What a simple wooden church looked like. Church of the Resurrection of Christ, Suzdal
The end of persecution in the 4th century and the adoption of Christianity in the Roman Empire as the state religion led to a new stage in the development of temple architecture. The external and then spiritual division of the Roman Empire into the Western - Roman and Eastern - Byzantine, also influenced the development of church art. In the Western Church, the basilica became the most widespread.
In the Eastern Church in the V-VIII centuries. the Byzantine style developed in the construction of temples and in everything church art and worship. Here the foundations of the spiritual and external life of the Church, which has since been called Orthodox, were laid.
Types of Orthodox churches
Temples in Orthodox Church several were built types, but each temple symbolically corresponded to church doctrine.
1. Temples in the form cross were built as a sign that the Cross of Christ is the foundation of the Church, through the Cross humanity was delivered from the power of the devil, through the Cross the entrance to Paradise, lost by our ancestors, was opened.
2. Temples in the form circle(a circle that has neither beginning nor end, symbolizes eternity) speaks of the infinity of the existence of the Church, its indestructibility in the world according to the word of Christ
3. Temples in the form eight-pointed star symbolize the Star of Bethlehem, which led the Magi to the place where Christ was born. Thus, the Church of God testifies to its role as a guide to the life of the Future Age. The period of the earthly history of mankind was counted in seven large periods - centuries, and the eighth is eternity in the Kingdom of God, the life of the next century.
4. Temple in the form ship. Temples in the shape of a ship are the most ancient type of temples, figuratively expressing the idea that the Church, like a ship, saves believers from the disastrous waves of everyday sailing and leads them to the Kingdom of God.
5. Temples of mixed types : By appearance cross-shaped, and inside, in the center of the cross, round, or rectangular in external shape, and inside, in the middle part, round.
Diagram of a temple in the shape of a circle
Diagram of the temple in the form of a ship
Cross type. Church of the Ascension outside the Serpukhov Gate. Moscow
Diagram of a temple built in the shape of a cross
Cross type. Church of Barbara on Varvarka. Moscow.
Cross shape. Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
Rotunda. Smolensk Church of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra
Diagram of a temple in the shape of a circle
Rotunda. Church of Metropolitan Peter of the Vysoko-Petrovsky Monastery
Rotunda. Church of All Who Sorrow Joy on Ordynka. Moscow
Diagrams of a temple in the shape of an eight-pointed star
Ship type. Church of St. Dmitry on Spilled Blood in Uglich
Diagram of the temple in the form of a ship
Ship type. Church of the Life-Giving Trinity on Sparrow Hills. Moscow
Byzantine temple architecture
In the Eastern Church in the V-VIII centuries. has developed Byzantine style in the construction of temples and in all church art and worship. Here the foundations of the spiritual and external life of the Church, which has since been called Orthodox, were laid.
Temples in the Orthodox Church were built in different ways, but each temple symbolically corresponded to church doctrine. In all types of temples, the altar was certainly separated from the rest of the temple; temples continued to be two - and more often three-part. The dominant feature in Byzantine temple architecture remained a rectangular temple with a rounded projection of altar apses extended to the east, with a figured roof, with a vaulted ceiling inside, which was supported by a system of arches with columns, or pillars, with a high domed space, which resembles the internal view of the temple in the catacombs.
Only in the middle of the dome, where the source of natural light was located in the catacombs, did they begin to depict the True Light that came into the world - the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, the similarity between Byzantine churches and catacomb churches is only the most general, since the above-ground churches of the Orthodox Church are distinguished by their incomparable splendor and greater external and internal detail.
Sometimes they have several spherical domes topped with crosses. An Orthodox church is certainly crowned with a cross on the dome or on all domes, if there are several of them, as a sign of victory and as evidence that the Church, like all creation, chosen for salvation, enters the Kingdom of God thanks to the Redemptive Feat of Christ the Savior. By the time of the Baptism of Rus', a type of cross-domed church was emerging in Byzantium, which unites in synthesis the achievements of all previous directions in the development of Orthodox architecture.
