Russian State University them. I. Kant
History department
Preserved architectural monuments of Ancient Rus' XI - beginning of XII 1st century
Historical reference,
completed by a first year student
specialty "history"
Dolotova Anastasia.
Kaliningrad
Introduction
The purpose of this work is to examine the surviving monuments of ancient Russian architecture and give them a brief description.
When choosing architectural monuments To include them in the historical record, the main criterion was the degree of preservation of the structure, because many of them either came to us heavily altered and did not retain their original appearance, or retained only some of their fragments.
Main tasks of the work:
Identify the number of surviving architectural monuments of Ancient Rus' of the 11th - early 13th centuries;
Give a description of their special and specific architectural features;
Assess the historical fate of monuments.
St. Sophia Cathedral (Kyiv)
Time of creation: 1017-1037
The temple is dedicated to Sophia - “The Wisdom of God”. It belongs to the works of Byzantine-Kyiv architecture. Saint Sophia is the main religious building of Kievan Rus during the times of Yaroslav the Wise. Construction equipment and architectural features of the cathedral indicate that its builders were Greeks who came from Constantinople. They built the temple according to models and according to the traditions of metropolitan Byzantine architecture, albeit with some deviations. The temple was built using the mixed masonry technique: rows of square bricks (plinths) alternate with rows of stones, and then covered with limestone coating - plaster. The interior of Sophia of Kyiv was less distorted and retained some of its original decoration. The earliest mosaics and frescoes have been preserved in the temple. They were also made by Byzantine masters. Scrawled inscriptions - graffiti - were found on the walls of the cathedral. About three hundred graffiti testify to political events of the past, they mention specific historical figures. The earliest inscriptions made it possible for researchers to clarify the dating of the interior decoration of the church. Sofia became the burial place of the Kyiv princes. Yaroslav the Wise, his son Vsevolod, as well as the sons of the latter, Rostislav Vsevolodovich and Vladimir Monomakh, are buried here. The question of why members of the same family were buried in different churches - in Sofia and in Desyatinnaya - has not received a convincing answer from historians. St. Sophia Cathedral was assigned the role of the main temple of Kievan Rus and the stronghold of the new, Christian faith. For several centuries, Sophia of Kiev was the center of the all-Russian ecclesia, the center of the political and cultural life of the country. Sophia was originally crowned with thirteen chapters, forming a pyramidal structure. Now the temple has 19 domes. In ancient times, the roof consisted of lead sheets laid on the vaults. At the corners the temple is reinforced with buttresses - vertical supports on the outside of the wall that take on its weight. The facades of the cathedral are characterized by an abundance of blades, which correspond to the internal division of space by supporting pillars. The outer walls of the galleries and apses are decorated with numerous niches. On the western side, according to Byzantine tradition, the temple is adjacent to two staircase towers leading to the choir and flat roof - the gulbische. During the service, the choirs were intended for the Grand Duke, his family and associates. However, they also had a secular purpose: here the prince, apparently, received ambassadors and discussed state affairs. The book collection of St. Sophia Cathedral was also kept here. Perhaps there was also a scriptorium in a separate room - a workshop for copying books. The interior of the cathedral was an equal-ended cross, with an altar apse in the east; there were two-tier arcades to the north, south and west. The central dome rose above the middle part of the cross. The main volume of the building was surrounded by two rows of open galleries. The question of the interior decoration of the western part of the main nave acquires fundamental significance in connection with the study of the ktitor fresco depicting the family of Yaroslav the Wise, located on the western wall of the two-tier arcade. Over the centuries, the church has undergone many changes. During the defeat of Kyiv by Batu in 1240, it was plundered. Subsequently, the temple burned down several times, gradually fell into disrepair, and was subjected to “repairs” and alterations. In the 17th century, Sofia was “renovated” by Metropolitan Peter Mogila in the Ukrainian Baroque style and its appearance became very far from the original. The eastern facade with apses, where fragments of ancient masonry were cleared, survived best of all.
Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral (Chernigov)
Creation time: around 1036
Mstislav Vladimirovich founded the Transfiguration Cathedral in Chernigov. This five-domed cathedral was built according to the Byzantine model, and most likely by Byzantine stone craftsmen.
In plan, the cathedral is a large (18.25 x 27 m) three-nave church with eight pillars and three apses. The western pair of pillars is connected by a wall, which led to the emergence of a porch (narthex). The height of the walls reached approximately 4.5 m. The facades of the building are made of extremely elegant brickwork with a hidden row. The facades are also decorated with pilasters, flat in the first tier and profiled in the second. The facades of the temple are divided by flat blades. The middle zakomars, which contain three windows, are sharply raised compared to the side ones. The interior of the Spassky Cathedral is dominated by a strict and solemn combination of verticals and horizontals. The elongation of the building is clearly emphasized here, which is combined with internal two-tier arcades extending into the dome space. Along them were originally wooden floorings of the northern and southern choirs, reinforcing the horizontal division of the interior. The floor of the temple was covered with carved slate slabs inlaid with colored smalt.
St. Sophia Cathedral (Polotsk)
Time of creation: 1044-1066.
Built under Prince Vseslav Bryachislavich on the territory of the Upper Castle. Information about the original appearance is contradictory: in some sources it is mentioned as seven-headed, in others - as five-headed. The masonry of the eastern apse of ancient Sofia is mixed: along with flagstone bricks (plinth), rubble stone was used. The surviving fragments suggest that in the past this building was a centric structure. Its square plan was divided into five naves, covered with an elaborate vaulting system. The selection of three middle naves created the illusion of elongation of the interior of the cathedral and brought it closer to the basilica buildings. The construction of three apses, faceted on the outside, so typical of wooden churches, is one of the features of the Polotsk Cathedral. St. Sophia Cathedral is the first and still timid example of a structure that displays features characteristic of the art of Polotsk, where mainly in the 12th century. Numerous buildings appeared with an original interpretation of the cross-dome system.
St. Sophia Cathedral (Novgorod)
Time of creation: 1045-1050.
The temple was built by order of the Novgorod prince Vladimir Yaroslavich. It is a huge five-nave temple dissected by pillars, adjoined on three sides open galleries. The cathedral has five chapters. The sixth dome above the round staircase introduced a picturesque asymmetry into the composition. Large protrusions of the blades strengthen the walls of the building vertically and delimit the facades in full accordance with the internal divisions. The masonry mainly consisted of huge, roughly hewn stones that did not have a regular square shape. The lime mortar, pinkish from the admixture of finely crushed bricks, fills the recesses along the contours of the stones and emphasizes their irregular shape. Brick is used in small quantities, so the impression of “striped” masonry from regularly alternating rows of plinths is not created. The walls of the Novgorod Sofia, apparently, were not initially plastered. Such open masonry gave the facades of the building a peculiar, rugged beauty. In the first centuries of its existence, the temple was higher than it is today: the original floor level is now at a depth of 1.5 - 1.9 meters. The facades of the building also go to the same depth. In Novgorod Sofia no expensive materials: marble and slate. The Novgorodians also did not use mosaics to decorate their cathedral church because of its high cost, but Sofia is richly decorated with frescoes.
St. Michael's Cathedral of the Vydubetsky Monastery (Kyiv)
Time of creation: 1070-1088.
In Vydubitsy, the son of Yaroslav the Wise, founded a monastery under family patronage in the name of his heavenly patron - Archangel Michael. Thanks to his support, the monastery cathedral was erected. In the 11th century, St. Michael's Cathedral was a large (25 x 15.5 m) six-pillar temple with unusually elongated rectangular proportions. The craftsmen who worked in Kyiv at that time carried out masonry mainly from brick with rows of large uncut stones. The stones were located at different distances from each other, the larger ones were used in the middle parts of the walls, laying them as backfill together with bricks (mostly broken). The brickwork itself had a hidden row. With this type of masonry, not all rows of bricks are brought out onto the facade, but through a row, while the intermediate ones are moved a little deeper and covered from the outside with a layer of mortar - cement. The outer layer of the solution was carefully smoothed, almost polished. Thus, the processing of the outer surface of the walls was carried out twice: first rough, and then more thorough. The result was an extremely picturesque striped surface structure. This masonry system also provided ample opportunities for decorative designs and patterns. Initially, the church apparently ended with one chapter. To the west there was a wide narthex and a spiral staircase leading to the choir. The walls of the cathedral were painted with frescoes, and the floor was tiled - slate and glazed clay. To protect the church from being washed away by the waters of the Dnieper, in 1199 the architect Peter Miloneg erected a huge retaining wall. For its time, this was a bold engineering decision. But by the 16th century, the river also washed away the wall - the bank collapsed, and with it the eastern part of the cathedral. The surviving western part of the church has survived to this day in the restoration of 1767-1769. St. Michael's Cathedral became the princely tomb of the family of Vsevolod Yaroslavovich.
