What do the colors and shapes of domes on Orthodox churches mean? Gilding of domes

29.01.2014 19:08:48

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Dome (Italian Cupola - domes, vault, from Latin cupula, diminutive of cupa - barrel) is a spatial, load-bearing structure of the covering, in shape close to a hemisphere or other surface of rotation of a curve. The history of domes dates back to prehistoric times. Domes began to be built during the Roman architectural revolution, when they began to be erected during the construction of temples.

Rostov Cathedral of the Nativity Holy Mother of God crowned by 5 domes covered with gold leaf - one dome rises above the rest, symbolizing Christ as the Head of the Church, and the four evangelists. The gilding of the domes is a symbol of eternity, incorruptibility, royalty and heavenly glory. It is not for nothing that one of the gifts brought by the Magi to the baby Jesus was gold. In Rus', the heads of temples, as well as temples dedicated to the Savior, were covered with gold.

It is known that on the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus', in the late 80s. XX, the domes of the cathedral shone with gold. The central dome of the church in the name of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as believers used to say, was literally “burning” in the sun, and it was as if a scattering of sun “bunnies” were running along the asphalt from the gilding. Now this “glow” began to gradually fade away due to multiple delaminations and loss of gold leaf until the copper sheet roof was exposed, which can be seen even with the naked eye...

About the creation and preservation of the gilded luxury of the city editor official website Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I talked with master gilder Alexander Stepanovich Kurochkin.

— Alexander Stepanovich, you participated in the reconstruction of the cathedral in the late 80-90s. XX century, after which the temple was first crowned with domes covered with gold. Tell us what kind of gold was used then in the construction of the domes of the Rostov Cathedral Church?

- It is worth noting that in post-war years and up to the 80s. the domes were covered with roofing iron. A new page in the chronicle of Rostov cathedral began with the glow of golden domes. At that time, gilding was done with sheet and gold leaf. This gold was made by hand forging. To obtain elastic sheets, the precious material was first annealed. It is known that domes, church utensils, and church furniture are not covered with pure gold. The metal was melted down to 960 purity: it contains 96% pure gold and 2% each of silver and copper.

— Why is such gold called “leaf”?

- “Susal” - “face”, front side, surface, and in essence - thin plates of gold that cover the surface. The thickness of the gold leaf is a fraction of a micron, so the surface for the coating was prepared especially carefully. Any speck of dust could break through the tinsel.

— How was gold leaf applied to the dome? ?

— The basis of the dome is sheet copper. It is known that copper is a non-ferrous metal, and non-ferrous metals have lower adhesive properties than ferrous metals. The next step was a primer to level the surface, but main task soil - increasing adhesion, that is, adhesion of the gilding to the surface. After the primer, painting is carried out, with its help a background is created, and then the paint is covered with varnish. It is designed to protect the soil from moisture penetration and create a smooth surface. After this, Mordan varnish is applied, and only then gold leaf.

— Why did the domes lose their original appearance over time - the gold leaf fell off and copper was discovered?

“Many negative factors contributed to this. Firstly, the covering of the domes of the Rostov Cathedral lasted much longer than planned and expected qualified specialists. Secondly, aggressive external environment. These are harsh winter blizzards, too hot southern summers, the proximity of tram tracks, crows and pigeons walking along the dome and leaving their “marks”... In addition, interior gold was used to cover the domes, intended for attributes interior decoration temple, but not external. Interior gold is much thinner than the traditional gold used to cover domes.

— Now the restoration of the central dome of the Rostov Cathedral has moved on active stage- The casing is being dismantled. In this regard, there is an opinion that the domes of the cathedral church were covered with a very thick layer of gold or, for example, that this gold can be used after restoration. Is this true?

— Gold leaf is very fragile, and the thickness of the coating is a fraction of a micron. Only 2 grams of precious metal were used to cover 0.5 square meters of the dome. As I said earlier, this gold leaf coating lasted much longer than planned, expected and estimated by experts. Thus, the worn-out precious metal covering, which is now being removed from the central dome, has long since fallen into disrepair and is absolutely beyond repair, and cannot be used for any other purposes.

Interviewed by: Victoria Altunina

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Information for Customers.

The calculation is made taking into account the complexity of the gilded surface of domes, crosses, balls, cones, coats of arms, an eagle or other bronze, copper or iron composition.