Byzantine temple
Plan of a Byzantine temple
Cathedral of St. Stamp in Venice
Byzantine temple
Cross-domed temple in Istanbul
Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Italy
Plan of a Byzantine temple
Cathedral of St. Stamp in Venice
Temple of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (Istanbul)
Interior of the Church of St. Sofia in Constantinople
Church Holy Mother of God(Tithe). Kyiv
Cross-domed churches of Ancient Rus'
Architectural type Christian temple, formed in Byzantium and in the countries of the Christian East in the V-VIII centuries. It became dominant in the architecture of Byzantium from the 9th century and was adopted by Christian countries of the Orthodox confession as the main form of the temple. Such famous Russian churches as the Kiev St. Sophia Cathedral, St. Sophia of Novgorod, Vladimir Assumption Cathedral were deliberately built in the likeness of the Constantinople St. Sophia Cathedral.
Old Russian architecture is mainly represented by church buildings, among which cross-domed churches occupy a dominant position. Not all variants of this type became widespread in Rus', but buildings from different periods and different cities and principalities Ancient Rus' form their own original interpretations of the cross-domed church.
The architectural design of the cross-domed church lacks the easily visible visibility that was characteristic of basilicas. Such architecture contributed to the transformation of the consciousness of ancient Russian man, elevating him to an in-depth contemplation of the universe.
While preserving the general and basic architectural features of Byzantine churches, Russian churches have much that is original and unique. Several distinctive architectural styles have developed in Orthodox Russia. Among them, the style that stands out most is the one closest to Byzantine. This Toclassical type of white stone rectangular temple , or even basically square, but with the addition of an altar part with semicircular apses, with one or more domes on a figured roof. The spherical Byzantine shape of the dome covering was replaced by a helmet-shaped one.
In the middle part of small churches there are four pillars that support the roof and symbolize the four evangelists, the four cardinal directions. In the central part of the cathedral church there may be twelve or more pillars. At the same time, the pillars with the intersecting space between them form the signs of the Cross and help divide the temple into its symbolic parts.
The Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir and his successor, Prince Yaroslav the Wise, sought to organically include Rus' into the universal organism of Christianity. The churches they erected served this purpose, placing believers before the perfect Sophia image of the Church. Already the first Russian churches spiritually testify to the connection between earth and heaven in Christ, to the Theanthropic nature of the Church.
St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod
Demetrius Cathedral in Vladimir
Cross-domed Church of John the Baptist. Kerch. 10th century
St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod
Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir
Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin
Church of the Transfiguration in Veliky Novgorod
Russian wooden architecture
In the 15th-17th centuries, a significantly different style of temple construction developed in Russia from the Byzantine one.
Elongated rectangular, but certainly with semicircular apses to the east, one-story and two-story churches with winter and summer churches appear, sometimes white stone, more often brick with covered porches and covered arched galleries - walkways around all walls, with gable, hipped and figured roofs, on which they flaunt one or several highly raised domes in the form of domes, or bulbs.
The walls of the temple are decorated with elegant decoration and windows with beautiful stone carvings or tiled frames. Next to the temple or together with the temple, a high tented bell tower with a cross at the top is erected above its porch.
Russian wooden architecture acquired a special style. The properties of wood as a building material determined the features of this style. It is difficult to create a smoothly shaped dome from rectangular boards and beams. Therefore, in wooden churches, instead of it there is a pointed tent. Moreover, the appearance of a tent began to be given to the church as a whole. This is how wooden temples appeared to the world in the form of a huge pointed wooden cone. Sometimes the roof of the temple was arranged in the form of many cone-shaped wooden domes with crosses rising upward (for example, the famous temple at the Kizhi churchyard).
Church of the Intercession (1764) O. Kizhi.
Assumption Cathedral in Kemi. 1711
Church of St. Nicholas. Moscow
Church of the Transfiguration (1714) Kizhi Island
Chapel in honor of the Three Saints. Kizhi Island.
Stone tented churches
The forms of wooden temples influenced stone (brick) construction.
They began to build intricate stone tented churches that resembled huge towers (pillars). The highest achievement of stone hipped architecture is rightfully considered the Intercession Cathedral in Moscow, better known as St. Basil's Cathedral, a complex, intricate, multi-decorated structure of the 16th century.
The basic plan of the cathedral is cruciform. The cross consists of four main churches located around the middle one, the fifth. The middle church is square, the four side ones are octagonal. The cathedral has nine temples in the form of cone-shaped pillars, together making up one huge colorful tent.
Tents in Russian architecture did not last long: in the middle of the 17th century. Church authorities prohibited the construction of tented churches, since they were sharply different from the traditional one-domed and five-domed rectangular (ship) churches.
Tent architecture of the 16th-17th centuries, which finds its origins in traditional Russian wooden architecture, is a unique direction of Russian architecture, which has no analogues in the art of other countries and peoples.
