Built a cathedral. The history of the construction of the Peter and Paul Cathedral and interesting facts. The interior of the cathedral
Today we are told that the famous Cologne Cathedral in the German city of Cologne was allegedly built over several hundred years (the construction of the Cologne Cathedral in the Middle Ages. An unfinished tower with an overhanging wooden crane is visible on the left. Taken from).
It is believed that construction began in the Middle Ages, allegedly in the 4th century AD. . Then the cathedral was allegedly rebuilt many times, and nothing of these "early cathedrals" has survived today. The Gothic cathedral began to be erected on this site allegedly in 1248. They even call the exact date: August 15, 1248. It is further assumed that the construction was "mostly" completed in the 16th century, around 1560. Then this huge medieval cathedral was allegedly only partially restored and slightly renovated, but in general its appearance changed little (modern view of Cologne Cathedral. City of Cologne, Germany. Taken from).
How justified is this point of view? When was the cathedral that we see today built? Do we really see medieval building, the main part of which was created in the XIII-XVI centuries?
The figure reproduces a diagram from a technical brochure, clearly showing which parts of the cathedral are composed of medieval masonry, and which were built in the last two centuries. The full title of the brochure is: “Gefahr fϋr den Kölner Dom. Bild-Documentation zur Verwitterung. Auszug aus dem Kölner Dom-Lese- and Bilderbuch. Professor Dr. Arnold Wolff”, the brochure is intended for professionals interested in the details of the conservation and restoration of stone structures. Printed in Cologne and available inside Cologne Cathedral.
What can be seen from this map-scheme of the cathedral? The most ancient masonry, namely the masonry of 1248-1560, is shown in the diagram with horizontal hatching. All other masonry, depicted in seven other ways - oblique hatching, dotted, etc. - already belong to the era later than 1826!
Chronology of the laying of the Cologne Cathedral. Taken from the technical brochure Gefahr fϋr den Kölner Dom. Bild-Documentation zur Verwitterung. Auszug aus dem Kölner Dom-Lese- and Bilderbuch. Professor Dr. Arnold Wolf. We received this pamphlet at Cologne Cathedral itself. It is striking that the oldest medieval masonry of 1248-1560, that is, the horizontal shading in the drawing, is only a small part of the modern building. In fact, this is only half of the foundation of the cathedral. Yes and that. this surviving medieval foundation consists of two parts quite far apart. The rest of the masonry, that is, the vast majority of the volume of the modern building, appeared here only in early XIX century! In particular, the masonry of the era of 1560-1825 is completely absent from the diagram. Does this mean that in the era from 1560 to 1825, that is, about two hundred and fifty years, no work was carried out at all? Or did they not lead to a noticeable change in the structure of the walls of the cathedral?
Thus, German historians and archaeologists tell us quite unequivocally that the cathedral we see today was actually built entirely in the 19th century! But in this case, on what basis does Scaligerian history assure us that before our eyes is a medieval temple? Perhaps someone will say: well, let the cathedral be almost completely created in the 19th century. But it almost certainly reproduces a medieval original that has stood on this site since the 13th century.
What are the grounds for such a hypothesis? we say. Are there authentic medieval drawings depicting Cologne Cathedral before the 17th century? It seems that there are simply no such original drawings dating back to the 17th century. In any case, in the same brochure by Arnold Wolf, only an engraving of 1834-1836 depicting the Cologne Cathedral is given. It is curious that it shows a cathedral, very similar to the modern one. In the album on p. 21 is shown, as, apparently, the oldest, only an engraving of 1809 depicting the cathedral. In our opinion, this only means that the construction of the cathedral in its modern form began only in the 19th century. Which, in fact, is what the above masonry scheme claims. Construction was started around 1820 and completed in outline around 1835. That is about 15 years. The engraving of 1834-1836 recorded the last stage of the creation of the temple. Then, in the 19th and 20th centuries, it was actually restored and rebuilt several times, but its external appearance changed slightly.