Assumption Cathedral of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery
Time of creation: 1073-1078.
The cathedral was built by Byzantine architects. According to its plan, it is a cross-domed, three-nave, six-pillar church. In this monument, the desire to create simple volumes and laconicism in the interior prevailed. True, the narthex still remains, but the choir is no longer led to by a spiral staircase in a specially built tower, but by a straight staircase in the thickness of the western wall. The temple ended with zakomars, the bases of which were located at the same height and crowned with one massive dome. The construction technique also changed: instead of masonry with a hidden row, they began to use equal-layer plinth with all rows of plinth exposed to the outer surface of the wall. Based on written sources, one can draw a conclusion about one exceptional feature of the Assumption Cathedral: the general dimensions of the temple were set in advance and the builders were forced to fulfill difficult work by calculating the size of the dome. Its diameter had to be increased to maintain the proportions of the entire structure. From 1082 to 1089, Greek craftsmen painted the temple with frescoes and decorated it with mosaics. According to church legend, the ancient Russian icon painters, the famous Alypius and Gregory, worked together with them.
In 1240, the temple was damaged by the Mongol-Tatar hordes, in 1482 by the Crimean Tatars, and in 1718 the building was badly damaged during a huge monastery fire. In 1941, the Assumption Cathedral was blown up by German troops occupying Kyiv. By 2000, the building was rebuilt in Baroque forms of the 18th century.
St. Nicholas Cathedral (Novgorod)
Time of creation: 1113-1136.
The temple was erected by order of the son of Vladimir Monomakh - Mstislav. The cathedral was a palace temple: its clergy were subordinate not to the Novgorod ruler, but to the prince. St. Nicholas Dvorishchensky Cathedral occupies the main place in the architectural ensemble of Novgorod Torg, where nine more churches are located. St. Nicholas Church is a large ceremonial building (23.65 x 15.35 m) with five domes and high apses, which is a trace of a clear imitation of Sophia in the city Kremlin. The facades of the church are simple and austere: they are divided by flat blades and finished with artless zakomaras. In its layout, the temple is close to such a Kyiv monument as the Cathedral of the Pechersk Monastery: six cross-shaped pillars divide the internal space into three naves, of which the middle one is much wider than the side ones. In the western part of the church there are extensive choir-halls for the princely family and palace entourage. Soon after its construction, the St. Nicholas Cathedral was painted with frescoes. Only small fragments of the painting have survived: scenes of the “Last Judgment” on the western wall, three saints in the central apse and “Job on the rot” on the southwestern wall. Stylistically, they are close to the Kyiv murals of the early 12th century.
Nativity Cathedral of the Anthony Monastery (Novgorod)
Creation time: 1117
In 1117, a stone cathedral was erected in the monastery in honor of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. Stone craftsmen erected buildings from local cheap, roughly processed stone, binding it with limestone mortar mixed with crushed brick. Uneven walls were leveled using brick layers made of plinth. The most structurally important parts of the temple (vaults, girth arches, arched lintels) were laid out mainly from plinth using the masonry technique with a hidden row. A cylindrical staircase tower protruding from the general cubic volume was attached to the church from the north-west corner, leading to the choir, which was later hewn down. The tower is crowned by a chapter. The cathedral has three chapters in total. The original appearance of the Nativity Cathedral was different from its modern look. Low porch galleries were attached to the ancient church on three sides. Inside the cathedral, mainly in the altar, fragments of frescoes from 1125 have been preserved. The cathedral is brought closer to the princely traditions of temple architecture by the proportions of the plan, the tower with a spiral staircase adjacent to the northwestern corner, the raised choir and the overall inflated volume of the building.
St. George's Cathedral of the Yuryev Monastery (Novgorod)
Creation time: 1119
The temple was built through the efforts of Vsevolod Mstislavich. The name of the creator of the temple has also been preserved - he was “Master Peter”. This is a six-pillar temple with choirs, which are reached by a staircase tower. The forms of the temple are simple and uncomplicated, but it looks very impressive. The cathedral has three asymmetrically located chapters. One of them is located on a square tower attached to the main building. The heads of the church are shifted to the west, which is completely uncharacteristic of Orthodox churches. The walls of the cathedral are built on cement mortar from barely hewn stones, which alternate with rows of bricks. The accuracy of the rows is not maintained: in some places the bricks fill irregularities in the masonry and in places are placed on edge.
The top of the church was covered with lead sheets. The cathedral is virtually devoid of decor, except for laconic flat niches. On the central drum they are inscribed in an arcature belt. The interior of the cathedral impresses with its grandeur and the solemn upward direction of the temple space. Cross-shaped pillars, arches and vaults are so tall and slender that they are not perceived as load-bearing supports and ceilings.
Soon after its construction, the temple was richly painted with frescoes, which have not survived to our time.
John the Baptist Church on Opoki (Novgorod)
Time of creation: 1127-1130.
The church was initiated by Prince Vsevolod Mstislavich, the grandson of Vladimir Monomakh.
This is a six-pillar, three-apse church with one dome. The design of the temple revealed new trends in Novgorod temple construction: reducing the scale of construction and simplifying architectural forms. However, St. John's Church still retains the traditions of ceremonial princely architecture of the early 12th century. Its length is 24.6 m and its width is 16 m. It had a choir, which was reached by stairs, apparently in a tower located in one of the western corners of the building. The walls are made of gray limestone slabs and plinths, that is, in mixed media masonry The Church of John the Baptist in its upper part evokes associations with wooden architecture: it has a gable (gable) zakomara shape. The upper part of the church was dismantled in 1453, and a new church was erected on the old foundation by order of Archbishop Euthymius. The ancient temple reflects the historical struggle of the Novgorodians with the princely power. Six years after the illumination of the church, in 1136, massive popular unrest broke out, which led to the establishment of a feudal republic. The Novgorod prince, ktitor of the temple Vsevolod Mstislavich, was captured. The veche decided to expel Vsevolod and his family from the city. Prince Vsevolod was forced to transfer the church to St. John the Baptist on Opoki to wax merchants. John's parish was made up of the richest merchants - eminent people. All-Novgorod standards of measures were kept in the church: “Ivanovo cubit” for measuring the length of cloth, “ruble hryvnia” for precious metals, waxed skalvas (scales), etc.
Peter and Paul Church (Smolensk)
Time of creation: 1140-1150.
Church of Peter and Paul - the most ancient temple of those preserved in Smolensk. Apparently, it was erected by a princely artel. The original forms of the building were restored by P. D. Baranovsky. The church is an example of a cross-domed, single-domed, four-pillar building. Smolensk craftsmen built from bricks. In its external forms and proportions, the temple is static, strict and monumental. But thanks to the “flexible”, workable brick, the plastic of the princely church is complex and sophisticated. The blades are turned into semi-columns (pilasters), which end with two rows of curbs and overhanging cornices. The same double rows of curbs are used to make belts at the base (heels) of the zakomari, below which the arcature is laid. On the western facade, wide corner blades are decorated with runners and relief crosses made of plinth. The entrance to the church is opened by promising portals, but they are still made very modestly - only from rectangular rods. The temple has powerful, far protruding apses. The head drum was twelve-sided.
Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral (Pereslavl-Zalessky)
Time of creation: 1152-1157.
Prince Yuri Dolgoruky founded the Transfiguration Cathedral in the city of Pereslavl-Zalessky, which he founded. The upper part of the temple was completed by his son Andrei Bogolyubsky. The width of the temple is greater than its height. This is an almost square, three-apse temple with four cross-shaped pillars that support the vaults and a single dome. The side apses were not closed by the altar barrier, but were freely open to the eyes of the worshipers. Its forms are laconic and strict. The massive drum and dome give the structure a military appearance. The narrow slit-like windows of the drum are associated with fortress loopholes. Its walls, divided by blades into spindles, are completed with zakomaras, the central ones of which are larger than the side ones. The building has a very clear plan layout.
The temple is made of carefully crafted white stone squares. The stones were laid almost dry, filling the gap between the inner and outer walls with rubble, and then filled with lime. A basement runs along the bottom of the building. The foundation of the building consists of large cobblestones held together with the same limestone mortar. The outer surface of the vaults, the dome and the pedestal under the drum are made of rough stone blocks. Along the top of the drum there is a decorative belt, which has survived only in fragments: most of it was knocked down and replaced by restorers with a remake. Below there is a crenate strip, above there is a runner, and even higher there is an ornamented half-shaft. A distinctive feature of the Spassky Church is the minimal use of decor, which found its place only on the drum and on the apses.