The gilded dome “stands” in the tent for another 25 days! And only then this micron layergold metal is ready to fight our atmospheric phenomena: snow, rain, wind and sand!

When choosing gold for external gilding, we recommend our customers to use 2.5 gramgold on vertically located parts, and 4 gram gold on horizontal planes - Suchthe combined method allows you to save money and increase wear resistance of the most vulnerableparts of a dome, cross or any other product.

We Gold the Domes using traditional methods, just as our grandfathers and great-grandfathers did.

We also use modern materials, which allows us to complete the work within the specified time frame.

Cost of gold plated worksdepends on the volume.

Prices for gildingLead lead and crown.

Based on 130 sheets of gold per 1m2.

1. For a volume of up to 50 m2. Gilding period is 50 days. With a volume of 500 m2 gilding period 80days, 1000 m2, 120 days. + 2 weeks minimum for the gold to stand.

Cost of gilding;

55 rubles 1 sheet with a volume of at least 1000 m2. From above 1000 the price is negotiable.

65 rubles 1 sheet with a volume of at least 750 m2.

75 rubles 1 sheet with a volume of at least 500 m2.

85 rubles 1 sheet with a volume of at least 250 m2.

95 rubles 1 sheet with a volume of at least 100 m2.

105 rubles 1 sheet with a volume from 1 m2 to 50 m2.

Terms and prices for gilding with modern materials. Based on 130 sheets of gold per m2.

1. For a volume of up to 50 m2. Gilding period is 30 days. For volumes up to 500 m2 gilding period 60days, up to 1000 m2, 90 days. + 2 weeks minimum for the gold to stand.

Cost of gilding;

35 ruble 1 sheet with a volume of at least 1000 m2.

45 ruble 1 sheet with a volume of at least 750 m2.

55 ruble 1 sheet with a volume of at least 500 m2.

65 ruble 1 sheet with a volume of at least 250 m2.

75 ruble 1 sheet with a volume of at least 100 m2.

85 ruble 1 sheet with a volume from 1 m2 to 50 m2.

This includes: preparation and high-quality gilding of the dome, ppreparation materials.

Gold leaf is not included in the price of the work.

2.stripping; copper surfaces from natural patina (oxidation).

Cost of work per 1 m2. with all materials from 2000 to 5000 rub.

The price includes minor copper restoration, holes, and fastening replacement.

The exact cost of such work will be announced after inspection of the surface.

3. Estimate; for accommodation, scaffolding and the greenhouse of the dome is compiled separately.

4. Price for gilding of copper, bronze or iron non-standard products that do not have a large plane like a dome - are calculated separately according to drawings and technical specifications.

Most often, the price is set per product; These include crosses, coats of arms, eagles, crowns, different types iron or copper flags, bronze and cast iron compositions, gilding of mosques.

Technology of gilding domes.

The DOME, as an architectural form, began to be widely used by builders Ancient Rome. In architectureEastern Slavs called the outer part of the dome in the form of a cone, helmet or onion the Glava(from the Greek kephale - head).

The result (Shine of the Dome) does not depend on the gold you use, its quality today isdifferent companies are approximately the same, but from preparation, for which, as a rule, there is no time.

Only if all layers of primer and varnish are dried and the gold is kept warm for 3 weeks, we give a quality guarantee of 10-15 years.

It is necessary to apply: 2 layers of Red Lead on natural drying oil; 2 layers of lead crown, withintermediate grinding; 2-3 layers of copal varnish, amber or gloss varnish.

Gilding large, flat surfaces using the “from the book” method

which gives speed in working with gold, but
requires certain skills. The level of gilder is determined by the joints that it allows himself

admit. The gold sheets cannot be placed neatly one to one. According to the standards, the permissible overlap of one sheet per
the other is 3-5 mm. From here the gold consumption is calculated: 2 books of 12 sheets per 1 m2 of flat surface.

On kuola folds and other non-flat or embossed surfaces, a coefficient of work complexity of 1.2/1.4/1.6/1./8 is applied. That is, we multiply 2.12 sheets by the coefficient to which the surface belongs.

The cross of the main dome of the Ascension Cathedral in Novocherkassk was inlaid with 101 diamond-cut crystal stones.