There were probably some traces of an ancient structure on the site of the modern Cologne Cathedral. After all, some mysterious masonry is marked on the drawing in some parts of the foundation, dating from the era of supposedly 1248-1560. However, from the same scheme it absolutely unambiguously follows that this ancient medieval masonry was used, among other things, as construction material during the subsequent construction of the cathedral in the 19th century. Take a look again at fig. 49. The left tower of the cathedral in its lower part is lined with stones of the 19th century, between which stones of the 13th-16th centuries are laid in some places! And the upper half of this tower, as well as the second tower, by the way, was entirely created only in the 19th century. Thus, the ancient medieval building, which was on the site of the modern Cologne Cathedral, was dismantled in the 19th century, and its material went to the construction of a virtually new building.
So, we would like to ask historians and archaeologists the following questions.
1) Are there authentic medieval drawings depicting the Cologne Cathedral, or the building that was in its place earlier than the 17th century?
2) Is it true that the modern Cologne Cathedral "looks like" a medieval temple that stood here before the 19th or 18th century? Our hypothesis: if some temple stood here, it did not look like what we see today. For example, it was significantly less.
Why are there no noticeable traces of masonry from 1560-1825 in the walls of the modern Cologne Cathedral? Doesn't this mean that real construction began only in the 19th century? On the site of some small building of the XIII-XVI centuries. By the way, how reliable is the masonry dated, allegedly belonging to the XIII-XVI centuries? Or maybe these stones were laid here much later, say, in the 17th-18th centuries? By the way, let's ask another interesting question: how exactly do modern archaeologists date the stonework fragment? How do they know that a given stone was placed in the wall of the cathedral in such and such a year, and not in some other?
In conclusion, let us make a general remark about the strange duration of the construction of many famous buildings of the European Middle Ages. According to Scaligerian history, they were built for a very, very long time. For many hundreds of years. Take, for example, the Strasbourg Münster. At one time it was the tallest building in Europe. We are told that it was allegedly started to be built in 1015, and completed only in 1275. It turns out that it took 260 years to build. The Erwin von Steinbach Tower, under Münster, was allegedly built for 162 years. The historian Kohlrausch reasonably notes "... therefore, the entire building (of Münster. - Auth.) was built for 424 years". Almost half a millennium!
Kohlrausch could not pass by the allegedly very long construction of the Cologne Cathedral. Apparently. realizing that such a strangely long duration needs an explanation, he writes the following: “Cologne Cathedral, founded in 1248 ... the construction lasted 250 years. such slowness, - Kohlrausch theorizes, - is explained by the fact that thousands of images are carved on his stones. As we begin to understand, the point is not in the images, but in the wrong Scaligerian chronology, which artificially stretched the construction time for many centuries.
A.T. Fomenko. “Four hundred years of deceit. Mathematics allows you to look into the past. – M.: Astrey; AST; Vladimir: VKT, 2010. - 350 p.
In 1561, one of the most famous churches in Russia, the Intercession Cathedral, or, as it is called otherwise, St. Basil's Cathedral, was consecrated. Portal "Culture.RF" remembered Interesting Facts from the history of its creation.
Temple-monument
The Intercession Cathedral is not just a church, but a memorial temple erected in honor of the accession of the Kazan Khanate to the Russian state. The main battle, in which the Russian troops won, took place on the day of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos. And the temple was consecrated in honor of this Christian holiday. The cathedral consists of separate churches, each of which is also consecrated in honor of the holidays in which the decisive battles for Kazan took place - the Trinity, the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem and others.
Massive construction in record time
Initially, a wooden Trinity Church stood on the site of the cathedral. Temples were built around it during campaigns against Kazan - they celebrated the resounding victories of the Russian army. When Kazan finally fell, Metropolitan Macarius proposed to Ivan the Terrible to rebuild the architectural ensemble in stone. He wanted to surround central temple seven churches, but for the sake of symmetry, the number was increased to eight. So, on the same foundation, 9 independent churches and a belfry were built, they were connected by vaulted passages. Outside, the churches were surrounded by an open gallery, which was called the abyss - it was a kind of church porch. Each temple was crowned with its own dome with a unique pattern and original drum decoration. A grandiose building for those times, 65 meters high, was built in just six years - from 1555 to 1561. Until 1600 it was the tallest building in Moscow.