Stone tented Church of the Resurrection of Christ in the village of Gorodnya.
St Basil's Church
Temple "Quench My Sorrows" Saratov
Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye
The breath of history, hand-made evidence of the great masters of antiquity - all these are wooden churches and temples in Russia.
Monuments of ancient architecture attract with their grandeur and simultaneous simplicity; wooden churches and temples in Russia are unique buildings that can embody the grandeur of the abode of God in a peasant hut.
IN modern world They also did not abandon the construction of wooden temples. Many of them are located in the capital of Russia and its other glorious cities.
Wooden temples of Rus'
Most of the ancient temple buildings have been preserved in the north of the country, but are in poor condition. Architectural monuments are protected by UNESCO as historical heritage. Currently, we are talking about the likelihood of complete loss of these unique buildings.
The oldest wooden church in Russia
The Church of the Resurrection of Lazarus in Karelia is the most ancient architectural monument. The small building, darkened by time, more closely resembles a wooden hut of ancient villagers, only the dome with a cross indicates that it is a church. The structure was erected according to all the canons of ancient Russian architecture.
The temple is located on the territory of the Kizhi historical reserve; it contains icons on linden boards dating back to the 16th millennium. There are no church services in the temple; the building is used as a tourist site.
Wooden churches in Moscow
The capital of Russia is rich in both ancient and modern wooden churches.
Church of St. George the Victorious. Year of foundation: 1685. This is a majestic wooden three-tiered structure.
It is the main architectural monument of the Kolomenskoye Nature Reserve.
The Temple of St. Sergius of Radonezh, located in Zelenograd, was founded in 1998. A simple one-story building topped with a large and small dome.
The church is active.
In Raevo in 1997 it was erected wooden temple Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The building was created in accordance with the architectural canons of the 15th century.
Wooden temple without a single nail
The pride of Karelia is the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Its uniqueness is its construction without the use of nails.
History has not preserved the names of the great masters of antiquity. The temple was erected in 1714.
The temple is 37 meters high and has 22 domes of various sizes. The whole body of the temple seems to strive upward, into the heavens.
The building is currently under restoration. It is planned to open it for parishioners and tourists in 2020.
Wooden Suzdal temple
St. Nicholas Church in Suzdal was transported from the Vladimir region and restored by the architect M. M. Sharonov. The temple was originally founded in the 18th century in the village of Glotovo, and in 1960 the authorities decided to move it to a new location and restore it.
The church was erected in the western part of the Suzdal Kremlin. The rustic-style structure blends in with the countryside. The basis of the building is a cage made of hewn logs, similar to simple Russian huts. The temple is crowned with a small dome with a cross.
Wooden churches in the Leningrad region
In the village of Rodionovo Leningrad region The Church of St. George the Victorious has existed since 1493. In 1993, restoration was carried out, the appearance of the structure was completely preserved.
Nowadays, it is still a functioning church where services are held.
There are other wooden churches in the vicinity of St. Petersburg:
In total, I count more than fifty operating wooden churches in the Leningrad region.
Modern wooden churches
In the 21st century, believers and philanthropists do not refuse to build churches made of wood. The Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist in the village of Glebychevo is an excellent example of modern architecture.
Year of foundation: 2007. The creators completely preserved the style of pre-revolutionary churches.
The first wooden new church building, erected in 1995, is a church in honor of the Sovereign Icon of the Mother of God in Moscow.
This temple building has one peculiarity: there is no separate belfry for the bells; they are suspended under the dome of the new temple.
Onega island with wooden churches
The unique nature of Kizhi Island and Lake Onega attract tourists. But this is not the only thing that makes the island famous. The most ancient wooden churches in Russia were built in this place.
Temples and chapels of Kizhi Island:
The complex of churches on Kizhi Island is included in the Foundation World Heritage. These temples are considered especially valuable architectural monuments of Russia.
Main types of Russian wooden temple
(as an encyclopedia)
This work was done in a somewhat unusual way for me; mostly only quotes are presented here.
The result was a kind of “encyclopedic” study, where excerpts from the works of Russian and Soviet researchers, historians and architects were selected. Works on the history of Russian wooden architecture.
Wood, which has long been the most common building material among the Slavic peoples, was widely used in Russian architecture. Wooden buildings were erected faster, could be built in the summer and in the cold season, and were drier and warmer than stone ones. However, due to the fragility of wood as a building material and the lack of surviving monuments, we cannot accurately restore the appearance of the disappeared wooden buildings of the most ancient periods of Russian architecture.
