The Tambov and Rasskazovskaya Diocese was founded in 1682 by decree of Tsar Feodor III and the Patriarch Joachim.

Managing such a distant diocese through the Moscow Synod office was difficult, so again the question arose of placing a local bishop in charge.

[1] In addition to Tambov and Kozlov, the diocese included Dobry, Kerensky Narovchatov Upper and Lower Lomov and Troitsk.

[2] In the 1950s, the influence of religion on the lives of Tambov residents, despite the anti-church policies of the Soviet government, was very great.

Even Khrushchev’s anti-religious campaign could not significantly weaken the influence of religion on Tambovites, and the number of baptisms even increased in 1957-1964.