Temple in honor of the soothsayer
Although the official name of the cathedral is the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat, everyone knows it as St. Basil's Cathedral. According to legend, the famous Moscow miracle worker collected money for the construction of the temple, and then was buried near its walls. Holy fool Basil the Blessed walked the streets of Moscow barefoot, almost without clothes for almost the entire year, preaching mercy and helping others. There were legends about his prophetic gift: they say he predicted the Moscow fire of 1547. The son of Ivan the Terrible, Fyodor Ivanovich, ordered the construction of a church dedicated to St. Basil the Blessed. It became part of the Intercession Cathedral. The church was the only temple that always worked - all year round, day and night. Later, according to its name, parishioners began to call the cathedral St. Basil's Cathedral.
Louis Bichebois. Lithograph "St. Basil's Church"
Vitaly Grafov. Moscow miracle worker Blessed Basil. 2005
The royal treasury and the lectern at the Execution Ground
Not in the cathedral basements. Instead, they built a common base - a vaulted basement without supporting pillars. They were ventilated through special narrow holes - vents. Initially, the premises were used as a warehouse - the royal treasury and the values of some wealthy Moscow families were stored there. Later, a narrow entrance to the basement was laid - it was found only during the restoration of the 1930s.
Despite its colossal external dimensions, the Intercession Cathedral is quite small inside. Perhaps because it was originally built as a memorial monument. In winter, the cathedral was completely closed, as it was not heated. When services began to be held in the temple, especially on major church holidays, very few people were placed inside. Then the lectern was transferred to the Execution Ground, and the cathedral seemed to serve as a huge altar.
Russian architect or European master
It is still not known for certain who built St. Basil's Cathedral. Researchers have several options. One of them - the cathedral was erected by the ancient Russian architects Postnik Yakovlev and Ivan Barma. According to another version, Yakovlev and Barma were actually one person. The third option says that a foreign architect became the author of the cathedral. After all, the composition of St. Basil's Cathedral has no analogies in ancient Russian architecture, but in Western European art you can find prototypes of the building.
Whoever the architect was, there are sad legends about his future fate. According to them, when Ivan the Terrible saw the temple, he was struck by its beauty and ordered the architect to be blinded so that he would never repeat his majestic building anywhere. Another legend says that the foreign builder was executed at all - for the same reason.
Iconostasis with inversion
The iconostasis for St. Basil's Cathedral was created in 1895 by architect Andrei Pavlinov. This is the so-called iconostasis with an inversion - it is so large for a small temple that it continues on the side walls. It is decorated with ancient icons - Our Lady of Smolensk of the 16th century and the image of St. Basil the Blessed, written in the 18th century.
Also, the temple is decorated with murals - they are created on the walls of the building in different years. Basil the Blessed, the Mother of God are depicted here, the main dome is decorated with the face of the Almighty Savior.
Iconostasis in St. Basil's Cathedral. 2016. Photo: Vladimir d "Ar
"Lazarus, put me in my place!"
The cathedral was almost destroyed several times. During Patriotic War In 1812, French stables were located here, and after that the temple was completely going to be blown up. Already in Soviet time Stalin's associate Lazar Kaganovich suggested dismantling the cathedral so that there would be more space on Red Square for parades and demonstrations. He even created a layout of the square, and the temple building was easily removed from it. But Stalin, seeing an architectural model, said: “Lazar, put it in its place!”
Light and majestic at the same time, it resembles ancient Russian temples with its architecture...
The Cathedral of the Zachatievsky Monastery does not at all resemble the one that was in the monastery before its destruction in the 20th century. Why?
When we were about to build the Cathedral, many art historians strongly stated that existing rules on the territory of the monastery, which is a monument of federal significance, nothing can be built, except for an exact copy of the last temple that stood here, and then after lengthy approvals. But the last temple was built in the Gothic style, and the Zachatievsky Monastery is 650 years old, it stands in a corner of old Moscow - Gothic would look out of place here.
