Monuments of architecture of ancient Rus'. Literary monuments of ancient Rus' The main cultural monuments of ancient Rus'

Monuments of pre-Petrine Rus' Trinity-Sergius Lavra Trinity-Sergius Lavra was founded in the middle of the XIV century. two monk brothers - Stefan and Bartholomew. For a long time they were looking for a suitable place for the future monastery and, finally, they found a hill called "Makovets"

The first detailed historical information about the life of our ancestors, the Eastern Slavs, dates back to the 9th - 10th centuries. There is also more ancient evidence, but they are so vague that scientists are still arguing whether they are talking about the Slavs or about some other peoples. Of course, this does not mean that in the ninth century. our ancestors had no history. It's just that the natural and social conditions in which they lived did not contribute to the preservation of information. Slavic lands are mostly fertile and humid, forested plains. There is not a lot of stone here, but a lot of wood. So, for centuries, the main building material was wood. Stone buildings appeared in Rus' only with the adoption of Christianity, at the end of the 10th century. It is from this moment that the story of East Slavic architecture should begin. Of course, there is every reason to believe that even before the baptism, Slavic building masters erected magnificent structures, but wood is a very fragile material, and we have almost no information about the architecture of pre-Christian Rus'.

Reconstruction of St. Sophia of Kyiv

Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral in Chernihiv

Tithe church in Kyiv. 989-996 An attempt at reconstruction by Yu. S. Aseev

The first stone building known to us in Rus' was the so-called Church of the Tithes, built in 989-996 by order of Prince Vladimir the Holy in Kyiv. Unfortunately, it has not been preserved, and now we can only see the lines of its foundation and reconstructions made by scientists. The church was created by Byzantine builders and almost completely repeated the classical Byzantine cross-domed scheme.

The oldest Russian Christian church that has survived to this day is the famous Sophia of Kiev, built in 1037-1054 by order of Yaroslav the Wise. Byzantine churches also served as a model for it, but here peculiar national features are already manifested, the surrounding landscape is taken into account. Over the centuries that have passed since the reign of Yaroslav, Sofia has been rebuilt several times, and its original appearance has been changed. We will talk about it in more detail in an article specially dedicated to the architectural monuments of Ukraine. One of the oldest architectural monuments of Kievan Rus is also the Transfiguration Cathedral in Chernigov, built by Prince Mstislav Vladimirovich.

Spaso-Reobrazhensky Cathedral in Chernihiv

The next stage in the development of Russian architecture is no longer associated with Kiev, but with Novgorod, a large trading city on the northwestern border of the Slavic lands. Here, in 1045-1055, its own Sofia was built. The basics of its construction are similar to the Byzantine prototypes, but the appearance and general impression that the temple makes are far from these prototypes. The main volume of the building in its shape approaches the cube, but each of the five naves has its own rounded ceilings. The church is crowned with six domes, at first they had a helmet-shaped form, and then they were replaced by an onion-shaped one. The helmet-shaped dome is the oldest in ancient Russian architecture. Later, tented and onion-shaped domes arose. The massive walls of Sophia of Novgorod are devoid of any decorations and only in a few places are cut through with narrow windows. The temple is the epitome of austere and masculine beauty and is in amazing harmony with the northern landscape.

Apse of Spaso - Transfiguration Cathedral in Chernigov

Church of St. Nicholas on July near Novgorod. 1292r.

In the XII century. Republican form of government was established in Novgorod. This political event was reflected in the development architectural style. Instead of large monumental cathedrals, relatively small churches are being built. At this time, a type of one-domed church arose, which later became classical.

A typical example of such an architectural structure is the Church of the Savior - Nereditsa, built near Novgorod at the end of the 12th century. It is a simple cubic volume topped with a single dome on an octagonal drum. Such churches were built in Novgorod in the 14th century. The architecture of the neighboring Pskov Principality is very similar to Novgorod, although its monuments are more massive.

Sofia Novgorodskaya

Novgorod. Georgievsky Cathedral of the Yuryevsky Monastery

Pskov. Cathedral of the Ivanovsky Monastery. First half of the 12th century

All this time in Rus' they continue to build not only from stone, but also from wood. This is indicated at least by the fact that in the development of styles of stone architecture, a noticeable influence of wooden architecture is obvious. However, most of the wooden monuments that have survived to our time were built later, and they will be discussed separately.

After the fall of Kyiv in the XII century. stone construction was also actively developed in the Vladimir-Suzdal principality. During the reign of Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky, who made the city of Vladimir his capital, many remarkable monuments were erected in it. Vladimir cathedrals served as models for Italian masters, when in the 15th century. erected the cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin.

Church of the Intercession on the Nerl. Vladimir - Suzdal Principality

Church of Theodore Stratilates on a stream in Novgorod (1360-61)

The architecture of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality was not as severe as the northern Russian architecture. The facade here could be decorated with thin semi-columns connected by small arches, and complex ornaments. The most elegant temple of the style is considered to be the Dmitrievsky Cathedral in Vladimir. Among his decorations, we see stylized leaves, and even fantastic animals, griffins.

Moscow Kremlin and its famous cathedrals

Vladimir. Golden Gate

In the XV century. East Slavic lands are gradually gathering under the rule of the princes of Moscow. From a provincial fortress, Moscow turns into the capital of a huge state, and the prince begins to be called the king. As a result, there is a lot of construction going on here. It was at this time that the Kremlin was erected, the walls and towers of which are familiar to all of us from childhood through numerous drawings and photographs. At the same time, the famous cathedrals of the Kremlin were built. As already mentioned, the churches of Vladimir and Suzdal were their examples. However, the Moscow architecture of this period is not just similar to its predecessors. New motives were also introduced. Yes, it was during this period that they began to build bell towers, standing separately from the main church building. In the first half of the XVI century. stone churches with a hipped roof, that is, crowned with a dome, which has the shape of an elongated pyramid, gained popularity. So far, this coverage has been limited to wooden architecture or secular construction. The first stone tent church was the Church of the Ascension in the village of Kolomenskoye near Moscow, it was erected by Tsar Vasily III in honor of the birth of his son, the future Tsar Ivan the Terrible. Now this monument is located in the city.

