Church of Saints Peter and Paul

The Church of Saints Peter and Paul is one of the oldest surviving buildings in Russia — a 12th-century Romanesque-influenced church that has stood, with some modifications and restorations, for nearly 900 years. It sits on Gorodyanka Hill across the Dnieper from the city centre, white-plastered and deceptively small. Inside, the proportions are intimate and the sense of antiquity genuine — the architectural forms, with their pilasters and blind arcading, belong to a moment when the Russian church was still closely connected to Romanesque traditions from the west.

Smolensk was an important principality in the 12th century, and this church and its sister buildings (the Church of John the Theologian and the Church of the Archangel Michael, all from the same period) represent the architectural ambitions of that era. Most of Smolensk's medieval buildings were destroyed in subsequent centuries of warfare; the survival of these three is remarkable. The setting on the hill, with the river below and the kremlin wall visible across the water, is one of the finest in the city.

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The church was built by Rostislav Mstislavich, Prince of Smolensk, in 1146 — making it over 870 years old. What makes it extraordinary is that it is still standing, when almost every other building from 12th-century Smolensk has been destroyed and rebuilt many times over. The reason it survived is partly luck and partly its construction: the thin white plaster walls and the quality of the original masonry have proved remarkably durable.