We were more attracted by Moscow architecture - the way the temple was erected under Tsar Theodore Ioannovich at the end of the 16th century. However, we could not recreate it exactly, since that temple was too small, and no detailed images of it have been preserved.
I went to the now deceased Patriarch Alexy II, showed him a photo of the 19th century cathedral and a small engraving depicting the 16th century cathedral. His Holiness carefully examined everything, then looked at me and suddenly asked: “Mother, where do we live?” I was taken aback: "Your Holiness, in Moscow ..." - "So we will build characteristically for Moscow, design a new cathedral."
Really officials did not interfere with such a decision?
They interfered... From the ministry they sent me a solemn letter, which began with commendable words: “Dear mother Abbess! We admire your work..." - and then it followed: "We bring to your attention that in connection with such and such an article of federal legislation, it is forbidden to build anything on the territory of a monument of federal significance... Otherwise, dear mother, you will be prosecuted under such and such article. Sincerely..."
But my sisters and I were deeply convinced that, with the blessing of His Holiness the Patriarch, the Lord would help us build a Cathedral - snow-white, striving upwards to sing the purity of the Mother of God in stone. A series of approvals stretched out ... At first we met stiff resistance, they told me: “Mother, take care of your nerves, do not achieve the impossible.” But we prayed.
Before one of the meetings, which turned out to be decisive, I told the sisters: “Go to the temple and read akathists to the Mother of God, our heavenly patrons, until I call you.” At the seventh akathist, we received an agreement in principle... The well-known art critic Alexei Ilyich Komich, who was holding a meeting of the working group at the Ministry of Culture, suddenly said: "Let's accept the wishes of the monastery"... Since this is a person with a worldwide reputation, there were no objections.
Then a city-planning council was held at the Moscow City Hall, where there were also many contradictions, but Yuri Mikhailovich Luzhkov, God save him, said: “Since the Patriarch has blessed, we will not argue.”
And how did you manage to find funds for such a grandiose construction?
When we started building, we did not have any financial resources. There was not enough money even to buy potatoes, to pay utility bills. By the grace of God, a person was found who paid for the demolition of the school building, then others - those who donated funds for archaeological research. When it was necessary to start the actual construction, there was no help from anyone. His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II asked me: “Mother, do you have any benefactors?” - "Not". - “But how are you going to build?” “We hope in the Lord and Mother of God.” - "Well, then we'll build it."
And indeed, somehow miraculously Little by little funds came in. Finally, just at the time when all the sources of money dried up, a man came who said: “Mother, I am used to helping in a big way. I take over the construction of the Cathedral.” I didn’t even quite believe it, because at the beginning of construction, many undertook to help us, and then, for reasons beyond their control, stepped aside ...
But the help didn't stop there. When we were just making the foundations, the benefactor offered to buy material for the domes. We covered the cupolas with gold smalt, which we purchased in Italy: for the large chapter - from yellow gold, for the rest - from white. This material is durable, unlike gold leaf, which quickly loses its appearance in Moscow conditions. God save the servant of God Demetrius, he did not spare money for materials. The temple outside and inside is finished with white stone, covered with hand-carved. In the midst of the crisis, I suggested at least upstairs, on the drum, to use fake diamond- but the ktitor answered: “What are you, mother, we are building with you for centuries, we will not save.”
And how was the project of the Cathedral born?
Several architects worked with us, they offered their projects, but we could not stop at any of them. And then a miracle happened. Our parishioner, the servant of God Peter, an architect by profession, had an amazing dream: as if he came to the territory of the monastery at night and saw a pillar, on which the venerable mothers Juliana and Eupraxia climbed the stairs. Peter followed them. I saw Moscow from above: the Kremlin, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior... The Monk Juliana asked the Monk Eupraxia: “What, is the Cathedral of Christ the Savior big?” - "Yes". - "Is our Cathedral big?" - "Big, but smaller." Peter woke up with the idea of making a sketch of the Cathedral. Done. Brought it to us. Turned out to be exactly what we wanted...
It looks like the construction of the Cathedral is some kind of miracle from start to finish!
