Byzantine style in the architecture of Russia

The historical and cultural significance of Byzantium can not be overestimated. In Russia, the Byzantine heritage can be found both in the spiritual and material spheres of life. The interaction of cultures has gone through several stages, and even in modern culture and architecture there are signs of this influence. In a global sense, Russian culture has become the main successor and continuer of the traditions and spiritual canons of Byzantium.

Origins of the Byzantine style

The collapse of the Roman Empire in 395 led to the emergence of a new empire, later called Byzantium. It is rightfully considered the successor of ancient traditions, culture and wisdom. Byzantine style arises as a result of the concentration of existing architectural techniques. The architects of the new state immediately set themselves the task of surpassing the Roman achievements. Therefore, organically absorbing all the best that was invented by the Romans and Greeks, create new masterpieces, accept the challenge of time and find new constructive and planning solutions.

The formation of Byzantine culture occurred not only on the reproduction and improvement of the ancient Greco-Roman experience, but also due to the strong eastern influence, which was reflected in the pursuit of luxury, scale, and decorum.

In connection with the fact that the eastern branch of Christianity is based in Constantinople, the country needed new temples. For a new ideology, you also need your own entourage. These tasks are decided by the best artists of the world who flock to Constantinople and create unique works that become a new religious, cultural, state and architectural canon.

Features of the Byzantine style

Architects of Constantinople had to solve several important constructive tasks, which mainly appeared in the temple architecture. The cathedral in Orthodoxy had to make an indelible impression on the viewer with its scale and splendor, the temple was associated with the Kingdom of God and therefore the architects needed new expressive means, the search for which they were doing. As a basis for the planning of the Byzantine church, it was not the Greek cathedral, but the Roman basilica. The walls of the cathedrals were erected from a brick with large interlayers of a fastening mortar. This led to the formation of a distinctive feature of Byzantine buildings - the facing of buildings with a brick or stone of dark and light color. Around the facade are often placed arcades of columns with basket-shaped capitals.

The Byzantine style is associated with the cross-domed type of the cathedral. The architect managed to find a simple solution to join the round dome and the square base, so there were "sails" that created a sense of harmonious wholeness. Narrowed windows with rounded tops, placed two or three side by side, are also an important feature of Byzantine buildings.

The external processing of buildings was always more modest than the interior decoration - this is another feature of the Byzantine buildings. The principles of interior design were refinement, wealth and elegance, they used very expensive, effective materials that made a strong impression on people.

The influence of Byzantium on medieval architecture

In the Middle Ages the influence of Byzantium spread to all European countries, it was political, economic and spiritual. Byzantine style in the architecture of the Middle Ages proved to be a powerful renewal resource. Italy took a greater measure of the innovations of Byzantine architecture: a new type of temple and mosaic technique. Thus, the medieval temples in Ravenna, on the island of Torcello, in Palermo became signs of this Byzantine influence.

Later, trends are spreading to other countries. Thus, the cathedral in Aachen in Germany is an example of Byzantine influence through the prism of Italian masters. However, the most powerful influence of Byzantium had on those countries that adopted Orthodoxy: Bulgaria, Serbia, Armenia and Ancient Rus. Here there is a real cultural dialogue and exchange, which leads to significant modernization of existing architectural traditions.

The influence of Byzantium on the architecture of Ancient Rus

Everyone knows the story of how the Russian delegation, who visited Rome and Constantinople in search of a suitable religion, was shocked by the beauty of Hagia Sophia, and this decided the outcome of the matter. From this time, a powerful transfer of traditions, texts, rituals to the Russian land begins. An important aspect in this process is the temple architecture, which is actively developing in a new form. The Byzantine style in the architecture of the temples appeared due to the fact that entire teams of craftsmen come to Ancient Rus to build cathedrals, transfer skills and form a new face of the country. Also, many architects visit Constantinople, learning the wisdom and cunning of construction.

Russian masters, beginning with the 10th century, not only adopt the Byzantine traditions, but also enrich them, supplementing with solutions and details necessary for local churches. The traditional cross-domed Byzantine church in Russia is overgrown with additional naves and galleries for greater capacity. To create buildings in the new style, accompanying handicraft directions appear: brick making, bell casting, icon painting, - all of this has Byzantine roots, but is processed by Russian masters in the spirit of national art. The brightest example of such processing is the Sophia Cathedral of the Wisdom of God in Kiev, where the three-nave Byzantine form becomes five-nave and is still built up by galleries, and five chapters are supplemented by 12 more small glazes.

Byzantine model of the temple

The Byzantine style in architecture, the features of which we consider, is based on the innovative layout of the temple. Its features were born from purely utilitarian needs: an increase in the space of the temple, a simple connection of the dome and the base, sufficient illumination. All this led to the formation of a special type of structure, which later changed the entire temple architecture of the world. The traditional Byzantine temple had a square or rectangular basement, a cross-domed structure. To the central part adjoin apses and galleries. The increase in volume led to the appearance of additional pillars in the form of columns, they divided the cathedral into three naves. Most often the classical temple had one chapter, much less often 5. Windows with an arched opening were united by 2-3 under a common arch.

Features of the Byzantine style in Russian temple architecture

The first construction of the churches of the new church was according to the Russian tradition, the Greeks could not affect them, as they built their churches from brick and stone. Therefore, the first innovation is a multi-faceted, which was actively introduced into architectural solutions. The first stone church in Russia appears at the end of the 9th century and has a cross-domed structure. To this day, the temple did not live, so it is impossible to talk about its specifics. For the temples in Russia, the volume was very important, so the first architects were forced to solve the problem of increasing the internal space of the temple, completing additional naves and galleries.