Demetrius Cathedral in Vladimir

Moscow. Belfry of Ivan the Great. 1505-1508

Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin

1475-1479rr. Architect Aristotle Fioravanti

A special place among the architectural monuments of Muscovite Rus is occupied by the Pokrovsky Cathedral, built in the 16th century, but already during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, better known as St. Basil's Cathedral. It is located on Red Square in Moscow, and everyone has seen at least its images. The cathedral consists of nine pillars that rise from the basement, surrounded by a single gallery. Each of them has a coating that is not like the others. Above the central pillar there is a hip roof, the others are crowned with onion-shaped domes. Each of the domes has a unique shape and is painted in its own way. The bright temple gives the impression of a painted, patterned toy, but at the same time it seems majestic. After all, St. Basil's Cathedral was erected in honor of the great military victory of the Muscovite state - the capture of the capital of the Kazan Khanate.

Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin. 1475-79 Plan and analysis of proportions

Cathedral of the Annunciation in the Moscow Kremlin. 1484-1489

Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye

During the 16th century The Muscovite state waged a constant armed struggle with the neighboring Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In addition, the Swedes threatened her from the north, and the Crimean Tatars from the south. Therefore, many fortifications were erected during this period. Often the role of military fortresses was assumed by monasteries located in strategically important regions of the country. These monasteries - fortresses include the Trinity Monastery near Moscow,

St. Basil's Cathedral

Kirillo - Belozersky Monastery in Vologda region, Solovetsky Monastery on the White Sea.

Moscow. Trinity Church in Nikitniki (1631-1634) General view and plan

The 17th century is the time of the economic and political decline of the Muscovite state. It is torn to pieces by internal wars, in which external enemies willingly participate. Therefore, large construction is currently not underway. But small buildings are being erected, the modest size of which is compensated by a large number of decorations. For their decoration, a special figured brick is made, from which decorative details are laid out. Small protruding parts are painted white, and they stand out brightly against the background of red brick. The structure is surrounded on all sides by small pediments, piled on top of each other. Ornament covers the walls so thickly that the style is often referred to as "patterned". Such monuments include the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin in Putinki and the Church of the Trinity in Ostankino. In the second half of the XVII century. Moscow Patriarch Nikon issued a decree on the fight against too worldly decoration of churches. In this decree, among other things, the hipped roofing of religious buildings was prohibited, as borrowed from secular architecture. According to the patriarch, Orthodox churches were to be crowned with traditional onion-shaped domes. After the order, hipped temples disappear in the capital, but they continue to be built in provincial cities and especially in villages. In the second half of the XVII century. there is a partial return from "patterned" to a more strict Old Russian style. An example of such architecture can be the ensemble of the Kremlin in Rostov the Great.

Yaroslavl. Ensemble in Korovniki

Yaroslavl. Church of St. John Chrysostom in Korovniki. Plan

Tiled panel around the middle altar window (late 17th century)

But the artificially introduced severity this time did not last long in the architecture of the Muscovite state. A new impetus for the development of an elegant bright style was the accession of Ukraine, where Western European baroque was already widespread and an original national version of this style was born. Baroque came to the Russians through Ukraine.

Cathedral on the territory of the Rostov Kremlin

Finally, the hands came to show in detail the amazing artifacts found in 1999-2000 during the clearing of the territory of the Luzhetsky Ferapontov Monastery in Mozhaisk (Moscow region). Information has already flashed on the net, in particular, A. Fomenko and G. Nosovsky wrote about this in some detail.

Eat interesting job L.A. Belyaev "White-stone tombstone of the Ferapontov Monastery" describing the first artifact of this kind found in 1982. However, extensive photographic materials, and even more detailed analysis I haven't seen any artifacts yet.
I'm trying to fill the gap.

Let's talk about these stones.

Thanks to the impressive photo session made by my brother Andrei, there is an opportunity to consider all this in more detail and in detail. I already wrote somewhere that I am gradually curtailing my own historical research, focusing exclusively on writing and language, but perhaps the publication will stir up the inquisitive minds of other researchers and we will finally be able to at least partially understand what Russia was like before the Schism, before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon, and according to some versions, before the present, actual baptism of Rus' in the 17th century and not in the mythical 10th.
This topic is especially dear to me because it is about my small homeland. On the ruins of this monastery, as boys, we played war and told each other legends about black monks, underground passages and treasures, which, of course, are hidden in this land and walled up in these walls. :)
Actually, we were not far from the truth, this land really kept treasures, but of a completely different kind. Right under our feet was History, which they probably wanted to hide, or maybe they destroyed due to thoughtlessness or lack of resources. Who knows.
What can we say for sure - we have fragments in front of us (literally :)) real history Rus' 16-17 (and according to Belyaev even 14-17) centuries are genuine artifacts of the past.

So let's go.

Historical reference.

Mozhaysky Luzhetsky Nativity of the Theotokos Ferapontov Monastery- located in the city of Mozhaisk, has existed since the 15th century. The only one (except for the temple complex on the site of the former Yakiman Monastery) of the 18 medieval monasteries of Mozhaisk that has survived to this day.

The monastery was founded by St. Ferapont Belozersky, a student of Sergius of Radonezh at the request of Prince Andrei Mozhaisk. This happened in 1408 after 11 years from the foundation of the Belozersky Ferapontov Monastery by him. Dedication of the Luzhetsky Monastery to Christmas Holy Mother of God connected with the decision of Ferapont himself. Apparently the Nativity of the Virgin was close to his soul, since the Belozersky Monastery was also dedicated to Christmas. In addition, this holiday was especially honored by Prince Andrei. It was on this holiday in 1380 that his father, the Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Ioanovich, fought on the Kulikovo field. According to legend, in memory of that battle, his mother, Grand Duchess Evdokia, built the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin in the Moscow Kremlin.

The first stone cathedral in honor of the Nativity of the Virgin stood in the Luzhetsky Monastery until the beginning of the 16th century, after which it was dismantled, and in its place, in -1547, a new, five-domed one was built, which has survived to this day.

The first archimandrite of the Luzhetsky monastery, the Monk Ferapont, having lived for ninety-five years, died in 1426 and was buried near the northern wall of the cathedral. In 1547 he was canonized in the Russian Orthodox Church. Later, a temple was built over his burial.

