Vysokoe. Ruins of St. Elijah's Church.

According to legend, the old "Catherine Train" passed near the St. Elijah's Church. Once, painted white, with a golden dome and rich interior decoration, the church was a real decoration of the village. 

In the thirties, it was closed according to all the canons of atheism. It is not known for certain what was in it before the war. But the temple was clearly not empty.: The wooden beam mounted in the arch in the middle of the church is a direct proof of this.

At the end of June 1944, during the Great Patriotic War, during the Vitebsk-Orsha operation, the church acted as a defensive structure. Eyewitnesses say that there was an anti-tank gun inside the temple. The shell impact marks are well preserved and visible on the ruins of the building. In the 1943 photo, the temple was still in its original form and in excellent condition. It was during the war that it turned into ruins.

In the post-war years, no one restored the church. However, the church of St. Elijah is quite well preserved for its centuries-old history. The walls remained almost unchanged, with the original plaster still in place. Even the wooden floors have not been destroyed. The condition around the temple and inside it is also surprising. Local residents revere their shrine and try to preserve the architectural monument as best they can. The grass around the church has been mowed and access to the church is clean and tidy. 

Currently, it is clear that Orthodox people are organizing prayer services here. Inside there is a cross, an icon, candles - everything is in perfect condition.

 The church is quite spacious, the walls are solid and thick. The roof is missing in places, but the original hexagonal tiles are partially preserved on the floor. There is a figurine of an angel in a small niche on one of the walls. There's a hole where the altar used to be. The temple is decorated with large arched windows, already without glass, but with metal grilles.

There is something attractive about these old walls, battered by time and other adversities. It's a shame to see ruins instead of restored historical heritage.

The Church of St. Elijah in the town of Vysokoe, Orsha district, was built in the first half of the 19th century. Konstantin Lyubomirsky, the owner of a local estate, became the founder.

The church is a retrospective architectural monument in the Russian style. The building consists of the canonical parts of an Orthodox church of that time: a vestibule, a refectory, a prayer hall and an apse. A wide vestibule with a high octagonal tower – above it a belfry, followed by a long refectory, a cube-shaped prayer hall with side chapels and a semicircular apse with a side sacristy.

There used to be a dome above the roof. Architectural plasticity is created by curly brickwork.

In Soviet times, the church was closed and fell into disrepair. The restoration is not underway yet.