Transfiguration Church in Kovalyovo, Eastern Orthodox church in Sholohovo, Russia

The Transfiguration Church in Kovalyovo is a stone church with traditional brick construction topped by a single dome. The building features four square columns and two auxiliary chapels that define its layout.

The church was built in 1345 by boyar Ontsifor Zhabin and served as the main church of Kovalyovo Monastery. After severe wartime damage, it underwent comprehensive restoration in 1970.

The frescoes, painted around 1380, were sponsored by the boyar Afanasy Stepanovich and his wife Maria, as an inscription on the west wall records. A team of Balkan, possibly Serbian, painters executed them in a static, hieratic style unlike other Novgorod work of the period. Warrior saints dominate the programme, and the cycle includes the first Russian image of Christ in the tomb.

The church stands 4 km east of Veliky Novgorod on the right bank of the Maly Volkhovets River, about 900 m north of the village. It is a federal architectural monument (#5310100000). The building is not an active parish church, so check opening arrangements with the Novgorod Museum-Reserve before travelling.

The 1380 frescoes are attributed to a team of Balkan, possibly Serbian, painters whose static, hieratic style differs from other Novgorod work of the period and recalls older Byzantine tradition. The dome shows prophets, but warrior saints dominate, likely linked to the 1370s preparations for the Battle of Kulikovo.