Assumption Cathedral (Vladimir)
Creation time: 1158-1160
The cathedral was founded by Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky. For cathedral church the most advantageous place in the city’s landscape was chosen, dominated by the five-domed bulk of the temple. Its golden domes were visible from afar on the forest roads leading to the capital city. It was built in the form of a six-pillar, three-nave and one-domed building. It was conceived as the main temple of all Rus'. Masters of various branches of art were invited from different countries of Western Europe to paint the temple. In 1185, the temple suffered a severe and destructive fire, in which almost half the city burned out. Apparently, immediately after the fire, Prince Vsevolod the Big Nest ordered the restoration of the cathedral. In 1189 it was re-consecrated. During the restoration, the temple was significantly expanded and made five-domed. The temple was surrounded by wide galleries from the south, north and west and received more extensive altar apses, a gilded central and silver-plated side domes, and its top received two tiers of zakomaras. The walls of the temple were cut through with arched spans and turned into the internal pillars of the new cathedral of Grand Duke Vsevolod III. Fragments of frescoes by unknown masters of the 12th century have been preserved. The Assumption Cathedral served as a princely necropolis. The great Vladimir princes are buried here: Andrei Bogolyubsky, his brother Vsevolod III the Big Nest, Alexander Nevsky's father Yaroslav and others. The cathedral, together with the St. George's chapel, is the main operating church of the Vladimir-Suzdal Diocese.
Assumption Cathedral (Vladimir-Volynsky)
Creation time: 1160
The cathedral was built by order of Prince Mstislav Izyaslavich, but not in Detinets, but in a roundabout town. To build the cathedral, the prince brought Pereyaslavl architects to Vladimir, since before that he ruled in Pereyaslavl-Russian. The work of craftsmen from this city is confirmed by a special technique for molding bricks. They are very High Quality: good firing and great strength. The church was built using the technique of equal-layer masonry. The thickness of the mortar joints is approximately equal to the thickness of the bricks. There are channels in the walls from rotten wooden ties. The Assumption Cathedral is a large six-pillar, three-apse temple. Its narthex is separated by a wall from the main room. For the sake of strict symmetry and balance of all the masses of the building, it did not have any extensions or even a tower leading to the choir. They were apparently approached along a wooden walkway from the prince's palace. The internal division of the space with supporting pillars corresponds to powerful semi-columns on the facades, and the walls are completed with zakomari arches corresponding to the semicircular vaults. The temple in Vladimir was built in the image and likeness of the cathedrals in Kyiv. The cathedral was damaged many times and was robbed more than once. In the 18th century, during perestroika, it was greatly distorted. The Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady in Vladimir-Volynsky is the largest temple of this type among all monuments of the 12th century.
John the Evangelist Church (Smolensk)
Time of creation: 1160-1180.
The temple was erected through the efforts of Prince Roman Rostislavovich. It was located in the princely residence. Built, like many other Smolensk churches, of brick, the church in its technical and design features is in many ways close to the Peter and Paul Church. Of interest in the architectural composition of the monument is the arrangement of external aisles-tomb vaults along its eastern corners. In the masonry of the upper parts of the building, two types of pots were used: imported amphorae and locally produced narrow-necked pots. On the outside corners of the temple there are wide flat blades, and the intermediate pilasters were in the form of powerful semi-columns. The portals and window embrasures have a two-ledged profile. The dimensions of the temple are 20.25 x 16 m. The walls of the temple and galleries are made of bricks. Lime mortar mixed with cement. The foundation is made of cobblestones and has a depth of more than 1.2 m. The church is a four-pillar, three-apse temple. The Princely Ioannovskaya Church was painted with frescoes, and the icons, according to the Ipatiev Chronicle, were generously decorated with enamel and gold. During its long existence, the church underwent numerous reconstructions and has survived to this day in a greatly altered form.
Golden Gate (Vladimir)
Creation time: 1164
The date of foundation of the Vladimir Gate is unknown, but construction began no earlier than 1158, when Andrei Bogolyubsky began to build the city’s defense line. The completion of the gate's construction can be precisely dated to 1164. The gate is made of beautifully hewn limestone squares. However, in some places roughly processed porous tuff is used. The holes from the fingers of the scaffolding were left unfilled in the masonry. The original height of the passage arch reached 15 m; Currently, the ground level is almost 1.5 m higher than the original one. The width of the arch is precisely measured at 20 Greek feet (about 5 m), which suggests that the monument was erected by builders from Byzantium.
St. George's Church (Staraya Ladoga)
Creation time: 1165
The Church of St. George may have been built in honor of the victory in 1164 of the Ladoga residents and the Novgorod squad over the Swedes by Prince Svyatoslav or mayor Zakhary. The area of this four-pillar temple is only 72 square meters. meters. The eastern side of the elongated cube is occupied by three high apses reaching to the zakomari. The cubic volume of the building is dissected by simple and massive blades. A light drum with a helmet-shaped dome crowns the overall mass of the church. Its height is 15 meters. Instead of choirs, a wooden flooring was made connecting two chapels in the corner parts of the second tier. The facades with semicircles of zakomaras are dissected by blades. The decoration on the facades of the temple was extremely sparse and was limited to a jagged cornice along the contour of the zakomara (the cornice was not restored during the restoration) and a flat archway along the top of the drum. The foundation of the Staraya Ladoga monument consists of boulders and goes 0.8 meters deep. A leveling layer of bricks is laid on top of the foundation. The walls of the temple are made of alternating rows of limestone slabs and bricks, but slabs predominate. The masonry mortar is lime with cement. The frescoes of the drum, dome, southern apse and individual fragments in other places have survived to this day. In the Old Ladoga church we see complete correspondence between the external appearance and interior of the building. Its overall design is clearly and clearly visible.
Elias Church (Chernigov)
Creation time: around 1170
According to church tradition, the founding of the monastery in the name of Elijah is associated with Anthony of Pechersk, the first abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery. In 1069, he intervened in the Kyiv dynastic feuds of the princes and fled from the wrath of Izyaslav Yaroslavich to Chernigov. Here, having settled on the Boldinsky Mountains, Anthony “excavated a cave,” which served as the beginning of a new monastery. The Ilyinsky Temple is well preserved, but its original forms are hidden under the stylistic layers of the Ukrainian Baroque of the 17th century. The Ilyinsky Church is located on a small area under the slope of the mountain and is connected by an underground passage with the Ilyinsky cave monastery. The northern wall was cut into the slope of the mountain, that is, it was like a retaining wall and in the lower part was placed close to the ground. Above ground level, its masonry is made, like the masonry of the other walls, with careful jointing and one-sided cutting of the seams. For pilgrims, an entrance to the caves was dug in the northern wall, and for the clergy, the same entrance led from the altar. The church is pillarless, with a separate porch (narthex) adjoining it to the west. Initially, the church had one dome, and the supporting arches on which the drum rested were cut into the thickness of the walls. In terms of plan, the Elias Church is not very large in size (4.8 x 5 m) with one semicircular apse, a narrow vestibule and a shallow babinets. Elias Church is the only surviving single-nave building belonging to the Chernigov school of architecture of the era political fragmentation.
Boris and Gleb Church (Grodno)
Time of creation: 1170s.
The church in the name of the ancient Russian holy passion-bearers Boris and Gleb was erected over the Neman. The names of the saints coincide with the names of the Grodno appanage princes Boris and Gleb. Apparently, the initiators of the construction of the temple could have been either themselves or their father, Vsevolod. Monumental construction in Grodno was carried out by craftsmen who arrived from Volyn. The length of the cathedral is about 21.5 meters, width - 13.5 meters. The thickness of the walls is at least 1.2 meters. The temple was built of brick using cement masonry technique. Flagstone bricks were used. The composition of the cement was special: it included lime, coarse sand, coal and broken brick. The walls are laid in equal layers - all rows of bricks face the facade evenly, and the seams are approximately equal to the thickness of the brick. In the interior of the church, the patterned floor covering made of ceramic tiles and polished stones is of particular value. The walls, built from plinth, are decorated with complex patterns of multi-colored granite stones, colored majolica tiles, and even greenish glazed dishes and bowls. For a special acoustic effect, so-called “voices” - clay vessels like jugs - are built into the walls. Polished stones of various shades are inserted into the wall. At the bottom of the wall they are larger, and at the top they are small. Grodno Church has six pillars and three apses. The pillars of the temple are round at the base, and at high altitudes they take on a cross-shaped form.
