The place of church and theology studies in the structure of the Imperial Moscow University (from its origins in 1755 up to 1917) is discussed in this article. The institutional development of the university chairs of theology and of the church history is shown: these chairs were provided by the all-Russian general University Statute 1804 and since then several times changed their faculty position and content. The portraits of the fi rst theology professors in Moscow University are given, the special attention is paid to the radical change of the teaching of these subjects after the introduction of the all-Russian general University Statute 1863, which was connected in Moscow University with a significant activity of archpriest Alexander Michailovich Ivantzov-Platonow, the professor of church history at the faculty of history and philology. The subsequent discussions are disclosed: the university historians attempted to pass this chair to the professor, whose background was not related with any theological Academy. The failure of such an attempt lead afterwards to the loose of significance of the church history courses for the program of special historical training in Moscow University.