The Luzhetsky monastery existed until 1929, when, according to the protocol of the Moscow Regional Executive Committee and the Moscow Council of November 11, it was closed. The monastery survived the opening of the relics of the founder, ruin, destruction and desolation (it was ownerless back in the mid-1980s). In the pre-war period, the monastery housed a fittings factory and a workshop for a medical equipment factory. At the monastery necropolis there were factory garages with viewing pits, storage rooms. Communal apartments were arranged in fraternal cells, and the buildings were transferred to the canteen and club of the military unit.
Wiki

“Later, a temple was built over his burial…”

This short phrase from the wiki and anticipates our entire story.
The temple of St. Ferapont was erected in the second half of the 17th century, i.e. after Nikon's reforms.
Everything would be fine, but its construction was accompanied by a large-scale collection and laying of tombstones from the surrounding cemeteries into the foundation of the temple. This practice is incomprehensible to our mind, but in fact it was quite common in the old days and is explained by saving a scarce stone. Gravestones were not only laid in the foundations of buildings and walls, but they even paved monastic paths with them. I can't find the link right now, but you can search online. Such facts do exist.

We are actually interested in the slabs themselves, although their appearance makes us wonder if it was only to save resources that they were hidden so deeply.

But first, let's orient ourselves on the ground :).
This is actually what is now left of the church of St. Ferapont. This is the same foundation that the workers stumbled upon when clearing the territory of the monastery in 1999. The cross is installed at the place where the relics of the saint were found.
The entire foundation is made of tombstones!
There is no ordinary stone there at all.

Along the way, for supporters of the theory of catastrophes, well, the one when everything fell asleep :)
Part of the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (first half of the 16th century), where the red brick is visible, was completely underground. Moreover, in this state, he underwent late reconstruction, as evidenced by the position of the gate. The staircase of the main entrance to the cathedral is a remake, restored from the excavated fragments of the original.

The height of the masonry of the cathedral freed from the ground is about two meters.

Here is another view of the foundation.

And here are the plates themselves.

Most of the artifacts are decorated according to a single principle and contain a patterned border, a forked cross (at least that's what it is commonly called in the scientific literature) in the lower part of the slab, and a rosette in the upper part. In the branching node of the cross and in the center of the rosette there is a round extension with a solar symbol or a cross. It is noteworthy that the solar symbols of the cross and the rosette are always the same on the same slab but different on different slabs. We will touch on these symbols, but for now, just their types are large.

Branches of the cross

Sockets

borders

Plates are quite thin, 10 centimeters, are medium, about 20 centimeters and quite thick up to half a meter. Slabs of medium thickness often have side borders like this:

"... there are inscriptions in Russian" (c) VSV

It is somehow hard to believe that the above photographs refer to Rus', and even Christian Rus'. We see absolutely no signs of the traditions to which we are accustomed. But according to official history Rus' at that time had already been baptized for six centuries.
Bewilderment is legitimate, but there are artifacts that baffle even more.
Some slabs contain inscriptions, mostly in Cyrillic vyzyu, sometimes of a very high level of execution.

Here are some examples.

“Summer 7177 December on the 7th day, the servant of God, the monk monk Savatey [F]edorov son of Poznyakov, reposed”
The inscription leaves no doubt that a Christian monk is buried.
As you can see, the inscription was made by a skilled carver (the ligature is very good) on the side of the stone. The front side remained free from inscriptions. Savatei reposed in 1669 AD.

And here's another. This is a favorite masterpiece. It was this stove that turned my life around :), it was from it that I actually “fell ill” with Russian script as a unique way of writing, a few years ago.

“Summer 7159 of January, on the 5th day, the servant of God Tatiyana Danilovna reposed in a foreign shop, the schemataist Taiseya”
Those. Taisia ​​reposed in 1651 AD.
The upper part of the slab is completely lost, so there is no way to know how it looked.

Or here is an example where the side with the inscription is laid in the junction of blocks. It is impossible to read it without destroying the masonry, but it is clear that a great master worked there too.

Already from these three pictures there are questions.
1. Doesn't it seem strange to you to have such rich tombstones of monks? Shemniks are, of course, honored in Orthodoxy, but is it enough to have such last honors?
2. The dates of the burial cast doubt on the version that allegedly only old tombstones were used in the construction work (there is such a point of view). The above slabs went into the foundation very young, which, by the way, is evidenced by their safety. Like yesterday cut. It's up to you, but it's very strange how it treats fresh graves, and even the holy brethren.
I can carefully assume that ... they were not brothers to the Nikonian reenactors, but, as it were, people of a different faith. And you can not stand on ceremony with the deceased Gentiles, then the living were not very well taken care of.

A few more plates with inscriptions different quality performance before we complete this part of the material.

As can be seen from the latest examples, the practice of engraving an epitaph on a patterned horizontal surface of a slab did also take place. Apparently, in this case, the inscription was made in the field between the forked cross and the upper rosette.
Here it is clearly visible. Both the border and the rosette and the cross and the inscription coexist quite organically.

So what do we have?
At the end of the 17th century, after the completion of the reform of Patriarch Nikon, a temple of St. Ferapont was erected on the territory of the Luzhetsky Monastery. At the same time, tombstones that were present at that time in the district are placed at the base of the foundation of the temple. Those. slabs of different ages are preserved in the foundation for three hundred years. For three hundred years, the pre-Nikonian canon of the Orthodox tombstone is conserved. What we can see now, in fact, is the state of quality, wear, and indirectly the age of artifacts at the time they were laid in the foundation.
It is obvious that the less worn plates correspond to the time of creation approximately 1650-1670. The samples presented in this part just correspond basically to this time.
But! There are older slabs in the foundation and they also have inscriptions.
But more on that in the next part.

Russian State University I. Kant

History department

Surviving architectural monuments of Ancient Rus' XI - early XIII centuries.

Historical reference,

completed by a student I course

majoring in history

Dolotova Anastasia.

Kaliningrad

Introduction

The purpose of this work is to consider the preserved monuments of ancient Russian architecture, to give them a brief description.

