Yaroslavl, the center of the Yaroslavl region, is located 282 km north-east of Moscow, on the bank of the Volga. How to get there from Moscow: by train from the Yaroslavsky railroad station, by car following the Yaroslavskoye shosse.
Yaroslavl is a port. You can get there by bus as well. The bus station is located near the metro station Shchyolkovskaya.
Church of Ilia the Prophet
The Church of Ilia the Prophet (1647-1650) was built on the site of a previous wooden house
of worship by the order of Anikey and Nafantey Skripin, buyers-up of fur. They were so rich
that even Tsar Alexei Mikhailovitch and Patriarch Joseph had to take their opinion into consideration.
The image of the church is a lucky combination of austerity of the 16th century and
spectacular decorative asymmetry of the 17th century.
Inside the Church of Ilia the Prophet is beautifully decorated. Entering the gallery, one will note the carved fanciful portals with forged doors. The murals of the central part were executed in the period from 1680 to 1681 by a team of 15 craftsmen, with the participation if the famous icon-painters Gury Nikitin and Sila Slavin from Kostroma, along with four Yaroslavl's painters under Dmitry Semyonov. The wonderful bright color scheme and a fanciful rhythm of pictures impart festive pomp to the decor. The walls of the main part of the church are split into 6 tiers of murals, the lowest tier bears a pattern. Vaults and the two upper tiers are embellished with large frescoes presenting scenes from the Gospel.
Redemeer Church of the Transfiguration On-the-town
The name of Redemeer Church of the Transfiguration On-the-town (1672) may be explained by fact that in XVII_XVIIIcs.the main trading square of Yaroslavl was situated here.In XIIIc. Some wooden churches stood here.They were burnt and restored many times.
The temple was built by the money of tradesmen.
Nave church built near northern wall give some assymetry to the temple.
Building with drums topped with massive bulbs which are higher than main volume is typical for Yaroslavl temples.
The main curiosity of the building is frescoes.
22 artists painted the church in 1693 under direction of Lavrenty Sevastyanov, Fyodor Fyodorov and
Ivan Dmitriev. The oldest among them-Lavrenty Sevastyanov painted icons in church
of Fyodor of Yaroslavl together with Gury Nikitin. Lavrenty is a son of famous Yaroslavl
craftsman Sevastyan Dmitriev during 40 years working in the Weapons'Chamber of Moscow Kremlin.
In 1640 he painted the temple of Nickola Nadein.
The team of Sevastyanov got perfect in creating frescoes. This huge temple with all the
altars and vestibules was painted during 7 weeks!
In these paintings definite Yaroslavl style arrives. Its typical feature is dividing walls into narrow tiers.In this church there are seven tiers.In four upper tiers-earth life of Christ,in fifth and sixth-"The story of Wonder-working cross".Seventh level has ornamental decorations.
In the stories of frescoes there are pictures of simple people, peasants and their life. For example, queen
Elena going to Palestina,sits in the trolley and churches she found in Holy Land remind usual peasants' houses.
In 1918 during the revolt Church was hardly injured.Paintings were saved by Baranovsky P.D.
Church of Nickola "rubleny gorod"
Church of Nickola "rubleny gorod" (1695) was built in former Rubleny town which name explains the name of the church.
Five-headed stone temple does not have any ground floor. In former times its heads were covered with tiles.The church has fine proportions and very elegant.The bell-tower with open stairs standing close to refectory make the church very picturesque.
In former Rubleny town one more church left-the church of Elijah and Tikhon.
Sacred Objects
The Tolga icon is a sacred object of Yaroslavl, always worshipped by local people. The icon is wonder-working and chrism-exuding. In 1392, in the time of Father Superior Herman, a surprising miracle happened. During the matins a stream of chrism spurted from the left hand of the Holy Virgin filling the church with sweet smell. Another stream spurted from the left leg of the child. The chrism turned out to be a healing remedy.
In 1553 Tsar Ivan the Terrible coming from St. Kirill's Monastery of Belozero to Moscow stayed in the Tolga Monastery where his sick legs were cured. Numerous wonders confirmed by eye-witnesses were described in the monastery chronicles, such as curing of barrenness, healing of the deaf and handicapped, resuscitation of the drowned and dead.
Several cases are known when the icon was brought to Yaroslavl.
In 1612 during the Time of Troubles in Yaroslvl, a temporary capital of the Russian state, people's volunteer corps was gathering. At that time an epidemic of plague burst out, spreading fast due to the dry weather. The prince Dmitri Pozharsky organized a public service in front of the wonder-working icon. After a solemn procession with a cross the epidemic ceased. Later, cross processions turned into an annual ritual. In 1654 the icon saved people from another epidemic. It started to rain straight after the icon had been carried through the town. The icon travelled with religious processions to towns and uezds of the Yaroslavl region. Local people were happy to bring the icon into their houses. Now, the icon is in the possession of the Yaroslavl Art Museum.
Tradioins / Casting
Yaroslavl provided all Russian towns with bells. There was no single province, or even town or village, that had not bought Yaroslavl's bell.
The first bell foundry was founded by Dmitri Zatrapezny in the 17th century. Weight of some bells produced at the foundry reached up to 400 or even 700 poods (16.38 kg.).
The foundry of Olovyashnikov was launched in the 18th century and existed until the 20th century. It had its own methods of making molds and casting bells. The foundry made Yaroslavl famous as a bell town.