Not everyone knows that such a process as making church domes dates back to the beginning of our era. However, before the full development of Christianity, Roman, Byzantine, and Cretan churches were, as a rule, equipped with similar structures. In Russian architecture, the cross-domed type of temple appeared by analogy with the corresponding Byzantine buildings. Moreover, for Rus' the Cathedral of Sophia of Constantinople became the model of an Orthodox church.

Many centuries ago, the roofs of temples did not look quite the same as they do today.

However, even then the builders began. And it is important to note that these designs were given a certain symbolism, which has not been forgotten today. In particular:

1 dome symbolizes;

2 domes embody the two natures of the Lord Jesus Christ (divine and human);

3 domes are a symbol of the Holy Trinity;

5 domes symbolize the Lord Jesus Christ and the four evangelists;

7 domes embody the seven Christian sacraments;

9 domes symbolize the nine ranks of angels;

13 domes are a symbol of the Lord Jesus Christ and 12 apostles;

24 domes - a reminder of a dozen prophets Old Testament and the same number of apostles of the New Testament;

The 25 domes have the same meaning as the 24, but also symbolize the Lord Jesus Christ;

33 domes are a symbol of the age of Christ, in which he accepted martyrdom.

Moreover, in most cases real gold was used to cover the domes.

However, today this practice has gradually become a thing of the past.

Instead of expensive natural gold, modern builders of temples, cathedrals and churches are increasingly using. It is based on high-quality stainless steel, which is resistant to negative influences. external influences. And a thin coating of titanium nitride, applied to the surface of the steel using vacuum technology, gives the domes the necessary shade and mirror shine. As a result, they look no worse than if they were made entirely of gold.

The high popularity that it enjoys today is understandable. The coating in question is very practical, durable, and reliable. It maintains an attractive appearance for a long time, which is important - after all, the domes of churches should always sparkle. In addition, the material is characterized by corrosion resistance, immunity to atmospheric precipitation, and resistance to mechanical stress.

You can purchase high-quality steel sheets coated with titanium nitride from us. We offer our customers sheets of different thicknesses and shades at competitive prices. In addition, you can order installation services, roofing and other types of services from us. In any case, you will be satisfied with the cooperation - product quality, competitive prices, prompt delivery of orders throughout Ukraine and the CIS countries.

The production of domes has long been on an industrial scale, and the technologies and materials used, borrowed from various industries, have proven their reliability, quality and durability. The use of generally accepted standards in construction and design allows us to create truly high-quality and durable domes.

Dome frame materials

The load-bearing and form-building base of the dome is a metal frame made of rolled metal of various sections and thicknesses. The finished metal frame of the dome undergoes anti-corrosion treatment and is prepared for cladding. It is the metal frame base that guarantees the durability and reliability of future products when minimum costs for service.

Dome cladding materials

We use the following as dome cladding:

1. Stainless steel sheets coated with titanium nitride in gold color.
This one is practically new, and has recently become traditional technology cladding of domes, is actively used in almost 90% of all construction of churches in Russia and abroad. We use this technology 95% of our work.

Advantages:

• Low cost compared to gilding leaf
• Stylization of products “like gold”
• Increased weather resistance
• Mechanical resistance
• Fade resistance over 50 years
• Service life is unlimited.

This means that domes lined with the technology of vacuum deposition of titanium nitride onto stainless steel sheets will last a long time and will not lose their appearance, for a long time without additional costs for their maintenance and restoration.

2. Cladding with roofing metal sheets with polymer coating

All seam roofing is made using the materials of this technology. We use this material if we need to make vaults and roofs for churches. And also in the manufacture of colored domes. Due to the availability of material in almost any shade and color, it is possible to make domes of any color scheme and implement the most interesting solutions architect.

Advantages:

• Low cost compared to other dome cladding technologies
• Variety of colors
• Large selection of materials in terms of price and quality

Flaws:

• Limited service life of 30-50 years.

3. Applying gold leaf

The most ancient method of giving domes a golden shine. The essence of the method is to glue thin sheets of up to 0.1 microns and rolled gold onto a previously prepared base. The consumption of gold and, accordingly, the cost will be determined by the exact area of ​​coverage of the dome and all elements to which gilding is applied.

Advantages:

• Noble, real gold color of the dome

Flaws:

• High cost
• High labor intensity
• Periodic maintenance required
• Low resistance to weathering and mechanical damage

IS A MODERN AND CHEAPER ANALOGUE OF PRECIOUS METAL WORTHY TO DECORATE THE DOMES AND CROSSES OF ORTHODOX TEMPLES?