When selecting architectural monuments for inclusion in historical reference the main criterion was the degree of preservation of the building, because. many of them have either come down to us heavily altered and have not retained their original appearance, or have retained only some of their fragments.

The main tasks of the work:

To identify the number of surviving architectural monuments of Ancient Rus' of the XI - early XIII centuries;

Give a description of their special and specific architectural features;

Assess the historical fate of the monuments.

Sophia Cathedral (Kyiv)

Creation time: 1017-1037

The temple is dedicated to Sophia - "The Wisdom of God". It belongs to the works of Byzantine-Kyiv architecture. Hagia Sophia is the main religious building of Kievan Rus during the time of Yaroslav the Wise. The construction technique and architectural features of the cathedral testify that its builders were Greeks who came from Constantinople. They built the temple according to the patterns and traditions of the capital's Byzantine architecture, although with some deviations. The temple was built using the technique of mixed masonry: rows of square bricks (plinths) alternate with rows of stones, and then covered with limestone coating - plaster. The interior of St. 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 are also made by Byzantine masters. On the walls of the cathedral were found scratched inscriptions - graffiti. About three hundred graffiti testify to the 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 Kievan princes. Here are buried Yaroslav the Wise, his son Vsevolod, as well as the sons of the latter - Rostislav Vsevolodovich and Vladimir Monomakh. The question of why members of the same family were buried in different churches - in Sofia and in Tithes - did not receive a convincing answer from historians. Sophia Cathedral was assigned the role of the main temple of Kievan Rus and the stronghold of the new, Christian faith. For several centuries, St. Sophia of Kiev was the center of all-Russian ecclesia, the center of the political and cultural life of the country. Sophia was originally crowned with thirteen domes, forming a pyramidal structure. Now the temple has 19 chapters. In ancient times, the roof consisted of lead sheets laid on vaults. At the corners, the temple is fortified with buttresses - vertical supports on the outside of the wall, which take on its weight. The facades of the cathedral are characterized by an abundance of blades, which correspond to the internal articulation of space by supporting pillars. The outer walls of galleries and apses are decorated with numerous niches. From the western side, according to the Byzantine tradition, two stair towers adjoin the temple, leading to the choirs and a flat roof - a grove. During the service, the choirs were intended for the Grand Duke, his family and those close to him. 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 in a separate room there was also a scriptorium - a workshop for copying books. The inner space of the cathedral was an equilateral cross, with an altar apse in the east; from the north, south and west were two-tiered arcades. 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 issue 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-tiered arcade. The church has undergone many changes over the centuries. During the defeat of Kyiv by Batu in 1240, it was plundered. Subsequently, the temple burned repeatedly, gradually fell into disrepair, was subjected to "repairs" and alterations. In the 17th century, Sofia was “renovated” by Metropolitan Petro Mohyla in the Ukrainian Baroque style, and its appearance became very far from the original. The eastern façade with apses survived best of all, where fragments of ancient masonry were cleared.

Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral (Chernihiv)

Time of creation: about 1036

Mstislav Vladimirovich founded the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior 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-aisled church with eight pillars and three apses. The western pair of pillars is connected by a wall, which led to the allocation of the porch (narthex). The height of the walls reached about 4.5 m. The facades of the building were 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. On the facades, the temple is dissected by flat blades. The middle zakomaras, in which there are 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. Here, the elongation of the building is clearly accentuated, which is combined with internal two-tier arcades extending into the under-dome space. Along them originally there were wooden floorings of the northern and southern choirs, reinforcing the horizontal articulation of the interior. The floor of the temple was covered with carved slate slabs inlaid with colored smalt.

Saint 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 referred to 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 plan in the form of a square was divided into five naves, covered by a developed system of vaults. The allocation of three middle naves created the illusion of elongation of the inner part of the cathedral and brought it closer to the basilica buildings. The device of three apses, faceted on the outside, so typical for wooden churches, is one of the features of the Polotsk Cathedral. St. Sophia Cathedral is the first and still timid example of a building in which features characteristic of the art of the Polotsk land are manifested, where mainly in the XII century. Numerous buildings appear with an original interpretation of the cross-domed system.

Sophia Cathedral (Novgorod)

Time of creation: 1045-1050

The temple was built at the behest of the Novgorod prince Vladimir Yaroslavich. It is a huge five-nave temple dissected by pillars, to which open galleries adjoined on three sides. The cathedral has five chapters. The sixth dome above the round staircase introduced a picturesque asymmetry into the composition. The large protrusions of the blades reinforce the walls of the building vertically and delimit the facades in full accordance with the internal articulations. The masonry mainly consisted of huge, roughly hewn stones that did not have the correct square shape. The lime mortar, pinkish from the admixture of finely crushed brick, fills the recesses along the contours of the stones and emphasizes them. irregular shape. Brick is used in small quantities, so there is no impression of "striped" masonry from regularly alternating rows of plinths. The walls of the Novgorod Sophia were originally not plastered. Such open masonry gave the facades of the building a peculiar severe beauty. In the first centuries of its existence, the temple was higher than today: the original level of the floor 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 there are no expensive materials: marble and slate. 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 intercessor - the Archangel Michael. Thanks to his support, the monastery cathedral was built. In the 11th century, St. Michael's Cathedral was a large (25 x 15.5 m) six-pillar church with unusually elongated rectangular proportions. The craftsmen who worked at that time in Kyiv were laying mostly bricks with rows of large unworked stones. The stones were at different distances from each other, the larger ones were used in the middle parts of the walls, laying them as backfill along with bricks (mostly broken). The brickwork itself was with a hidden row. With such masonry, not all rows of bricks are brought out to the facade, but through a row, while the intermediate ones are slightly pushed back and covered from the outside with a layer of mortar - opium. 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, roughing, and then more thorough. The result was an extremely picturesque striped surface structure. This masonry system also gave ample opportunities for the execution of decorative calculations and patterns. Initially, the church ended, apparently, with one chapter. From the west there was a wide narthex and a spiral staircase leading to the choir stalls. The walls of the cathedral were painted with frescoes, and the floor was tiled - slate and glazed clay. In 1199, the architect Peter Miloneg erected a huge retaining wall to protect the church from the river bank being washed away by the waters of the Dnieper. For its time, it was a bold engineering decision. But by the 16th century, the river washed away the wall as well - the bank collapsed, and with it East End cathedral. The surviving western part of the church has survived to this day in the restoration of 1767-1769. Mikhailovsky Cathedral became the princely tomb of the family of Vsevolod Yaroslavovich.

