Annunciation Church on Myachino (monument-museum)

About museum

Located three kilometres south of Novgorod on the shore of Lake Myachino, the Annunciation Church is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is the earliest example of a new type of church building that became canonical in the last quarter of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th century. In 1170 Archbishop Ilya, together with his brother Gavriil, erected a wooden Annunciation church and founded a monastery. In 1179 it was replaced by a stone building, and in 1189 its walls were decorated with frescoes. The Annunciation Monastery was one of the richest and largest in Novgorod. In the northwest corner the chapel of Theoctistus, Archbishop of Novgorod, was consecrated. The church's paintings provide valuable material for the study of important philosophical and theological issues of the time, allowing a deeper understanding of the unique spiritual orientation of Novgorodian society in the second half of the 12th century. It constitutes a progressive and foundational artistic stratum for Novgorod's culture in the last decades of the 12th century.