Church of the Annunciation in Arkazhi (Novgorod)
Creation time: 1179
According to legend, the temple was erected in memory of the victory of the Novgorodians over the Suzdalians in 1169, achieved thanks to the miraculous intercession of the “Our Lady of the Sign” icon. The temple is square in plan with three apses on the eastern side and four rectangular pillars supporting a single dome. In the volumetric-spatial structure of the Annunciation Church, there is a noticeable tendency in Novgorod architecture of the last quarter of the 12th century towards simplified architectonics, reduction of internal space and saving building materials. The temple is cross-domed with one light dome, which is supported by pillars of rectangular cross-section. The eastern, altar side consists of three apses. Initially, the construction had a post-mosquito completion. The Arkazhskaya church is built of limestone slabs, fastened with cement, and the most important places are made of brick: vaults, drum, dome. In the left aisle, an ancient font for performing the sacrament of baptism (similar in structure to the “Jordan”) has been preserved. A round pond with a diameter of about 4 meters was laid out in the stone floor, apparently designed for adults. In 1189 the temple was painted.
Michael the Archangel Svirskaya Church (Smolensk)
Time of creation: 1180-1197.
The majestic church in the name of Michael is once the court temple of the Smolensk prince David Rostislavich. It is located on the western outskirts of Smolensk, on a hill overlooking the Dnieper floodplain. Smolensk masters at the end of the 12th century developed compositional schemes for brick construction characteristic of their time. The extremely high height of the main volume is emphasized by the massive vestibules and central apse subordinate to it. The dynamics of the building are enhanced by complexly profiled beam pilasters. Distinctive feature this church has rectangular side apses. Massive narthexes are also unusual. In the Church of the Archangel Michael, square holes were discovered in the masonry of the walls and pillars - the exit points of the once existing wooden ties that strengthened the top part temple. Judging by these holes, the wooden beams were arranged in four tiers. The temple vaults were completely rebuilt into XVII-XVIII centuries, but almost all the ancient arches that divided the vaults, including the girth ones, have been preserved. Both the pedestal under the drum and a significant part of the drum itself survived. The Church of the Archangel Michael is unusual in its general architectural design, proportions, and forms, which gives it exceptional originality. The centric stepped composition of the temple became widespread in other local schools of architecture of Ancient Rus'. The Svirskaya Church has something in common with the Pyatnitsky churches in Chernigov and Novgorod.
Dmitrovsky Cathedral (Vladimir)
Time of creation: 1194-1197.
Cross-shaped pillars are carved to the height of the walls and support the massive head of the cathedral. On the interior walls, the pillars correspond to flat blades. On the western side there are choirs.
The temple was built by Grand Duke Vsevolod the Big Nest. The single-domed, four-pillar, three-apse temple was originally surrounded by low covered galleries, and at the western corners it had staircase towers leading to the choir. The sculpture abundantly covers the entire upper tier of the cathedral and the dome drum, as well as the archivolts of the portals. In the arched frieze of the southern façade there were figures of Russian princes, including those of Vladimir. The sculpture of the upper tier of the southern facade also glorifies a wise and strong ruler. The predominance of images of a lion and a griffin in sculpture indicates the further development of the grand ducal emblem. However, the strengthening of symbolism and cosmologism of the entire plan led to a decrease in relief. In the central zakomars there is a figure of a royal singer playing the psalter. The carving of the figure, especially the head, is distinguished by its large height and rounded relief. To the right of David, on the southern façade, is the Ascension of Alexander the Great to Heaven. On the left side of the western façade is King David, followed by Solomon. In the sculpture of the western facade, scenes of the labors of Hercules attract attention. In the central spindle of the upper tier, birds intertwined with their necks refer to the symbolism of an inextricable union. The northern facade facing the city expresses with its sculpture the idea of strong princely power directly, and not symbolically. Prince Vsevolod III himself is depicted on the left side. Complex and varied turns of the figures as if the apostles were talking to each other, the free and at the same time strict drapery of the robes, and most importantly, the deeply psychological interpretation of the images reveal the hand of a great master.
Church of the Savior on Nereditsa (Novgorod)
Creation time: 1198
The Church of the Savior was built by Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich. According to tradition dating back to Soviet times, the paintings were attributed to local Novgorod masters. Some finds indeed suggest that this master headed the work on creating frescoes in the Church of the Transfiguration. In its architectural appearance, the Savior on Nereditsa no longer differs from the township parish churches of Novgorod. The political and financial position of the prince was so weakened that he did not pretend to compete with the Cathedral Sophia in his construction. By his order, a small cubic type, four-pillar, three-apse, single-domed temple was erected. It is built with stone and brick masonry, traditional for Novgorod architecture. The interior space of the Spasskaya Church is simplified in comparison with the buildings of the previous period - the first third of the 12th century. The princely choir-halls, where two chapels were located, looked quite modest. The staircase in the attached tower was no longer there; it was replaced by a narrow entrance in the thickness of the western wall. During the construction of the building, the accuracy of lines and shapes was not maintained. The excessively thick walls were crooked and the surfaces were uneven. But thoughtful proportions brightened up these shortcomings, and the temple made a dignified, solemnly majestic impression.
Paraskeva Friday Church (Chernigov)
Time of creation: 1198-1199.
The time of construction of the Paraskeva Pyatnitsa Church, as well as the name of its customer, are unknown. Most likely, it was built by merchants with their own money. The dimensions of the church are small - 12 x 11.5 m. Ancient church at the auction belongs to typical small single-domed churches with four pillars. But an unknown architect developed this type of construction, common in the 12th century, in a completely new way. He places the pillars unusually widely, pressing them against the walls, which allows him to maximize the expansion of the central room of the temple and in a new way, in the form of semi-zakomars, to design the corner parts of the facade, which he makes in a quarter circle. The transition to a high and massive drum is carried out using raised arches and two rows of kokoshniks. The apses, which are small in volume, are slightly lower than the zakomari. The portals of the Pyatnitskaya Church are made with a profiled frame, with eyebrows located above them. Above is a frieze of brick meander, and even higher are decorative niches in which remains of plaster have been preserved. Above them is a belt of “runners”. The central sections are completed by triple windows. The skillful use of brick gives the structure a special expressiveness: two brick walls with the gap between them filled with stones and bricks with mortar. After 5-7 rows the masonry was made continuous, after which they again switched to the backfilling technique. The master decided to lay out arches spanning pillars above the vaults. Thus, the drum, resting on the arches, rises significantly above the walls. The meticulous precision of the brickwork reveals the hand of a Byzantine master. Perhaps it was Petr Miloneg. Despite the small size of the temple, the master also built a choir, but a narrow one, and an equally narrow staircase in the western wall.
Paraskeva Friday Church on Torg (Novgorod)
Creation time: 1207
Most likely, the Pyatnitsky Church at Torg was erected not by Novgorod craftsmen, but by Smolensk craftsmen, because it has no direct analogies among the Novgorod churches, but is similar to the Svirskaya Church of Smolensk. The corners of the temple itself and the narthexes are decorated with wide multi-stepped blades, unusual for Novgorod. The same applies to the side rectangular apses. The church is a cruciform building with six pillars. Four of them are round, which is not at all typical for Novgorod construction. The temple has three apses, of which the central one projects much further to the east than the others. The main volume of the church was adjoined on three sides by lowered porches (narthexes). Of these, only the northern one has survived; only small fragments have survived from the other two, and they were rebuilt by restorers. The building acquired its modern appearance as a result of restoration, during which many, but not all, of its ancient forms were revealed. Now the temple houses a kind of museum of the history of Novgorod architecture.
Conclusion
So, we see that quite a lot of monuments of Old Russian architecture of the 11th - early 13th centuries have been preserved. - about 30. (You should also take into account the fact that many buildings were not included in the work, due to significant changes in their appearance during fires, wars, natural disasters or unsuccessful restorations) There are especially many of them left in Novgorod and Kyiv lands.
Temples were founded mainly by local princes in honor of their heavenly patrons, but often a cathedral could be erected in honor of some major victory. Sometimes the temple's customer was the local trade elite.
The architectural features of many monuments amaze with their magnificence, and the skill in their execution deserves admiration. In the course of my work, I found out that foreign craftsmen, in particular Byzantine and Greek, were often invited for construction. But many temples were built through the efforts of Russian architects. Gradually, each principality developed its own architectural school with its own approach to construction techniques and building decoration.
By the 12th century. Russian craftsmen mastered the technique of cement masonry and used brick. Much attention focused on painting churches with frescoes and decorating them with mosaics.