Only starting from the 15th - 16th centuries, we have the opportunity to supplement the history of the development of Russian stone architecture with characteristics of contemporary wooden architecture. This characteristic basically corresponds to the wooden architecture of earlier periods, since in wooden buildings of the 16th century. we encounter relics of a very distant time.
Wooden architecture was the most widespread in Rus': temples, fortresses, princely and boyar mansions, townspeople's houses, peasant huts, and outbuildings were built from wood. In wooden architecture, techniques for building composition were developed that corresponded to the everyday life and artistic tastes of the Russian people, often later transferred to stone architecture.
(History of Russian architecture: Academy of Architecture of the USSR, Institute of History and Theory of Architecture, M., 1956)
Our carpenters, when constructing wooden churches, adapted for them those constructive and artistic techniques that they were already well familiar with, and they had to invent the few that were missing in their stock. There was nowhere to borrow because in the field of carpentry, the Russians, of course, stood ahead of the Byzantines, who built almost exclusively from stone and brick.
The main types of Great Russian wooden temples:
1 - Kletsky temples,
2 - Tent temples,
3 - "Lubby" temples,
4 - Tiered temples,
5 - Multi-domed temples.
(Gornostaev F., Grabar I. E. Wooden architecture of the Russian north // Grabar I. E. History of Russian art. T. 1, M., 1910)
Examples of the main types of Russian wooden temples
And now in more detail about these five types of buildings, with a story about them and photographs.
1. Kletskaya Church
A wooden temple with a rectangular frame at the base of the composition and the simplest covering option.
(Pluzhnikov V.I. Terms of Russian architectural heritage. Dictionary-glossary. M., 1995)
Temples, cut in “kletski”, are scattered throughout Great Russia, but most often they are found in the central provinces, which, like the North, are not abundant in forests. Due to their planned design and similarity to a hut, these churches are small in size and do not require large financial expenditures for their construction. The simplest and probably the oldest type of temple consisted of one central large cage with two smaller sections from the east and west, standing directly on the ground, or, in popular parlance, “on the ground.” Covered with roofs on two slopes, the rise is completely similar to the usual rise of the roofs of dwellings, and shaded with a cross, this building fully satisfied its purpose from a purely liturgical point of view, but differed too little in its appearance from ordinary housing.
Church of the Resurrection of Lazarus, Kizhi Museum-Reserve. Photo: A. Lipilin
Cage churches are the closest to residential buildings or even barns - a cage with a gable roof, a dome with a cross and a small refectory. Everything is extremely simple and unpretentious. And this is their main charm. In plan, it is a cage measuring 3x3 meters with two openings, an altar on the east side and a refectory on the west. The foundation is made of small boulders. The structure is very reminiscent of a simple hut .
2. Wooden tent temple
The tent temple differs significantly from the cage temples both in its height and in its strongly emphasized upward tendency. It’s amazing how beautiful, how simple and rational, and how thoughtful this deeply national form of the temple is. While maintaining the traditional three parts - the altar, the main room and the meal, the plans of the tented churches have one significant difference - the main part of the temple forms an octagon. The advantage of this shape over the tetrahedron lies, first of all, in the possibility of significantly increasing the capacity of the temple by using logs of even much shorter length than those needed for the tetrahedron.
But the most important advantage of tented churches lies in their central technique, which allows you to give the temple a cruciform appearance, easily surround it with chapels, refectories, galleries, and give all this an unusually picturesque and grandiose appearance with barrels and kokoshniks.
(Gornostaev F., Grabar I. E. Wooden architecture of the Russian north // Grabar I. E. History of Russian art. T. 1, M., 1910)
Despite the fact that the height of the tented temples was usually very high, sometimes downright colossal, their internal height was always very insignificant. This was done in order to retain heat in the church, since with the tents open from the inside, warm air would rise to their tops, and it would be very difficult to heat the entire mass.
(Krasovsky M.V. Course on the history of Russian architecture. Part 1: Wooden architecture. PG., 1916)
St. George's Church, Malye Karely Museum.
Photo: A. Lipilin.
Tent churches are very impressive. Already from the name it is clear that the main distinctive feature is in them high tower with a tented finish. Many tented churches have survived, and in them you can find a wide variety of space-planning solutions.
