On the Borodino-2012 website I read an article about the ancient Russian necropolis in Mozhaisk. I was amazed at the sight of the tombstone slabs, which reminded me of ancient Roman tombstones, one of which is, for example, in the Hermitage. Ancient Russian tombstones, as we see, are too reminiscent of the times of the Etruscans: the same huge high slabs on legs. This is how the picture is drawn: an ancient descendant knelt near the grave of his glorious ancestor. Previously, the Etruscans did not place slabs vertically, as they do now in cemeteries, but laid a heavy slab (like a chest the size of a grave) flat.
Old Russian tombstones preserved in Mozhaisk are unique! And I was shocked that I knew nothing about it; and those who know cannot save these Russian treasures. And all because the current government behaves like OCCUPIERS on Russian Land.
Vladimir Soloukhin said this well:
“Only the occupiers, having captured the country, immediately begin to rename everything. ...All of these were dead, mortified churches, tattered, blackened, with iron lifted up on the roof, with fallen crosses, soiled on all sides and inside with human excrement. And yet the beauty in connection with the terrain amazed us.
No,” Kirill fumed, “no matter what they say, cultured, educated people (whether from Kazan University or from another university) could not cause such devastation and ruin throughout the country. They are not cultured people, but barbarians, half-educated, half-witted, ignorant, and, moreover, full of the most petty and vindictive malice. Criminals who seized power. Well, tell me, isn’t banditry the destruction of beauty? The beauty of the earth, its general appearance. But it wasn’t them who set it up...”
Ill. 06. Old Russian tombstone on the territory of the Mozhaisky Luzhetsky Monastery. The foundation for some kind of building was laid from these huge ancient slabs! It reminded me of the ancient Egyptian pyramids, which were dismantled by some pharaoh from a new dynasty to build a protective wall.
Ill. 08. Are these really Russian runes? My God, what an oldie!
Ill. 01. Ancient Russian tombstones of the Mozhaisk Luzhetsky Monastery.
I quote this article by Mozhaisk local historian V.A. Kukovenko. Lord, protect Your people and Your land!
_______ ________
Help save the Mozhaisk necropolis!
Posted on 04/03/2012 by admin
We are publishing a letter from Mozhaisk local historian V.I. Kukovenko about saving the necropolis of the Mozhaisk Luzhetsky Monastery.
To the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation
Avdeev Alexander Alekseevich
Director of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Makarov Nikolai Andreevich
The Mozhaisk Luzhetsky Monastery, which was founded in 1408 by the Monk Ferapont, a disciple of Sergius of Radonezh, became the burial place of the most noble and most titled persons, first of the Mozhaisk principality, then simply of the district. It was an honor to rest next to the Mozhaisk saint, but the territory of the monastery was too small, so only a select few were buried here.
Some information has been preserved in the “Moscow Necropolis”*. It was from there that I wrote down about two dozen names of Mozhaisk nobles buried on the territory of the Luzhetsky Monastery. Basically, these were representatives of the Savelov family, whose family crypt was located in the lower part of the monastery bell tower, in the so-called “bell tent”.
*"Moscow Necropolis" - a reference publication (vol. 1-3, St. Petersburg, 1907-08) about persons who lived in the XIV-XIX centuries. and buried in Moscow cemeteries. Compiled by bibliographer and literary historian V.I. Saitov and archivist B.L. Modzalevsky. For the “Moscow Necropolis,” a census of about 30 thousand tombstones was carried out in 1904–06 in 25 Moscow monasteries, in 13 city cemeteries, some graveyards in the suburbs of Moscow and in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Last names (in the general alphabet), first names, patronymics, dates of life and death, ranks, titles, and the name of the cemetery in which the person is buried are given.
In the 90s of the last century, thanks to the efforts of several abbots of the Luzhetsky Monastery, the surviving tombstones were placed throughout the monastery, giving the cemetery, although not its original, but still an appropriate appearance.
After the restoration of the monastery necropolis, a very important problem for the history of the city emerged - the deciphering of epitaphs in order to compile a list of people buried here. Judging by the appearance and decoration of the tombstones shown in the photograph, it can be assumed that all of them were made no earlier than the 18th century. But information about the nobles of this century would be useful for the development of local history.
Let me briefly say that the lists of nobles of the Mozhaisk district are known most fully only from the middle of the 19th century. All previous centuries in this regard are blank spots in our history. Therefore, inscriptions from tombstones could significantly supplement our information about the noble families living in the district. This would be an invaluable gift not only to local history, but also to the entire national history.
