In the era of Ancient Rus' there was a cross-dome system. The history of the construction of durable monumental cross-domed churches made of stone dates back to the construction of the Tithe Church in Kyiv, the construction of which lasted seven years (from 989 to 996).

Initial construction technology stone temples and their typology was borrowed by ancient Russian architects from Byzantine traditional canons. In addition, after an important historical event - the Baptism of Rus', the first churches were built by craftsmen invited from Byzantium.

Such buildings can safely be called outstanding examples of Byzantine, but from the very beginning in these Christian places of worship their own original features began to appear. Their appearance was due to the peculiarities of local conditions and the wishes of customers.

A year after the baptism of Rus' in 988, construction began on the Church of the Tithes, which was first built from. Subsequently, this pearl of ancient Russian architecture was destroyed during the invasion of Batu Khan.

During the reign of the great Kyiv prince Yaroslav the Wise, large-scale construction of Christian churches began. It was during this era that the St. Sophia Cathedral was built, the size of which had no equal not only in Rus', but also in Byzantium itself.

Since ancient times, Kyiv has been called the mother of Russian cities. The official date of birth of the city is considered to be 1037, although the first settlements appeared on the banks of the Dnieper five centuries earlier.

After the victory of the Russians over the Pechenegs during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise, Kyiv acquired the significance of the main city of the Old Russian state. And this dominance is consolidated by the construction, which was built in 1037 - 1044.

Sophia of Kiev served as the main temple of all Ancient Rus', whose population had just been baptized. Therefore, the grandiose dimensions and beauty of the structure should have shocked the imagination and delighted everyone who saw the St. Sophia Cathedral.

The thirteen-domed, five-nave cross-domed church was distinguished by its massiveness and heaviness of forms, giving it solemnity and significance. The cathedral is unique - simple brickwork without plaster emphasizes the severity and grandeur of the structure.

The interior decoration was rich and skillfully executed by the best craftsmen of their time. From the inside, all the walls and vaults of the temple were covered with colorful frescoes and mosaics on Christian themes.

The cathedral served not only as a cult building, but also as the main public building of Ancient Rus'. Here they received foreign ambassadors and gave the right to reign to the Novgorod, Suzdal and Rostov princes.

According to the model and likeness of Sophia of Kyiv, the second example of ancient Russian cross-domed architecture was built - St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod(1045 - 1050). However, the temple had significant differences. It was made of unprocessed stones that retained their natural shape. The stones were fastened together with lime mortar.

Subsequently, the walls were whitewashed with plaster, which, in combination with the golden domes, made the building even more picturesque.

The Novgorod St. Sophia Cathedral breathes with heroic strength. This temple served as the main shrine of the Novgorod Republic. Novgorodians were very proud of their Sofia, they revered the cathedral and said: “Where Sofia is, there is Novgorod.”

In the 12th century, St. Sophia Cathedral became a symbol of the Novgorod principality, independent from Kyiv and other cities. Novgorod had its own elected government - the veche. The veche bell of the St. Sophia Cathedral called people to veche meetings. Subsequently, Novgorod submitted to the Moscow prince Ivan III, and the veche bell was removed and taken to Moscow.

In 1066, the third temple was built - a seven-domed, five-nave St. Sophia Cathedral in Polotsk. The construction of three temples of the same type on the territory of present-day Russia, Ukraine and Belarus was an indicator of the political and cultural unity of the three main parts of the ancient Russian state.

In the 12th century, the most powerful in Rus' was Vladimir - the Suzdal principality. Its rulers, the princes, trying to consolidate their power, built majestic palaces and temples that were supposed to preserve their glory for centuries.

The founder of the city of Vladimir in 1108 was the grandson of the Kyiv prince Yaroslav the Wise, Vladimir Monomakh. His father’s work was continued by his son and successor Yuri Dolgoruky, who was so nicknamed for his desire to expand the territory of his principality and subjugate Kyiv.

During the reign of Yuri, the most significant cities of the Vladimir-Suzdal land were founded: Yuryev-Polsky, Zvenigorod, Moscow, Dmitrov, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky. Today, all of them are cities - monuments that constitute the glory and pride of the masters of ancient Russian architecture.

The Vladimir-Suzdal principality reached its greatest prosperity during the reign of Andrei Bogolyubsky, the son of Yuri Dolgoruky. In less than 20 years of his reign, Andrei initiated the construction of many beautiful architectural structures, which we continue to admire today.

According to data from chronicle sources, in the period from 1158 to 1164 the Golden Gate was built in Vladimir, as well as the golden-domed Assumption Cathedral, which became a symbol of the wealth and strength of the powerful Prince Andrei.

Small and graceful, it became a real masterpiece. It was built by Prince Bogolyubsky in honor of his deceased son. The refined forms of the temple evoke admiration for the art of the architects of Ancient Rus'.

Construction technology

Main building material There was a white stone in the Vladimir-Suzdal land. Blocks measuring 50 by 50 cm were cut out of it. The walls of the temples were laid out from two rows of such blocks, and the space between them was filled with rubble and filled with a binding solution.

This method of constructing walls made it possible not only to give the masonry additional strength, but also to use a smaller amount of white stone, which was considered a scarce material due to the difficulty of extraction. Today there is very little white stone left.

Stone carving

White stone lends itself well to processing. The architects of Ancient Rus' used this quality of material to decorate the facades of their buildings. Stone carving in the 12th - 13th centuries was a very popular technique for decorating the walls of temples.

A striking example of carved stone decor is the one built in 1194 - 1197. Its walls are covered with continuous carved stone relief. The most complex patterns are a symbol of the richness and diversity of the world, inhabited by strange animals and fabulous birds sitting on the branches of unprecedented plants.

Temple decor

An integral part of the decoration of Russian churches were picturesque images of saints. The most revered icon was the icon of the Mother of God with a baby in her arms. It is rightfully considered one of the most perfect works of world art. icon of the Vladimir Mother of God, written in the 11th - 12th centuries.

Icons, frescoes and mosaics made by famous artists in many other churches are also of great artistic value. Among them are frescoes by Dionysius, icons by Andrei Rublev, ceramic tiles by Stepan Polubes. The most significant works of these great masters today are kept in Tretyakov Gallery and other museums.

The construction of ancient stone cathedrals began after the proclamation of Christianity as the state religion of Rus'. They were first erected in the largest cities - Kyiv, Vladimir, and Novgorod. Most of the cathedrals have survived to this day and are the most important architectural monuments.

Historical reference

The Old Russian state reached the peak of its development during the reign of Vladimir the Great and his son Yaroslav the Wise. In 988, Christianity was proclaimed the state religion. This was of great importance for the further development of feudal relations, strengthening the unity of the country, the flourishing of cultural life, and the expansion of ties with Byzantium and other European powers. After approval, they began to build ancient cathedrals from stone. The best masters of their time were invited to carry out the work, and the artistic and technical achievements of the era were used.