3. Wooden cuboid temple
It is difficult to say what caused the appearance of that special covering of the tetrahedral temple, which was given the name “cube”. “Blocky” churches are found mainly in the Onega region and the oldest of them do not go back further than the half of the 17th century. One of the reasons that influenced the emergence of this form was, in part, the well-known ban on building tented churches. The builders were unable to finally and forever abandon the tent, which was too cherished and expensive for the northerner, and from the middle of the 17th century a feverish search for new forms was noticeable, one way or another reminiscent of and replacing the tent. Already the barrel-tent forms were a noticeable concession to the persistent pressure coming from Moscow, but still the tent was to a certain extent saved at the cost of five domes. And the people fell in love with this new type of temple, since the tent was intact and the barrels had long been near and dear to them.
Installing five chapters on a cube does not present any difficulties and, moreover, can be easily done according to the established order, i.e. at the corners of the temple. The convenience of applying the pentacephalon to the cube contributed to the further development of this technique.
(Gornostaev F., Grabar I. E. Wooden architecture of the Russian north // Grabar I. E. History of Russian art. T. 1, M., 1910)
Cube - boxy, or blocky, top; tetrahedral covering of quadrangles, reminiscent in shape of a massive onion-shaped head
(Opolovnikov A.V., Ostrovsky G.S. Wooden Rus'. Images of Russian wooden architecture. M., 1981)
Peter and Paul Church in the Pomeranian village of Virma
.
Photo: N. Telegin
Church of the Ascension in the Malye Karely Museum. Photo: A. Lipilin
4. Wooden tiered temple
The name “quadrangle on a quadrangle”, assigned to churches built into several tiers, does not at all mean that the tiers are all quadrangular. In ancient acts, the same carpentry term is also used in cases where there are one or more octets on a quadrangle, or even no quadrangles at all, but only octets. Underneath it lies the concept of two or more cages placed one on top of the other, each upper one being slightly smaller in width than the one underneath it.
(Gornostaev F., Grabar I. E. Wooden architecture of the Russian north // Grabar I. E. History of Russian art. T. 1, M., 1910)
Museum of Wooden Architecture Kostromskaya Sloboda
Church of Elijah the Prophet from the village of Verkhniy Berezovets near Soligalich, dating back to the turn of the 17th-18th centuries. Photo: Kirill Moiseev
Transfiguration Church, built in 1756 and brought here from the village. Kozlyatevo, Kolchuginsky district, Vladimir region.
Museum of Wooden Architecture in Suzdal. Photo: Vladimir-Dar
5. Wooden multi-domed temple
Five-headedness was already a well-known approach to multi-headedness.
At first glance, what is striking about the Kizhi Temple is the extraordinary, almost fantastical nature of this multi-domed structure, giving some kind of chaotic group of chapters and barrels, interspersed and alternating with each other. Then he stops the intricacy of the chapters hiding in the barrels. Only the rhythm of the latter suggests that there is a system and a plan here, and, moreover, an exceptional and unprecedented plan.
Despite the apparent chaos, everything is clear, sensible and logical. The architect who created this truly “wonderful marvel” can be called a deep connoisseur of his art and at the same time a son of his time, who was not averse to the new forms of “quadrangle on quadrangle”.
It boldly and cheerfully merges into one relaxed artistic whole both the innovation of the contemporary era and the rich heritage of forms created by the people
(Gornostaev F., Grabar I. E. Wooden architecture of the Russian north // Grabar I. E. History of Russian art. T. 1, M., 1910)
But the most surprising thing is different. The complexity of the composition of multi-domed churches is only apparent. Based on a few planned types (a rectangular log house with trusses, an octagon with two or four trusses and occasionally a cross-shaped log house, complicating and supplementing them with chapels, galleries and refectories, raising buildings to high basements and modifying the shape of the coverings, Russian architects achieved exceptional diversity in volume and silhouette of wooden churches.
(Opolovnikov A.V. Russian wooden architecture. M., 1986)
Ensemble in Kizhi. Church of the Transfiguration (summer) and Church of the Intercession (winter).
Photo: A. Lipilin
Church of the Transfiguration in Kizhi. The apotheosis of Russian wooden architecture, striking in its splendor.
Photo: A. Lipilin
The twenty-two-domed Church of the Transfiguration in Kizhi is the most famous and most popular monument of wooden architecture, which has become its symbol. This is a kind of personification of all the beauties of the ancient Russian wooden temple.
........................................ ........................................ .............................