We have a special place: for six centuries there was a monastery here, a host of ascetics - this is very affecting. And one more thing: in the monastery you can tangibly feel the protection of the Mother of God. The Mother of God is indeed our Heavenly Mother, everything that is done here is done by Her intercession, and not by our own strengths or merits. It is amazing that all the main events in the monastery are
November 25, the day of the "Merciful" icon of the Mother of God. The Patriarch planned to consecrate the gate temple on the day of the Image Not Made by Hands - on his patronal feast, but it turned out that the consecration was transferred to the "Merciful". The Church of the Conception was consecrated on the Gracious, the Holy Spirit - on the eve, the Cathedral was planned to be laid in the summer, but for reasons beyond our control, the laying was moved to the Gracious, on the same holiday, bells, crosses were consecrated in different years ... On this the day was consecrated and the Cathedral itself.
The Mother of God, with her grace, covers us, sinners and the weak. The erection of the Cathedral is a miracle of the Most Pure One, we ourselves would never have been able to build it. Construction went on during the crisis, it was almost the only construction site in Moscow that was not frozen, so even the media turned to us with the question of how this was possible. When the scaffolding was removed, it seemed to me that this temple was lowered from the sky.
- The “merciful” icon of the Mother of God is the main shrine of the monastery. But she was not returned to it immediately after the opening of the monastery?
In 1993, when the monastery began to be revived, we wanted to immediately take miraculous icon, and the parishioners of the temple of Elijah the Ordinary, where she was kept all the years of persecution of the faith, leave a list. But the hierarchy did not bless to do this immediately, since the temple had not yet been restored.
We took the list, and literally two weeks later it became myrrh-streaming.
And the icon itself was transferred only in 1999, when the Church of the Conception appeared in the Refectory building. Planned to hold a big procession, but the date was postponed all summer.
Finally, deep autumn has come, when religious processions are usually no longer satisfied. My sisters and I decided to read the akathist to the “Merciful” Mother of God for forty days, so that the Most Pure Herself would manage everything in the way She pleased. After that, I invited His Holiness to serve with us on November 25, without even mentioning the transfer of the icon. And the Patriarch himself decided not only to celebrate the service, but also to transfer the miraculous image. It was twenty-five degrees below zero outside, but a majestic religious procession took place, in which more than a hundred clergymen, four bishops took part ...
Why was the Cathedral made two-storied, and even so complexly planned: with many aisles at the top, with two underground temples and a museum at the bottom?
During the excavations, we found a whole street of cells of the end of the 14th - beginning of the 15th century, the remains of the floors of the 13th century, along which St. Alexy and the venerable mothers Juliana and Eupraxia walked. The foundations of the first stone church erected at the beginning of the 16th century, then the stone church of the second half of the same century, erected by the diligence of Tsar Theodore Ioannovich and his wife, Tsarina Irina Godunova, as well as the foundations of the last stone Cathedral built in the 19th century, were discovered.
When we came into contact with all this antiquity, we realized that we could not destroy or bury what was found. Although many people advised to call an excavator, quickly rake everything out, take it out and start building the Cathedral. But we felt that this is our shrine, that all these stones are saturated with the feat of our predecessors.
Therefore, they decided to save the finds and make a museum under the Cathedral. Of course, this complicated the construction project and caused a lot of problems: it was necessary somehow to preserve the historical foundations and create new ones. Now, in the basement of the Cathedral, we are equipping a museum and two churches are already operating.
To whom are these underground churches dedicated?
One temple was consecrated in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "The Burning Bush", the other - in the name of All the Reverend Fathers and Wives, who shone in the feat of fasting and prayer. During the excavations, we came across a huge number of remains, most of which belonged to the nuns who labored in our monastery. Many of the bones are golden, honey-colored, and this, according to the Athos tradition, testifies to the deceased as having pleased God. Many of the remains - with chains, with rosaries, crosses ... We realized that with their prayers, sweat, blood, tears, the monastery stood, stands and will stand.