First stone church- Tithe - was erected in the center of Kyiv under Vladimir the Great. During its construction, the prince managed to significantly strengthen the city and expand its territory.

in architecture

The ancient cathedrals of Rus' very often resembled Byzantine churches in their design. But soon this artistic model began to acquire national characteristics.

It was a cross-domed temple. The Chernigov Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral, Sophia of Kiev and others had the same form.

Let's consider the characteristic features of Byzantine temples:

• Cross-domed cathedrals were a building topped with a dome, which was strengthened by four columns. They were sometimes joined by two more (to increase the size).
• Ancient cathedrals looked like a pyramid.
• For the construction of temples, special bricks of a certain shape were used - plinths, which were connected using cement.
• Windows, as a rule, had a couple of openings and an arch.
• The main focus was on interior decoration temple. There were no rich compositions outside.

Characteristic features of ancient Russian architecture

The ancient cathedrals of Rus' were built according to the Byzantine model. However, over time, architecture acquired its own national characteristics.

• The temples were much larger than the Byzantine ones. For this purpose, additional galleries were built around the main room.
• Large cross-shaped pillars were used instead of central columns.
• Sometimes the plinth was replaced with stone.
• The picturesque design style eventually gave way to a graphic one.
• From the 12th century towers and galleries were not used and the side naves were not illuminated.

Saint Sophia Cathedral

The ancient cathedral was erected during the period of the highest In the chronicles, the foundation of St. Sophia of Kyiv dates back to 1017 or 1037.

The Council was dedicated to the wisdom of Christian teaching and was called upon to affirm the greatness of the new religion. During the times of Rus', a cultural and cultural center was located here community Center capital Cities. The cathedral was surrounded by other stone temples, palaces and simple city buildings.

Initially it was a five-nave cross-domed structure. There were galleries outside. The walls of the building were built of red brick and plinth. Sophia of Kiev, like other ancient Russian cathedrals, was decorated with various spans and arches. The interior decoration was replete with picturesque frescoes and gilded mosaics. This all created the impression of extraordinary pomp and show. The cathedral was painted by some of the most famous Byzantine masters.

Sophia of Kiev is the only architectural monument of Ukraine that survived the Mongol invasion in 1240.

Church of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary

The church located on the shore is one of the most famous architectural monuments on Suzdal land. The temple was erected by Andrei Bogolyubsky in the 12th century. in honor of a new holiday in Rus' - the Intercession of the Virgin Mary. Like many others in Russia, this church is a cross-domed building on four columns. The building is very bright and light. The frescoes of the temple have not survived to this day, as they were destroyed during reconstruction at the end of the 19th century.

Kremlin in Moscow

The Moscow Kremlin is the most famous and oldest architectural monument in the Russian capital. According to legend, the first wooden fortress was erected under Yuri Dolgoruky at the beginning of the 12th century. The ancient Kremlin cathedrals are the most famous in Russia and still attract tourists with their beauty.

Assumption Cathedral

The first stone cathedral in Moscow is the Assumption Cathedral. It was erected by an Italian architect during the reign of Ivan III on the highest point of the Kremlin hill. In general terms, the building is similar to other ancient cathedrals in Russia: a cross-domed model, six pillars and five domes. The Assumption Church in Vladimir was taken as the basis for construction and design. The walls were built from iron ties (instead of traditional oak), which was an innovation for Russia.

The Assumption Cathedral was intended to emphasize the greatness of the Moscow state and demonstrate its power. Church councils were held here, metropolitans were elected, and Russian rulers were crowned.

Blagoveshchensky cathedral

At a time when Moscow was still a small principality, an ancient cathedral was located on the site of the Annunciation Church. In 1484, construction of a new building began. Russian architects from Pskov were invited to build it. In August 1489, a snow-white three-domed temple was erected, surrounded by a large gallery on three sides.
If the Assumption Cathedral was the religious center of the principality, where important spiritual and political ceremonies were held, then the Annunciation Cathedral was the royal house church. In addition, the state treasury of great rulers was kept here.

Cathedral of the Archangel

This ancient monument is a temple-tomb in which the ashes of prominent Russian figures are kept. Ivan Kalita, Dmitry Donskoy, Ivan the Terrible, Vasily the Dark, Vasily Shuisky and others are buried here.

The Archangel Cathedral was built in 1508 according to the design of the Italian architect Aleviz. The master arrived in Moscow at the invitation of Ivan III.

It should be noted that the Archangel Church is not like other ancient cathedrals located on Red Square. It resembles a secular building, the design of which contains antique motifs. The Archangel Cathedral is a cross-domed five-domed building with six columns. During its construction, for the first time in the history of Russian architecture, a two-tier order was used to decorate the facade.

Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye

The church was erected in 1532 in honor of the birthday of Ivan the Terrible. The beautiful building was located on the banks of the Moscow River.

The Church of the Ascension is radically different from other Russian cathedrals. In its form it represents an equal-pointed cross and is the first example of hipped-roof architecture in Russia.

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RightSlavic Church in Ancient Rus'

orthodox russian church christianity

The Russian Orthodox Church has more than thousand-year history. According to legend, the holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called, preaching the Gospel, stopped at the Kyiv Mountains and blessed the future city of Kyiv. The spread of Christianity in Rus' was facilitated by its proximity to a powerful Christian power - the Byzantine Empire. The south of Rus' was sanctified by the activities of saints brothers equal to the apostles Cyril and Methodius, apostles and educators of the Slavs. Russian Church in pre-Mongol period its history was one of the metropolises of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The metropolitan who headed the Church was appointed by the Greek Patriarch of Constantinople, but in 1051 the Russian Metropolitan Hilarion, the most educated man of his time, a remarkable church writer, was first installed on the high priestly throne.

Since the 10th century, majestic temples have been built. Since the 11th century, monasteries began to develop in Rus'. In 1051, the Monk Anthony of Pechersk brought the traditions of Athonite monasticism to Rus', founding the famous Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, which became the center religious life Ancient Rus'. The role of monasteries in Rus' was enormous. And their main service to the Russian people - not to mention their purely spiritual role - is that they were the largest centers of education. Chronicles were kept in the monasteries, which have brought information about everyone to this day. significant events in the history of the Russian people. Icon painting and the art of book writing flourished in the monasteries, translations of theological, historical and literary works. The extensive charitable activities of monastic monasteries contributed to the cultivation of the spirit of mercy and compassion among the people.