This is a kind of “encyclopedic” study, which contains excerpts from the works of Russian and Soviet architects on the history of Russian wooden architecture.
The work consists of quotes drawn from the most famous scientific works our researchers. Starting from I.E. Grabar to our contemporary A.V. Opolovnikov. That is, from the beginning of the twentieth century to its end. More precisely, until the end of the Soviet period of our history, when systematic and large-scale work on the study and restoration of wooden architecture actually ended. Of course, work continues today, but on a completely different, more modest scale.
Types of temples have been created over many centuries, from the simplest - the cage type, to complex multi-domed structures. And the carpentry techniques developed over the years have created unique and inimitable buildings.
All photographs are taken only from articles published in the Architectural Style Magazine.
Literature:
1.Gornostaev F., Grabar I. E. Wooden architecture of the Russian north // Grabar I. E. History of Russian art. T. 1, M., 1910
2. Krasovsky M.V. Course on the history of Russian architecture. Part 1: Wooden architecture. PG., 1916
3. History of Russian architecture: Academy of Architecture of the USSR, Institute of History and Theory of Architecture, M., 1956
4. Opolovnikov A.V., Ostrovsky G.S. Wooden Rus'. Images of Russian wooden architecture. M., 1981
5. Opolovnikov A.V. Russian wooden architecture. M., 1986
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P.S. The article was prepared specifically for the Architectural Style Magazine.
If new photographs on this topic appear in our magazine, please inform us about this and send links. Additional photographs will be included in this study.
Timber buildings are a distinctive part of Russia's architectural heritage, especially in traditional villages in the north of the country. For more than a thousand years, until the 18th century, literally all buildings were built from wood, including houses, barns, mills, princely palaces and temples. It all started with simple wooden domes, but over the centuries, wooden architecture in Russia has reached such a degree of grace that the beauty of some of these religious complexes is still admired to this day. Particularly interesting are the traditional wooden churches of northern Russia.
Working without hammers or nails, Russian architects erected such incredible structures as the 24-domed Intercession Church in Vytegra (built in 1708 and burned down in 1963) and the 22-domed Transfiguration Church on the island of Kizhi (built in 1714).
None of the original wooden churches have survived, but some cathedrals built in the early 18th century managed to survive many harsh winters and the persecution of the church by the Communists, when magnificent churches were burned or desecrated for almost a hundred years. Most of the miraculously preserved churches are now in a state of dilapidation and desolation.
When the famous artist and illustrator of Russian folk tales Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin visited the northern part of Russia at the end of the 19th century, he saw these unique wooden churches with his own eyes and literally fell in love with them. With his photographs taken during a trip to the north, Bilibin managed to draw people's attention to the deplorable state of wooden churches. It was thanks to his efforts and the sale of postcards that money was raised to restore 300-year-old churches. But almost a century and a half has passed since then, and many wooden churches of the Russian North are again in need of restoration.
1. Kizhi Pogost
Kizhi or Kizhi Pogost is located on one of the many islands of Lake Onega in Karelia. This architectural ensemble includes two beautiful 18th-century wooden churches and an octagonal bell tower (also made of wood), which was built in 1862. A real pearl of Kizhi architecture is the 22-domed Transfiguration Church with a large iconostasis - a wooden altar partition covered with religious portraits and icons.
The roof of the Transfiguration Church in Kizhi was made of spruce boards, and its domes were covered with aspen. The design of these complex superstructures also provided an effective ventilation system, ultimately preserving the structure of the church from decay.
This massive church, approximately 37 meters high, was made entirely of wood, making it one of the tallest log structures in the world. Not a single nail was used during the construction process.
During the 1950s, dozens of other churches from various parts of Karelia were moved to the island for conservation purposes, and today 80 historic wooden structures form the national open-air museum.
2. Church in Suzdal
In Suzdal (Vladimir region) you can find at least 4 interesting wooden churches built between the 13th and 18th centuries.
Some of them are exhibits of the Museum of Wooden Architecture, created in Suzdal.
3. Church of All Saints in Surgut
The temple in the name of all the saints who shone in the land of Siberia, built in Surgut, was restored in 2002 according to all the canons of Orthodox architecture - a wooden structure without a single nail. And they collected it in the very place where the Cossacks founded the city and built the first church.
Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built in 1531 in the village of Peredki. Subsequently, it was moved to the open-air museum of Vitoslavlitsa.
