The small St. George`s Church in Old Russa is located on St. George`s Street between the Porusia and Malashka rivers. The church in honor of St. George was founded in 1410. During the fierce fighting during the WWII, the church was not damaged and for a long time remained the only functioning church of Old Russa.
The temple of the 15th century has not survived to this day. In 1740, it was substantially rebuilt. In the 19th century, a 35-meter bell tower towered over St. George`s Church, but after the war, it was dismantled.
There is a memorial plaque on the church, where it is mentioned that from 1873 to 1880 the St. George Church was the parish church of the Dostoevsky family. Fyodor Dostoevsky and his family first came to vacation in Old Russa in 1872. They rented the house of the priest Rumyantsev. The Dostoevskys liked Old Russa so much that in 1873 they bought the house of Lieutenant Colonel Gribbe on the embankment of the Porusia River.
Now this house is one of the main attractions of Old Russa – the Dostoevsky House-Museum. The distance from St. George`s Church to Dostoevsky`s house is 400 meters, so the family went here to church services. In memory of Dostoevsky`s stay in Old Russa, a monument to Dostoevsky was erected in 2001 on the Writers` Square near the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