In the 12th century, during the period of feudal fragmentation, the Russian Church remained the only bearer of the idea of ​​the unity of the Russian people, counteracting the centrifugal aspirations and civil strife of the princes. The Tatar-Mongol invasion - the greatest disaster that befell Rus' in the 13th century - did not break the Russian Church. She remained as a real force and was a comforter to the people in this difficult trial. Spiritually, materially and morally, she contributed to the restoration of the political unity of Rus' - the key to future victory over the enslavers.

The unification of disparate Russian principalities around Moscow began in the 14th century. And the Russian Church continued to play an important role in the revival of a united Rus'. Outstanding Russian saints were the spiritual leaders and assistants of the Moscow princes. Saint Metropolitan Alexy (1354-1378) raised the holy noble prince Demetrius Donskoy. He, like later Saint Metropolitan Jonah (1448-1471), by the power of his authority helped the Moscow prince in ending feudal unrest and preserving state unity. The great ascetic of the Russian Church, St. Sergius of Radonezh, blessed Demetrius Donskoy for the greatest feat of arms - the Battle of Kulikovo, which served as the beginning of the liberation of Rus' from the Mongol yoke.

Monasteries greatly contributed to the preservation of the national identity and culture of the Russian people during the difficult years of the Tatar-Mongol yoke and Western influences. In the 13th century, the beginning of the Pochaev Lavra was laid. This monastery and its abbot, Reverend Job, did a lot to establish Orthodoxy in Western Russian lands. In total, from the 14th to the half of the 15th century, up to 180 new monastic monasteries were founded in Rus'. The largest event in the history of ancient Russian monasticism was the founding of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery by St. Sergius of Radonezh (around 1334). Here, in this later famous monastery, the wondrous talent of the icon painter St. Andrei Rublev blossomed.

Freed from the invaders, Russian state was gaining strength, and with it the strength of the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1448, shortly before the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the Russian Church became independent of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Metropolitan Jonah, installed by the Council of Russian Bishops in 1448, received the title of Metropolitan of Moscow and All Rus'.

Subsequently, the growing power of the Russian state contributed to the growth of the authority of the Autocephalous Russian Church. In 1589, Moscow Metropolitan Job became the first Russian Patriarch. The Eastern Patriarchs recognized the Russian Patriarch as fifth in honor.

The 17th century started out hard for Russia. Polish-Swedish invaders invaded Russian Land from the west. During this time of unrest, the Russian Church, as before, honorably fulfilled its patriotic duty to the people. The ardent patriot Patriarch Ermogen (1606-1612), tortured by the interventionists, was the spiritual leader of the militia of Minin and Pozharsky. The heroic defense of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra from the Swedes and Poles in 1608-1610 is forever inscribed in the chronicle of the history of the Russian state and the Russian Church.

In the period following the expulsion of the interventionists from Russia, the Russian Church dealt with one of its very important internal problems - the correction of liturgical books and rituals. Much of the credit for this belonged to Patriarch Nikon.

The structure of the Orthodox Church in Ancient Rus'

The first concern of Prince Vladimir after the baptism of Rus' was the construction of churches and the establishment of a hierarchy. For the maintenance and decoration of the Cathedral in honor of the Assumption Mother of God one tenth of state revenues was determined. Therefore, this temple began to be called the “Tithe Church.” Craftsmen from Constantinople were invited to build and paint it.

In the cathedral church, a chapel was built in memory of St. Clement, Pope of Rome, who died as a martyr in Chersonesos around the year 101, the head of which was brought by Prince Vladimir to Kyiv. The churches of St. Basil the Great, whose name was given at baptism to Prince Vladimir, and St. Michael the Archangel, whose name was borne by the first Metropolitan of Kiev, were also built.

At the beginning, Metropolitan Michael (†992) stood at the head of the newly established Russian Church. In Novgorod the first bishop was Joachim of Korsun. There is no doubt that already during the time of Prince Vladimir, other departments were organized, for example, in Chernigov.

The High Hierarch of Rus', Saint Michael, according to one legend, was a Syrian or Greek, according to others, a Bulgarian. He arrived in Kyiv probably even before the campaigns of Prince Vladimir and baptized him and the people of Kiev. Saint Michael showed apostolic zeal for the spread of the Christian faith, built churches in cities and villages, and cared about the eradication pagan superstitions, founded the first schools in Kyiv and worked hard to educate the flock entrusted to him. Metropolitan Michael was distinguished by great meekness and humility, attracting people to Christ with love. He traveled a lot around the Kyiv state, baptizing the population everywhere. He died in 992 and, according to the chronicle, “there was much weeping and mourning in the city of Kyiv at his departure.” His relics are in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, where they were transferred from the Tithe Church (October 30/13).

The second great saint and assistant of Saint Vladimir in the matter of enlightening the Russian people was Bishop Joachim of Novgorod, who founded a school in Novgorod and fought against paganism, which was much stronger in the North than in Kievan Rus.

Prince Vladimir decided to organize his state on Christian principles. Both in my personal and family life, and in relations with his subjects he tried to implement the Christian commandment of love. He not only introduced merciful legislation in his state and abolished the death penalty, but also organized public support for the poor, sick and old, which did not exist in any country at that time. Christian state. All sick and old people were given clothing and food. If they could not come for her to the princely court, she was delivered to them every day from home. From his treasury, Prince Vladimir widely distributed money to those in need. Organized assistance was not limited to Kiev, but gradually began to cover the entire state.

Thanks to Prince Vladimir's leniency towards criminals, robbery increased in the country, and the bishops had to convince the Grand Duke to take harsh measures against the robbers.

Concerned about education, Prince Vladimir opened a school in his palace, where, in addition to his 12 sons, Kyiv youth studied, including Hilarion, the future Metropolitan of Kiev. Grand Duke Vladimir did not stop relations with the Christian West, and when the monk Bruno arrived in Kyiv, who was going to preach to the Pechenegs, he met him with honor. WITH Patriarch of Constantinople and the Bulgarian Archdiocese maintained friendly relations. Liturgical books were sent from Ohrid, which were copied by order of Grand Duke Vladimir and sent to churches.

Saint Vladimir died on July 15, 1015 and was buried in the Assumption Cathedral in the area of ​​Saint Clement. The Russian Church reveres him as its enlightener and calls him equal to the apostles, and the people nicknamed him “the red sun” (July 15/28).