The historical fate of many architectural monuments of that time is deplorable - they are irretrievably lost to us. Some are luckier - although they have been significantly rebuilt, they can still give us some idea of the architecture of that era. Many buildings have survived to this day almost in their original form, and it is they who give us the most complete picture of the architecture of Ancient Rus' in the 11th - early 13th centuries.
List of used literature:
1. Komech A.I., Old Russian architecture of the late X - early XII centuries. - M.: Nauka, 1987.
2. Rappoport P. A., Old Russian architecture. - St. Petersburg, 1993.
3. Russian temples / ed. group: T. Kashirina, G. Evseeva - M.: World of Encyclopedias, 2006.
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This circumstance explains the reason for the wide distribution of the icon in Rus'. The specificity of the art of Ancient Rus' was the absolute predominance easel painting- icons, which were a classic form of fine art for the Russian Middle Ages. Along with the symbolic nature of artistic expression on icons, it should be noted that everything depicted on them does not have...
Literature: Paley, a collection of abbreviated retellings of the Old Testament, was in circulation; chronicles - accounts of Byzantine history - George Amartol, Ioann Malala. In Rus' already before Mongol invasion Experts in the ancient Greek language were not a novelty. Prince Yaroslav was engaged in translations with the help of highly educated teachers...
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Tithe Church (Church of the Assumption Holy Mother of God ) in Kyiv - the first stone church of the Old Russian state, erected by Saint Vladimir, Equal to the Apostles, on the site of the death of the Russian first martyrs Theodore and his son John. The Tale of Bygone Years dates the beginning of construction of the Tithe Church to 989. Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich allocated a tenth of his income for the maintenance of the church and metropolis - tithe, which is where its name came from. At the time of its construction, it was the largest Kyiv temple. In 1240, the hordes of Batu Khan, having taken Kyiv, destroyed the Tithe Church - the last stronghold of the people of Kiev. According to legend, the Church of the Tithes collapsed under the weight of the people who climbed onto the vaults, trying to escape from the Mongols.
Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, built in the first half of the 11th century by Prince Yaroslav the Wise on the site of the victory in 1037 over the Pechenegs. At the turn of the 17th-18th centuries, it was externally rebuilt in the Ukrainian Baroque style. Inside the cathedral, the world's most complete ensemble of original mosaics (260 sq. m.) and frescoes (3000 sq. m.) from the first half of the 11th century has been preserved. Included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. In 1240, the St. Sophia Cathedral was plundered by Batu's soldiers. After this it remained a metropolitan residence until the end of the 13th century.
St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod- main Orthodox church Veliky Novgorod, created in 1045-1050 by Yaroslav the Wise. It is a cross-domed church. For centuries it remained the spiritual center of the Novgorod Republic. On the cross of the central dome there is a lead figure of a dove - a symbol of the Holy Spirit. According to legend, when Ivan the Terrible brutally dealt with the residents of Novgorod in 1570, a dove sat down to rest on the cross of Sophia. Seeing the terrible carnage from there, the dove was petrified with horror. During the occupation of Novgorod Nazi troops The temple was damaged and looted, after the war it was completely restored and became a department of the Novgorod Museum-Reserve.
Church of the Intercession on the Nerl- a white stone temple, an outstanding monument of architecture of the Vladimir-Suzdal school. It was built in 1165 by Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky in memory of his deceased son Izyaslav. The church was consecrated in honor of the Feast of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary, established in Rus' in the middle of the 12th century on the initiative of Andrei Bogolyubsky. Unique feature - built on a man-made hill. The usual foundation was continued by the base of the walls, which were covered with clay soil of a mound lined with white stone. This technology made it possible to resist rising water during river floods. The walls of the church are strictly vertical, but thanks to the exceptionally well-found proportions, they look inclined inward, which achieves the illusion of a greater height of the structure. The walls of the church are decorated with carved reliefs. The church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 
Cathedral of the Archangel- an Orthodox church located on Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin, was built in 1505-1508. under the leadership of the Italian architect Aleviz Novy. Built of brick, decorated with white stone. Motifs of Italian Renaissance architecture are widely used in the decoration of the walls. It is the tomb of rulers from the Rurik and Romanov dynasties: the first to be buried here was Grand Duke Ivan Kalita, the last was Emperor Peter II. Object of cultural heritage of the Russian Federation.
Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir- the white stone cathedral was built under Grand Duke Andrei Bogolyubsky in 1158-1160. Before the rise of Moscow, it was the main temple of Vladimir-Suzdal Rus', where the Vladimir and Moscow princes were married for their great reign. A unique monument of Russian architecture of the 12th century. One of the few churches in which unique frescoes by Andrei Rublev have been preserved. Included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Golden Gate in Vladimir - built in 1164 under the Vladimir prince Andrei Bogolyubsky. In addition to defensive functions, they served as the main entrance to the city and served a direct religious purpose - they housed the active Church of the Deposition of the Robe. After the capture of Vladimir by the Tatar-Mongols, in 1238, the oak gates covered with gilded copper were removed from their hinges, loaded onto a cart, and an attempt was made to take them out of the city to the Horde. However, the ice on the Klyazma River collapsed under the cart, and the gate sank. UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Golden Gate in Kyiv- a monument to the defensive architecture of the Old Russian state during the reign of Prince Yaroslav the Wise. They got their name from the Golden Gate of Constantinople, which performed similar functions. This was probably a kind of rivalry with the great Byzantine Empire. The Golden Gate is a fortress tower with a wide passage. The height of the surviving walls reaches 9.5 meters. In 1240, the gate was badly damaged during the siege and capture of the city by Batu's hordes. Completely reconstructed at the beginning of the 21st century.
Dmitrievsky Cathedral in Vladimir - the court cathedral, erected by Vsevolod the Big Nest at the end of the 12th century. It is a white-stone cross-domed temple of the Vladimir-Suzdal architectural school. Famous for its white stone carvings. Included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin- an Orthodox church located on Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin. Built in 1475-1479 under the leadership of the Italian architect Aristotle Fioravanti. The main temple of the Russian state. The famous icon painter Dionysius took part in the painting of the cathedral. In 1547, the crowning of Ivan IV took place here for the first time. The Zemsky Council of 1613 was held in the building of the cathedral, at which Mikhail Fedorovich was elected tsar. During the St. Petersburg period, it continued to be the place of coronation of all Russian emperors, starting with Peter II. In 1812, the cathedral was desecrated and looted by the Napoleonic army, although the most valuable shrines were evacuated to Vologda.
Blagoveshchensky cathedral- the temple on Cathedral Square was built in 1489 by Pskov craftsmen. The cathedral was very badly damaged in the fire of 1547 and restored in 1564. In 1572, a porch was added to the cathedral, which later received the name Grozny. The original iconostasis of the cathedral contained icons painted in 1405 by Andrei Rublev and Theophanes the Greek. After the fire of 1547, two ancient rows were selected for the iconostasis - Deesis and Festive, from the era of Theophanes the Greek and Andrei Rublev. The floor of the cathedral is unique: it is made of soft honey-colored jasper. Until the 18th century it was the home church of the Moscow sovereigns. Object of cultural heritage of the Russian Federation.
Faceted Chamber- the main ceremonial reception hall of the Grand Duke's palace. It hosted meetings of the Boyar Duma, sessions of Zemsky Sobors, festivities in honor of the conquest of Kazan (1552), the victory at Poltava (1709), and the conclusion of the Treaty of Nystadt with Sweden (1721). Here, at the Zemsky Sobor in 1653, a decision was made to reunite Ukraine with Russia. Built in 1487-1491 by order of Ivan III by architects Marco Ruffo and Pietro Antonio Solari. It got its name from the eastern facade, decorated with faceted “diamond” rustication. On the south side of the facade there is a staircase, which is now called the “Red Porch”. Russian tsars and emperors passed along it for their coronation in the Assumption Cathedral. In the 21st century, the Chamber of Facets is one of the representative halls at the residence of the President of the Russian Federation. Object of cultural heritage of the Russian Federation.
Trinity-Sergius Lavra- the largest Orthodox monastery in Russia, founded by Sergius of Radonezh in the 13th century. It was the spiritual center of the Moscow lands and supported the Moscow princes. Here in 1380, Sergius blessed the army of Prince Dmitry Ivanovich, who was going to battle with Mamai. On September 8, 1380, during the Battle of Kulikovo, the monks and heroes of the Trinity Monastery - Peresvet and Oslyabya - entered the battlefield. For several centuries the monastery was the cultural and religious center of the Russian state. In the monastery, chronicles were compiled, manuscripts were copied, and icons were painted.