Dedicating one of the issues of our column to the quality of gold leaf used for external and internal finishing works (see ZhMP No. 6 for 2013), we promised to pay more attention modern substitutes precious metal. Today we are delivering on that promise and bringing you an overview of the situation at Russian market titanium nitride - a material that imitates the shine and color of gold leaf.

Reddened roof

For the first time, a binary compound of titanium with nitrogen was publicly discussed as a roofing material in 1996 at the construction site of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior during the traditional “construction” tour of the city by Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. At that time, the mayor approved the design of the facades and roof. The budget for gilding, taking into account the colossal area of ​​the main dome, seemed too large to the mayor and experts. And then Yuri Mikhailovich took out two identical-looking plates from his briefcase: “You know, much cheaper technologies have appeared that make it possible to imitate golden luster using titanium nitride. Here I have this material in one hand, and gold leaf in the other. Guess where it is!”

Those gathered fell silent, but a minute later the majority of votes decided that there was gold in the mayor’s left hand. “Pure titanium nitride!” - the mayor said triumphantly. And just in case, he suggested that those who disagreed “finance the supply of gold leaf themselves,” after which the issue with the roof of the cathedral could be considered resolved.

The roof, along with the facade decoration, was completed by September 1997, in time for the celebration of the 850th anniversary of Moscow. The elements coated with titanium nitride really shone with a rich fiery golden tint... for the first two years. Already by the time of the great consecration of the temple in August 2000, their tone had noticeably changed, turning from bright gold to red. And after another two or three years it became completely copper-brown.

According to archival documents of the Foundation of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior (successor to the Fund for financial support for the reconstruction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior), the work was carried out by JSC RIK-S. The contractor, the Foundation’s chief engineer Vitaly Fatkin said in an interview with the magazine, “coated the main dome and the crown of the cornice, four small domes and the crowns of four belfries, as well as the dome of the gate church on a total area of ​​5623 m 2 with titanium nitride.” According to him, the roofing material of the domes is made using a combined coating of titanium nitride, gold and diamond-like film.

The Fund does not have information about the warranty periods of work for which Mospromstroy was the customer. However, Fatkin does not yet see the need for it. In his opinion, the roof is in more than satisfactory condition. “A specialized organization professionally engaged in monitoring complex structures, at our request, regularly examines the stability of domes and load-bearing structures. Last time similar work was carried out three years ago. The technical condition of the elements was assessed as operational, and verification tests showed that the domes have sufficiently high strength and performance characteristics and can be safely used in the future, says the chief engineer. — In general, the roof itself is made to last, so in the near future there will be no reason to overhaul Moreover, there is no replacement. Although, of course, the color is different from domes made using classic gilding technology. In sunny weather it’s okay, but when it’s cloudy...”

The owner of the office leads me to the window. The difference with Ivan the Great is obvious.

In an aggressive environment

“You remember what Luzhkov said in public. But on the sidelines he once said: God sees everything, so let’s spray gold on top of titanium nitride. It’s hard to say why: similar solutions world practice doesn't know. As far as I remember, by order of the president of the Stolichny Bank, Alexander Smolensky, 26 kilograms of gold were allocated for plating,” an anonymous source shares with the publication’s correspondent over the phone.

My interlocutor in 1996-1997 was the chief technologist of ZAO RIK-S for roofing work. He left this company in 1998 - according to him, due to the fact that he had lost faith in titanium nitride as a finishing material. “Iron is iron. It shines like iron,” says a former RIK-S employee. “And gold has an inherent dignity.” He asked not to disclose his name: now he still works in the construction industry and would not want his colleagues to associate him with the erroneous decisions, in his opinion, used in the roofing of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

The interlocutor also has no doubt about the stability of the roof itself: the steel used was high-quality, German, half a millimeter thick, as required by building codes. Among the reasons for the redness of the outer layer, he names several, but the main one is the deposition of atmospheric pollutants: “The fact is that the structure of titanium nitride is extremely porous, with numerous gaps between the outer granules. In the aggressive atmosphere of such a metropolis as Moscow, she is able to maintain the initial natural color three or four, five years at most. The dome of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior survived this period.”

