When Christianity was adopted in Rome in the 4th century AD and the persecution of its representatives was over, the architecture of churches began to develop. In many respects this process was influenced by the division of the Roman Empire into two parts - Western and Byzantine. This influenced the development of church art. In the West, the basilica became widespread. In the East, the Byzantine style of church architecture gained popularity. The latter was reflected in religious buildings in Russia.
Types of Orthodox churches
There were several types of church architecture in Russia. The temple in the shape of a cross was built as a symbol of the fact that the Cross of Christ is the church foundation. It was thanks to him that people were freed from the power of devilish forces.
If the architecture of cathedrals and churches is represented in a circular form, this symbolizes the infinity of the existence of the Church.
When the temple is erected in the form of an eight-pointed star, it personifies the Star of Bethlehem, which led the Magi to where Jesus was born. The architecture of churches of this type is a symbol of the fact that human history is estimated in seven long periods, and the eighth is eternity, the Kingdom of Heaven. This idea originated in Byzantium.
Often, the architecture of the churches of Russia included buildings in the form of ships. This is the most ancient variation of the temple. Such a building contains the idea that the temple saves believers, like a ship, from worldly waves.
In addition, the architecture of the Orthodox Church is often a mixture of these types. In religious buildings, circular, cross and rectangular elements are combined.
Byzantine traditions
In the East, in the 5-8th centuries, the Byzantine style in the architecture of temples and churches was popular. Byzantine traditions extended to worship. It was here that the foundations of the Orthodox faith were born.
The religious buildings here were different, but in Orthodoxy, each temple reflected a certain creed. In any architecture of the church, certain conditions were observed. For example, each temple remained two or three part. For the most part, the Byzantine style of church architecture was manifested in the rectangular shape of buildings, curly roofs, vaulted ceilings with arches, pillars. It was reminiscent of the interior of a catacomb church. This style also passed into the Russian architecture of the church, saturated with additional characteristic features.
In the middle of the dome was depicted the Light of Jesus. Of course, the similarity of such structures to the catacombs is only general.
Sometimes churches - architectural monuments - have several domes at once. Orthodox religious buildings always have crosses on the domes. By the time Orthodoxy was adopted in Russia in Byzantium, the cross-domed church was gaining popularity. He combined all the achievements at that time in Orthodox architecture.
Cross-domed churches in Russia
This type of church was also formed in Byzantium. Subsequently, he began to dominate - it happened in the 9th century, and then was adopted by other Orthodox states. One of the most famous Russian churches - architectural monuments - was erected in this style. These include the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, Sofia Novgorod, the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir. All of them copy St. Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople.
For the most part, the Russian history of architecture is based on churches. And the cross-domed structures here are on the first roles. Not all variations of this style were common in Russia. However, many examples of ancient buildings belong to the cross-dome type.
A construction of this kind transformed the consciousness of ancient Russian people, drawing their attention to the in-depth contemplation of the universe.
Although many architectural features of the Byzantine churches were preserved, the temples built in Russia from ancient times possessed many distinctive unique features.
White-stone rectangular temples in Russia
This type is closest to the Byzantine variations. The basis of such buildings is a square, which is complemented by an altar with semicircular absides, domes on a figured roof. Spheres here are replaced by a helmet-like coating of domes.
In the middle of the small buildings of this type are four pillars. They serve as a support for the roof. This is the personification of the evangelists, the four cardinal points. In the center of such a building there are 12 and a greater number of pillars. They form the signs of the Cross, divide the temple into symbolic parts.
Wooden temples in Russia
In the 15-17th centuries, a completely unique style of erection of religious buildings appeared in Russia, which radically differed from Byzantine counterparts.
Rectangular buildings with semicircular absides appeared. Sometimes they were white stone, and sometimes brick. Around the walls there were gulbis. The roof was curly, it housed domes in the form of poppies or bulbs.
The decoration for the walls was an elegant finish, windows with stone carvings, tiled platbands. Near the temple or above its narthex was a bell tower.
A lot of unique features of Russian architecture appeared in the wooden architecture of Russia. In many ways, they appeared due to the characteristics of the tree. It is quite difficult to form a smooth dome shape from the boards. For this reason, in wooden churches, it was replaced by a pointed tent. In addition, the whole building took on the form of a tent. So there were unique buildings, analogues of which were not in the world - wooden churches in the form of large pointed wooden cones. Famous temples of the Kizhi graveyard are the brightest representatives of this style.