4. Church of Elisha the Ugodnik on Sidozero
Church of the Holy Prophet Elisha Ugodnika is located in the Podporozhsky district of the Leningrad region on the shore of Lake Sidozero, not far from the holiday village of Yakovlevskaya. Previously, not far from the village and in close proximity to the church there was the village of Yakovlevskoye (Sidozero village). Now there are no residential buildings left near the church - only on the other side.
The Orthodox church was built in 1899. The building is wooden, on a stone foundation, but at the same time it has the shape of the Russian eclectic style, characteristic of stone architecture. Closed in the late 1930s.
The fate of the church is sad: apparently, its value has faded in comparison with its luxurious and ancient neighbors - churches in Soginitsy and Shcheleiki. Vazhinakh and Gimrek, even awarded the status of cultural heritage sites (architectural monuments) federal significance and a comprehensive restoration in the 1970s, and are generally doing well.
The Church of Elisha on Sidozero was not included in any high lists (and guidebooks) in the middle of the last century, apparently due to its age and style, but is now completely abandoned and neglected, has fallen into disrepair - it probably has only a few years left 5-10, until it turns into ruin... But what did not attract due attention from specialists in the 20th century - the stylish beauty of the church - half a century later is its undeniable and extremely attractive advantage
5. Church of the Resurrection of Christ, Suzdal
The Resurrection Church from the village of Potakino was transported to Suzdal. This church was founded in 1776. What stands out in particular is the bell tower, which is built into the church itself.
6. Church of St. George the Victorious in Malye Korely
Initially, the Church in the name of St. George the Victorious was built in the village of Vershiny in 1672. During reconstruction, she was transported to Arkhangelsk state museum wooden architecture and folk art "Malye Korely". Verkhnyaya Sanarka is a small village in the Plastovsky district of the Chelyabinsk region. Cossacks once lived here. Today, many people strive to visit this village to see a unique attraction - the wooden church of the icon of the Mother of God “Quick to Hear”. This amazing church was built over three years - from 2002 to 2005.
The uniqueness of the church is that it was built using ancient Russian technology of wooden architecture. The builders specially went to Kizhi to learn this skill. It's hard to believe, but the temple was built without a single nail.
Wooden structures were impregnated with special substances that protect against fire and rot. Now the main misfortune from which all Russian wooden churches suffered - fire - is not terrible for this church.
The temple has an upper and lower room, and can accommodate 300 believers at a time. The height of the church is 37 meters.
8. Church of St. Nicholas in Veliky Novgorod
Temple of the Vladimir Icon of God
The Church of the Vladimir Icon of God, built in 1757, today is a monument of federal significance. The temple stands on the high bank of the Onega River. Externally, the temple is quite strong; the “sky” has been preserved from the interior. In some places the roof was destroyed. The central part of the temple sags down and pulls the borders adjacent to it along with it. Serious restoration work is needed.
13. Church of the Great Martyr George the Victorious, village of Permogorye
Monument of federal significance. The temple is located on the banks of the Northern Dvina and is unique with three domes on a cross-shaped barrel. In 2011, the planks on the roof of the refectory were replaced, the roof around the perimeter was partially repaired, and a drainage ditch was dug around the temple.
14. Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, Nimenga village.
The village is located on the shores of the White Sea. The Nimenga River picturesquely circles the temple on three sides. The photos were taken in June at two o'clock in the morning. The temple is very large in size. Restoration is currently required.
15. Chapel of Saints Zosima and Savvaty Solovetsky, Semenovskaya village
This is what the chapel of St. Zosima and Savvaty Solovetsky looks like after restoration work
Ancient and majestic, the oldest churches and monasteries of the capital are architectural monuments and a treasure trove of centuries-old history. At a minimum, it’s worth knowing about them, but best of all, visiting them. Read more in the material of the portal “ZagraNitsa”
Danilov Monastery
The male Orthodox monastery was founded in 1560 by Tsar Ivan the Terrible on the very spot where, according to legend, there was an ancient monastery founded by Prince Daniil Alexandrovich at the end of the 13th - beginning of the 14th century. It is considered one of the most ancient churches in Moscow.
Built in 1560, the main cathedral was rebuilt in the middle of the 17th century and in 1729, when its facades were supplemented with elements of the Naryshkin Baroque. The relics of Prince Daniil of Moscow were kept within the walls of the monastery for a long time. The Gate Church of the Danilov Monastery with its valuable bells from the Danilov belfry also deserves special attention.
