Nereditsa Church

The church was built in 1198 by Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich[4] and painted with frescoes in 1199.[5] The church was located outside the city of Novgorod but close to the residence of the prince. It was probably regarded by the prince as the place for his future tomb.[4] In 1903-1904 it was measured and restored by Pyotr Pokryshkin.

During World War II 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, and are currently known because the pre-war photos exist.[6]

The interior was frescoed in 1199

The small stone church is built as a cube and has one dome. It is based on four pillars and has three apses at the eastern side.[7] 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.[8]

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 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. In 1246, a portrait of Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich was added to the southern wall.[5]