JSC RIK-S itself, which has now grown into a large construction and restoration company, once again prefers not to remember the roof of the country’s main temple. “I can say with full responsibility: we are a company that does not disappoint,” it addresses clients on the company’s website. general manager Grigory Domenko. However, the list of nine of its best published here completed projects“RIK-S” tactfully did not include the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Another famous Moscow temple, the Annunciation Cathedral in Yelokhov, was not included in this list. A season earlier - in 1996 - four of its small domes were covered with the same material. And if on the Cathedral of Christ the Savior the roof now at least retains a single color scheme, then in Elokhov even with the naked eye one can see giant black bald spots, reminiscent of peeling steel sheets. According to my anonymous interlocutor, who worked at this site as a master roofer, atmospheric pollution is also to blame. This coming summer, the parish administration plans to replace the metal with regular copper roofing. “Gold leaf would be better, of course, but I doubt that we will find enough money,” comments the head of the cathedral, Nikolai Kapchuk.

Well, what if everything is in order with the environment? Then, first of all, pay attention to the components and spraying technology.

Technology

Titanium nitride comes from the domestic nuclear industry. For a very long time, similar spraying technologies were used at closed enterprises of the USSR Ministry of Medium Engineering. Initially, back in the 1970s, they were developed at the industry-specific Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology. Nuclear scientists did not do them, of course, for the sake of beautiful finishing materials in civil engineering. The developers solved the problem of hardening cutting tools and used combinations of spraying various non-magnetic materials on the working surfaces: aluminum, copper, chromium, nickel. At the turn of the 1980-1990s, when the defense industry had to look for new ways to survive in market conditions, scientists tried to find application for their technologies in dental prosthetics and other “frivolous” but profitable enterprises such as tinting car windows.

The color of the coating depends on chemical composition sprayed material. Aluminum oxide, for example, produces saturated gray color, chromium oxide - “wet asphalt”. You can also apply titanium separately - the color will be titanium. But the combination of titanium with nitrogen gave a color close to golden. But in this technology, even with strict adherence to it, experts count at least four factors that greatly influence the final result.

The first is the quality of rolled stainless steel itself, in crystal lattice into which the sprayed coating is embedded (substrate, as titanium nitride manufacturers call it). The best steel grades are those with alloy additives - chromium, nickel and molybdenum, which give the products additional corrosion resistance. “We are now focusing on AISI 304 stainless steel (according to international classification), known in Russia as 12Х18Н10, from Spain, Brazil, China, Taiwan. If we talk about transnational corporations, I recommend the Asprinox brand,” says Vadim Novokshonov, general director of Morion LLC, which owns the Zlatosfera trademark. — Finnish AISI 321 is also not bad, of course, if you adhere to the 0.5 mm substrate thickness recommended by the standard. Otherwise, sometimes unscrupulous manufacturers apply titanium nitride directly to the tin from a tin can and sell it to the abbots of churches under the guise of roofing.” “We do not recommend using titanium nitride sprayed onto AISI 430 steel (in the Russian classification - 08X17),” adds Viktor Rebenok, general director of the Volgodonsk JSC Grant Engineering Center. “As it turned out, this metal darkens in any case after five years, and it is generally unacceptable to use it on products with welding.” There is only one conclusion from these recommendations: do not neglect this important thing, as a certificate for steel. The customer must request this document from the roofing supplier.

The second factor is the quality of cleaning. The fact is that on the surface and in the subsurface layer of steel, even of excellent quality, there are always contaminants: traces of rolled metal, oils, abrasives, oxides. The thoroughness of their removal determines how firmly the spraying will adhere to the substrate and, ultimately, how long the product will last. You can clean stainless steel with the most in different ways: washing, mechanical polishing, electric pulse polishing. By the way, experts say that one of the significant shortcomings of the work on the dome of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior is the insufficiently scrupulous mechanical cleaning of the steel using cutters. However, other methods were not yet practiced in the mid-1990s.

The third factor is the chosen spraying technology. Several methods are now used: condensation with ion bombardment, electron beam evaporation, magnetron, gas-phase deposition, atomic ionization and sputtering, thermal diffusion saturation, etc. Experts give preference to the first of them.