Outstanding icon painters Andrei Rublev and Daniil Cherny participated in the painting of the Trinity Cathedral of the monastery; the famous “Trinity” was painted for the iconostasis of the cathedral. IN Time of Troubles Trinity Monastery withstood a 16-month siege by Polish-Lithuanian invaders.
The architectural ensemble of the Lavra is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Andronikov Monastery (Spaso-Andronikov) former monastery within the city of Moscow. The monastery's Spassky Cathedral is the oldest surviving Moscow temple. Founded in the mid-14th century by Metropolitan Alexy. In the interior of the Spassky Cathedral, fragments of frescoes made by Andrei Rublev have survived. In the XIV-XVII centuries, the Andronikov Monastery was one of the centers for the correspondence of books. In 1812, the monastery was destroyed by the French. In 1985, the monastery became the Central Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art named after Andrei Rublev (CMiAR). Object of cultural heritage of the Russian Federation.
MONUMENTS OF ANCIENT Rus'
Sofia Kyiv
With the adoption of Christianity in 988, which came to Ancient Rus' from Byzantium, Slavic peoples They also joined a new way of artistic thinking, which was most clearly expressed in icon painting and architecture.
Byzantine civilization was familiar to the Principality of Kyiv since the 10th century, and in subsequent centuries the newly created forms of architectural creativity only strengthened. Princes and embassies attended services in the churches of Constantinople, where they were fascinated by both the beauty of the ritual and the grandeur of the temples: according to the witnesses of this miracle, “we did not know whether we were on earth or in heaven.”
Another thing is also important: Byzantium in the 10th century was the only great custodian of the ancient heritage, the foundation of the entire European culture. Kievan Rus came into contact with this tradition, and therefore in its monuments of architecture, sculpture and painting, both European traditions and ancient Russian culture merged.
In those days, intensive construction of cities was underway in Rus', of which there soon numbered about 300. Defense structures, residential buildings, princely chambers, monasteries, and cathedrals were erected. Chronicles and epics report that the richest wooden dwellings were decorated with paintings and included a variety of compositions from numerous towers, passages and porches.
Monumental construction also appears. The oldest stone buildings for religious purposes that have survived to this day date back to the middle of the 11th century, that is, to the time of the reign of Yaroslav the Wise, when Kievan Rus was approaching the peak of its heyday. In those years, the most majestic churches were built, including the Transfiguration Church in Chernigov and the Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod.
Prince Yaroslav also built churches in Kyiv, which was revered as the “mother of Russian cities.” One is Georgievsky, since the Christian name of Yaroslav sounded like George; the other was called Irininsky - that was the name of Yaroslav’s wife, the Swedish princess Ingigerda, who was christened Irina in Rus'.
And the Grand Duke dedicated the main church of the Russian land to wisdom - Sophia. The ancient Greeks honored wisdom in the image of the goddess Athena; in Byzantium she was worshiped in the image of the Mother of God, but in Rus' a different tradition prevailed, dating back to ancient Christian ideas that baptism is the coming of the “wisdom of the goddess,” that is, Sophia.
The cathedral was founded in 1037 on the site of the victorious battle between the Kievites and the Pechenegs. It was the highest hill near the Dnieper, and therefore to the traveler, no matter through which gate he entered the city, the temple was immediately revealed in all its beauty and majesty. This made it possible not to raise the temple high, but to freely build it on the ground, harmoniously positioning it in breadth, length, and height. By the way, initially Sofia was not whitewashed, as it is now. The brick from which it was all laid out alternated with pink clay (that is, finely ground broken brick), which gave the walls a special elegance and picturesqueness.
It is known from the chronicles that the appearance of the Kyiv architectural masterpiece is not an accidental phenomenon: in ancient times there were five-domed churches, and even a wooden thirteen-domed Sophia in Novgorod. St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv was originally also crowned with thirteen domes. The construction, unprecedented in scale, was carried out in several stages. First, the main core of the cathedral was erected, surrounded on three sides by an open single-tier gallery. Then two towers were built at the western façade for the entrance to the choir. And finally, arch-butanes and external open galleries were built, and a second floor was built over the internal galleries. The construction of such a grandiose structure, which required enormous expenses, was, nevertheless, very rational and economical.
As mentioned above, the design of the St. Sophia Cathedral is based on the traditions of Constantinople architecture, but it surpasses contemporary Byzantine examples in both size and structural complexity. The number of naves of the cross-domed cathedral has been increased to five. The supports are twelve powerful cross-shaped pillars. The central dome with its twelve-window drum dominates everything; the light also floods the vast princely choirs, above which there are twelve more light domes.
Thus, in plan, the St. Sophia Cathedral is a five-nave (that is, with the main space divided into parts by five rows of columns) cross-domed temple, surrounded from the north, west and south by a double row of galleries. It was precisely such galleries, plus the multi-domed structure, that distinguished the Kyiv Sophia from the Cathedral of Constantinople.
The size of the structure made a particularly strong impression on contemporaries. Its width is 55 m, length 37 m, height - approximately the size of a 13-story building. The temple could accommodate up to 3 thousand people - almost the entire adult population of Kyiv at that time. It is not surprising that the townspeople considered their sanctuary one of the wonders of the world.
Above the crosshairs of the central nave, the main dome rises highest, and four more domes are erected above those placed between the arms of the spatial cross, and the next eight domes are located around them and below.
Upon entering the cathedral, the viewer is greeted by the arched openings of the external and then dimly lit internal galleries, a space immersed in solemn and mysterious twilight with a string of internal pillars. Amazingly flooded bright light a central semi-domed space decorated with multi-colored mosaics and frescoes.
Almost the entire second tier of the temple was occupied by choirs - huge tents for the prince and his retinue. In the center, the space developed freely, thoughtfully obeying the architectural design. In this space, the choirs opened with triple arches, which brings to mind a parallel with the triumphal structures of the Roman emperors.
The most important state ceremonies were performed under the main dome. The highest clergy were located in the altar itself, the prince and his entourage stood at the top in the choir, and below the people gathered, looking with reverence at the sparkling gold mosaics and at the surface of the main dome with the image of Christ Pantocrator. On the central apse - a semicircular projection of the wall - reigned the gigantic figure of Sophia the Mother of God. She was bending over the people on the concave vault, as if hugging the worshipers with outstretched arms. In this image, Sophia personified not only wisdom, but also the Heavenly Intercessor, the guardian and support of the world. It is not for nothing that during the testing years people called it an “unbreakable wall.”
In interior decoration cathedral, as already mentioned, main role played mosaics. Initially they occupied a huge area, about 650 square meters. m, of which only a third has survived, although it has come to us in its original form. In the place of honor (on the plane of the arch outlining the apse) the composition “Prayer” is placed in three round medallions. The plane of this arch is located in the depths and is less well lit, so the attention of the craftsmen was paid more to the silhouettes of the under-bust images in the medallions and to the color of the clothes. The purple tunic and blue cloak of Christ, the clothes of the Mother of God and John the Baptist are in harmony with the golden mosaic background. Golden amethysts, dark red and blue stones, the gold setting of the Gospel in the hands of Christ and the four-color border of the medallions (white, red, emerald green and brown-red) emphasize the richness and color of the figures of the “Prayer”.
The entire architecture of the temple, its picturesque decoration inspired the worshipers that the state should rest on the authority of the supreme power, as unshakable as the power of the Almighty himself, reigning high in the dome surrounded by archangels, whom one Greek theologian called “heavenly officials guarding countries, lands and languages". Thus the heavenly and the earthly were intertwined in supreme glory and eternally established dominion.
The construction of Sophia was not only a great national phenomenon that strengthened the Christian faith in Rus'. The temple played a huge role in the secular and cultural life of Ancient Rus', and also served as the residence of the rulers of the “Russian metropolis”. At the cathedral, a chronicle writing center was created and the first library in Rus' was founded. Solemn ceremonies took place here, such as the accession of the prince to the grand-ducal throne, receptions of ambassadors, etc.
From a historical point of view, it is also important that for many years the St. Sophia Cathedral was the burial place of great princes and metropolitans. In 1054, the founder of the temple, Prince Yaroslav the Wise, was buried there; in 1093 - his son Vsevolod and grandson Rostislav Vsevolodovich; in 1125 - Vladimir Monomakh, and in 1154 - his son Vyacheslav Vladimirovich.
Architecturally, the marble tomb of Yaroslav the Wise, located in the apse of the left side nave, is of particular interest. This is a white marble sarcophagus, reminiscent of an antique building, covered with a gable roof. All planes of the sarcophagus are covered with relief ornaments made with extraordinary skill.
