Elias Church rises on Ivanova Hill, which descends to the Kamenka River with a steep clay cliff. Suzdal historian Ananiy Fyodorov in his work "Collection on the God-saved city of Suzdal" reports that the name of the mountain appeared in pagan times, when summer festivities in honor of Ivan Kupala were held behind the Kremlin in the meadow.
Short story
Initially, the Church of Elijah the Prophet stood on the posad at the Ilyinsky Gate. In 1694, Metropolitan Hilarion of Suzdal abolished this church and at his own expense erected the same wooden church in the bishop's settlement. In 1744 the temple of Elijah the Prophet with a bell tower was rebuilt in stone... Nearby, a "pair" winter church of St. John the Evangelist was erected, but in 1937 it was destroyed. The bell tower of the Elias Church has not survived either.
As a result, by the 21st century, only the "four on the eight" remained on the mountain. In 2010, the Church of Elijah the Prophet was overhauled: the refectory was restored and the bell tower was recreated on the old foundation. On May 9, 2010, parishioners of the Elias Church planted an apple orchard of 65 trees in honor of the 65th anniversary of the Great Victory over fascism.
The architecture of the Elias Church
Elias Church is an example of a posad church of the "octagon on a quadruple" type - an octahedron is placed on the hipped roof of the cube, covered with a spherical roof. The decor of the temple intertwined features of the "Baroque" style and elements of wooden architecture.
Pilasters in the corners of the main volume-cube imitate the connections of wooden log cabins. The windows of the first tier are framed with platbands in the form of stylized crowns, the platbands of the second tier are semicircular. The octahedron is crowned with a drum with a complicated bulbous head and is trimmed with rustic stone at the corners, creating a clear constructive image. The octagonal windows are decorated with trims in the form of triple ovals.
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