Church of Our Savior

a church in Novgorod on Il’ina Street. Constructed in 1374, Spasa na Il’ine Church is an outstanding example of Russian architecture. A four-pillared structure having a rectangular layout, the church has a single apse, a single cupola, and an eight-sloped roof. The outer walls, apse, and drum are richly decorated with semicircular niches, beading, and crosses in relief. The elegant and grand structure represents the full flowering of the Novgorod school of architecture of the late 14th and early 15th centuries. Its frescoes, painted in 1378 by Theophanes the Greek, are noted for the austere expressiveness of images, unified composition, and forceful technique. Fragments of the frescoes have been preserved in the cupola and the Troitskii narthex.