Temples and chapels of the monastery:
1. Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
2. Church of the Entry of the Blessed Virgin Mary into the Temple
3. Church of the Transfiguration (gateway)
4. Bell tower
5. Church of St. Feraponta (foundation)
6. Holy spring
Other buildings of the monastery:
7. Cell building (XVII-XIX centuries)
8. Monastery building
9. Monastery building
10. Abbot's corps (XIX century)
11. Necropolis
12. Entrance (eastern) gate (XVIII century)
13. Walls and towers of the fence (XVIII-XIX centuries)
14. Gate of the utility yard (XVIII-XXI centuries)
Some time after the restoration of the necropolis, another unexpected discovery was made.
In 1997, when clearing the foundations of the Ferapontov Temple (in old documents it is called the Church of St. John Climacus), a place of “spuda” was discovered, i.e. burial of the Monk Ferapont. On May 26, 1999, with the blessing of Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsky and Kolomna, the relics of the saint were opened and transferred to the restored temple of the gate church of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Then they were transferred to the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, where they are kept in a shrine.
The cleared foundation of the destroyed church immediately attracted the closest attention, since it was made up of nothing but gravestones! Moreover, such slabs, the antiquity of which was obvious even to a non-specialist. Some of them were so archaic that the inscriptions on them were not carved, but scratched into the stone.
The foundations are made up of several rows of slabs: approximately 6-8.
Judging by the ornament, this slab dates back to the 16th century.
This is a massive slab from the 18th century. Who was lying under her?
One of the most interesting slabs, lying in the top row. Is it really the 15th century?
What could be lurking even lower?
And although the foundations of the Ferapont church are not deep (no more than 1.2-1.5 m), taking into account the entire perimeter, one can expect that there are several hundred slabs lying here. Moreover, the slabs are not only from the 18th century, but also from older ones. It is possible that the beginning of the 15th century, i.e. the first decades of the monastery's existence. Deciphering such a number of tombstone inscriptions could enrich our entire history and, perhaps, allow us to make sensational discoveries.
An unusual combination of circumstances - first the construction of this church on a foundation of tombstones, and then the destruction of this church - provided domestic historical science with an unusual opportunity to study unique artifacts in large quantities.
To get an idea of how important it is to study such finds, I will give a short reference about Russian medieval tombstones.
Study of white stone medieval tombstones of Moscow Rus'.
Study of white stone tombstones in Moscow and Northeast Rus' XIII- XVII centuries has its own history.
Until the beginning of the twentieth century, their study was limited to the collection and publication of inscriptions. The first work in which an attempt was made to consider the medieval tombstone of Moscow Rus' as an independent type of artifact with its inherent typological features was the collection of tombstones of the Historical Museum, published in the “Reports” of the museum for 1906 and 1911.
In the post-revolutionary period, the study of tombstones for a long time remained the domain of archaeologists and epigraphic specialists. A new stage of research was the works of famous scientists in the field of epigraphy T.V. Nikolaeva and V.B. Girshberg, which appeared in the late 1950s and 60s.
The need and implementation of directed search tombstones, especially the early ones, dating back to the 13th - 15th centuries, and partly to the beginning of the 16th century, contributed to the active “accumulation” from the late 1960s to the early 1990s. a significant number of tombstones and a gradual awareness of the significance of their research for the history of Russian culture of the late Middle Ages.
In the last two decades, interest in tombstones has increased sharply due to the extremely wide spread of archaeological excavations and restoration of architectural monuments, primarily in Moscow and the Moscow region. Currently, entire complexes of tombstones from the 13th to 17th centuries have been identified, studied and cataloged. from the necropolises of such famous Moscow monasteries as the Danilov Monastery, the Epiphany Monastery, the Vysoko-Petrovsky Monastery and others.
Unfortunately, medieval tombstones are not a widespread source, despite the scale of the territory of the Moscow State. TO today The Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences has a collection of just over 1000 tombstones.
The main part of the tombstones belongs to the 16th - 17th centuries. (no less than 90%), for the 15th century only about 10 - 15 copies are reliably known, and from the 13th - 14th centuries. - a little more (about 25 copies). In particular, now a leading specialist in the field of studying medieval tombstones, L.A. Belyaev. indicates that a fairly significant and almost unpublished collection of tombstones from the 16th - 17th centuries. kept in provincial museums. These “reserves,” according to L.A. Belyaev, number 200–300 copies.
As for the beginning of the existence of white stone tombstones on Russian Christian necropolises, then, as Belyaev L.A. notes, they appeared in the form of gravestones in Rus', most likely in the 13th century. There is still no reliable evidence of the existence of plates in the pre-Mongol period.
