The historical and cultural significance of Byzantium is difficult to overestimate. In Russia, the Byzantine heritage can be found both in the spiritual and material spheres of life. The interaction of cultures has gone through several stages, and even in modern culture and architecture there are signs of this influence. In a global sense, Russian culture has become the main successor and continuer of the traditions and spiritual canons of Byzantium.
The origins of the Byzantine style
The collapse of the Roman Empire in 395 led to the emergence of a new empire, later called Byzantium. It is rightfully considered the successor of ancient traditions, culture and wisdom. The Byzantine style arises as a result of the concentration of existing architectural techniques. The architects of the new state immediately set themselves the task of surpassing Roman achievements. Therefore, having organically absorbed all the best that was invented by the Romans and Greeks, they create new masterpieces, take the challenge of the times and find new constructive and planning solutions.
The formation of the Byzantine culture took place not only on the reproduction and improvement of the ancient Greco-Roman experience, but also due to the strong Eastern influence, which was reflected in the pursuit of luxury, scale, and embellishment.
Due to the fact that the eastern branch of Christianity is being established in Constantinople, the country needed new temples. A new ideology also needs its own surroundings. These tasks are solved by the best artists of the world who flock to Constantinople and create unique works that become the new religious, cultural, state and architectural canon.
Byzantine style features
The architects of Constantinople had to solve several important structural problems, which mainly appeared in temple architecture. The cathedral in Orthodoxy was to make an indelible impression on the viewer with its scale and magnificence, the temple was associated with the kingdom of God and therefore architects needed new expressive means, the searches of which they were engaged. The basis for the layout of the Byzantine temple was not taken by the Greek Cathedral, but the Roman basilica. The walls of the cathedrals were built of brick with large layers of cementing mortar. This led to the formation of a distinctive feature of the Byzantine buildings - cladding of buildings with brick or stone of dark and light color. Around the facade, arcades from columns with basket-shaped capitals were often placed.
The Byzantine style is associated with the cross-domed type of the cathedral. The architects managed to find a simple solution for combining a round dome and a square base, so there were "sails" that created a sense of harmonious integrity. Narrowed windows with a rounded top, placed two or three side by side, are also an important sign of Byzantine buildings.
The external processing of buildings has always been more modest than the interior decoration - this is another feature of the Byzantine buildings. The principles of interior design were refinement, wealth and grace, they used very expensive, spectacular materials that made a strong impression on people.
The influence of Byzantium on medieval architecture
In the Middle Ages, the influence of Byzantium spread to all countries of Europe, it was political, economic and spiritual. The Byzantine style in medieval architecture proved to be a powerful resource for renewal. Italy to a greater extent adopted the innovations of Byzantine architecture: a new type of temple and mosaic technique. So, the medieval temples in Ravenna, on the island of Torcello, in Palermo became signs of this Byzantine influence.
Later trends extend to other countries. So, the cathedral in Aachen in Germany is an example of Byzantine influence through the prism of Italian masters. However, Byzantium had the most powerful impact on those countries that adopted Orthodoxy: Bulgaria, Serbia, Armenia, and Ancient Russia. A real cultural dialogue and exchange takes place here, which leads to a significant modernization of existing architectural traditions.
The influence of Byzantium on the architecture of Ancient Russia
Everyone knows the story of how the Russian delegation, who visited Rome and Constantinople in search of a suitable religion, was shocked by the beauty of Hagia Sophia, and this decided the outcome of the matter. From this time begins a powerful transfer of traditions, texts, rites to the Russian land. An important aspect in this process is temple architecture, which is actively starting to develop in a new form. The Byzantine style in the architecture of temples appeared due to the fact that entire teams of masters came to Ancient Russia to build cathedrals, transfer skills and form a new look for the country. Also, many architects visit Constantinople, learning the wisdom and tricks of construction.
Starting from the 10th century, Russian masters not only adopt Byzantine traditions, but also enrich them, supplementing them with the solutions and details necessary for local churches. The traditional cross-domed Byzantine temple in Russia is surrounded by additional naves and galleries for greater capacity. In order to create buildings in the new style, concomitant artisan directions appear: making bricks, molding bells, icon painting - all of this has Byzantine roots, but is processed by Russian masters in the spirit of national art. The clearest example of such a refining is the Sophia Cathedral of the Wisdom of God in Kiev, where the three-nave Byzantine form becomes the five-nave and is still being built up with galleries, and five chapters are supplemented by another 12 small chapters.
Byzantine model of the temple
The Byzantine style in architecture, the features of which we are considering, is based on the innovative layout of the temple. Its features were born from purely utilitarian needs: an increase in the space of the temple, a simple combination of a dome and a base, and sufficient lighting. All this led to the formation of a special type of structure, which subsequently changed the entire temple architecture of the world. The traditional Byzantine temple had a square or rectangular base, a cross-domed structure. Apses and galleries adjoin the central part. The increase in volume led to the appearance of additional pillars inside the columns, they divided the cathedral into three naves. Most often, the classical temple had one chapter, much less often 5. Windows with an arched opening were combined 2-3 in a common arch.
Features of the Byzantine style in Russian temple architecture
The first buildings of the churches of the new church were according to Russian tradition, the Greeks could not influence them, since they built their temples of brick and stone. Therefore, the first innovation is multi-chapter, which was actively introduced into architectural solutions. The first stone church in Russia appears at the end of the 9th century and has a cross-domed design. The temple has not survived to this day, so it is impossible to talk about its specifics. For the temples in Russia, volume was very important, so the first architects were already forced to solve the problem of increasing the internal space of the temple by building additional naves and galleries.
