Transfiguration Church in Kovalyovo

The Transfiguration Church in Kovalyovo (Church of the Savior's Transfiguration on Kovalyovo) is an inactive Orthodox church near Veliky Novgorod, the former cathedral of the Kovalyovo (Spassky) Monastery, one of the small suburban monasteries founded with funds from noble Novgorodians. The church was built in 1345, commissioned by the boyar Ontsifor Zhabin.

Architecture and History

It is a single-domed, four-pillar church with a zakomara roofline and corner pilasters, one apse and side chapels; one of the chapels holds the Zhabin family crypt. Stone crosses are set into the walls of the north chapel — probably a donation from the church's patrons.

The monastery at Kovalyovo existed until 1764, when it was abolished during Catherine II's secularization reform, but the church itself remained active into the 20th century. During the Great Patriotic War the church was destroyed down to a height of 5 metres. In 1970–1974 a new church was built on the site to a design by architect Leonid Krasnorechyev, incorporating surviving fragments of the ancient walls.

The monastery's other buildings — the bell tower, cells, and enclosure wall — stayed wooden for a long time; a stone refectory with the Church of St Nicholas was only built in the 16th century. After the monastery's abolition in 1764 these buildings were gradually dismantled.

Frescoes

The church was painted in 1380, as an inscription on the west wall attests; the frescoes were commissioned by the boyar Afanasy Stepanovich and his wife Maria. They were cleared of later layers in the 1910s and later restored by conservators in the Soviet period; they show the period's mystical attitude to light and its ascetic outlook. The interior also has niche recesses in the walls, half-barrel vaults, and a minimal number of window openings — four square-section pillars are set close to the walls, freeing up the central space.