The first dioceses in Russia

Church life, however, in many respects itself could not help but be influenced by the appanage system of the state. The appanage division of Rus' was primarily reflected in the diocesan division. The first division of the Russian Church into dioceses, as we have seen, was carried out in 992 by Metropolitan Leonty. The chronicle lists 6 of all the dioceses established at that time: in Kyiv, Novgorod, Chernigov, Rostov, Vladimir Volynsky and Belgorod, but adds to this list that at the same time bishops were installed in other cities, perhaps in Tmutorakan, Turov and Polotsk, where the children of Vladimir sat as princes. Over the subsequent period until the half of the 12th century. Several more dioceses were opened, so that there were 15 in all, in addition to the Metropolitan of Kyiv: Novgorod, Rostov, Vladimir in Volyn, Belogorod, Chernigov, Yuryev, Pereyaslav, Kholm, Polotsk, Turov, Smolensk, Peremyshl, Galician, Ryazan and Vladimir in Klyazma. Their borders closely coincided with the borders of their corresponding appanage principalities. Due to the religious structure of ancient society, every social union was usually concentrated around some shrine, temple, and, depending on its size, appeared in the form of either a parish or a diocese. The new inheritance, having separated from the old, sought to become independent in church terms, to establish a special diocese, because civil independence without ecclesiastical independence seemed incomplete. So, in the 12th century. after the separation of new appanage principalities from the old ones, from the Pereyaslav appanage - Smolensk, from Volyn - Galitsky, from Chernigov - Ryazan, new dioceses appeared, Smolensk - in 1137, Galician - in 1157, Ryazan - in 1198. With the fall of the inheritance, the diocese was also destroyed; for example, at the end of the 11th century. after the destruction of Tmutorakani by the Polovtsians, the local diocese also fell. The rise of the land also raised its diocese; in 1165, rich Novgorod procured for its ruler John the title of archbishop - then the first and only one in Rus'. Further, no matter how strong the unity of the Russian Church was and no matter how concerned it was about preserving this unity, the usual desire of each destiny for independence, for less dependence on Kyiv and for life apart was often reflected in church relations diocesan bishops to the metropolitan and constrained his legal rights and powers.

Charters of Russian princes

Among the Russian princes, Saint Vladimir made the first attempt to apply the Nomocanon to Russian life in his church charter. This charter concerns mainly the judicial rights of the Russian Church. The department of her court includes here: 1) cases against faith and the church - heresy, magic, reproach for them *, performance of pagan rituals (praying under the barn and in the forest), sacrilege, damage to graves and church walls, disrespect for temples; 2) family matters: kidnapping of girls, marriage within kinship and affiliation, disputes between spouses about property, fornication and adultery, divorce, beatings from children to parents, inheritance cases, verbal abuse of the family unit, etc. In Greek law, some of these cases (violation of parental authority, disputes between spouses about property and children about inheritance) were subject to civil court; The Russians considered it best to transfer all family affairs to the Church, so that it could contribute more successfully to the moral degeneration of society. The department of the church and the persons under its jurisdiction was expanded in comparison with Greek legislation; In addition to the clergy, the following churches are subject to the court: the mallow, the pilgrim, the pardoner and different people, whom the church looked after in its hotels, hospitals and almshouses.

Grand Duke Yaroslav issued another similar church charter, which contained confirmation and disclosure of the charter of St. Vladimir. In it we see some new definitions; Thus, to the church court, instead of corporal punishment and cruel executions for guilt, which were not accepted among the Slavs, which were defined in the Nomocanon, the Slavic system of vira or monetary fines for crimes was applied and cases of the participation of the prince in it were indicated. The joint court of the church and the prince had jurisdiction over: a) insults, violence and beatings of girls and other people's wives, arson, shameful cutting of the head and beard, b) theft and murder within the family. For the first crimes, the penalty went to the bishop, and the prince only executed (punished) the guilty; for the second, the penalty was divided between the prince and the bishop “in half.

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Tithe Church

The architecture of the beginning, the architecture that opens the history of any architectural tradition, is always, perhaps, its most interesting and mysterious page. Where the craftsmen came from, why it occurred to the customer to order exactly this and not something else - this is always exciting. But in the history of Russian architecture, this is perhaps truly the most mysterious page, which still contains many unsolved mysteries, despite the fact that the last 100 or even more years of the history of Russian architecture have been a constant attempt to solve these mysteries. More and more new methods are being used: at first archeology gave a huge breakthrough, then the restoration of monuments played a very important role, then the study of construction technology played a huge, decisive role.

But we are on the threshold of some new technologies. For example, the technology for dating mortars is improving, and perhaps we will soon have exact dates many temples, which we can now only guess about when they were built. But, on the other hand, the early history of Russian architecture has a clear beginning. This is the baptism of Rus'. No matter how historians argue, it is still around 988. Prince Vladimir takes Korsun, Kherson, brings trophies from there, which he places in Kyiv near the first church he built, Tithes. These trophies will be antique statues and images of horses. But other trophies are no less important. These are church utensils and priests that he will bring. And it is for them that the first temple in Rus', the Church of the Tithes, is being built.

Unfortunately, this monument was unlucky: it died very early, during the Mongol invasion. The building was badly damaged, but, however, further excavations showed that it could have collapsed earlier, since it was built on the very edge of Starokievskaya Mountain, and the hill gradually began to slide towards the Dnieper, cracks appeared in the building. We will return to this issue later. Excavations began in the 19th century. There was a small temple at this place. And it turned out that, in fact, there were no walls of the temple left, but only the foundation ditches remained, that is, those excavations in the ground that were intended to house the temple.

One of the main problems that befell the reconstruction of the Church of the Tithes is that it was a building of an extremely complex plan, as we can see. Here, in addition to the central core, in which the dome can be discerned, the arms of the cross, corner cells, three apses can be discerned, and there are also huge buildings. And how to reconstruct them? Whether there were walls here, whether there were columns, where there were stairs to the choir, and so on - all this remained a subject of debate for a very long time.

In the next frame we see how many reconstructions of the Church of the Tithes have been proposed in science. But the true scientific study of it began with Mikhail Konstantinovich Karger, with his post-war excavations, and then this research was carried out actively until the very recent years, when the temple was jointly excavated for the second time by Kyiv and St. Petersburg colleagues and then conserved. Fortunately, a strange idea to build on this site new temple, why in the body ancient temple it was necessary to drive 80 concrete piles, but it was not implemented.

We see with you very different reconstruction options, which, in general, come from one thing: from the authors’ knowledge about the history of Byzantine architecture, because none of them had any doubts that the first masters who came to Rus' with Prince Vladimir were Byzantine masters. As a matter of fact, the chronicle speaks directly about this, which speaks of inviting masters “from the Greeks,” that is, from the Byzantine Empire.

And indeed, despite all the vain attempts, no monumental stone architecture in Rus' in the era before Vladimir, before the baptism of Rus', was ever found, although we know that there was some kind of church of St. Elijah. And this is understandable, because stone is not a material that is abundant in the vicinity of Kyiv, I mean stone that is convenient for construction.

As for the other material, from which, in fact, all the early Russian churches that we will talk about today were built, it is brick or, more precisely, plinth, which I will talk about in more detail. This is the fruit of a complex technology, a complex technological process, for which you must first import plinth in order to build ovens for firing plinth from it, then find the right clay, thin it out in the right way, and only then can you finally get the finished plinth. Therefore, it is quite natural that this technology was also brought here from Byzantium.

