Wooden Church of Great Martyr St. George the Victorious

The Church of Great Martyr St. George the Victorious was built in 1695 in Northern Russia, Arkhangelsk Region, by the Yorga River, at the local congregation expense. It stood in the center of Srednepogostsky parish, apart from neighboring villages, and was intended only for summertime services.

The church appearance considerably changed in the XIX century: it was covered with wooden planks outside and whitewashed inside. Its ‘barrel’ (i.e. half-cylindrical) roof was plated with iron. In the USSR period, the church was closed and remade first into a village hall and then into a warehouse.

In the 2000s, painter Ivan Glazunov suggested that the abandoned church should be transported to Kolomenskoe and thus saved from gradual destruction. During its disassembling, some important discoveries were made. An inscription containing the church consecration date was found on its podzor – the wooden cornice under the roof. Such inscriptions, known among experts as “church builders’ notes”, have by now been found only on three surviving wooden churches. Besides, traces of the so-called ‘herbal ornament’, never come across before on wooden churches, were discovered on the outside.

Please note that the Church of Great Martyr St. George the Victorious is open only in the summer season, from 15 May to 29 September.

The restorers returned the church its original, XVII century, appearance reconstructing some details lost during the XIX century renovation: the ‘pending’ gallery, entrance porch, the barrel-shaped altar apse, original doors and windows. Today you can see the restored church in the northern part of the museum-reserve, in the Zhuzha Rivulet valley. 

The church was re-consecrated and houses a permanent interior exhibition describing its history – construction, destiny on the original place and restoration. Besides, on display you will see the surviving XIX century murals that used to decorate the church plafond.