Today the Byzantine style in Russia, the photo of which can be seen in many guidebooks, is represented by several major regions. These are buildings in Kiev and Chernigov, Novgorod region, Pechery, Vladimir, Pskov region. There are many churches preserved here that have obvious Byzantine features, but are independent constructions with unique architectural solutions. The most famous are the St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod, the Transfiguration Cathedral in Chernigov, the Church of Our Savior on Nereditsa, the Trinity Church in the Pechersky Monastery.

Byzantine style in European architecture

The state of Byzantium, which existed for more than 10 centuries, could not but leave its mark on world history. In the architecture of Europe and today you can see the visible features of the Byzantine heritage. The period of the Middle Ages is the most rich in borrowings and continuity, when architects take on the innovative ideas of their colleagues and build temples, for example, in Italy, which was most susceptible to Byzantine influence. The powerful influence on the Venetian Republic was provided by artists who came from Byzantium, and a huge number of artifacts brought here after the seizure of Constantinople. Even the Cathedral of San Marco in Venice includes many Byzantine motifs and objects.

An equally important role was played by the architecture of Byzantium during the Renaissance. The dominant central-domed type of structure that came from this country, gets widespread. The features of Byzantine churches can be found not only in religious buildings, but also in secular buildings. Architects, from Brunelleschi to Bramante and A. Palladio. The elements and constructive solutions of the Byzantines in such famous buildings as the Cathedrals of St. Peter in Rome, St. Paul's in London, and the Pantheon in Paris are clearly visible.

Byzantine style in European architecture as such has not developed, if you do not take into account the Orthodox countries, but the elements of this system of architecture are visible so far, they are rethought, modernized, but are the basis on which the architecture of Europe grows. Byzantium became a place of preservation of ancient traditions, which then returned to Europe and began to be perceived by her as their historical roots.

Formation of the Russian-Byzantine style

Byzantine style in Russian architecture is formed as a result of centuries of rethinking and reworking the ideas of architects from Constantinople. This style is formed, in which the eastern and Russian ideas coexist on an equal footing, in the middle of the 19th century. It is then that the flowering of architecture begins, in which the achievements of Byzantine architects are creatively revised, supplemented and re-applied. Therefore, the Byzantine style in Russia in the 19th century is not a copying of the achievements of Constantinople, but the creation of buildings "on motives", with a large inclusion of Russian ideas proper.

Periodization of the Byzantine style in Russian architecture

What is referred to in the theory of architecture as "the Byzantine style" is formed in the middle of the 19th century. His ideologist and propagandist was the architect KA Ton. Precursors of style appear in the 1920s of the 19th century, they are noticeable in such buildings as the Church of the Tithes in Kiev, the Church of Alexander Nevsky in Potsdam.

But the first period of style formation falls on the 40s and 50s, it is especially noticeable in the structures of AV Gornostaev and D. Grimm. The second period is the 1960s, when in the spirit of the dominant eclecticism, structures boldly mixing the Byzantine and Russian features are created. During this period, the style is especially visible in the buildings of GG Gagarin, VA Kosyakov and EA Borisov.

70-90s is a time of complexity of the style, the architects are striving for greater decoration, introducing different parts into their buildings. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and at the beginning of the 20th century, the Byzantine style in Russia began to be treated more and more freely, combining in the spirit of an upcoming modernity with other styles. In the 90 years of the 20th century a pseudo-Byzantine style appears, in which late layers are visible, but the original features are guessed.

Reflection of the Byzantine style in the interior

The style of Constantinople was particularly evident in the decoration of the interior of the buildings. For interiors in the Byzantine style is characterized by rich decorations, the use of expensive materials: gold, bronze, silver, expensive stone, precious wood. A striking feature of the interiors in this style are mosaics on the walls and on the floor.

Reflections of the Byzantine style in Russian architecture of the 19th century

The brightest period in architecture, based on the traditions of Constantinople, falls on the middle of the 19th century. At that time the Byzantine style in the architecture of St. Petersburg became the leading one. The Church of the Blessed Icon of the Mother of God in the Galernaya harbor (Kosyakova and Prussak), the Greek Church of Dmitry Solunsky (RI Kuzmin), the Trading House of Stol and Schmitt (V. Schreter) are the clearest examples of the constructions in this style. In Moscow it is, of course, the building of the Tone: the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the Great Kremlin Palace.

Byzantine motifs in the architecture of the 20th century

The post-Soviet period with its restoration of Orthodoxy led to the fact that the Byzantine style in the architecture of Russia once again became relevant. There are buildings in the Russian-Byzantine style in many cities of Russia. A vivid example is the Church on Blood in the name of All Saints in the Land of the Russian People Who Shone in Yekaterinburg on the project of K. Efremov.

At the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, the so-called "second Russian-Byzantine style" is emerging, which appears in new temple buildings. It can include such cathedrals as the Panteleimonovsky Temple in Izhevsk, the Church of the Nativity of Christ in Omsk, the Church of the Nativity of Christ in Moscow and numerous buildings in all corners of the country. This shows that the ideas of Byzantium deeply penetrated into Russian culture and today are already inseparable from it.

Modern buildings in Byzantine style

Modern architects, especially in the temple architecture, again and again return to the traditions of Constantinople as the source of traditional solutions. They, of course, are being rethought, solved with the consideration of new technologies, but the spirit of Byzantium is felt in them. One can safely say that today the Byzantine style is alive in the architecture of Russia. Examples of this can be found in many cities of the country: the Church of the Holy Myrrh-Bearers in St. Petersburg, the St. Nicholas Church in Nadym, the Seraphim Church in Murom, and others.