There are a large number of reconstructions of the Tithe Church. Which one is correct? Each scientist insists on his own. They come not only from Byzantine monuments, but also from those monuments that then appear in Rus' 30, 40 or even 70 and 100 years after the Church of the Tithes. One, the most basic option, is the reconstruction of a church on four or six pillars, which go back to the Cathedral of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, which we will talk about next time. Another option focuses on the Savior of Chernigov and reconstructs the temple in the form of a “domed basilica.” And finally, another option appeals to the experience of Sofia of Kyiv, the next cathedral, which arises in Kyiv almost half a century after the Tithe Church.

But not so long ago, St. Petersburg researcher Pyotr Leonidovich Zykov proposed a new reconstruction of this temple, which seems to me very plausible for this reason. The fact is that researchers have always been confused by one question: why do we see laid strip foundations everywhere, except between this pair of eastern supports?

Oleg Mikhailovich Ionesyan, a St. Petersburg researcher, even tried to reconstruct the Tithe Church as a basilica, a thing unprecedented and unknown in Rus' and very rare in Byzantium, and for this he came up with a whole theory about how the craftsmen came from Bulgaria, because Bulgaria was reaching its peak at that moment its power and then, strictly speaking, at the beginning of the 11th century, the state perishes. But this does not provide an explanation: if it was a basilica, then there is no need for a lintel between the western pillars.

Peter Leonidovich's reconstruction of the Church of the Tithes in the form of a temple with a three-sided bypass, where the dome rests on four powerful pillars, and between them there are pairs of columns, explains why it was here, in fact, that there was no strip foundation - because there was no need to install columns here . At the same time, paradoxically, this answers another question: why did Yaroslav the Wise, the son of Vladimir, need to build another cathedral on the site of the Tithe? Why was it impossible to rebuild the Tithe Church, the sacred, first church of the Russian metropolis?

It seems that the reason was that for all the grandeur of the buildings, with a large number of different galleries (the number of which we, of course, cannot accurately determine), the Tithe Church itself, that is, in fact, its liturgical space, was quite narrow , rather cramped and did not fit the representation tasks that Yaroslav set for himself in relation to his new temple.

But where exactly could the masters of the Church of the Tithes come from Byzantium? This question is also not very clear, but excavations of the temple showed that initially its structure (and the galleries and, apparently, the choirs on them were originally attached to the temple) used cross pillars, which we have already talked about. They can essentially be thought of as a core with pilasters attached on four sides. Each of these pilasters continues further with a dedicated girth arch and rests on a wall pilaster on the other side.

This point distinguishes in Byzantium the so-called Eastern Pontic architectural tradition, that is, the tradition of the southeast of the Black Sea, the tradition of Abkhazia and the tradition of Chersonese, Korsun, from where, in fact, Vladimir returned to Kyiv baptized.

Moreover, the chronicle, speaking about the construction of the church by Vladimir (he completed it, according to the chronicle, in 996, although some believe that the church was consecrated only at the beginning of the 11th century), says that for some reason he handed over this entire church not to the metropolitan and not even to the bishop, but to the Korsun priest Anastas, the same one who helped him take the city. And this is somewhat surprising. Why does a simple Korsun priest become the first head of the Russian church? Maybe this is connected specifically with Korsun, with Chersonesus. And it is no coincidence that the Chersonese trophies that I mentioned were placed next to the Church of the Tithes.

The presence of Prince Vladimir in the church was quite visible. In particular, during the excavations of the temple, a plinth was found, that is, a flat thin brick, which we will talk about more than once today, with a princely sign. In this case, it is Vladimir’s trident, one of his oldest images, along with images on things, on coins, in graffiti. Thus, the prince noted that these tiles were produced for his construction.

But another find of tiles is no less interesting. Here we see different fragments that more or less come together into one and demonstrate a Greek inscription, which most likely reads as “the plinth of the Virgin Mary,” that is, the plinth of the temple of the Virgin Mary, and directly indicates the participation of Greek craftsmen in the construction of this temple. Moreover, in fact, we have before us the first monumental inscription in Rus'.

We know a little about the decoration of the Church of the Tithes, not as much as we would like, but it is still clear that Vladimir invested quite a lot of effort and, most importantly, funds for this most monumental decoration. Before us is a stacked floor using the so-called technique opus sectile, that is, a mosaic made from pieces of polished stone. There are different types of marble here, including pieces of Prokones marble, which was mined on the island of Prokones in the Sea of ​​Marmara and was extremely popular in Constantinople. It is not a fact, of course, that they were brought from Prokones itself - they could have been brought from the same Chersonesus, where Prokones marble was imported. Thus, this floor again links the temple with the Byzantine and even Roman architectural tradition.

Moreover, here we see more complex flooring options, very fashionable in Byzantium. These are various circles, intersecting, intertwining, made of such stones.

The fact that Vladimir decorated this temple so luxuriously is quite understandable, since it was here that he planned to be buried. From this temple comes a sarcophagus, which is attributed to Prince Vladimir.

His son Yaroslav had a similar sarcophagus. So, they wanted to lie in sarcophagi, and this is very significant, because, in principle, such ancient burials were no longer typical for Byzantium at that time. Here we see rather the idea of ​​imitation of the Byzantine emperors, who, according to ancient tradition, were buried in the Temple of the Apostles in Constantinople in sarcophagi. True, they did not make new sarcophagi, but mostly used old sarcophagi, because, for example, the most important imperial stone, porphyry, was no longer possible to obtain.

So, the Church of the Tithes becomes a very important challenge for Vladimir in an ideological sense, in a cultural sense. He creates a new Christian power and wants to show that it is capable of erecting quite monumental structures. In principle, we would expect his sons to continue this tradition directly, but this does not happen. Unfortunately, we know nothing about other buildings in Vladimir. More precisely, we know that there were, for example, a church in Vasilevo, his favorite residence, but there are no remains of it.

Spassky Cathedral in Chernigov

After the death of Vladimir, an internecine war ensues. In this war, as we know, his sons Boris and Gleb die. For some time, Svyatopolk the Accursed becomes the prince in Kyiv, who comes there with the help of the Poles. There are fires in Kyiv. According to Thietmar of Merseburg, a certain monastery of Hagia Sophia burned down in 1017, that is, a building, perhaps stone, but rather wooden, which already bore such a rather interesting dedication, to which we will return.

Finally, Yaroslav occupied Kyiv. But Yaroslav cannot immediately begin the calm development of culture here, because his brother Mstislav appears from Tmutarakan, from the Black Sea, who captures Chernigov, and an internecine struggle begins between Yaroslav and Mstislav.

