‘Downhill Skiing. Sunday. Lyavlya’ is one of Vladimir Treshchev’s largest paintings. Its dimensions are 37×125.2 centimeters. The artist depicted a ski slope near the village of Lyavlya near Arkhangelsk. The open-air wooden architecture museum “Malye Korely” is a few minutes’ drive away.
Vladimir Treshchev is regarded as a master of Realism landscape painting and sketching from nature. The artist traveled widely through the Arkhangelsk region and painted its landscapes — the views of the Solovetsky Islands, Kenozerye, and other famous places.
The village of Lyavlya was first mentioned in chronicles back in the 14th century. It was then one of the first Novgorod settlements in the low reaches of the Northern Dvina, a large navigable river flowing through the modern Arkhangelsk and Vologda regions.
The Saint Nicholas Church is a historical monument — an example of Old Russian wooden architecture that has survived in Lyavlya. It belongs to tent-shaped churches, which were common in the Russian North until the late 18th century. The shape of the building resembles an octagonal tower with annexes. It is crowned by the tent roof topped instead the dome — hence the name of this type of building. Three churches of this type have remained in the North.
Vladimir Treshchev is regarded as a master of Realism landscape painting and sketching from nature. The artist traveled widely through the Arkhangelsk region and painted its landscapes — the views of the Solovetsky Islands, Kenozerye, and other famous places.
The village of Lyavlya was first mentioned in chronicles back in the 14th century. It was then one of the first Novgorod settlements in the low reaches of the Northern Dvina, a large navigable river flowing through the modern Arkhangelsk and Vologda regions.
The Saint Nicholas Church is a historical monument — an example of Old Russian wooden architecture that has survived in Lyavlya. It belongs to tent-shaped churches, which were common in the Russian North until the late 18th century. The shape of the building resembles an octagonal tower with annexes. It is crowned by the tent roof topped instead the dome — hence the name of this type of building. Three churches of this type have remained in the North.
The oldest one is in Lyavlya — it was built in the 1580s on the site of another, older church. Back at the time, the Lyavlya Monastery of the Theotokos existed in the village, so the church was consecrated in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God. Later a side chapel was constructed in honor of Saint Nicholas and the whole church received this name. The Lyavlya monastery operated until 1764, and then it was closed.