There was a desire to especially honor their memory, so that those who come here could prayerfully commemorate the monastics who have died here. The names of all the ascetics of the monastery are unknown to us, and therefore it was decided to dedicate the chapel to all the reverend fathers and wives, for which the blessing of both the deceased Primate and the now living His Holiness Patriarch was received.
Divine services are held regularly in this church, mainly for the sisters of the monastery, and on certain days, for example, on early Sunday liturgies and on the patronal feast of the monastery, parishioners can also pray here. We thought for a long time how to make the iconostasis, especially since the underground premises of the church are damp.
Finally, we settled on a rather unusual option - a forged iconostasis. Its main motif is the vine, which reminds us that Christ is the Vine and we are the offspring.
I have never seen a forged iconostasis before!
And where were the remains found during the excavations buried?
At first they were buried in the monastery cemetery and in the courtyard, and then they made a chapel for the church of the Reverends
Ossuary as on Athos and Sinai. A crypt was arranged under the floor, where the bones lie, and the skulls were placed on the shelves. They made an inscription that we saw in one of the ossuaries: “We were like you, and you will be like us.” Here we serve lithium, requiem services, sisters come here just to pray. Here one involuntarily thinks about Eternity, about the frailty of earthly existence... It helps to stop, to sober up. "Remember your last and you will not sin forever."
It is very symbolic that at the base of the main cathedral of the monastery are the relics of the predecessors...
When the Belt was brought to Russia in 2011 Holy Mother of God, our monastery was visited by Elder Ephraim from Vatopedi. He shared that when he entered the territory of the monastery, he immediately felt the protection of the Queen of Heaven. And he said: “You had so many ascetics who stand before the Throne of God for you - both martyrs and reverends - their prayer is very tangible.”
And why did they build an underground temple in honor of the "Burning Bush"?
In the second half of the 18th century, over the place of the alleged burial of the founders of the monastery - St. abbess Juliana and nun Evpraksia at the expense of a philanthropist - a noble maiden A.M. Anichkova built a temple in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Burning Bush". It was small, not heated. At the end of the 19th century, a spacious Kazan chapel was built in its place, which was connected to the main volume of the Cathedral.
We decided to restore this temple in the basement of the new cathedral, under the Kazan chapel. Since the Burning Bush, symbolizing Mother of God, - this is a bush that burned and did not burn out, then we made the iconostasis of the temple ceramic - coming out of the fire. Passed through the fire and candlesticks, and chandeliers - they are forged. And the painting is "fiery" - in ocher-red, saturated colors. Our icon painters traveled to Cappadocia and painted this church with images and compositions in the style of frescoes of ancient Cappadocian temples.
Alina Sergeychuk spoke with Abbess Juliania (Kaleda)
Magazine "Church Builder" No. 40 (autumn 2013), publishing house "Rusizdat".
Well, what was built in the Middle Ages for a very, very long time is known to everyone. Although this statement is not entirely true. Many cathedrals were built in a fairly short time: for example, if it was a royal or imperial order (and large sums were allocated and a large number of people for construction). For example, the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople was built in just 6 years (and cost 3 of Byzantium's annual budget!), The names of the architects are also preserved in the annals - Anfimy from Thrall and Isidore from Miletus. By the way, in Miletus since Antiquity there was a powerful scientific school, including mathematics, so we would most likely call Isidore an engineer, not an architect. And despite the fact that its dome collapsed from a strong earthquake, after a little time the next one was bought, even larger in diameter. Of course, Byzantium was the heir to the Roman Empire and it is logical that the knowledge and experience of Antiquity found their continuation here. Those treatises that have come down to us say that in ancient Greece and Rome there were sciences that studied the resistance of materials, allowing you to calculate the system of unloading, calculations of vertical and horizontal stress, and so on.
