Historic temples are often the hallmark of the state. By their appearance, they judge the spiritual component of the country, the development of spiritual art.
Architects, artists, builders, sculptors for centuries have tried to decorate churches so that they arouse admiration, show the greatness of faith, the greatness of the country.
The special traditions of temple construction, the symbolism of various faiths played and still play an important role in the creation of temples.
In the architecture of the temples there are special details and special terminology. Russian Orthodox churches also have such special elements that are not found in other buildings or are extremely rare.
One of such elements is zakomara - an architectural element inherent in church building.
Architectural traditions of Orthodoxy
The history of the construction of churches in Russia begins in 988, from the year of the adoption of Christianity. Faith came to Russian lands from Byzantium, so the first churches were built in the Byzantine style. Gradually, architectural traditions changed, special elements inherent in the Orthodox Church and decorations were added.
The tradition of vaulted ceilings came to us from Byzantium. From here came a special roof, exactly repeating the shape of the arch.
Semicircular zakomara
In Old Russian, a mosquito is a vault, and a zakomara is a semicircular completion of a wall that covers the roof of the same shape.
This form of the Orthodox church is characteristic of Old Russian church architecture and was common in the 12-17th centuries.
Zakomara demanded powerful support, otherwise the arch would simply collapse. Powerful walls allowed temples to survive for centuries and survive to the present, overcoming time, the vagaries of the weather, raids of enemies.
Keeled zakomara
In addition to a semicircular shape, there is also a keeled zakomara. This is an element that does not completely repeat the shape of the vault, and therefore it is also called a false zakomar in another way.
If you explain the concepts and terms of "keeled zakomary" to a foreign tourist without showing a photograph, he is unlikely to understand what is at stake. After all, this is a primordially Russian element.
In construction, a combination of these elements was often used. Pieiforms had a decorative purpose. Often, for the same purpose, zakomaras were located in several tiers.
Symbolism
It is known that the forms of temple buildings have a certain symbolism. Temples were built in the form of a ship, a cross, a circle. All these forms are explained by special Christian traditions.
Depending on the internal form, temples very often have several vaults, respectively, and several zakomars.
Synonyms
The zakomaras of the temple were often called kokoshniks because of their similarity to the women's headdress. Often they were decorated so skillfully that they could compete with this female jewelry. This word is given in the dictionary of synonyms of the Russian language by V.N. Trishin, published in 2013.
Revival of traditions
In the 17th century, brick is increasingly used in construction, and in this regard, sloping roofs are replaced by a sloping gable roof, which is lighter, does not require powerful support for construction, and is more resistant to severe weather conditions. Pillarless temples appear with a four, covered by a closed stepped vault.
At the end of the 20th century, a revival of ancient traditions was observed in the construction of temples. This opportunity appeared with the development of new construction technologies. Therefore, it became possible to build or rebuild temples that closely resemble the form of Old Russian.
Church outfit
Undoubtedly, domes are the decoration of Orthodox churches. The zakomara in architecture, which is found only here, often becomes a real work of art of an ancient temple.
This element of architecture is compared with a women's headdress, which was decorated with embroidery, embroidered with precious and semiprecious stones. Such kokoshniks are real works of art, are stored in museums as an item of national costume, the special pride of Russian culture. So the ancient Orthodox churches, like Russian beauties, are distinguished by their stateness and the decoration of their headdress. Zakomara is the pride of an ancient temple, its decoration.
Sculptors, artists, mosaic masters, architects tried to decorate the temple zakomary as elegantly as possible.