Church of Elijah the Prophet in Eupatoria, Eastern Orthodox church in Yevpatoriia, Ukraine.
The Church of Elijah the Prophet in Yevpatoriia is a Greek Orthodox church built in the Greco-Byzantine style, with a cross-shaped plan and walls of smooth, darkish sawn shell limestone. It stands on a high plinth, has a dome on an octagonal drum with pediments, thin pilasters, semicircular arches, triple stained-glass windows, a five-sided apse and a three-tier bell tower taller than the dome.
The Greek community of Yevpatoriia obtained a free plot near the seafront in 1901, and the city architect Adam Henrich prepared the design by 1907. Construction ran from 6 June 1911 to 1916, and the church was consecrated on 30 June 1918. Its first rector, Eleazar (Spiridonov), served from 1919 to 1936; the building was closed in 1936, housed a gym from the late 1950s, and lost its bell tower in 1959.
The church was built for Eupatoria's Greek community, which petitioned the city council for land in 1901. Its first rector, the hieromartyr Eleazar (Spiridonov), served from 1919 to 1936 and is commemorated on a plaque left of the entrance. A memorial cross on the grounds honours victims of the Red Terror of 1918.
The church stands on the seafront promenade, west of the old town. The bell tower, rebuilt in 2003, rises well above the main dome and is visible from the beach. The interior restoration is still unfinished, so some areas may be closed.
A shell mark on one wall is often mistaken for damage from the German cruiser Breslau in 1916, but the district police report on damaged buildings does not list the church. It is instead linked to the Yevpatoria landing of 5 January 1942, when, per Lieutenant N. N. Shevchenko, naval gunfire silenced a German machine-gun crew.
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