Temple of John The Baptist

Unsurpassed Temple of John The Baptist is one of the most attractive religious places of interest of Yaroslavl and even the whole country, as it is one of the oldest and most precious Orthodox churches.

Every permanent Russian resident of course knows the reverse of the 1000 rouble bill. It shows the image of the Temple of John The Baptist in Yaroslavl.

The foundation of the temple were laid in 1671, and it is said to be the height of the distinctive art school of Yaroslavl.

To construct the temple three brick factories were built where special bricks of complicated forms were manufactured. Yaroslavl churches are famous of their ornamented tiles – they are all hand-made and have original subjects on them. In 1904 all fifteen cupolas were plated with gold.

It is hard to believe that this temple standing at a distance from the city is unique on an international scale. Here all the interior is covered with frescos – the walls, poles, archs, galleries bear thousands of religious subjects and stories.

One can imagine how majestic the temple looks from the inside, with its paintings from top to bottom illuminated only by daylight through narrow windows.

One of the main wonders is the wall with the “liturgical calendar” – the painting of all the months of the year with the note of every Orthodox feast on that day.

On the right the Nativity of Christ is depicted.

On this wall an unfinished mural remains. One may observe the way the painter worked.

The layers of plaster for wall painting were attached to the walls with the help of such nails. On the picture above one may see the mark from one.

All mural paintings in the temple all look particularly lively.

Now the sad part – one of the extant unique patterns.

A great deal of others has been destroyed by someone’s merciless hands. Everywhere a human being could reach the tiles are broken, pulled out of the pockets or just scratched with something.

There is no intact ornamental tile along this wall, everything built by the ancestors with love and talent has been blemished by the descendants without kith and kin.

The most delightful church of Yaroslavl included to the UNESCO heritage does not even have a fence, it is completely unprotected from vandals. It is very hard to look at such careless attitude.

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