The Church of Ilia the Prophet (1647-1650) was built on the site of a previous wooden house of worship by the order of Anikey and Nafantey Skripin, buyers-up of fur. They were so rich that even Tsar Alexei Mikhailovitch and Patriarch Joseph had to take their opinion into consideration.
The image of the church is a lucky combination of the austerity of the 16th century and spectacular decorative asymmetry of the 17th century.
The Church of Ilia the Prophet is beautifully decorated inside. Entering the gallery, one will note the carved fanciful portals with forged doors. The murals of the central part were executed in the period from 1680 to 1681 by a team of 15 craftsmen, with the participation of the famous icon-painters Gury Nikitin and Sila Slavin from Kostroma, along with four of Yaroslavl's painters under Dmitry Semyonov. The wonderful bright color scheme and a fanciful rhythm of pictures impart festive pomp to the decor. The walls of the main part of the church are split into 6 tiers of murals, the lowest tier bears a pattern. Vaults and the two upper tiers are embellished with large frescoes presenting scenes from the Gospel.