However, one should not oppose "learned Byzantium" and "barbarian West". It is widely believed that after the fall of the Roman Empire, in Europe "everyone forgot everything", they lost all their skills and built "by eye". When large states arose in Europe, by the 12th century, an active translation of ancient texts from Latin and Arabic began here. By the 13th century, they are comprehended and supplemented with accumulated experience. For example, in 1268-1271 Thomas Aquinas makes a scientific commentary on Aristotle's Physics. His famous Summa included Aristotle's Organon, Plato's Timaeus, Euclid's Elements, as well as texts by Hippocrates, Galen, Averroes and Avicene. Around the same time, an even more global work called the Great Mirror was compiled by Vincent Mathematics textbooks were created - in the 11th century Herbert of Aurillac compiled the first textbook "On the rules of the abacus", and in the 12th century Leonard of Pisa improved and introduced Arabic numerals, showing that counting with them is much more convenient (operations in columns, including division and multiplication).
Why is it all? Moreover, by the beginning of the construction of the Great Gothic Cathedrals, European masters knew a lot and considered perfectly. Therefore, one should forget the crazy statements from school textbooks that "everything was built by eye." Unfortunately, there are practically no medieval textbooks and treatises on architecture that have come down to us. There is a famous manuscript by Villard de Honnecourt, which begins with the words "Villard de Honnecourt greets you and asks those who will work with this book to pray for his soul and remember him. In the book you will find helpful tips on (practical) construction and creating drawings using the laws of geometry. "There is really a lot of useful information. For example, the calculation of the thickness of walls and supports, depending on the dimensions of the compartment (length, width). There are other treatises - there are mentions of them in the Great Mirror " and "In the Sum", there is a treatise by Abbot Suger (the founding father of Gothic) "On the illumination of the church of Saint Denis", but he, like all other works, interprets architecture rather from the point of view of theology.
This is the fundamental difference between the situation with the architecture of Antiquity and the architecture of the New Age, even modern. What was necessary to calculate in the Middle Ages? The calculations were carried out and very complex, but their goal was not the Vitruvian triad, practical matters and engineering, but the embodiment of divine harmony and the church doctrine of the Trinity, the Mother of God, the doctrine of Salvation. There was no compromise as such. For example, under the "queen of cathedrals" - Chartres Cathedral, a grandiose scientific school was formed and the famous Gothic temple became partly its main creation. The architects proceeded from digital symbols, calculating the proportions of the building, the ratio of width, height and length, the number of chapels and other things. The rest, of course, had to rely on the personal experience of the builders. They themselves tried to preserve their names and history. This is about another legend about the anonymity of medieval masters. For example, in Amiens and Reims Cathedral, the architects left their names directly on the floor in the very center of the labyrinths, and extensive documentation has been preserved about the construction of Lincoln Cathedral in England. By the way, in England, for the first time in European practice, architectural competitions were introduced.
The temple on the Russian land has long been the focus of church life and Orthodox culture to this day. On the territory of Russia, many temples have been preserved, some were erected in ancient times. Today we will talk about how the temples were built.
wooden temples
In 988, the Baptism of Russia took place under Prince Vladimir, and already on next year Greek architects arrived from Constantinople to Kyiv, by whom the first stone church was laid. It was the holy prince Vladimir who became the first Russian Christian prince, who issued a decree that after the baptism of the people and the Russian land, the architects would begin to cut down churches on Russian castles.
This is how wooden temples began to appear. But the oldest chronicle sources claim that wooden churches in Russia were built long before the Baptism. Wooden temples have always been easier to build than stone ones, as the building material was more readily available. Moreover, wooden architecture has long flourished in Russia, and Slavic craftsmen built temples almost by eye, without using precise measurements and complex architectural plans.
stone temples
However, after Baptism, the first stone churches began to appear in Russia. In 989, the year after the Baptism of Russia, Greek architects who arrived from Constantinople in Kyiv laid the first stone church of the Old Russian state - the Church of the Tithes.
This church was erected by the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir on the site of the death of the First Martyrs Theodore and his son John. During the construction of the Church of the Tithes, it was the largest church in Kiev. From the annals, information has reached our days that the Church of the Tithes was called "marble", since the interior of the temple was richly decorated with marble.
In 996, the construction of the Church of the Tithes was completed and the temple was solemnly consecrated. The long tradition of donating to the temple convinced Prince Vladimir to donate the tithe of the church built, after which it was remembered in the annals as the Tithe.
