The church was built in 1685 near the village of Semenovskoye in the Arkhangelsk region and three years later was consecrated (the consecration date is indicated on the carved wooden cornice under the roof, which is called the podzor). It was a summertime church, where services were held only during the warm season. In winter the parishioners attended the nearby heated Church of the Nativity of Christ.
Since ancient times, St. George the Victorious has been worshipped in Russia. He was considered the patron saint of warriors and farmers, as well as the protector of livestock. The Moscow princes also especially venerated St. George. The Russian name Yuri, derived from George, was popular among the members of the Rurikid princely family.
The St. George Church was built in the traditions of wooden architecture of Russian North. Two chetveriks — quadrangular log cabins – are crowned with a barrel-shaped roof, which is uncommon for church architecture. The three domes and the roof of the church are covered with lemekh — small wooden planks that look like roof tiles.
At the turn of the 1930s, St. George's Church was closed and remade at first into a village hall, then into a warehouse. In the 1980s, it miraculously survived in the fire that started at the village.
Only in 2007-2008, on the initiative of artist Ivan Glazunov, this unique monument was examined and transported to Kolomenskoe for scientific restoration and reconstruction at a new place.
Nowadays, the wooden Church of Great Martyr St. George the Victorious adorns Kolomenskoe and makes part of the Open-air Museum of Wooden Architecture. The museum restorers revived the church appearance of the XVII century, reconstructed the hanging gallery, the porch, interior paintings and thin wooden planks siding, the barrel roof over the altar, doors and windows.
Presently, the church hosts an exhibition telling about the complicated history of the monument. Welcome to visit it in the warm season, from 14 May to 2 October or learn more about the history of the construction and restoration of the church at our guided tours ‘Surviving Russian Wooden Architecture monuments at Kolomenskoe’ and 'Wooden Architecture Masterpieces at Kolomenskoe' (you can pre-book them on the museum’s web site or directly at the guided tours office).