Speaking in general about buildings like Sophia of Kyiv, it is worth noting that the builders in the 11th century. have accumulated considerable experience wooden architecture and were perhaps at that time the best in their craft. But as for the construction of stone buildings, here domestic craftsmen have learned a lot from foreign specialists, showing natural ingenuity, assertiveness and healthy ambition.
As for the appearance of the St. Sophia Cathedral, it should be noted that later extensions and superstructures greatly changed its appearance. At the end of the 17th century, when six new domes were built over the cathedral, five ancient domes were also changed, which were given a pear-shaped shape, characteristic of Ukrainian architecture of the 17th–18th centuries, and the windows were decorated with platbands close to Moscow architecture of the 17th century.
Subsequently, the cathedral did not undergo any significant changes. In 1744–1748, under Metropolitan Rafail Zabarovsky, the pediments and drums of the cathedral were decorated with stucco ornaments, and a century later, in 1848–1853, the lost stucco decorations were restored, the central dome and the domes of the remaining domes were gilded.
However, the reconstruction of Sofia in no way deprived it of the main thing: the architects of Kievan Rus were able to express in an original artistic form the understanding of the triumphal entry of the state into the circle of peoples and civilizations, so clearly expressed in numerous monuments of that time, which became legendary.
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From the book Life and Manners of Tsarist Russia author Anishkin V. G. From the book Wonders of the World author Pakalina Elena NikolaevnaMonuments of pre-Petrine Rus' Trinity-Sergius Lavra The Trinity-Sergius Lavra was founded in the middle of the 14th century. two brothers-monks - Stephen and Bartholomew. For a long time they searched for a suitable place for the future monastery and finally discovered a hill called “Makovets”
Despite the progress in our time and the constant discoveries being made, very few facts have reached us about the architecture of the ancient Slavs. All this is because in those days, basically all buildings were built from wood, and since this material is short-lived, the main historical monuments have not been preserved.
The ancient Slavs had good construction skills. And with the establishment of Christianity in Rus', many stone structures began to be built, such as temples and churches. The construction of cross-domed cathedrals was very developed at that time. All this is due to the fact that Christianity came to us from Byzantium, and accordingly, the construction of temples was carried out on the basis of Byzantine design schemes.
Story architecture of ancient Rus' began with the creation of the Kyiv state and this stage ended only with the advent Russian Empire. The first churches are considered to be Novgorod, Kyiv and Vladimir. The reign of Yaroslav the Wise (12th century) is considered to be the heyday of architectural architecture. In the 13th century, the development of church architecture in Rus' slowed down, this is due to the emergence of the Tatar-Mongol yoke. And in the 15th century, already during the reign of Ivan III, the rapid development of architectural architecture began again.
Hagia Sophia in Novgorod
The history of this cathedral is very interesting. It was built in honor of the Novgorodians, who at one time helped Yaroslav the Wise sit on the throne of the Grand Duke. It took seven years to build and the temple was consecrated in 1052. The son of Grand Duke Yaroslav, Vladimir, who died on October 4, 1052, is buried in the Kyiv Church of St. Sophia.
It is worth noting that the cathedral was built from mixed materials - stone and brick. Its design is strictly symmetrical, and there are no galleries. Initially, the walls of this cathedral were not whitewashed. This is due to the fact that Slavic architects primarily focused on Byzantine designs, in which preference was given to mosaic and marble cladding. A little later, mosaics were replaced by frescoes, and marble by limestone.
The frame of the composition looks like a cross-domed church with five naves. This type of construction is characteristic only of temples built in the 11th century.
The first cathedral painting was carried out in 1109, but most of the frescoes could not be preserved to this day, with the exception of “Constantine and Helen”. Many frescoes were lost during the Great Patriotic War.
Several iconostases were constructed in the Hagia Sophia, or rather, there were three of them. The main icons located in the cathedral: the icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”, Euthymius the Great, Anthony the Great, Saint Savva the Sanctified, the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God. It was possible to preserve the remains of holy books, of which the most surviving are six books: Princess Irina, Prince Vladimir, Princes Mstislav and Fyodor, Archbishops Nikita and John.
The cross of the central dome is decorated with a figure in the form of a dove, which is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.
Hagia Sophia in Kyiv
The history of this cathedral begins in 1037, when it was founded by the Kyiv prince Yaroslav the Wise. Sophia of Kiev has been very well preserved to this day; even picturesque decorations, such as frescoes and mosaics, have survived. These are two types of painting, combined not only in the Hagia Sophia, but also in almost all architectural monuments of Ancient Rus'. There are currently 260 in the church square meters mosaics and almost three thousand square meters of frescoes.
The temple contains a huge number of mosaics with images of the main saints. Such works are made on a gold background, which helps to highlight the richness of these masterpieces. Mosaics include more than 177 shades. But the names of the creative masters who created such beauty remain unknown to this day.
The main cathedral mosaics: Our Lady of the “Unbreakable Wall”, Annunciation, John Chrysostom, St. Basil the Great.
In addition to frescoes and mosaics, a large number of graphic images (graffiti) have been preserved. There are more than seven thousand graffiti on the walls of the cathedral.
Five princes are buried in the St. Sophia Church: Yaroslav the Wise, Vsevolod, Rostislav Vsevolodovich, Vladimir Monomakh, Vyacheslav Vladimirovich.
Church of the Intercession on the Nerl
One of the outstanding architectural monuments of Ancient Rus'. The church is entirely made of stone and is considered the pinnacle of white stone architecture. It was built in 1165, by order of Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky, in honor of his deceased son, who was killed by the Bulgars. The temple was erected in the Vladimir region, on the interfluve of the Nerl and Klyazma rivers.
This is the first monument in the history of architecture of Ancient Rus', which is dedicated to the Feast of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The design of the church is quite simple. It consists of four pillars, a cruciform dome and three apses. This is a one-domed church with exquisite proportions, due to which from a distance it seems as if the temple is floating in the air.
The Church of the Intercession on the Nerl is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Demetrius Cathedral in Vladimir
The date of foundation of the cathedral is considered to be 1197. This temple is famous among other architectural monuments of Ancient Rus' for its execution technique - white stone carving.
The temple was built personally for Prince Vsevolod the Big Nest and his family. Later, the church was consecrated in honor of the heavenly patron - Dmitry of Thessalonica.
The composition is based on the typical designs of Byzantine churches (four pillars and three apses). The dome of the church is gilded and topped with a neat cross, the weather vane of which is depicted in the form of a dove. The construction of the temple was carried out exclusively by Russian architects, but the decoration was carried out by Greek craftsmen, which is why in the cathedral you can find features characteristic of Western basilicas. Elements of Romanesque architecture are clearly expressed in the masonry technique and decoration.
The walls of the cathedral are decorated with various mythical images, horsemen, psalms and saints. The temple houses a sculpture of David the musician. His miniature symbolizes the idea of a god of a protected state. Also in the church there is an image of Vsevolod the Big Nest and his sons.
Although Demetrievsky Cathedral does not have external beauty, its interior is quite rich inside. Unfortunately, of the frescoes, only “The Last Judgment” has survived to this day.
Golden Gate of the city of Vladimir
The composition was erected in Vladimir, the basis for the construction of which was the order of Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky in 1164. A total of 5 gates were built, of which only the Golden ones have survived to this day. They served as the entrance to the princely part of the city, which was considered the richest. The construction of the gate was carried out by Vladimir craftsmen.
There are rumors that at the end of the construction work, they fell on twelve people involved in construction. The townspeople thought that the masters had died, and then Bogolyubsky decided to turn with prayers to the icon of the Mother of God. When the collapse was cleared, the people littered with the remains of the gate were pulled out safe and alive. After this incident, a white stone chapel was built over the gate.
The height of the triumphal arch of the Golden Gate reaches fourteen meters. The main purpose of the structure was to protect the city of Vladimir from raids. The design was based on a combat platform from which enemies were fired upon. The remains of the site are still in the gate. It was possible to enter and exit the site using a stone staircase adjacent to it.
The Golden Gate is a symbolic image of princely power and greatness.
During the Mongol-Tatar invasion, many monuments from the Golden Gate were hidden by the townspeople. Most of them are included in the UNESCO list and are recognized as destroyed monuments. In 1970, a group of Japanese archaeologists came to the Soviet Union with the goal of clearing the bottom of the Klyazma River. At the end of the expedition, many objects that archaeologists considered lost were found. Among them were precious doors taken from the Golden Gate of Vladimir. Although this version is still more perceived as a legend. Since historical facts indicate that the residents of Vladimir did not have enough time to hide the relics, much less take them out of the city. If the doors were found, the location of the gold plates is unknown to this day.