After the construction of the first stone church, other stone temples began to be built. It is important that it was in the image of the Church of the Tithes that the subsequent main temples of Russian cities and monasteries were built.
Where were the temples built?
Together with the Baptism of Russia and the beginning of the construction of churches on Russian land, new life. For a long time, on the site of a future settlement, and primarily a city, architects have been looking for a special place to build a temple - not every land was suitable for this. First of all, the builders were looking for not swampy and not too dry land for construction.
Moreover, the temple had to be built in a conspicuous place, in the main part of the settlement, so that every inhabitant could reach it. The temple was necessarily built on an elevated, "red" place, which meant - on the most beautiful.
So, first of all, a temple was erected, and after that a settlement began to grow around it. Church occupied the most important role in the life of Russian people who lived both in cities and in villages and villages.
People gathered for church services on Sundays and other days, and the Russian people always went to church on great church holidays. In the same place, in churches, children were baptized, newlyweds were married and deceased relatives were buried.
Moreover, thanksgiving and supplication prayers were served in the temples, and people's assemblies gathered near the temple.
Architecture and construction of temples of Ancient Russia
The main type of construction of an Orthodox church is a cross-domed one. It was this type of temple that dominated the architecture Ancient Russia. It was of this type that the first stone church, Tithes, was erected.
From the most ancient times to this day in Russia and in modern Russia temples and cathedrals are being built and restored construction projects cross-domed churches. The technique of building stone cross-domed churches was borrowed by the architects of Ancient Russia from Byzantium.
Since the first temples after Baptism were erected by invited masters, their work laid the foundation for the tradition of building temples under the influence of Byzantine architecture. However, soon, when Russian architects themselves began to build stone churches, the Byzantine style was supplemented by its own, traditionally Russian, local style, which remained forever in Orthodox churches.
Since churches in Russia played an important role for Orthodox people, all the best was collected to decorate the churches. Temples were decorated with gold and precious stones. One of the most valuable elements of each temple were icons painted by talented icon painters.
Churches in Russia were also built of bricks, but before that, in most cases, plinth was used for construction.
From Byzantine builders, Russian craftsmen adopted plinth masonry. And until the 15th century, during the construction of temples in Russia, plinth was mainly used.
Plinfa - fired brick, with approximately equal sides. Its size was usually 40x40 cm long and wide. The thickness of the brick was 2.5-4 cm, and the brick itself was light pink in color. Usually plinths were held together with a thick layer of mortar, which made the building look striped.
The mortars that were used to build the temple, connecting the rows of plinths, were a mixture of lime, sand and crushed bricks. It is known that plinths were built more in the south of Russia, and in the north, closer to Kiev, stone was preferred.
Later, at the end of the 15th century, Russia appeared new material- brick. These are molding bricks reminiscent of modern ones. Since such a brick was cheaper and much more accessible than stone, it was widely used for the construction of temples.
The brick was fired by the builders, a special sign was put on it, indicating the classification of bricks for laying in a certain place of construction.
Meanwhile, wooden temples also did not stop building. However, the architecture of wooden temples also changed. Throughout Russia, single-domed churches began to be built, erected by builders on a powerful, massive square.
Each temple was built for a different amount of time. The simplest temple could take about a year to build, while the more complex ones could take more than six years. Everything depended on the number of craftsmen building the temple.
Wooden temples in Russia were built faster, since wooden architecture has long been developed in Russia. It took more time to build stone and brick churches, for example, the Church of the Tithes took about seven years to build. Other temples with more complex designs and expensive materials could take more than ten years to build.
A small temple was erected by builders and craftsmen, who were at least 10-12 people. Much more craftsmen, about thirty, were invited to build large temples.
To whom were temples dedicated?
Temples in Ancient Russia dedicated Life-Giving Trinity, Christ the Savior, the Mother of God, as well as numerous saints. Moreover, many churches were dedicated to great church holidays - the Intercession and Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Ascension of the Lord and many others.
Soon, in Ancient Russia, a tradition arose to erect temples-monuments in places where especially important, memorable events took place - military victories, great battles or the death of those who laid down their lives for their faith and Fatherland.
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Video: Vladimir Budko