Assumption Cathedral of the Kiev Caves 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 temple. In this monument, the desire to create simple volumes and laconicism in the interior prevailed. True, the narthex is still preserved, but not a spiral staircase in a specially attached tower leads to the choir stalls, but a straight staircase in the thickness of the western wall. The temple ended with zakomaras, the bases of which were located at the same height and crowned with one massive dome. The construction technique has also changed: instead of masonry with a hidden row, they began to use equal-layer plinths with all rows of plinths reaching the outer surface of the wall. According to written sources, one can conclude that there is one exceptional feature of the Assumption Cathedral: the overall dimensions of the temple were predetermined and the builders were forced to perform complex work on calculating the dimensions of the dome. Its diameter had to be increased to maintain the proportions of the entire structure. From 1082 to 1089, Greek masters painted the temple with frescoes and decorated with mosaics. Together with them, according to church legend, ancient Russian icon painters - the famous Alipiy and Gregory - worked.

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 the German troops occupying Kyiv. By 2000, the building was rebuilt in baroque forms of the 18th century.

Nikolo-Dvorishchensky 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 lord, but to the prince. Nikolo-Dvorishchensky Cathedral occupies the main place in architectural ensemble Novgorod Torg, where nine more churches are located. The St. Nicholas Church is a large front building (23.65 x 15.35 m) with five domes and high apses, which is a clear imitation of Sophia in the city Kremlin. The facades of the church are simple and austere: they are dissected by flat blades and completed with artless zakomaras. In terms of its layout, the temple is close to such a Kyiv monument as the Cathedral of the Pechersk Monastery: six cross-shaped pillars divide the interior 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 stalls for the princely family and the palace surroundings. Soon after the construction, the Nikolo-Dvorishchensky 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 fester on the southwestern wall. Stylistically, they are close to the Kyiv mural of the early XII century.

Nativity Cathedral of the Antoniev Monastery (Novgorod)

Time of creation: 1117

In 1117, a stone cathedral was erected in the monastery in honor of the Nativity of the Virgin. Stone craftsmen erected buildings from local cheap, roughly processed stone, bonding it with limestone mortar mixed with crushed bricks. The irregularities of the walls were leveled with brick layers of plinths. Structurally, the most important parts of the temple (vaults, girder arches, arched lintels) were laid out mainly from plinths using the laying technique with a hidden row. From the northwest corner, a cylindrical stair tower protruding from the total cubic volume was attached to the church, leading to the choirs, later hewn. The tower is crowned by a head. The cathedral has three chapters in total. The original appearance of the Nativity Cathedral differed from its modern appearance. On three sides, low porch galleries were attached to the ancient church. Inside the cathedral, mainly in the altar part, 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, raised choirs and the overall overestimated volume of the building.

St. George's Cathedral of St. George's Monastery (Novgorod)

Time of creation: 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 led by a stair tower. The forms of the temple are simple and uncomplicated, but it looks very impressive. The cathedral bears three asymmetrically arranged domes. 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 a solution of tarp made of barely hewn stones, which alternate with rows of bricks. The accuracy of the rows is not maintained: in some places the bricks fill the 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 actually devoid of decor, except for laconic flat niches. On the central drum they are inscribed in the arcature belt. The interior of the cathedral impresses with its grandeur and solemn aspiration of the temple space upwards. Cross pillars, arches and vaults are so high and slender that they are not perceived as load-bearing supports and ceilings.

Shortly after construction, the temple was richly painted with frescoes that 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-pillared, three-apse church with one dome. New tendencies of Novgorod temple building appeared in the design of the temple: reduction in the scale of construction and simplification of architectural forms. However, the Church of St. John still retains the traditions of grand 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 climbed 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 a mixed masonry technique. The Church of John the Baptist in its upper part evokes associations with wooden architecture: it has a plucked (gable) form of zakomar. The upper part of the church was dismantled in 1453, and a new church was erected on the old foundation by order of Archbishop Evfimy. On the ancient temple there is a reflection of the historical struggle of the Novgorodians with princely power. Six years after the consecration of the church, in 1136, a massive popular uprising broke out, which led to the establishment of a feudal republic. The prince of Novgorod, church warden Vsevolod Mstislavich, was captured. The veche decided to send Vsevolod and his family out of the city. Prince Vsevolod was forced to transfer the church of St. John the Baptist on Opoki to wax merchants. Ioannovsky parish was made up of the richest merchants - eminent people. All-Novgorod standards of measures were kept in the church: “Ivanov’s elbow” for measuring the length of cloth, “ruble hryvnia” for precious metals, waxed skalva (scales) and so on.

Peter and Paul Church (Smolensk)

Creation time: 1140-1150

The Church of Peter and Paul is the oldest church that has survived in Smolensk. Apparently, it was erected by the princely artel. The original forms of the building were restored by P. D. Baranovsky. The church is an example of a cross-domed one-domed four-pillar building. Smolensk masters built from bricks. According to its external forms and proportions, the temple is static, austere and monumental. But thanks to the “flexible”, workable brick, the plastic of the princely church is complex and refined. The shoulder blades are turned into semi-columns (pilasters), which end with two rows of curbs and overhanging cornices. From the same double rows of the curb, belts were made at the base (heels) of the zakomar, below which an arcade was laid out. On the western façade, the wide corner vanes are decorated with a runner 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 dodecahedral.

Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral (Pereslavl-Zalessky)

Creation time: 1152-1157

Prince Yuri Dolgoruky founded the Transfiguration Cathedral in the city of Pereslavl-Zalessky founded by him. The upper part of the temple was completed by his son Andrei Bogolyubsky. The width of the temple is greater than its height. It is an almost square three-apse temple with four cross-pillars that hold vaults and a single dome. The side apses were not covered by an altar barrier, but freely opened to the eyes of the worshipers. Its forms are concise and strict. The massive drum and head give the building a military look. The narrow slit-like windows of the drum are associated with fortress loopholes. Its walls, divided by shoulder blades into strands, are completed with zakomaras, the central ones of which are larger than the side ones. The building is characterized by a very clear breakdown of the plan.

