On July 17, 1903, Emperor Nicholas II and his family visited Sarov for the celebrations of the glorification of Venerable Seraphim as a saint. And a year after this trip to Sarov and bathing in its spring, the Empress gave birth to the long-awaited heir, which explains the special attitude of Nicholas II and his family towards this saint. The decision to establish it was made by the tsar after Empress Alexandra gave birth to the long-awaited son, having bathed in the Sarov spring.

In 1904, immediately after the birth of the heir, a small wooden chapel was erected, consecrated in honor of Venerable Seraphim of Sarov. A five-domed church in the Neo-Russian style with a tented bell tower was built in Peterhof from 1904 to 1910 on the initiative of Nicholas II, as a metochion of the Seraphim-Diveyevo Monastery, designed by the famous architect Nikolai Nikitich Nikonov. The consecration on October 6, 1906, was attended by John of Kronstadt. Bright and festive, the new church became a worthy decoration of the royal residence, evoking admiration among contemporaries.

Besides the main altar, consecrated in the name of Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, there were two other chapels: that of the Holy Martyr Empress Alexandra and Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker. Currently, the cubic building houses a church on the first floor and a refectory on the second.

At the metochion, workshops for mosaics, painting, and chasing operated; icons were also painted here, which were especially highly valued. During the First World War, the sisters of the convent sewed silk shirts for officers, sent cloth, towels, and belts with prayers for the wounded. A school-orphanage for war orphans was opened here. By 1917, about 80 sisters lived at the metochion. After the revolution, the nuns left the convent, but the church continued to function.

Nicholas II personally visited this metochion many times. On October 8, 1906, he wrote in his diary: “Wednesday. Sunny day. Received 23 people at the Farm... Visited the new church of the Diveyevo convent. Took a walk.”

Another event in the tsar’s life is connected with the Diveyevo metochion. It was on the day of his visit, July 19, 1914, that Nicholas II learned about the beginning of the First World War. The emperor’s diary entry for that day reads: “July 19. Saturday. Morning reports as usual. After breakfast, called Nicholas and announced his appointment as Supreme Commander-in-Chief until my arrival at the army. Went with Alix to the Diveyevo convent. Walked with the children. At 6:30 went to the vigil. Upon returning, learned that Germany declared war on us.”

After the 1917 revolution, the monastery could not exist legally, so a secret community of nuns was created within its walls. The sisters lived in the world, worked, and secretly took monastic vows. The community was dispersed in 1932; the last priest and nuns were repressed. All outbuildings were completely destroyed.

During the Great Patriotic War, the wooden church burned down, and the stone church was severely damaged—the bell tower collapsed, and the domes with crosses were knocked off. From 1952 to 1990, the church building was used as a warehouse by the trading organization “PetrodvoretsTorg.” The interior space of the church was divided by concrete floors. A freight elevator passed through the altar. The walls were built up, and the building took the shape of a brick cube.

In 1993, the church was returned to the Orthodox Church. In 2012, active restoration of the church building began. As of January 2014: the building was scaffolded, domes with crosses installed. In 2020, the facade restoration was completed, and the church building, which regained its historical appearance, once again acquired a “postcard” look. The next stage is the restoration of interiors brutally destroyed during the Soviet period.

On the church wall is a granite plaque with the inscription: “Moscow Patriarchate, Saint Petersburg Diocese. Church in the name of Venerable Seraphim of Sarov. Former metochion of the Seraphim-Diveyevo Monastery. Consecrated October 19, 1909. Architect N. N. Nikonov. Federal architectural monument. Protected by the state.”

Sources:

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Храм_Серафима_Саровского_(Петергоф)

https://diveevo-monastyr.ru/about/serafimovskij-hram-na-petergofskom-podvore/

http://old.spp-petergof.ru/hram_prp_serafima_sarovskogo_v_petergofe