Today, the Byzantine style in Russia, the photo of the buildings of which can be seen in many guidebooks, is represented by several major regions. These are buildings in Kiev and Chernigov, Novgorod region, Pechery, Vladimir, Pskov. Many temples that have obvious Byzantine features, but are independent buildings with unique architectural solutions, have been preserved here. The most famous include St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod, Transfiguration Cathedral in Chernigov, Church of the Savior on Nereditsa, Trinity Church in the Pechersky Monastery.
Byzantine style in European architecture
The state of Byzantium, which lasted more than 10 centuries, could not but leave its mark on world history. In the architecture of Europe today you can see the visible features of the Byzantine heritage. The period of the Middle Ages, when architects take innovative ideas of colleagues and build temples, for example, in Italy, which was most susceptible to Byzantine influence, is richest in borrowing and continuity. A powerful influence on the Venetian Republic was made by artists who came from Byzantium, and a huge number of artifacts brought here after the capture of Constantinople. Even the Cathedral of San Marco in Venice includes many Byzantine motifs and objects.
No less important role was played by the architecture of Byzantium in the Renaissance. The dominant central-dome type of structure that came from this country is gaining widespread acceptance. Features of Byzantine temples can be found not only in religious buildings, but also in secular buildings. Architects, from Brunelleschi to Bramante and A. Palladio. The elements and constructive decisions of the Byzantines in such famous buildings as the St. Peter's Cathedrals in Rome, St. Paul's in London, the Pantheon in Paris are clearly visible.
The Byzantine style in European architecture as such did not exist, if you do not take into account the Orthodox countries, but the elements of this architecture system are still visible, they are rethought, modernized, but they are the basis on which European architecture grows. Byzantium became a place of preservation of ancient traditions, which then returned to Europe and began to be perceived by it as its historical roots.
The formation of the Russian-Byzantine style
The Byzantine style in Russian architecture develops as a result of centuries of rethinking and processing the ideas of architects from Constantinople. This style is being formed, in which oriental and Russian ideas coexist on equal footing in the middle of the 19th century. It was then that the heyday of architecture began, in which the achievements of Byzantine architects were creatively revised, supplemented and re-applied. Therefore, the Byzantine style in Russia of the 19th century is not a copy of the achievements of Constantinople, but the creation of buildings "based on", with a large inclusion of Russian ideas themselves.
Periodization of the Byzantine style in Russian architecture
What is referred to in the theory of architecture as “the Byzantine style” is formed in the middle of the 19th century. The architect K.A. Ton became his ideologist and propagandist. The harbingers of style appear in the 20s of the 19th century, they are noticeable in such buildings as the Tithes Church in Kiev, the church of Alexander Nevsky in Potsdam.
But the first period of the formation of style falls on the 40s and 50s, it is especially noticeable in the constructions of A.V. Gornostaev and D. Grimm. The second period is the 60s, when, in the spirit of dominant eclecticism, constructions are being created boldly mixing Byzantine and Russian features. During this period, the style is especially visible in the buildings of G. G. Gagarin, V. A. Kosyakov and E. A. Borisov.
The 70-90s is a time of style complication, architects strive for more decoration, the introduction of different-style details in their buildings. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and at the beginning of the 20th century, the Byzantine style in Russia began to be interpreted more and more freely, uniting in the spirit of the advancing Art Nouveau with other styles. In the 90s of the 20th century, a pseudo-Byzantine style appeared, in which late layers were visible, but the original features were guessed.
Reflection of the Byzantine style in the interior
The style of Constantinople was especially pronounced in the design of the interior decoration of buildings. Interiors in the Byzantine style are characterized by rich decoration, the use of expensive materials: gold, bronze, silver, expensive stone, precious wood. A vivid sign of the interiors in this style are mosaics on the walls and on the floor.
Reflections of the Byzantine style in Russian architecture of the 19th century
The brightest period in architecture based on the traditions of Constantinople falls on the middle of the 19th century. At this time, the Byzantine style in the architecture of St. Petersburg became the leading one. The most striking examples of buildings in this style are the Church of the Mother of God of the Icon of the Mother of God in Galernaya Harbor (Kosyakova and Prussak), the Greek Church of Dmitry Solunsky (R.I. Kuzmin), the Trade House of Stoll and Schmit (V. Schreter). In Moscow, of course, these are the buildings of Ton: the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the Grand Kremlin Palace.
Byzantine motifs in 20th century architecture
The post-Soviet period with its restoration of Orthodoxy led to the fact that the Byzantine style in Russian architecture again became relevant. Buildings in the Russian-Byzantine style appear in many cities of Russia. A vivid example is the Temple on Blood in the name of All Saints in the Russian Land, Shone in Yekaterinburg under the project of K. Efremov.
At the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, the so-called “second Russian-Byzantine style” emerges, which appears in new temple buildings. Such cathedrals as the Panteleimon Church in Izhevsk, the Church of the Nativity in Omsk, the Church of the Nativity in Moscow and numerous buildings in all corners of the country can be attributed to it. This indicates that the ideas of Byzantium penetrated deeply into Russian culture and today are already inseparable from it.
Modern Byzantine-style buildings
Modern architects, especially in temple architecture, again and again return to the traditions of Constantinople as a source of traditional solutions. They are, of course, rethought, resolved in light of new technologies, but the Byzantine spirit is felt in them. We can safely say that the Byzantine style in Russian architecture is still alive today. Examples of this can be found in many cities of the country: this is the Church of the Holy Myrrh-bearing women in St. Petersburg, the St. Nicholas Church in Nadym, the St. Seraphim Church in Murom, etc.