Tithe Church
This is the first Russian church that was built of stone; it was consecrated in 996. The church is illuminated with the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Its name is due to the fact that Grand Duke Vladimir allocated a tithe of the state budget, that is, a tenth, for the construction of the church.
The history of the church is directly related to the baptism of Rus'. The fact is that it was erected on the site where a clash between pagans and Christians took place. The building itself is a symbol of religious strife.
Kiev-Pechersk Lavra
Another unique architectural monument of Ancient Rus' is the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. This monastery is included in the list of the first ancient Russian monasteries. Its construction was carried out in 1051, during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise. Its founder is considered to be the monk Anthony, whose roots came from Lyubech.
The location of the monastery is the city of Kyiv (Ukraine). Located on the coast of the Dnieper, on two hills. At first, on the site of the monastery there was an ordinary cave, into which the clergyman Hilarion came, but when he was appointed Metropolitan of Kyiv, the cave was abandoned. Around the same time, monk Anthony arrived in Kyiv, he found Hilarion’s cave and stayed in it. A little later, a church was erected over the cave, and already in 1073 it was lined with stone. In 1089 it was consecrated.
The frescoes and mosaics decorating the church were made by Byzantine masters.
Kirillovskaya Church
Counts the oldest monument in the history of architecture of Ancient Rus'. The date of its foundation is considered to be 1139. The name of the church is associated with the names of Saints Athanasius and Cyril. The church is one of the main components of the composition of the Kirillov Monastery, which is located near Chernigov, in the village of Dorogozhychi. The Kirillovskaya Church was built under Prince Vsevolod Olgovich and subsequently became the tomb of the Olgovich family. Vsevolod’s wife, Maria, who was the daughter of Mstislav the Great, was buried there. Prince Svyatoslav was also buried in this church in 1194.
In 1786, lands were confiscated from the church in favor of the state, and this was the end of the history of the Kirillov Monastery. The church was converted into a hospital church.
Church of the Savior on the Nereditsa River
The cathedral was built in the city of Novgorod and the date of its construction is 1198. The style of construction stands out for its unusually simple design and strict motifs; it is worth noting that all Novgorod buildings are made in this style. The church is in perfect harmony with the landscape due to the simplicity of the composition. The Cathedral of the Savior on the Nereditsa River, like most buildings of that time, is white stone. The interior of the church fully matches the external style.
The execution of paintings is of a strictly strict nature, with a predominance of clear forms. In the images of saints, open views can be traced; one gets the impression that the images are not simply depicted on the walls of the temple, but are, as it were, boarded up in them. Overall, the cathedral is a symbol of power and strength.
Novgorod Kremlin
The basis of every ancient Russian city was considered a strong Kremlin, which could protect the townspeople and withstand the defense from enemies. The Novgorod Kremlin is one of the oldest. For the tenth century he has been decorating and protecting his city. It is worth noting that, despite the fact that the Kremlin of the city of Novgorod is an old building, it still retains its original appearance. The Kremlin is made of red brick. On the territory of the Kremlin there is the Novgorod St. Sophia Cathedral, which is also included in the list of architectural masterpieces of Ancient Rus'. Its exterior and interior are designed in a sophisticated style. The floor is decorated with mosaics, which were worked on the best masters that time.
The Novgorod Kremlin is an ensemble of the best architectural monuments that city residents can be proud of even today.
The times of Ancient Rus', the cultural monuments of which form the subject of this review, are the most important period in national history, since it was then that the foundations of statehood, public, political, economic and social structures were laid, which was expressed in written, archaeological and architectural sources.
General characteristics of the era
The foundations of the state government were formed during the times of Ancient Rus'. The cultural monuments of this era are interesting because they reflect the ideological foundations of the young Russian society who had just converted to Orthodoxy. A major role in their creation was played by the initiative of the princes, who very often contributed to stone construction, the writing of chronicles, and the construction of buildings for civil and defensive purposes. Subsequently, the initiative passed to the population, primarily to city residents, who very often built churches and temples at their own expense. Greek influence played a great role in this cultural process. Byzantine masters became the builders of many monuments, and also taught a lot to the Russians, who, having adopted their rules and traditions, soon began to create their own unique structures.
Type of temples
The times of Ancient Rus', whose cultural monuments are mainly represented by church construction, are traditionally dated to the pre-Mongol period, from the 9th to the beginning of the 13th century, but in more in a broad sense To this concept later centuries are also applicable. Russian architecture adopted Byzantine traditions, so the cross-domed churches of Ancient Rus', in principle, repeat their features. However, in our country, the construction of white-stone rectangular churches became widespread, and the semicircular dome was replaced with a helmet-shaped one. Masters very often created mosaics and frescoes. Temples with four pillars were especially common; those with six and eight columns were less common. Most often they had three naves.
Early Church
The times of Ancient Rus', whose cultural monuments are inextricably linked with baptism and the adoption of Orthodoxy, became the heyday of stone temple construction. In the list of these buildings, we should highlight the most basic ones, the construction of which became a landmark event in history and served as the beginning for further construction. One of the first largest and most significant churches was the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was also popularly called Tithe Church, since the prince specially allocated a tenth of his income for it. It was built under Vladimir Svyatoslavich the Saint, who baptized the Russian land.
Peculiarities
Archaeologists find it difficult to restore its original appearance, however, some surviving data, such as Greek marks on bricks and marble decorations, indicate that the construction was carried out by Greek masters. At the same time, the surviving inscriptions in Cyrillic and ceramic tiles suggest the participation of the Slavs in the construction. The church was built as a cross-domed structure according to the traditional Byzantine canon.
11th century temples
The times of Ancient Rus', whose cultural monuments prove the rapid spread and establishment of Orthodoxy in our country, became a period of active construction of churches, different in size, composition and structure. The second most important temple on this list is It was erected during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise and was supposed to become the main religious center of the new power. Its peculiarity is the presence of large choirs. It has thirteen domes with windows. In the center is the main one, below are four smaller ones, and then there are even smaller eight domes. The cathedral has two staircase towers, two-tier and one-tier galleries. There are mosaics and frescoes inside.
Cross-domed Russias have become widespread in our country. Another important building was the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. It had three naves, a spacious interior and one dome. It was blown up during the Second World War and subsequently restored in the traditions of Ukrainian Baroque.
Novgorod architecture
Monuments of Russian culture are varied in style and structure. Novgorod temples and churches have their own unique features, which make it possible to distinguish this tradition as special in the history of Russian architecture. Separately in the list of ancient Russian buildings, it should be highlighted which for a long time remained the main religious center of the republic. It has five domes and a staircase tower. The domes are shaped like helmets. The walls are built of limestone, the interior is similar to a Kyiv church, the arches are lengthened, but some details have undergone a slight simplification, which later became characteristic feature architecture of the city.
At first, the masters imitated Kyiv models, but later Novgorod architecture acquired its original appearance thanks to unique and easily recognizable features. Their temples are small in size, squat and simple in design. One of the most famous churches in this style is the Transfiguration Church on Nereditsa. It is very simple, but has a very majestic appearance. It is small in size, has no external decoration, and the lines are very simple. These features are characteristic of Novgorod churches, the appearance of which is even somewhat disproportional, which makes them unique.
Buildings in other cities
Monuments in Nizhny Novgorod are also included in the list of the most famous ancient Russian buildings. One of the churches is dedicated to the saint. It was erected in the 16th century in memory of the deliverance of the city from the invasion of the Tatars and Nogais. At first it was made of wood, but then, in the mid-17th century, it was rebuilt in stone. In the 19th century, the church was rebuilt from a single-domed one into a five-domed one, which gave its name to the street in the city.
Monuments in Nizhny Novgorod occupy a prominent place in the history of Russian architecture. One of the most famous is St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral, built in the 13th century. It was a white stone church with 4 pillars and 3 apses.
So, the cities of other lands and appanage principalities also became centers of active architectural construction. Their traditions are distinguished by their original and unique features. The Church of St. Nicholas Nadein in Yaroslavl is a unique temple of the 17th century. It was erected on the banks of the Volga and became the first stone church in the city's suburbs.
The initiator was the merchant Nadya Sveteshnikov, after whom many merchants and artisans also began to build churches. The base of the temple was raised on a high base, on top there were five domes on thin drum necks. The Church of St. Nicholas Nadein has a unique iconostasis. It is made in the Baroque style and replaced an older one in the 18th century.
Meaning
Thus, ancient Russian architecture is unique in its features, style and interior. Therefore, it occupies a prominent place not only in domestic culture, but also in world art in general. In this regard, the protection of historical and cultural monuments is now especially important. Many of them have not survived to our time, some were destroyed during the war, so modern archaeologists and restorers attribute great importance their reconstruction and renewal.