Mstislav defeats Yaroslav in 1024, and finally, in 1026, the brothers were reconciled and divided Rus' in half. And from this moment, that is, apparently, from 1026, each of them begins to build their own cathedral in their capital, in Chernigov and Kyiv, respectively, and, apparently, each wanted to surpass the other in their construction.

Let's start with Chernigov, with the Mstislav Cathedral. This is the Spassky Cathedral, which appears before you here in the form of a plan. The main building is shown in dark, and various extensions of a later time are shown in color, which, however, have not survived and are known only from archaeological excavations. A rather large monumental building, however, has an interesting “domed basilica” plan, which was once very important for Byzantium - remember that Hagia Sophia, main temple The Byzantine Empire, after all, is a “domed basilica,” but for the 9th–11th centuries it was, of course, extremely archaic and almost forgotten. Only somewhere on the outskirts, in the provinces, such “domed basilicas” suddenly appear. And, in fact, the Chernigov “dome basilica” is the last representative of this type in Byzantine architecture.

But even as a “domed basilica,” the temple was built in a very unique way. Firstly, its choirs are wooden, that is, it is a wooden flooring, not stone vaults, and secondly, these choirs do not reach the end of the side cells, as was the case in Byzantium, making them completely two-story, but they end at the eastern pillars . It is not clear how to explain this oddity - perhaps not by the very high level of work of the craftsmen.

But there is another explanation. The fact is that from the chronicle we know that the temple was not completed by Mstislav. When Mstislav died, the temple stood at such a height, the chronicler says, like a man sitting on a horse with his hand raised. How long can it be? Well, three meters, a little more, but hardly much. That is, the walls of the temple have already begun to be built, its plan has been laid, but who completed it and when? Most likely, it was completed by Yaroslav, because, as we will see, the construction technique of this temple has many similarities with the buildings of Yaroslav. The temple, like most churches in Rus' and especially in Ukraine, then underwent alteration, and after alteration in the Baroque era, restoration. Therefore, when we look at these temples, it is very difficult to identify at first glance what is ancient in them and what is not. But in fact, the foundation of this temple is undoubtedly ancient.

This becomes especially clear in the areas uncovered by the restorers, where we see elements of decoration. In general, buildings of the first stage of Russian architecture, until the middle of the 11th century, are almost always decorated with flat, complexly profiled two-stage niches. Vladimir Valentinovich Sedov calls this type of decoration the first system of decoration for Russian churches. Indeed, we find it in almost all of them, although not many of them have survived.

But other points are no less interesting. If the principle of cutting facades with flat niches is rather metropolitan, Constantinople, although on Russian monuments it corresponds less to the tectonics of buildings than we see in Constantinople, then the brick patterns, as we see here: a complex meander and the use of stone-brick masonry, and with unprocessed stone - this is more a sign of Byzantine provincial architecture. We see that raw stones are inserted into a brick frame, which is then covered with mortar and marked as if it were a brick - as if these were some kind of jewelry in a frame. This technique is called cloisonné, by analogy with Byzantine cloisonné: it is very common in Greece and is characteristic of the so-called Hellenic school greek architecture. However, we must remember that craftsmen from the provinces, from the same Hellenic school, could work in Byzantium and on imperial orders, in particular, at the famous monastery of Nea Moni on the island of Chios. And here we also see such a combination of the capital and the provincial.

Another very interesting feature in the cathedral's masonry is the complex-profile beam blades. We see rectangular, diamond-shaped, and semicircular ledges, which are collected in such bunches. We are more familiar with this architecture from the West, from Gothic architecture. In Byzantium, it is extremely rare.

But it is very interesting that almost simultaneously with this cathedral, the buildings of Emperor Constantine Monomakh were being built, in particular, his beloved Church of St. George in Mangans in Constantinople, which he loved so much that he rebuilt it twice. Each time it seemed to him that the temple was too small and not beautiful enough. And in the excavations of this temple we find a very similar profile. That is, we see that, apparently, those craftsmen who worked for Constantine Monomakh, even if they were partly provincial Greek craftsmen, came here to Rus' and worked at least on the completion of this temple.

As for the lower part, the foundations of this temple and the first three meters of the walls, which date back to the era of Mstislav, they were undoubtedly built using a different technique, but it is quite difficult to find the homeland of these masters. Oleg Mikhailovich Ioanesyan looked for them in the Caucasus, but the examples he gives there bear little resemblance to this very Chernigov masonry. Therefore, we throw up our hands and say that mysteries still remain.

If we go inside the temple and distract for a second from the late iconostasis, which slightly prevents us from perceiving the interior (because, let me remind you, the Byzantine and Old Russian altar barrier was low and did not cover the conch, which we will see in St. Sophia of Kyiv), then we must pay attention in the interior to this basic principle of a domed basilica: pairs of columns and, accordingly, arches between them in two tiers, the first and second. Only behind them are hidden, let me remind you, not stone vaults, but wooden choirs. In the domed basilica, the sense of longitudinality, the sense of vectoriality, the sense of movement from the entrance to the apse is much stronger than in the cross-domed building.

But if we look more closely at the details, we see strange thing. Now these pillars are made of brick, but this is a strengthening of the pillars because, amazingly enough, marble columns and marble capitals are hidden inside them. Where they were brought from is a mystery. The fact is that in the main building of Yaroslav, in Sophia of Kyiv, as we will see, there are no columns, no such powerful, load-bearing marble parts - there are only small marble parts. Perhaps Mstislav brought them in advance from Tmutarakan, from the Byzantine Tamatarkha, from the Taman Peninsula, where he ruled. At least the temple in Tmutarakan itself, which Mstislav apparently ordered, stood on these very columns.

But the general feeling of the interior here is still very clearly Middle Byzantine. Despite the archaic nature of the domed basilica, we see that this is the architecture of a new period.

Sofia Kyiv

Sophia of Kyiv presents an even greater mystery to us. Sophia of Kyiv contains some very strange plan, or rather a very strange idea of ​​a plan, so scientists spent a long time and painfully figuring out what this mysterious plan could mean. The interpretations here were very different, ranging from very practical to extremely symbolic.

One of the features of this temple is the presence of thirteen domes. Thirteen domes are something unprecedented in Byzantine architecture. The maximum that we see in the churches of Constantinople is five domes. The thirteen domes have been interpreted quite clearly for quite some time: the central dome is Christ, and the twelve small ones are the twelve apostles, four evangelists, and so on.

And one of the researchers, Armen Yuryevich Kazaryan, even put forward a hypothesis that such a strange plan of the temple was specially created to place thirteen domes on it. But it seems to me that in this case it turns out that the tail is wagging the dog. If we take a closer look at the places where these domes stand, we will see that the galleries that were originally attached to the temple (and there is no doubt about this) almost completely blocked the side light on the choirs of the temple. And the choir of the temple was very important, because this is a place that is extremely significant for the customer.

