The first Christian temples

In ancient Russian architecture during the X-XIII centuries. In parallel, two forms of architecture developed: wooden and stone, with a predominance of wooden architecture. First of all, defensive structures were built: cities, townspeople, children, Kremlin and prison. During this period, the main protective role was played by wood-earth fortifications. These were earthen ramparts with ditches in front of them and wooden walls on top.

The first Christian church, the wooden church of Ilya in Kiev, was built in the middle of the 10th century. In Rostov, a cathedral was built from oak. The chronicle names the names of the first architects: Vyshgorod-chane Mironeg and Zhdan-Nikola. Under Vladimir the Baptist, stone monumental construction begins. Borrowing architecture from Byzantium, Russia inherited the symbolism of the temple - the starry sky. It was based on the cross as a symbol of Christianity and salvation. The head of the temple is held by Christ the Almighty (Pantocrator), and the apostles are holding the neck (drum). It was them who were depicted on frescoes in the main dome and on the drums. The cult building was strictly oriented to the cardinal points. The altar was always located in the eastern central apse. He was a symbol of the cave where Jesus was born, but also Calvary, where he was crucified, as well as the heavenly throne - the paradise where Jesus ascended after. The altar was separated from the room for worship by pulpit - elevation, and subsequently a solid wall of the iconostasis. The cubic shape of the church building took shape in the X-XII centuries. and existed until the XVII century.

Yaroslav the Wise was much involved in the arrangement of Kiev. Under him, not only the walls were strengthened, but also three gates of stone were erected. Some of them were called Golden: their copper doors were covered with gold, and a church towered over them. Under Yaroslav, three stone churches were built: St. George, St. Irina and St. Sophia, which the Greeks worshiped under the name Athens, and the Byzantines worshiped "wisdom" in the form of the Mother of God.

Kiev Hagia Sophia was laid on the site of the victorious battle of Kiev with the Pechenegs. He was assigned the highest place in the city. And to any person in Kiev he was perfectly visible at that time. The temple was not whitewashed. The brick was alternated with a pink bonding mortar - gum. The cathedral was larger than many Byzantine temples in size. For example, he had not three naves, but five. The temple was crowned with thirteen domes, symbolizing the 12 apostles and Jesus Christ. When believers entered the temple, they were amazed that they were met not by unusual space and height, but by crampedness and darkness. Twelve powerful pillars dismembered the interior of the temple. Only in the center of the dome penetrated the solar stream. (It was under the main dome that all the major state ceremonies took place.) Almost the entire second tier of the temple was occupied by choirs - huge batches for the prince and other dignitaries, which divided the internal volume horizontally.

The original Russian feature of temple architecture is the allocation of a central dome and the main apse with a mosaic pattern. In the main dome of the temple was a mosaic depiction of the Almighty, and in the arch of the central apse there was a giant fresco with the figure of Our Lady. On a concave vault, she seemed to embrace the arms of praying people. Mosaics of Sofia Kievskaya originally occupied an area of 640 m2. Now preserved a little more than half. The frescoes of the cathedral are much worse preserved than the mosaic.

Yaroslav, in gratitude to the Novgorodians for contributing to his accession to the throne of Kiev, sent his beloved son Vladimir to them. At the behest of Vladimir, after the victory over the Volga Bulgars, Sofia Novgorod was built. This five-domed temple was built under the direct influence of a similar cathedral in Kiev. There were choirs for the prince, and baptized vaults. But it is more massive. In appearance, it was a regular quadrangle, towering without ledges and bases to the roof. But in the masonry of the cathedral (from huge, irregularly shaped stones), the influence of the Romanesque style is also traced. After all, Novgorod gravitated to North-Western Europe. Sofia Novgorod pretty soon ceased to serve as an embodiment of princely power and gradually turned into a symbol of the Novgorod Republic. A veche was gathering near the temple, the treasury was kept in the temple, solemn prayers were held in the name of military victories, and they were elevated to the highest posts.

The cathedral was not painted for almost 60 years, but then artists from Byzantium were invited. The dome traditionally had an image of Pantocrator, who, according to legend, was written with a blessing hand, but in the morning everyone saw that the hand was clenched. Three times the fresco was rewritten until the voice of God was heard, proclaiming that Novgorod held Pantokrator in a clenched hand, which will happily exist while the hand is clenched. Unfortunately, this image was completely lost during the years of World War II.

In Suzdal, on the banks of the Nerl River, only 2 km from the palace of Andrei Bogolyubsky stands the Church of the Intercession of the Virgin. This is a rather complicated architectural structure. The church was supposed to be erected in a place flooded with flood. To do this, a 4-meter stone base was erected on the foundation and covered with earth. The hill turned out, which was faced with hewn stone slabs. It was on this pedestal that the church was built. Its construction marked a victory over the Volga Bulgars in 1164. Bulgars in the form of indemnities even delivered a building stone for it. Alas, her frescoes are lost. The theme of the glorification of the Virgin Mary is present in girlish masks located above the upper windows of the facades. To the masterpieces of architecture can be attributed and built in the XII century. in Vladimir Dmitrievsky Cathedral, decorated with rare beauty stone carvings.

In connection with the Tatar-Mongol invasion, stone construction was interrupted for almost half a century. The revival took place at the beginning of the 14th century, when the stone walls of the Pskov children were built. In Moscow in the 14th century under Prince Dmitry Donskoy, a white stone Kremlin was built. In the XV century. the Trinity Cathedral is being built in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery founded by Sergius of Radonezh (1314 - 1392), and in Moscow the Spassky Cathedral of the Andronikov Monastery.

Gradually, in Moscow, which became the center of the unification of Russian lands, stone construction, including civilian construction, acquires a special scale. This leads, in particular, to the fact that expensive building material - hewn stone has become increasingly replaced by cheaper brick and terracotta. The use of bricks was reflected in the decorative decoration of the facades in the form of patterned brickwork.

At the end of the XV century. The Moscow Kremlin was rebuilt; Italian craftsmen Pietro Antonio Solari, Aristotle Fioravanti, Aleviz Novy and Marco Fryazin were invited to build it. Repeating mainly the contours of the fortifications of the previous century, the brick wall, with a total length of more than 2 km with eighteen towers, was not only a defensive fortification, but also became an architectural decoration of the capital. Most of the new churches were built on the ground of old, often wooden, thereby emphasizing the continuity of generations.

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The Assumption Cathedral (1475-1479) was built in the Kremlin by the architect Fioravanti, in this huge five-domed temple, which became the main temple of the country, the most important state acts were carried out: weddings to the kingdom and others. The Archangel Cathedral (1505-1508), erected by Aleviz New, becomes the time of the royal tomb. This temple was decorated in the spirit of Renaissance architecture. Russian craftsmen are building the Annunciation Cathedral (1484-1489) and the Church of the Deposition of the Deposition (1484 - 1486). The ensemble ended with the bell tower of Ivan the Great (1505 - 1508). The Moscow Kremlin became an architectural model, which the architects of Tula, Kolomna, Nizhny Novgorod and other cities tried to imitate. Moscow architecture of the XV-XVI centuries. becomes a pan-Russian phenomenon.

In the XVI century. ensembles of the Trinity-Sergius, Borisoglebsky, Kirillo-Belozersky monasteries are taking shape. In Moscow, an example of multi-pillar composition was the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat, popularly nicknamed the Cathedral of St. Basil. This architectural monument was erected on Red Square in honor of the victory over the Kazan Khanate, won in 1552. It was built by masters Barma and Postnik. But the exterior multicolor paintings were already made in the XVII century.

Text writer: M.V.Sokolova