The Church of St John the Almsgiver
The Church of St John the Almsgiver (1422) originally resembled
the classical Novgorodian structures, 4-pier in plan,
single-domed and single-apsed with a typically austere decor
(adjoining it on the north was a single-pier chamber). Following
substantial alterations of its interior and upper part, the
church turned into a pierless structure under a single vault. The
west facade is notable for a band of pentagonal niches which was
to hallmark 16th-century Novgorodian buildings.