In Sophia of Constantinople, the empress stood in the choir and the patriarchate was located. In the Sophia of Kyiv we see on the level between the first tier and the choirs a fresco depicting Yaroslav’s family, which converges towards the center, and it is likely that Yaroslav stood in the place on the choir where the Empress was in Constantinople, opposite the altar.

Therefore, illumination of the choir was a very important issue. But how to illuminate them if there is no side light? And then the only option is to place light domes over these cells. This answer seems to be more plausible.

But why does this temple have such a strange plan? Great amount cross-shaped supports in a fairly large space, between which there are small pillars in places. Why was it impossible to create another space? Unfortunately, we must admit that Middle Byzantine architecture was inferior in quality to Early Byzantine architecture. She could no longer create such large domed spaces as Sophia of Constantinople did. If in Middle Byzantine times it was necessary to build a large temple, and this was required very rarely, because the Byzantines had a large number of very large temples and did not need them, so, in such a situation, the Byzantines used a method that the researcher of Byzantine architecture Robert Ousterhout called the "method" cell multiplication." You simply add more and more cells to the existing ones, i.e. you take a plan as a basis and begin to develop it.

But what plan was taken as the basis for Sophia of Kyiv? Some researchers tried to find parallels to it either in some distant areas, such as Bulgaria or Abkhazia, and then indirect ones, or prototypes in early Byzantine architecture. As we see here, the core of Sophia of Kyiv is similar to the Temple of the Virgin Mary at Meyfarkin in Northern Mesopotamia (modern southeastern Turkey), although neither the date nor the origin of this temple is clear.

But it seems that Ousterhout’s idea about cell multiplication will become clearer to us if we take a closer look at the Byzantine examples. We see how the simple type of octagon on trompe l'oeil in Nea Moni becomes more complicated by adding cells and turns into a complex type, which is represented in such temples as Hosios Loukas in Phokis or Sotir Lykodimou in Athens.

In this sense, if we return for a second to the plan of the Tithe Church and look at it in Zykov’s reconstruction, then we will see that Sophia of Kiev represents a multiplication of the cells of this very core of the Tithe Church, a temple with a three-way bypass, only with the addition of additional cells and, accordingly, moving the pairs of pillars from under the dome a little further. And then it becomes clear that it was possible to compare the temple of Yaroslav with the temple of Vladimir in favor of the temple of Yaroslav.

Let's look at some features of Sophia of Kyiv. The temple, too, as architectural historians say, was “baroque,” ​​that is, turned into a masterpiece of the Baroque era - Ukrainian Baroque. But in those places where the facades are open, you and I can see quite a lot.

Firstly, we see the same technical techniques that we saw at Spas Chernigov. We see this figured masonry, cloisonné masonry, that is, we can say that these temples were built by the same masters.

But St. Sophia of Kyiv, of course, perhaps has the most impressive interior space of all ancient Russian churches. This impression is formed not so much because of the size of the temple, since it does not look large, but, on the contrary, looks like many small cells, and this greatness comes from the decoration, because this is the only ancient Russian temple where mosaics were used in such a volume. There was also St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral in Kyiv, which was destroyed in the 1930s, but nowhere except Sofia are there so many not only mosaics, but also marbles. If we enter the altar with you, we will see marbles below and mosaics above.

If you and I look under the dome at the supporting arches, they are all in mosaics. And in a strange contrast, on the remaining walls of the temple there are simply frescoes, no marble, no mosaics. The reason is clear: the prince’s financial resources were not endless, and he wanted to build the temple in some foreseeable time. The chronicle says that the temple was built in 1037, and apparently this is so, because on the fresco of the staircase tower, that is, the farthest corner of the temple, we find a Greek graffito of 1038-39. Let us assume that 1037 is the year the construction of the temple was completed.

But even in those parts that were decorated with mosaics and marbles, we see that the principle of their distribution is not at all Constantinople. In St. Sophia of Kyiv we see marble only in the lowest part, at the sintron for the clergy.

And above, on the flat walls and in the conch, there is a mosaic, and the image of the Virgin Mary breaks when it moves from the conch to the flat walls.

If we look at the Byzantine principle of decoration, we will see that all the flat walls are covered with marble, and the vaults with mosaics, as we see practically in the contemporary of Sophia of Kyiv, the catholikon of the Hosios Loukas monastery in Phokis. Thus, even with the use of the most expensive materials and the work of Greek craftsmen, the very principle of placing these precious materials in Sophia of Kyiv was not Byzantine.

Moreover, if we look at the structure of the building, we will see that there is a first cornice that divides the choir level. It is marked here by slabs of Ovruch peripherite, and the second cornice, which should be under large arches, is completely absent in Hagia Sophia. It turns out to be a semi-metropolitan, semi-provincial monument in architecture.

Yaroslav obtained everything he could to decorate the temple. And, in particular, we see marble capitals, but unlike the Savior of Chernigov, here they were apparently used for the altar barrier or for the ciborium of the temple, but not for its structural parts.

A very interesting and illustrative example is the use of glazed floor tiles, which was, of course, known in Constantinople. Of course, the Byzantines came up with all this (although it was discovered not so long ago), but it was used en masse in those places that could not afford a real marble floor, for example, in Bulgaria - in the First Bulgarian Kingdom. And Rus' is following a similar path.

Other buildings of Yaroslav in Kyiv. Golden Gate

In the same article of 1037, along with Hagia Sophia, other temples of Yaroslav are mentioned. Some of these temples clearly have clergy dedications. This is the temple of St. Irina, in honor of his wife Ingigerda, in the baptism of Irina, and the temple of St. George, in honor heavenly patron Yaroslav himself. The dedication to St. Sophia is also quite transparent and understandable. This is a clear reference to Constantinople, a clear attempt to create a cathedral on the model of Sophia of Constantinople.

In this sense, the dedication of the first Russian church, the Temple of the Tithes, to the Mother of God looks somewhat mysterious. The fact is that in Byzantium at that time large cathedrals were not very dedicated to the Mother of God. This was the exception rather than the rule. Maybe the main cathedral in Korsun was dedicated to the Mother of God, or the temple in which Vladimir was baptized in Korsun was dedicated to the Mother of God - one can only guess.

Along with the temples of Irina and George, others arise. Unfortunately, we simply cannot say about some of these temples what kind of temples they are. Sometimes they are correlated with the temples of Yaroslav mentioned in the chronicle, and sometimes not, but in those buildings that can be traced archaeologically: the temple on Vladimirskaya Street (in front of us) and the temple on the so-called metropolitan estate, we see complex structures. We see that the complex multi-pillar core of St. Sophia of Kyiv continued to be reproduced, albeit in more modest sizes, already without galleries, in these churches.

