Church of Elijah the Prophet

About this place

The Church of Elijah the Prophet is an Orthodox church in the historic centre of Yaroslavl on the Volga, standing on Sovetskaya Square less than a kilometre from the city centre in a straight line. It is one of the finest monuments of the 17th-century Yaroslavl school of architecture and painting. The stone church was built between 1647 and 1650 on the site of two wooden churches, paid for by the Skripin brothers, among the city's richest merchants, and raised by a team of local masons whose names are unknown. Today it belongs to the Yaroslavl diocese and the city museum. The white church stands in the middle of the square with five green domes, a pointed bell tower beside it and a side chapel with a tented roof, its facade decorated with coloured tiles. Its interior is famous for its painted murals. The church usually opens to visitors in the warm season and closes in damp weather to protect the paintings. Pair it with a walk along the Volga embankment and the nearby Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery. The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to Russia, and non-Russian bank cards may not work, so read the current advice before you plan.