The temple is composed 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 unhewn stone blocks. On 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 is a crenate stripe, above is a runner, even higher is an ornamented half-shaft. A distinctive feature of the Church of the Savior 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 the cathedral temple, the most advantageous place in the landscape of the city was chosen, 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 European masters of various branches of art were invited to paint the temple. In 1185, the temple was damaged by a severe and destructive fire, in which almost half of 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 turned out to be 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 zakomar. The walls of the temple were cut through with arched spans and turned into internal pillars of the new cathedral of Grand Duke Vsevolod III. Fragments of frescoes by unknown masters of the 12th century have been preserved. Assumption Cathedral served as a princely necropolis. The great princes of Vladimir are buried here: Andrei Bogolyubsky, his brother Vsevolod III the Big Nest, father of Alexander Nevsky Yaroslav and others. The cathedral, together with the St. George's chapel, is the main operating temple of the Vladimir-Suzdal Diocese.

Assumption Cathedral (Vladimir-Volynsky)

Time of creation: 1160

The cathedral was built by order of Prince Mstislav Izyaslavich, but not in a citadel, but in a roundabout city. For the construction of 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 brick-forming technique. They are of very high quality: good firing and great strength. The church was built in the technique of equal-layer masonry. The thickness of the mortar joints is approximately equal to the thickness of the bricks. In the walls there are channels from rotten wooden ties. Assumption Cathedral - 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 masses of the building, it did not have any extensions and even a tower leading to the choirs. They, obviously, fell on a wooden passage from the princely palace. Powerful semi-columns on the facades correspond to the internal articulation of the space with supporting pillars, and the walls are completed by arches-zakomaras corresponding to semicircular vaults. The temple in Vladimir was built in the image and likeness of the cathedrals in Kiev. The cathedral was repeatedly damaged, it was robbed more than once. In the 18th century, during perestroika, it was greatly distorted. The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Mother of God in Vladimir-Volynsky is the largest temple of this type among all the monuments of the XII century.

John the Evangelist Church (Smolensk)

Creation time: 1160-1180

The temple was erected by the cares of Prince Roman Rostislavovich. It was located in the princely residence. Built, like many other churches in Smolensk, of brick, the church, in terms of its technical and design features, is in many ways close to the Peter and Paul Church. In the architectural composition of the monument, the arrangement of external aisles-tombs along its eastern corners is of interest. Two types of golosniks were used in the masonry of the upper parts of the building: imported amphoras and narrow-necked pots of local production. At the corners of the temple outside there are wide flat blades, and the intermediate pilasters were in the form of powerful semi-columns. The portals and embrasures of the windows have a two-stage 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, with an admixture of opium. The foundation is made of cobblestones and has a depth of more than 1.2 m. The church is a four-pillared 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 has undergone numerous restructurings and has come down to our time in a greatly altered form.

Golden Gate (Vladimir)

Time of creation: 1164

The date of laying the gates of Vladimir is unknown, but construction began no earlier than 1158, when Andrei Bogolyubsky began to build the city's defense line. The end of the construction of the gate can be accurately dated to 1164. The gates are made of beautifully hewn limestone squares. However, in some places, roughly processed porous tuff is used. In the masonry, holes from the fingers of scaffolding were left unfilled. The original height of the passage arch reached 15 m; the ground level is now almost 1.5 m higher than the original. The width of the arch is accurately measured by 20 Greek feet (about 5 m), which suggests that the monument was erected by builders from Byzantium.

St. George's Church (Staraya Ladoga)

Time of creation: 1165

The Church of George was probably built in honor of the victory in 1164 of the Ladoga and the Novgorod squad over the Swedes by Prince Svyatoslav or the posadnik Zachary. 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 zakomara. The cubic volume of the building is dissected by simple and massive blades. A light drum with a helmet-shaped dome crowns the total mass of the church. Its height is 15 meters. Instead of the choirs, a wooden flooring was made, connecting the two aisles in the corner parts of the second tier. The facades with semicircles of the zakomar are dissected by shoulder blades. The decor on the facades of the temple was extremely sparse and was limited to a jagged cornice along the contour of the zakomar (the cornice was not restored during restoration) and a flat arcade along the top of the drum. The foundation of the Old Ladoga monument consists of boulders and goes 0.8 deep meters. 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. Masonry mortar - lime with opium. The frescoes of the drum, the dome, the southern apse and individual fragments in other places have survived to this day. In the old Ladoga church, we see a complete correspondence between the external appearance and the interior of the building. Its overall design is clearly and clearly visible.

Elias Church (Chernihiv)

Time of creation: about 1170

According to church tradition, the foundation of the monastery in the name of Elijah is associated with Anthony of the Caves, the first abbot of the Kiev Caves Monastery. In 1069, he intervened in the Kyiv dynastic feuds between the princes and fled from the wrath of Izyaslav Yaroslavich to Chernigov. Here, having settled on the Boldino Mountains, Anthony "dug a cave", which was 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. Elias Church is located on a small area under the slope of the mountain and is connected by an underground passage with the cave Eliinsky Monastery. The northern wall was cut into the slope of the mountain, that is, it was, as it were, a retaining wall and, in the lower part, was laid close to the ground. Above ground level, its masonry is made, like the masonry of the rest of the walls, with careful jointing and one-sided trimming 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, a separated porch (narthex) adjoins it from the west. Initially, the church had one dome, and the girth arches on which the drum rests were cut into the thickness of the walls. In terms of plan, the Ilyinsky Church is not very large in size (4.8 x 5 m) with one semicircular apse, a narrow narthex and a shallow Babin. Elias Church is the only surviving single-nave building belonging to the Chernihiv school of architecture from the era of political fragmentation.

Boris and Gleb Church (Grodno)

Time of creation: 1170s.