And it is also important to note that the cross-shaped pillar, which became the basis of Russian architecture, starting with the Church of the Tithes, was repeated not only in Sophia of Kyiv, but also in other buildings of Yaroslav. And this does not mean that it was built by the same masters who built the Church of the Tithes, who came from the same center. This means that this design principle in Rus', where it was supposed to replace marble columns (firstly, because columns were not available, and secondly, because the cross pillar made it possible to cover much larger spaces), becomes the basis for Russian architecture .

The same article mentions another building of Yaroslav. This is the church on the Golden Gate. As a matter of fact, she is mentioned first after Sophia. It is said that after Sofia he laid down the Golden Gate. What we now see is a late Soviet reconstruction, unfortunately, unsuccessful, although by the time of this reconstruction the walls of the gate rose to almost ten meters, although this was, of course, mainly the opening and its lower part. We can only guess about the forms of the temple. Sometimes they are reconstructed based on what the temple on the Golden Gate of Vladimir looked like, although, as it seems, it would be more accurate to reconstruct it according to the temple that was above the gates of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, because Afanasy Kalnofoysky directly says that they have common facades, then there is the same look.

The very idea of ​​the Golden Gate, of course, comes from Constantinople with its famous Golden Gate, essentially the triumphal arch of Emperor Theodosius. But the idea of ​​a temple above the gate, a temple that was not on the Golden Gate, comes from the gate of the imperial palace of Halki in Constantinople. Halki means “bronze”, a bronze gate, the main front entrance to the palace, on which was depicted the image of Christ, covered over by iconoclasts and then opened again. First, Emperor Roman Lekapinus built a small temple on this gate, and then Emperor John Tzimiskes in 971, that is, shortly before the baptism of Rus', built a large temple here. Moreover, this temple was supposed to become both his tomb and a reliquary temple, because he placed there the relics of Christ that he brought from his campaign to the east. Such temples, which possessed important images of Christ and important relics, were supposed to protect the palace from any evil spirits that could get there, preventing them from passing through the gates. Apparently, the Golden Gate played the same role in the city of Yaroslav, in Kyiv.

Sofia Novgorodskaya

But another interesting building dates back to the era of Yaroslav, but no longer in Kyiv. We talked about the fact that he apparently completed the construction of the cathedral in Chernigov, but before Kyiv, we must remember, he was a prince in Novgorod and loved this city. The Novgorodians eventually helped him achieve a great reign, and Yaroslav sent craftsmen there. Apparently, these are partly the same masters who built Sophia of Kyiv. These are never exactly the same craftsmen, because with large projects the craftsmen are always slightly different: the composition of the team changes, new people join, some old ones leave, etc.

So, Yaroslav sends craftsmen to his son in Novgorod to also build Hagia Sophia there. Sophia of Novgorod is a smaller copy of Sophia of Kyiv. Previously, Sophia of Novgorod in Polotsk, which was very similar to Sofia of Novgorod, was compared with them as a third monument, but in Lately a rather convincing assumption was made that Sophia of Polotsk is a building not from the middle of the 11th century, as previously thought, but from the end of the 11th century. This assumption was made by Evgeniy Nikolaevich Torshin on construction equipment, and therefore we will consider it with you in the next lecture, and now we’ll talk about Sofia of Novgorod.

The core is the same as in St. Sophia of Kyiv, you say. It seems that there are practically no differences: there are also five conventional naves, and also, so to speak, two transverse naves from the west. But if we take a closer look at the details, and, as always, we know who is hidden in them, then we will see some difference here. If St. Sophia of Kyiv has five apses, which made it possible to make five altars if desired, then here there are only three apses, and the side “naves” end, in fact, with nothing - a straight wall. If in Sofia of Kyiv there are pairs of columns between the pillars, on three sides, then in Sofia of Novgorod there is only one column. This column, which breaks the entrance line, which has to be bypassed, which cannot be passed through, makes this monument, in a sense, a little more provincial.

However, the overall impression of the interior in Hagia Sophia of Novgorod is close to Kyiv. Here we see the same powerful cornice at the base of the choir, but the pillars, as was said, are already single and, accordingly, the arches here are paired. The choirs of Sophia of Novgorod were obviously also intended for the prince, but at the same time for the Novgorod ruler, bishop or archbishop (scientists are arguing here). And it is no coincidence that in Novgorod, which very quickly acquires a special status, the status, in fact, of a city-republic, which only invites princes for military and other needs, the St. Sophia Cathedral becomes not only a symbol of the city, - as the Novgorodians say: “We will die for St. Sophia,” but precisely the archbishop’s cathedral, while quite quickly the prince will be forced to build himself another cathedral on the other side of the Volkhov, in some ways, so to speak, the opposite of St. Sophia.

Finally, if you look at the architecture of Sofia Novgorod from the outside, you and I will see, along with things familiar to us, some amazing features. Firstly, there are significantly fewer chapters here than in Kyiv. Secondly, niches disappear from the facades as much as possible: there are significantly fewer of them than in Kyiv. But a new feature also appears - gables, gable ceilings instead of the side-by-side roof, which is familiar to us from the monuments of Southern Rus'. And the main thing is that behind them there really are vaults of a different shape, so some consider this a sign of Western, Romanesque influence. We don’t have an exact answer as to why, but it is very important that from Sophia of Novgorod the line of architecture of Novgorod will begin, which until almost the 16th century would be a very important center of Russian architecture.

To sum up our conversation today about architecture from Vladimir to Yaroslav, it must be said that all the largest churches in Rus' were built at this moment. And this is natural, because Rus', its new cities and bishoprics needed new churches: Kyiv, Chernigov, Novgorod. These temples reflected the power of the united Russian state, the resources that its prince had, who controlled a huge, rich territory, rich also thanks to the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks and from the Varangians to the Arabs. And this architecture, in general, is still Byzantine in essence, but new features, not very known to Byzantium, begin to appear in it, which will then become more and more intensified, forming the basis of the new Russian architecture. However, it will not stop interacting with Byzantine architecture thanks to more and more new arrivals of Byzantine masters.

Literature

1. Komech A.I. Old Russian architecture of the late X - early XII centuries. M., 1987.
2. History of Russian art. T. 1. M., 2007.
3. Rappoport P.A. Architecture of Ancient Rus'. L., 1986.
4. Rappoport P.A. Russian architecture X-XIII centuries: Catalog of monuments. L., 1982.
5. Vinogradov A. Yu. St. Sophia of Kiev in the context of Byzantine architecture 2 quarters. XI century // Temple i people. Collection of articles up to the 90th day of the people of S. O. Visotsky. K., 2013. pp. 66-80.