Culture of Kievan Rus. Byzantine influence

The culture of Kievan Rus is closely connected with the adoption of Christianity. Baptism in 988 is considered a turning point in the history of the tribes of the Eastern Slavs. Together with religion, the Eastern Slavic tribes also adopted the Byzantine script, stone construction skills, the canonical foundations of icon painting, and some examples of applied art. The culture of Kievan Rus is, above all, culture, a democratic urban society under excellent management.

The highest prosperity of the state occurred in the 11th century. In this century, the population of the country has been about seven to eight million people. Smolensk, Novgorod, Kiev have become the most developed urban centers. The largest and most populous state in Europe at that time was the Kyiv Rus.

The culture of Byzantium contributed to bringing the Russian state to the culture of Hellenism and through it to the foundations of the culture of the Middle East, West, and Ancient Egypt. However, scientists are still arguing and ambiguously characterize the Byzantine influence on the development of the country. At the same time, many insist that it was Byzantium that promoted the understanding of Christianity as the highest religious law and worldview system. Thus, having accepted Orthodoxy, the Russian people drew moral and religious foundations and principles from the original source.

Relations with Byzantium continued for a long period. For centuries, the culture of Kievan Rus, the education system in the state was formed according to the Byzantine example. The adoption of Christianity was also carried out according to its pattern.

It should be noted that the historical choice of Orthodoxy, which ruled Vladimir Rus, Prince Vladimir, was not accidental. Various religious embassies came to the ruler with suggestions to accept their faith. However, after the messengers sent by Vladimir to different countries returned and told about the Christian worship with special enthusiasm, the prince preferred Christianity. This was conditioned not only by the beauty of the ceremony of worship, but also by a number of socio-political reasons.

The culture of Kievan Rus was under the cross influence of various civilizations. This was due to the location of the state between the West and the East. The ancient state was associated with a variety of political and trade relations with Central and Western Europe on the one hand, and on the other - with the Asian East and Byzantium. Kievan Rus from the very 10th century was in the middle of transit transit routes. They connected its southern, eastern and western neighbors.

Despite the territorial proximity of Western European countries, the main exchange of people and ideas was in the southern and northern directions. That is why Christianity began to penetrate into the East Slavic lands long before its official approval.

With the adoption of Orthodoxy, education was also spread. The training was conducted in monastery, city, church and secular schools.

The artistic culture of Kievan Rus is represented by mosaics and frescoes. In addition, the highest development was the religious genre - iconography. Independence is an art acquired in the 14-15 centuries. In this era, created such masters as Rublev and the Greek. Icon painting and mosaic up to the 18th century were practically the only forms of artistic expression of the Russian people.

The system of temple painting dates back to the 11th century. It is preserved in the images in the St. Sophia Cathedral. In the 12th century, Alimpiy acquired the glory (Russian master icon-painter). He is attributed to the authorship of the great amazing beauty icon "Yaroslavl Oranta" ("Our Lady of Great Panagia").

Expressing the spirit of Rurik's time, the style was the same for Kievan Rus as the Romanesque for Western Europe .