The church in the name of the ancient Russian holy martyrs Boris and Gleb was erected over the Neman. The names of the saints coincide with the names of the Grodno specific princes Boris and Gleb. Apparently, either they themselves or their father, Vsevolod, could have initiated the construction of the temple. Monumental construction in Grodno was carried out by craftsmen who arrived from Volyn. The cathedral is about 21.5 meters long and 13.5 meters wide. The thickness of the walls is not less than 1.2 meters. The temple was built of bricks using the technique of cement masonry. A paving brick was used. The composition of the cement was special: it included lime, coarse sand, coal and broken bricks. The masonry of the walls is equal-layered - all rows of bricks exactly face the facade, and the seams are approximately equal to the thickness of the brick. In the interior of the church, the patterned flooring of ceramic tiles and polished stones is of particular value. The walls built from plinth are decorated with complex ornaments of multi-colored granite stones, colored majolica tiles and even greenish glazed dishes and bowls. For a special acoustic effect, so-called “voices” are embedded in the walls - clay vessels like jugs. Polished stones of various shades are inserted into the wall. They are larger at the bottom of the wall and smaller at the top. Grodno Church - six-pillar and three-apse. The pillars of the temple are round at the base, and at a great height they acquire a cross-shaped shape.

Church of the Annunciation in Arkazhi (Novgorod)

Time of creation: 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 icon of Our Lady of the Sign. The temple is square in plan with three apses on the east side and four rectangular pillars that supported a single dome. In the three-dimensional structure of the Annunciation Church, the trend of Novgorod architecture of the last quarter of the 12th century towards simplified architectonics, reduction of internal space and economy of building material is noticeable. The temple is cross-domed with one dome of light, which is supported by pillars of rectangular section. The eastern, altar side consists of three apses. Initially, the building had a pozakomarny completion. The Arkazhskaya church was built of limestone slabs fastened with opulence, and the most important places were made of bricks: vaults, a drum, a dome. In the left aisle, an ancient font for performing the sacrament of baptism has been preserved (similar in structure to the “Jordan”). In the stone floor was laid out a round reservoir, with a diameter of about 4 meters, designed, obviously, for adults. In 1189 the temple was painted.

Michael the Archangel Svirskaya Church (Smolensk)

Creation time: 1180-1197

The majestic church in the name of Mikhail 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 floodplain of the Dnieper. At the end of the 12th century, Smolensk masters developed the compositional schemes of brick construction characteristic of their time. The extremely high height of the main volume is emphasized by the massive vestibules subordinated to it and the central apse. The dynamics of the building is enhanced by complexly profiled beam pilasters. Distinctive feature of this church - rectangular side apses. Massive narthexes are also unusual. In the church of the Archangel Michael, square holes were found in the masonry of the walls and pillars - the exit points of the once existing wooden ties that strengthened the upper part of the 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 girth ones, have been preserved. The pedestal under the drum survived, as did a significant part of the drum itself. The Church of Michael the Archangel is unusual in its general architectural design, proportions, forms, which gives it an exceptional originality. The centric stepped composition of the temple became widespread in other local schools of architecture of Ancient Rus'. The Svir church echoes the Pyatnitsky churches in Chernigov and Novgorod.

Dmitrovsky Cathedral (Vladimir)

Time of creation: 1194-1197

Cross pillars are eaten to the height of the walls and hold the massive dome of the cathedral. Flat blades correspond to the pillars on the inner walls. On the western side are the choirs.

The temple was built by Grand Duke Vsevolod the Big Nest. The one-domed and four-pillar three-apse temple was originally surrounded by low covered galleries, and at the western corners it had stair towers with shoots to the choir stalls. The sculpture abundantly covers the entire upper tier of the cathedral and the drum of the dome, as well as the archivolts of the portals. In the arched frieze of the southern facade there were figures of Russian princes, including those of Vladimir. The sculpture of the upper tier of the southern facade also glorifies the wise and strong ruler. The predominance of images of a lion and a griffin in sculpture indicates the further development of grand ducal emblems. However, the strengthening of the symbolism and cosmology of the whole idea led to a decrease in the relief. In the central zakomaras there is a figure of a royal singer playing the psalter. The carving of the figure, especially the head, is distinguished by its great height and roundness of the relief. To the right of David, on the southern facade, is depicted "The Ascension of Alexander the Great to Heaven." On the left side of its zakomara of the western facade, King David is depicted, followed by Solomon. In the sculpture of the western facade, attention is drawn to the scenes of the exploits of Hercules. In the central strand of the upper tier, birds intertwined with their necks refer to the symbolism of an inseparable union. The northern facade facing the city expresses with its sculpture the idea of ​​a strong princely power already directly, and not symbolically. Prince Vsevolod III himself is depicted in the left zakomara. The complex and varied turns of the figures, as it were, the apostles 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 betray the hand of a great master.

Church of the Savior on Nereditsa (Novgorod)

Time of creation: 1198

The Church of the Savior was built by Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich. The murals, according to a tradition dating back to Soviet times, were attributed to local, Novgorod masters. Some finds really suggest that this master led the work on the creation of frescoes in the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior. In its architectural appearance, the Spas on Nereditsa no longer differs from the parish churches of Novgorod. The political and financial position of the prince was so weakened that he did not claim to compete with the Cathedral Sofia in his construction. By his order, a small cubic type, four-pillar, three-apse, one-domed temple was erected. It is built with stone-brick masonry, traditional for Novgorod architecture. The internal space of the Church of the Savior is simplified in comparison with the buildings of the previous period - the first third of the XII century. The princely choirs-polati looked rather modestly, where two aisles were located. There was no longer any stairs in the attached tower, 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 overly thick walls were crooked and the planes uneven. But well-thought-out proportions brightened up these shortcomings, and the temple made a worthy, solemnly majestic impression.