Stone tent churches in Russia
Soon, the features of wooden churches influenced stone architecture. Stone tent temples appeared. The highest achievement in this style is the Intercession Cathedral in Moscow. It is known as the Cathedral of St. Basil. This intricate building dates back to the 16th century.
This is a cruciform structure. The cross is formed by four main churches, which are located around the central - fifth. The latter is square, while the rest are octagonal.
Tent style was popular for a very short time period. In the 17th century, the authorities prohibited the construction of such buildings. They were worried by the fact that they were very different from ordinary ship temples. Hip architecture is unique; it has no analogues in any culture of the world.
New stylistic forms
Russian churches were distinguished by diversity in decoration, architecture, and decoration. Especially popular were colorful glazed tiles. In the 17th century, baroque elements began to dominate. The Naryshkinsky Baroque was based on everything symmetry, completeness of multi-tiered compositions.
The works of metropolitan architects of the 17th century - O. Startsev, P. Potapov, Y. Bukhvostov and several others stand apart. They were some harbingers of the era of Peter's reforms.
Reforms of this emperor touched, among other things, and the architectural traditions of the country. The architecture of the 17th century in Russia was determined by the fashion of Western Europe. Attempts have been made to strike a balance between Byzantine traditions and new stylistic forms. This was reflected in the architecture of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, which combined the traditions of antiquity and new trends.
During the construction of the Smolny Monastery in St. Petersburg, Rastrelli decided to reflect Orthodox traditions in the construction of monasteries. However, the organic combination did not work. In the 19th century, a revival of interest in Byzantine architecture began. It was only in the 20th century that attempts were made to return to medieval Russian architectural traditions.
Church of the Intercession on the Nerl
The world-famous architecture of the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl. It is characterized by lightness, grace, this is a true masterpiece of the Vladimir-Suzdal architectural school. The grace that manifested itself in the architecture of the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl became possible thanks to the perfect combination of the building with the environment - Russian nature. It is noteworthy that the temple is included in the list of world monuments of UNESCO.
The construction reflects the way up to God, and the road to it is a kind of pilgrimage. Information about the church was preserved in the Life of Andrei Bogolyubsky. It was erected in 1165, it was a memorial for the princely son of Izyaslav. He died in the war with the Volga Bulgaria. According to legend, white stones were brought here from the defeated Bulgarian principality.
It is noteworthy that the descriptions of the architecture of the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl contain many comparisons of this building with a white swan floating on the water. This is the bride standing at the altar.
From the building itself of the 12th century there remained a square - the skeleton with the head. Everything else was destroyed over time. Restoration was made in the 19th century.
The descriptions of the architectural monument of the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl contain information about the verticality of the walls. But because of the measured proportions, they look sloping, due to this optical effect, the building looks taller than it actually is.
The church has a simple, without frills interior decoration. The frescoes were knocked down from the walls during the restoration of 1877. However, there is an iconostasis with icons.
On the outer surface there are many wall reliefs. Biblical figures, birds, animals flock here, there are also masks. The central figure is King David, who reads the psalms. On the side of it is a lion, the personification of his power. Nearby there is a dove - a sign of spirituality.
Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye
The first stone tent- type temple in Russia is the Ascension Church in Kolomenskoye. Its architecture reflects the influence of the Renaissance. It was erected by Vasily III in honor of the birth of his heir - Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible.
Features of the architecture of the Ascension Church were manifested in a cruciform shape of the building, which goes into octagon. On it, in turn, rests a large-height tent. He overshadows the interior of the church. It is noteworthy that there are no pillars in it. The temple, characterized by the expressiveness of the silhouette, is surrounded by a gallery, which has stair descents. They are performed quite solemnly.
The church has a lot of additional details that migrated here from the Renaissance. In this case, there are many features from the Gothic. Italian bricks, the connection of the building with the centric shape of the temples of Italy give a hint that this project was created by an Italian architect who worked at the court of Vasily III. Accurate information about the author has not been preserved to this day, but, according to assumptions, it was Petrok Malaya. He was the author of the Ascension Church in the Moscow Kremlin, the walls and towers of Kitay Gorod.
Pskov-Novgorod temples
In addition to the generally accepted world classifications, it must be borne in mind that in each principality, architecture has acquired its own unique features. There is never a pure style in the art of architecture, and this division is also only conditional.
The following distinctive features appeared in the architecture of Novgorod: most often the temples here had five chapters, but buildings with one chapter were also found. Their shape was cubic. They were decorated with arches, triangles.