In the XIII - XV centuries. white stone tombstones are gradually spreading in Moscow and the lands around it, as well as in the north and north-west of Rus' (in Rostov, Tver, Staritsa, Beloozero and other areas). Later, at the end of the 15th century and especially since mid-16th century century, local forms begin to be replaced by tombstones with typical Moscow ornamentation. Having spread widely in the second half of the 16th - 17th centuries. throughout Muscovite Rus', in the last third of the 17th century, Moscow slabs were actively influenced by Baroque forms and ornaments of Western European tombstones. Since the 17th century and later, the tombstone will be pushed to the periphery by the spread of architecturally or sculpturally decorated tombstones and will retain only a secondary, auxiliary role, losing elements of medieval ornamentation.
Is it necessary to talk about how unique the unexpectedly opened Mozhaisk necropolis turned out to be? This is simply a storehouse of historical knowledge about medieval Mozhaisk! Centuries of our history lie here, and every stone from these graves is priceless to us both culturally and historically.
But now the Mozhaisk necropolis is in danger, as the limestone slabs of the tombstones began to quickly collapse. Before that, they lay in the ground for several decades, where, albeit poorly, they were still protected from sunlight and temperature changes by a layer of crushed stone and humus. When the foundations were cleared and other tombstones were placed around the cemetery, they began to become covered with lichens that destroyed them and became accessible to both moisture and frost. To date, the condition of these fragile limestone slabs is very deplorable. Therefore, urgent measures for their conservation are necessary.
If conservation is impossible for technical and material reasons, then it is necessary to conduct a study and description of these slabs in order to preserve at least the epitaphs for future researchers. To do this, it is necessary to disassemble the foundation slabs, clean them of lichens, copy the inscriptions and photograph them. This way we will preserve a significant part of our history for future generations. All we need is a specialist in this field, who would be willingly helped by Mozhaisk local history enthusiasts.
In addition to the Ministry of Culture and the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, I also appeal to all caring people who value our history. Let's join our efforts and save priceless inscriptions from the Mozhaisk necropolis for posterity.
Vladimir Kukovenko
Russian State University named after. I. Kant
History department
Preserved architectural monuments Ancient Rus' XI - early XIII centuries.
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 ancient Russian architecture, give them a brief description.
When choosing architectural monuments for inclusion in the historical reference, 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 The cathedral indicates 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 a burial place 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 best preserved part is the eastern façade with apses, where fragments of ancient masonry were cleared away.
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 developed system vaults 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 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 - 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. XVIII 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 ruler of Novgorod, 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 added to the church from the north-western 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 some 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, using mixed masonry techniques. 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 on the old foundation, by order of Archbishop Euthymius, it was erected new church. 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.
The Church of Peter and Paul is the most ancient temple 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. Outside surface The vaults, dome and 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. The most advantageous place in the city’s landscape was chosen for the cathedral church, over which the five-domed bulk of the temple dominates. 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'. From different countries Western Europe Masters of various branches of art were invited 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 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 the outer 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. 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 lined with 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. A distinctive feature of this church is the 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 top part temple. Judging by these holes, the wooden beams were arranged in four tiers. The vaults of the temple were completely rebuilt in the 17th-18th centuries, but almost all the ancient arches that separated the vaults, including the girth ones, were 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. The ancient church on the market belongs to the 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, small in volume, are slightly lower than the zakomara. 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. (One 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 the 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 full picture about the architecture of Ancient Rus' of 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.
The images of the Russian church and culture became the image of Saints Boris and Gleb, lovers of humanity, non-resistance, who suffered for the unity of the country, who accepted torment for the sake of the people. These features and character traits The cultures of Ancient Rus' did not appear immediately. In their basic guises they developed over the centuries. But then, having already taken on more or less established forms, they retained their own for a long time and everywhere...
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 of easel painting - icons, which was 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, John Malala. In Rus', even before the 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...
Medieval world. 2. FORMATION IN Rus' OF A SPECIAL TYPE OF SPIRITUALITY AND ITS EMBODIMENT IN ARCHITECTURE, ICON PAINTING, LITERATURE, FOLKLORE, FOLK CRAFTS The influence of Orthodoxy on the development of the spiritual culture of Ancient Rus' is so great that to many researchers it seems to be the only source, basis and beginning of Russian spirituality. As a rule, this position is defended by the majority of church...
Monuments artistic culture Ancient Rus' is a collection of amazing architecture, which is distinguished by its special beauty, as well as amazing designs. It is worth noting that the cultural monuments of ancient Rus', which will be discussed in our article, are the most famous.
Yaroslavl masterpieces
Church of St. Nicholas Nadein in Yaroslavl
The church is considered the first stone church in Yaroslavsky Posad. It is worth noting that this amazing architectural structure after the Troubles. If we talk about the architecture and murals of the temple, they are mainly focused on the traditions of the 16th century.
