Church of Elijah the Prophet
- Mo — Su9:00–21:00
- Yaroslavl region, Yaroslavl, Sovetskaya str., 7
This masterpiece of church construction and interior wall murals has miraculously been preserved since the 17th century in almost its original form and is today one of the "calling cards" of the city and an attractive attraction even during a one-day visit to the city.
The temple is located in the center of Yaroslavl on Sovetskaya Square.
It is under the jurisdiction of the Yaroslavl and Rostov dioceses and the Yaroslavl Museum-Reserve.
It is under the jurisdiction of the Yaroslavl Museum-Reserve and is available to the public as an architectural monument from May to October.
The services are conducted by the Cyril-Athanasius Monastery in Yaroslavl.
The church in honor of the prophet Elijah was the first church in the city, according to the "Legend of the building of the city of Yaroslavl" it was founded by Prince Yaroslav the Wise at the same time as the city itself – in honor of the fact that the legendary victory of the prince over the bear occurred on the day of this saint. It is supposed to have been located on the site of the modern Ilyinsko-Tikhonovskaya Church.
Until 1647, on this territory of Zemlyanoe Posad, not far from the Volga shores, there were two parish churches built of wood – the cold Ilyinsky and the warm Pokrovsky. During the city fire of 1658, the church, although burned from the outside, was not damaged inside, unlike most others. It was painted by the famous Kostroma artists Guriy Nikitin and Sila Savin together with Yaroslavl masters in 1680 under the Skripins' heiress, the widow of Boniface, Iulita Makarovna. When Yaroslavl received a regular building plan in 1778, the Church of Elijah the Prophet became the center of the radial-ring layout of the city's posad, and Ilyinskaya Square (now Sovetskaya Square) was created around it, housing a number of administrative offices.
In 1920, the building was transferred to the Yaroslavl Museum-Reserve. In 1989, the main altar of the Church of Elijah the Prophet was re-consecrated, and since then, church services have been held in the temple in the summer.
