Church of Elijah the Prophet

17th-century church with the finest frescoes in Yaroslavl

The Church of Elijah the Prophet, completed in 1650, stands on Sovetskaya (Soviet) Square at the heart of the historic centre and is the building most people come to Yaroslavl to see. The exterior is handsome but restrained by Yaroslavl standards — it is inside that the church justifies its reputation. Every surface of the interior is covered in vivid 17th-century frescoes: 156 scenes from the Old and New Testaments, painted by the master iconographers Gury Nikitin and Sila Savin in the summer of 1681.

The richness of the colours and the vitality of the figures are remarkable. Look particularly at the cycle depicting the life of Elijah and scenes from the Book of Genesis. The church is open to visitors as a museum from May to October (closed November to April to protect the frescoes from humidity). Photography is permitted. It is the single most important sight in Yaroslavl.

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A story
The frescoes were painted by a team led by Gury Nikitin and Sila Savin between 1681 and 1682 — 156 biblical scenes covering every surface from floor to ceiling. The artists worked at such speed that the entire programme was completed in a single summer, a feat that astonished contemporaries and still impresses art historians today.