The most beautiful Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral in Yaroslavl
It is important to know that the Transfiguration Cathedral is one of the oldest cathedrals not only in Yaroslavl, but throughout Russia. It is worth noting that this building was founded in pre-Mongol times, when Prince Konstantin Vsevolodovich ruled in Yaroslavl. If we talk about the history of formation architectural ensemble Transfiguration Cathedral from the Spassky Monastery, it gives historians and archaeologists many new discoveries. In addition, the following names are associated with the history of this cathedral: Metropolitan Macarius, the formidable Tsar Ivan IV, Dmitry Pozharsky and others.
Trinity Cathedral of Danilov Monastery
This cathedral in Pereslavl-Zalessky takes its rightful place among the most famous monuments ancient Russian architecture. These cultural monuments of ancient Rus' can easily be called unique. Special attention should be paid to the simple and monumental forms of the cathedral, which are designed in the styles of Central Russian architecture of the 16th century. Fresco painting can easily be called unique.
Church of St. John the Evangelist in the Kremlin
The presented church was erected in 1680 thanks to Metropolitan Jonah, who is an outstanding Russian church figure of the 17th century. It is worth noting that this particular building is the final stage in the formation of the world-famous Kremlin ensemble. If we talk about the interior of the presented church, the wall paintings here are perfectly preserved. The subjects of the painting include the hagiographic cycles of the famous apostles.
Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary of the Snetogorsk Monastery 
This cathedral was built in 1310. This building is distinguished by unique frescoes. In addition, the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary is one of the monuments of Pskov, which is almost perfectly preserved.
This structure was created thanks to Pskov artists, as well as architects. I would like to pay special attention to the plastic expressiveness of the architecture, which is rich in the iconographic program of painting, as well as the free manner of execution of the frescoes. The cathedral is considered the central monument of Russian artistic culture of the 14th century. That is why the protection of cultural heritage monuments must be carried out efficiently.
Church of the Nativity of Christ on the Red Field near Novgorod
This church was built from 1381 to 1382. The building is distinguished by well-preserved mural painting. During the period of rivalry between cities such as Moscow and Novgorod, an amazing Christmas fresco ensemble appeared here. Artists, as well as architects, embodied in this temple the modest appearance of the ideals of non-covetousness.
All of the above presented cultural monuments from the times of ancient Rus' are unique in their kind, since each of them has its own amazing history of construction. This topic is quite popular among many scientists who are interested in history and culture.
In the eleventh – twelfth centuries there was an upsurge in the development of the culture of the Kyiv state. Large cities that, due to reforms, acquired the status of European centers (Kyiv, Galich, Novgorod) become cultural centers.
Excavations carried out in these lands showed scientists that the people living at that time were, for the most part, literate (at least at a basic level). Conclusions were drawn about this based on surviving business receipts, petitions, orders on economic affairs and other documents.
In addition, it is known for certain that even before Christianity was adopted, Rus' knew writing. The first handwritten books preserved from that time are unique works of art. They were written, as a rule, on very expensive parchment, which was made from processed goat, calf or lamb skin, and they were decorated with excellent colored miniatures.
Most of the books that have come down to us, which relates to this period, has religious content(out of one hundred and thirty books, about eighty contain basic knowledge of Christian morality and doctrine). However, along with this, there was also religious literature to read.
“Physiologist” is perfectly preserved- a collection of short stories about legendary and real-life stones, trees and birds (at the end of each story there was a religious parable associated with a given creature or object). To the same time, researchers attribute such outstanding literary church monuments as the “Sermon on Law and Grace,” attributed to the pen of Metropolitan Hilarion, as well as the sermons of Cyril of Turov. There were also “apocrypha” (from the Greek word “hidden”) - stories that unconventionally interpret biblical stories. The most popular of them is considered to be “The Virgin’s Walk through the Torment.”
The “Teaching” of Vladimir Monomakh is also considered an outstanding literary monument, which is a teaching to princely children and contains teachings on how the offspring of warriors should behave in the world.
And finally, most A significant colossus of ancient Russian literature is “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”, the basis of which was the campaign undertaken by Igor Svyatoslavich against the Polovtsians. It is considered a huge loss that the only manuscript of this text burned in a fire in Moscow (1812).
MONUMENTS OF ANCIENT Rus'
Sofia Kyiv
With the adoption of Christianity in 988, which came to Ancient Rus' from Byzantium, the Slavic peoples also became familiar with 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 all 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, arched 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 them.
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 underbust 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 watching over 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 sense of the main thing: the architects of Kievan Rus were able to express in an original artistic form the understanding of the triumph of the state’s entry into the circle of peoples and civilizations, so clearly expressed in numerous monuments of that time, which became legendary.
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