Vladimir-Suzdal temples
The architecture here flourished during the time of Andrei Bogolyubsky and Vsevolod III. Then churches with a palace were erected here. They glorified the capital of the principality. Here stone was skillfully processed, techniques from wooden architecture were applied.
In the 12th century, first-class buildings made of high-quality white stone - limestone - were elevated here. The most ancient of them had simple ornaments. The windows in the temples were narrow; they were more like slits of loopholes than windows. From the 12th century, stone carving began to decorate churches. Sometimes folklore plots were reflected in it, sometimes Scythian “animal style”. The presence of romance influences is also noted.
Kiev-Chernihiv temples
The architecture of this principality reflects monumental historicism. It is divided into the architecture of cathedral and tower genres. In the cathedral churches there are circular galleries, the uniformity of the rhythm of the facade divisions. The architecture of this type is quite figurative, the symbolism is complex. For the most part, the buildings of this principality are represented by court princely buildings.
Smolensk-Polotsk temples
When Smolensk architecture was just developing, there really was no architects here. Most likely, the first buildings were elevated due to the participation of Kiev or Chernihiv. In Smolensk temples there are many hallmarks on the ends of bricks. This indicates that, most likely, Chernihiv residents left their mark here.
The architecture of these cities is widespread, which speaks in favor of the fact that in the 12th century there were already own architects.
Smolensk architecture in Russia was popular. The architects from here were called to many other ancient Russian lands. They built buildings in Novgorod, which was the largest center in the country. But this take-off was short-lived - it lasted 40 years. The thing is that in 1230 an epidemic broke out, after which the political situation in the city changed dramatically. This ended the work of local architects.
Godunov style
Churches in the style of Godunovsky classicism are also conditionally isolated. These were churches erected during the period when Boris Godunov sat on the throne of Russia (1598-1605). Then the building techniques were canonized, reflected in the symmetry and compactness of the buildings.
In addition, Italian order elements have become popular. The Russian style was canonized in the Italian manner.
The variety of structures has decreased. But the unity of style came to the fore. This was manifested not only in Moscow, but throughout Russia.
Pattern
Noteworthy is the style referred to as a pattern-skater. It appeared only in the 17th century in Moscow. It is characterized by intricate forms, decor, complex compositions. Silhouettes in this style are unusually picturesque. The pattern is associated with pagan roots and the late Renaissance in Italy.
For the most part, buildings in this style are represented by churches with closed arches, without pillars and with high refectory. Coverage in them is hipped. The interior is unusually rich in color ornaments. There is a lot of decor inside.
Stroganov churches
Churches built in the Stroganov style also gained great fame. It appeared in the 17-18th centuries. The name this style acquired thanks to G. Stroganov, since it was he who ordered similar buildings. Here the traditional five-headed silhouette appeared. But on top of it is a baroque decor.
Totem style
Baroque, which manifested itself most vividly in St. Petersburg, was reflected in the structures of the Russian north. In particular, in the city near Vologda - Totma. The uniqueness of the architecture of his buildings led to the emergence of "Totem Baroque." This style appeared in the 18th century, already in the next century there were at least 30 temples erected in this style. But in the same century, many of them were rebuilt. At the moment, they are mostly destroyed or remain in desolation. Features of this style were adopted during the sea voyages of local merchants. They were the customers of these churches.
Ustyug style
One of the earliest religious buildings in Veliky Ustyug were buildings dating back to the 17th century. It was at that moment that the foundations of stone architecture began to appear here. The heyday of the architectural style of this area came in the 17th century. Construction continued with its features for a little over 100 years. During this time, many local architects appeared in Veliky Ustyug, who were distinguished by great talent and unprecedented craftsmanship. They left behind a lot of unique churches. At first, five-domed temples with chapels were common. And in the 18th century, temples with a longitudinal axis gained popularity.
Ural temples
The Ural architectural style deserves special mention. He appeared in the 18th century, in the era of Peter the Great. He strove for transformations, including in architecture. The main feature of this style was manifested in the five-domed on a tiered basis. For the most part, he borrowed the features of baroque and classicism. In the Ural cities, buildings in the style of Old Russian architecture were often erected. This was the uniqueness of the Ural architecture.
Siberian style
Modernist traditions in the Siberian style were reflected in their own way. In many respects, the climatic conditions of the region itself were manifested here. Craftsmen formed their special vision of the Siberian schools of Art Nouveau - Tyumen, Tomsk, Omsk and so on. They created their unique footprint among the monuments of Russian architecture.