The Elijah Church at Tsypino: Resurrecting a Wooden Masterpiece [Russia]

Russia Beyond ^ | 7/23/21 | William Brumfield

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Historian and architecture expert William Brumfield witnesses the before-and-after of an important restoration effort in the Russian North.

Tsypino. Church of Elijah the Prophet. Northwest view. June 1, 2014 William Brumfield

In the summer of 1909, Russian chemist and photographer Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky took an extended journey through the Russian North. He traveled to the region again in 1916 on his last major expedition before leaving Russia in 1918. His photographs from this period include several wooden churches and chapels, almost none of which have survived.

A lost monument

Petrozavodsk. Church of Sts. Peter & Paul, southwest view. Destroyed by lightning in 1924. Summer 1916 Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky

In Petrozavodsk—now the capital of the Russian Republic of Karelia—he photographed two large wooden churches, one of which was dedicated the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul. Referred to as a cathedral in some sources, the shrine was built at the beginning of the 18th century during the reign of Peter the Great.

Tsypino. Church of Elijah the Prophet, south facade. June 1, 201 William Brumfield

Local legends claimed that Peter himself designed it, and the dedication to Sts. Peter and Paul is an unmistakable reference to Peter’s heavenly patrons. Whatever the design source, it is likely that Peter supported the church as an emphatic statement of Russia’s presence in a strategic border area contested by Sweden. Indeed, Petrozavodsk ("Peter’s factory”) was founded in 1703 to produce iron for the new Russian navy during the Great Northern War (1700-21).

Church of Elijah the Prophet. Interior, view east toward icon screen. June 1, 2014 William Brumfield

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Prokudin-Gorskii Images