Paraskeva Pyatnitsy Church (Chernihiv)

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, merchants built it with their own money. The dimensions of the church are small - 12 x 11.5 m. The ancient church at the auction belongs to the typical small one-domed temples with four pillars. But this type of building, common in the 12th century, was developed by an unknown architect in a completely new way. He arranges the pillars unusually wide, pressing them against the walls, which allows him to expand the central premises of the temple as much as possible and to design the corner parts of the facade in a new way, in the form of half-mosquitoes, which he makes into a quarter of a circle. The transition to a high and massive drum is carried out with the help of elevated vaults and two rows of kokoshniks. The apse, small in volume, is slightly lower than the zakomar. The portals of the Pyatnitskaya Church are made with a profiled frame, with brows above them. Above is a frieze of a brick meander, even higher are decorative niches in which remains of plaster have been preserved. Above them is a belt of "runners". Triple windows complete the central strands. The skilful use of brick gives the construction a special expressiveness: two brick walls with filling the gap between them with stones and brick battle on the mortar. After 5-7 rows, the masonry was made solid, after which they again switched to the backfilling technique. The master decided to lay out the arches thrown over the pillars above the vaults. Thus, the drum, resting on the arches, rises significantly above the walls. The meticulous precision of the brickwork betrays the hand of the Byzantine master. Perhaps it was Peter Miloneg. Despite the small size of the temple, the master also builds a choir, but narrow, and the same narrow staircase in the western wall.

Paraskeva Pyatnitsy Church at the Market (Novgorod)

Time of creation: 1207

Most likely, the Pyatnitsky temple at the Market was built not by Novgorod masters, but by Smolensk ones, because. it has no direct analogies among the Novgorod churches, but is similar to the Svir church of Smolensk. The corners of the temple itself and the narthexes are decorated with wide multi-stepped shoulder blades, which are 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 typical for Novgorod construction. The temple has three apses, of which the central apse protrudes much further east than the others. Lowered vestibules (narthexes) adjoined the main volume of the church on three sides. 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. (It should also be taken into account the fact that many buildings were not included in the work, due to a significant change in their appearance during fires, wars, natural disasters or unsuccessful restorations) Especially a lot of them remained in the Novgorod and Kiev 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 local merchant elite became the customer of the temple.

The architectural features of many monuments amaze with their splendor, and the skill of 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 churches were built through the efforts of Russian architects. Gradually, each principality develops its own architectural school with its own approach to construction techniques and building decoration.

By the XII century. Russian craftsmen mastered the technique of cement masonry, used bricks. Much attention was paid to the painting of temples with frescoes and decoration with mosaics.

The historical fate of many architectural monuments of that time is deplorable - they are irretrievably lost to us. Some were more fortunate - although they were significantly rebuilt, they can still give us some idea of ​​​​the architecture of that era. Many structures 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 century. - 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 times of Ancient Rus', whose cultural monuments are the subject of this review, are the most important period in national history, since it was then that the foundations of statehood, social, political, economic and social structures which found its expression in written, archaeological and architectural sources.

General characteristics of the era

The foundations of the state administration were formed in the times of Ancient Rus'. Cultural monuments of this era are interesting because they reflected the ideological foundations of the young Russian society who had just converted to Orthodoxy. An important role in their creation was played by the initiative of the princes, who very often contributed to stone construction, writing chronicles, and the construction of civil and defensive buildings. Subsequently, the initiative passed to the population, primarily to urban 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 of 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 a broader sense, later centuries are also applicable to this concept. 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 was mainly widespread, and the semicircular dome was replaced by a helmet-shaped one. Masters very often created mosaics and frescoes. Temples with four pillars were especially common, less often they met with six and eight columns. 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, the most basic ones should be singled out, 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 the Tithe Church, since the prince specially allocated a tenth of his income for it. It was built under Vladimir Svyatoslavich the Holy, who baptized the Russian land.

Peculiarities

Archaeologists find it difficult to restore its original appearance, however, some surviving data, such as Greek stamps on bricks, marble decorations, indicate that the construction was carried out by Greek craftsmen. At the same time, the preserved inscriptions in Cyrillic and ceramic tiles allow us to speak about the participation of the Slavs in the construction. The church was built as a cross-domed structure according to the traditional Byzantine canon.

Temples of the 11th century

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 He was erected during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise and was supposed to become the main religious center of the new state. Its feature is the presence of large choirs. It has thirteen domes with windows. In the center is the main one, below - four smaller ones, and then there are even smaller eight domes. The cathedral has two stair towers, two-tier and one-tier galleries. Inside there are mosaics and frescoes.

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 the Ukrainian Baroque.

Novgorod architecture

Monuments of Russian culture are diverse in style and structure. Novgorod temples and churches have their own unique features that make this tradition stand out as a special one in the history of Russian architecture. Separately, in the list of ancient Russian buildings, one should single out which for a long time remained the main religious center of the republic. It has five domes and a stair tower. The domes are shaped like helmets. The walls are built of limestone, the interior is similar to the Kyiv church, the arches are elongated, but some details have undergone a slight simplification, which later became a characteristic feature of the city's architecture.

At first, the masters imitated the Kyiv models, but later the Novgorod architecture received its own original appearance due to unique and easily recognizable features. Their temples are small, squat and simple in design. One of the most famous churches in this style- This is the Transfiguration Church on Nereditsa. It is very simple, but has a very majestic appearance. It has a small size, it has no external decor, the lines are very simple. These features are typical for Novgorod churches, appearance which even differ in some disproportion, 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 wooden, but then, in the middle of the 17th century, it was rebuilt in stone. In the 19th century, the church was rebuilt from a single-domed church into a five-domed one, which gave its name to a street in the city.

Monuments in Nizhny Novgorod occupy a prominent place in the history of Russian architecture. One of the most famous is the Mikhailo-Arkhangelsky 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 specific principalities also became centers of active architectural construction. Their traditions are distinguished by their original and unique features. Church of Nikola 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 temple in the suburbs of the city.

The initiator was the merchant Nadia Sveteshnikov, after whom many merchants and artisans also began to build churches. The base of the temple was raised on a high base, at the top there were five domes on thin drum necks. Church of St. Nicholas Nadein has a unique iconostasis. It is made in the Baroque style and replaced the older one in the 18th century.

Meaning

Thus, Old Russian architecture is unique in its features, style and interior. Therefore, it occupies a prominent place not only in national culture, but also in world art in general. In this regard, the protection of historical and cultural monuments is especially important at present. Many of them have not survived to our time, some were destroyed during the war, so modern archaeologists and restorers attach great importance to their reconstruction and renewal.