The Saviour Church on Nereditsa Hill near Novgorod (russian: церковь Спаса на Нередице, ''Tserkov Spasa na Nereditse'') is a 12th-century

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

church dedicated to the feast of the Saviour's Transfiguration. The church, consecrated in 1198, became world-famous both for its remarkable state of exterior preservation and for the best preserved set of pre-Mongol

wall painting A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...

s in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. During the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

it was selected as a target for artillery fire and was reduced to rubble. The post-war reconstruction of the Nereditsa Church is on the

World Heritage A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

list as a part of object 604

Historic Monuments of Novgorod and Surroundings Historic Monuments of Novgorod and Surroundings is a composite World Heritage Site which includes a number of medieval monuments in and around Veliky Novgorod, Russia. The site was inscribed in 1992. History Novgorod between the 9th and the 15th c ...

. The building has been designated an architectural monument of federal significance (#5310113002). It is located in

Novgorodsky District Novgorodsky District (russian: Новгородский район) is an administrativeLaw #559-OZ and municipalLaw #400-OZ district (raion), one of the twenty-one in Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is located in the southwest of the oblast and borde ...

Novgorod Oblast Novgorod Oblast (russian: Новгоро́дская о́бласть, ''Novgorodskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Veliky Novgorod. Some of the oldest Russian cities, includin ...

, Russia, south of

Veliky Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ...

in the village of on the right bank of the Maly Volkhovets River on a small Nereditsa Hill next to the Rurik hillfort.

History

The church was built in 1198 by Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich, the grandson of Mstislav Vladimirovich and painted with frescoes in 1199. It was measured and restored by in 1903-1904. During

the church was located on the front line between 1941 and 1943 and was destroyed. It was subsequently restored. However, most of the frescoes could not be saved. They are currently known from pre-war photos, and watercolor sketches made by

Nikolai Avenirovich Martynov Nikolai Avenirovich Martynov (Russian:Николай Авенирович Мартынов; 1842–1913) was a Russian painter and watercolorist. Life and work He graduated from the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, and ta ...

in 1862.

Architecture

The small stone church is built as a cube and has one dome. It is based on four

pillars A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

and has three

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

s at the eastern side. The type of a small church was developed in Novgorod in the end of the 12th century, and there are several churches of this type, in Novgorod and in

Staraya Ladoga Staraya Ladoga (russian: Ста́рая Ла́дога, p=ˈstarəjə ˈladəɡə, lit=Old Ladoga), known as Ladoga until 1704, is a rural locality (a '' selo'') in Volkhovsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Volkhov River ne ...

Frescoes

The frescoes were created by eight to ten artists. They covered all the interior of the church, including the pillars, the walls, the ceiling, and the dome. There is no apparent system in creating the frescoes. It's possible that the painters did not know each other and had different styles. In particular, normally a fresco of Christ the Saviour should be painted in the dome. However, for the Saviour Church on Nereditsa, the dome was occupied by the Ascencion. Christ was painted in the dome in

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

already in the 9th century, and painting other frescoes in the dome was at the time the sign that the church belongs to a highly peripheral region. The most impressive fresco in the church was considered to be the Last Judgment, painted over the whole western wall. Only fragments of this fresco survived. File:Iisus Hristos Vethiy Denmi freska.jpg, File:Yaroslav Vsevolodovich (Spas Nereditsi).jpeg,

References

{{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in 1198 Russian Orthodox churches in Veliky Novgorod Medieval Eastern Orthodox church buildings in Russia Historic Monuments of Novgorod and Surroundings Rebuilt churches in Russia 12th-century paintings Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Novgorod Oblast