The Church of St. Irene in Volkovo was the only Church in pre-revolutionary Russia, which was consecrated in honor of St. Irene. Today the Church is experiencing a new birth.

Once in Russia there was Irinovsky monasteries, and both were founded by Prince Yaroslav V. 9 in honor of the wife Ingegerd (St. Anne): one of them was located in Kiev and was devastated during the Mongol invasion, the other in Novgorod.

Since the early 18th century until 1874, the village of Volkovo was the property of a noble family Golubovich. It passed by inheritance to Fyodor Alexandrovich Golubtsova, who was the holder of many awards, a statesman, and in 1807-1810, the Minister of Finance. In 1809, Fyodor received permission to build on his estate a stone Church in honor of Saint Irene. The Church was built in 1812 the Church was built on the hill, opposite the manor house. In June 1817 the Church was consecrated as a house. Next to the Church built a small chapel.

Surrounding the manor house of the village was inhabited by Russians and Finns. Between the different people are constantly there everyday and cultural interaction. Intermarriage led to mutual penetration of the Orthodox and Lutheran cultures.

In 1904, under the inspection of churches of Peterhof and Tsarskoye Selo, the very Reverend Sergius drew attention to the situation of the Finns, who were denied the opportunity to hear the word of God because of the misunderstanding of the Russian language. To remedy the situation, the Bishop proposed to create a special temple for the Orthodox Finns, which will lead worship in Finnish. For this purpose it was proposed to use Irene Church, at that time almost empty.

In 1909, in Volkovo was formed the Russian-Finnish parish. Worship services were conducted in Finnish and Russian languages. The composition of the parish included D. Volkova and neighbouring villages Muratovo and Slides, Agogino and Cotino, Mednikova and Finatawa. Irene temple was the only Russian Finnish Orthodox Church. In this regard, it has been given special attention, because it helped to attract the Finnish population in the Orthodox Church.

Abbot Irene Church was the priest Nicholas Zotikov was respected Orthodox and non-Orthodox population of Estonian and Finnish origin. The temple in the village of Volkovo has become a bridge between two cultures: the service here came the Finns are Lutherans, and the rector of the Orthodox Church was always a welcome guest at Church and folk festivals, the Finns in the neighbouring villages.

When in 1912 the owners of the estate were V. I. Smirnov, I. farmers A. Hamalainen and I. A. Kekki, Russian-Finnish Church almost closed. Fatal role played by the fact that the earth beneath the temple was the property of the estate owners. And the new owners wanted to close the Church. But the Church helped a happy coincidence. Through Volkova returned from maneuvers Nicholas II. Seeing the Church and learned that they want to abolish, expressed his regret. As a result of land with the Church of the owners of the estate donated to the diocesan office.

Irene temple lasted until 1936. In 1939 it was closed. During the war the parish functioned. But the temple was used by the Germans as a warehouse, so services were held in the village of Olgino in parochial school. After the war the Church was used as a club. In the early 1990s, the country club was closed, the building was looted. The Church gradually destroyed.

In the mid-1990s, the Church was given to the St. Petersburg diocese. Since 2000, enthusiastic devotees began the revival of the parish. An initiative group was headed by Yury Petrov, a historian, a resident of nearby Tarasovo. The group also included the architect Sophia Kanaeva with her husband, engineer Peter Kalinin, vacationers and locals. The parish of Volkovo registered in 2002, were among the founders and the Finns, who were baptized before the war in this Church. May 26, 2002 at the walls of the dilapidated Church was held the first Russian-Finnish prayer after its closure.

To revive the parish began with the restoration of the chapel. The initiative group gathered in the surrounding villages donations. Work were partly produced by a Mason from the village of Cloppity for free. First icon for the chapel gave the Americans, leading a nearby farm. They also participated in the construction works. May 18, 2004, the day of the Holy great Martyr Irene, took place the consecration of the chapel.

In addition to the restoration of the chapel are working in the temple. According to experts, Irene Church is of interest and is the surviving representative of the architecture of the manor house churches of the 19th century in North-West Russia. During the clearing of the temple was discovered mortgage Board. The first mass was still in recovering the Church was held may 18, 2008