Photo: bankgorodov.ru Address: st. Danilovsky Val, 22
Temple of Cosmas and Damian in Shubin
The Church of the Holy Unmercenaries and Wonderworkers Cosmas and Damian (Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary) in Shubin was built in 1626, after the wooden church that stood on this site burned down, the walls of which remembered Dmitry Donskoy himself.
The structure was repeatedly restored after fires and destruction, but survived the revolution with difficulty: the temple was destroyed and closed, the bell tower was dismantled, and even the question of its demolition was raised in 1958. Fortunately, destruction was avoided. In the 1970s, the church building was restored, and services were resumed only in 1991.
Photo: mos-churches.ru Address: Stoleshnikov lane, 2
Church of the Great Martyr George the Victorious in Starye Luchniki
The Church of St. George appeared on this site for a reason: in old times here was the “Cow Platform”, where they traded cattle, which the great martyr patronized. The wooden temple “at the Cow Platform” began to be mentioned in the 1460s, and at the beginning of the 17th century a stone church was already erected.
The Church of the Great Martyr George the Victorious in Starye Luchniki consisted of
a two-tier quadrangle with five domes, a refectory and a bell tower with a tent (by the way, known as the first building of such a design in the capital). In 1932, the church was closed, the NKVD dormitory was located in its premises, and later it simply stood abandoned. The building was handed over to the Orthodox community only in 1993, and thanks to lengthy restoration, the temple was revived.
Photo: bogoyavlenskoe.ru Address: Lubyansky pr-d, 9, building 2
Conception Monastery
The Conception Monastery was founded in the 1360s by Metropolitan Alexy (Byakont) and is rightfully considered the oldest women's church in the city. The monastery was called both Zachatievskaya (the first wooden church was consecrated in the name of the Conception of St. Anna) and Alekseevskaya (in honor of the founder).
The monastery was literally consumed by fire, more than once, and after a fire in 1547 it was even moved to a new location (to where the Cathedral of Christ the Savior is now located). Already in 1584, the church was restored at its original location by the forces of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, but was again seriously damaged by fire at the beginning of the 17th century. Almost the entire twentieth century, the monastery was closed, until its revival began in 1991 and in 1995 it opened its doors to parishioners as the Conception Stauropegic Convent.
Photo: zachatevmon.ru Address: 2nd Zachatievsky lane, 2
Temple of the Savior Not Made by Hands on Setun
This ancient one Orthodox church was erected in 1673–1676 at the estate that belonged to the boyar and diplomat A. S. Matveev. During the first half of the 19th century, the church was rebuilt, a refectory and a bell tower were erected, an altar was built in the name of St. Gregory Decapolite, and a stone fence was made.
Most of the monastery was built according to the style of the 17th century: with five-domed quadrangles and a hill of kokoshniks, facades in white stone carvings and luxurious window frames in the rays. The Church of the Savior of the Image Not Made by Hands on Setun was closed in 1941; services were resumed only in 1989, at which time the restoration of the buildings continued.
Photo: Berdasova Maria Address: Ryabinovaya st., 18
Temple of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God in Alekseevsky
The Tikhvin Church is located in a small park near the VDNH metro station. The five-domed red brick temple was founded in 1673 at the behest of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in the palace village of Alekseevskoye. There are rumors that under the Church of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God there was a passage straight to the royal palace. The interiors of the church could also be called royal: the premises contained chapels for the king and queen with special entrances from the walkway, which have survived to this day.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the Tikhvin Church was plundered, its premises were converted into a food warehouse and stables. But even despite this, the temple managed to preserve most of the ancient icons and iconostasis. This is one of the few monasteries that managed not to close during the Soviet period. The church was repaired in 1945, and throughout the 1970s and 1980s, its restoration was carried out, during which ancient wall paintings were discovered.
Photo: margaritka.tourister.ru
Address: Prospect Mira (understudy), 130
Church of the Conception of Anna, in the Corner
The temple, erected on the banks of the Moscow River near Kitaygorodsky Proezd, is one of the oldest parish churches in the capital. It was built in the middle of the 16th century. The facades of the Church of the Conception of Anna, in the Corner, were completed by three-lobed arches covered with black-polished tiles.
By the end of the 1920s, services in the temple ceased, and the interiors were destroyed. But thanks to restoration work under the leadership of architect L.A. David, many elements of the internal and external decoration were restored.
Photo: nomad.tourister.ru Address: Moskvoretskaya embankment, 3
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