The Church of Great Martyr St. George

The Church of Great Martyr St. George the Victorious opened in Kolomenskoye The re-erection of the Church consecrated in the name of Great Martyr St. George the Victorious, an architectural monument dating back to the end of the XVII century and transported from Arkhangelsk region (North Russia) to Kolomenskoye, has been completed. 16 June 2011, the church was opened for the public.

The wooden church of St. George the Victorious was built on the shore of a small Yorga River, a right affluent of the Northern Dvina. As we know from the archive data, it was erected in 1685 thanks to the congregation offertories. In 2003, at the initiative of Ivan Glazunov, artist and member of the Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, the surviving St. George church was examined by an expert group of the Moscow State Integrated Museum-Reserve.

A detailed project of the church’s careful study was worked out, with its consequent dismantling and transportation to Kolomenskoye for scientific restoration and re-erection on a new place. Thanks to the efforts of Liudmila Kolesnikova, the museum Director, the project was realized. In 2007, the field study was carried out and the church restoration project was worked out under the supervision of A. Nikitin, P. Omelnitsky, and I. Shurgin, experts of the “Carency” restoration company. In 2008, the church was dismantled and transported to Kolomenskoye.

In the process of scientific restoration that started in 2009, new details were brought to light. Namely, outer boards with colourful “herbal painting” were found. Re-erection works started in 2010. The place chosen for the church was that in the small Zhuzha River lowland, near the unique sites of the Museum of Wooden Architecture.

This year, an exhibition telling the history of the church and its restoration, opened in the church basement. In the main premises of the church, the surviving XIX-century painting that used to be part of its interior decoration is presented.