be seen, reminding us that there was once a churchyard here…