And finally, the fourth factor is the quality of the components themselves. Of course, it is very difficult for a non-specialist to understand all these intricacies. How to check the quality of titanium nitride sprayed onto steel? "Fortunately, there is universal method. 16 years ago, one of the customers in Nyagan, who previously managed a local motor transport company, suggested this idea to us,” Vadim Novokshonov from Morion reveals the secret. “He took the finished product and placed it in a container with battery acid for two weeks. This gave us an idea - to test finished sheets from a batch of titanium nitride in three environments that simulate accelerated exposure to the atmosphere big city. We usually place samples in three solutions: hydrochloric, acidic and alkaline.”

Price issue

But not everyone is able to resort to this method. And the consequence of the erroneous choice of titanium nitride is only one, but very significant. If the gilder is responsible only for his own work and as a last resort can only redo gilding, then poor-quality titanium nitride coating inevitably puts the balance holder in front of the need to cover the entire roof. That is, go to triple expenses!

And another important fact: the “susalka” of a responsible contracting company, where high-class gilders work, usually “lives” for a century (examples are well known: the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin and St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg). But if there is not enough money for the precious metal, the dome can also be covered with roofing copper, which has almost reached the price of stainless steel coated with titanium nitride.

But manufacturers still do not advise abandoning the new type of roofing, especially if it is made with high quality. “We are now implementing square meter covering our trademark TITARK for 2360 rubles,” says Vadim Novokshonov. — This price consists of approximately three equal parts: rolled steel, surface cleaning by electric pulse polishing and titanium sputtering using the condensation method with ion bombardment. Of course, if you clean steel primitively mechanically and use magnetron sputtering, a product even made from rolled steel of the same 0.5 mm thickness will cost about half as much. But it’s unlikely to last for at least a dozen years, and we offer a hundred-year guarantee for our products.” If the dome of the temple is ordered turnkey, the cost of assembly and installation should also be included in the expense items. An average dome of three meters in diameter costs the customer 350 thousand rubles in this case - about three times cheaper than gilding leaf.

The prices of the Grant engineering center are of the same order of magnitude, with the same 100-year warranty period. Of course, future generations will be able to verify it. Current customers are satisfied with the products. Eight years ago, the governor of the Nilo-Stolobenskaya Hermitage, Archimandrite Arkady (Gubanov), ordered “Grant” to cover the roofs of five buildings (including three church domes) with titanium nitride. total area 2200 m2 and does not regret it. “Four years earlier, the same contractor made a dome for a temple in the city of Udomlya. We were satisfied,” says Father Arkady. “The color is rich, it’s impossible to distinguish it from gold.”

Archpriest Theodore Povny, rector of the Minsk Church-Monument of All Saints in memory of those innocently killed in our Fatherland, was not disappointed with the Ural titanium nitride. “Representatives of the contractor were driving past our construction site, and their car stalled,” recalls Father Theodore. “They were dragged on a rope to our House of Mercy, and that’s how we met. In Belarus we also offer roofing with titanium nitride, but after studying the possible price-quality ratio, we refused the services of local suppliers. There are no complaints yet."

Non-canonical question

Does the use of titanium nitride violate church canons? Such a statement of the question by Father Feodor Povny is surprising: “It’s not plastic, it looks quite noble.”

“There is no special church canon that would regulate the covering of the dome - whether it is made of wood, copper, iron, titanium nitride or, perhaps, bronze,” states the rector of the Yekaterinburg Church on the Blood, Archpriest Maxim Minyailo. “The Lord created all these materials and provided man with the opportunity to use them. Of course, gilding is ideal, but not everyone can afford it. Our titanium nitride domes hold their color consistently and have not lost any shine in 11 years.”

In the Urals we can already talk about a special church fashion for covering the dome and church cross with titanium nitride. This is explained both by the proximity of the raw material base and the industry specifics of the region. Suffice it to say that the management of Morion LLC comes from the Sredmashevsky Instrument-Making Plant in the city of Trekhgorny (formerly Zlatoust-36) in the Chelyabinsk region. According to Vadim Novokshonov, about 2.5 thousand churches in Russia are covered with the products of his enterprise. The dome of the Trinity Cathedral in Yekaterinburg, manufactured by the company, has stood the longest - for a decade and a half. “The roof there is well made, there are no visible defects,” says Olga Lyubchenko, head of the capital construction department of the local diocese. - Mainly in similar cases we use Chelyabinsk material. This is convenient, because the contractor performs the work on a turnkey basis. There are many suppliers of titanium nitride in our region, but I would refrain from assessing which one is better. If you want to know my personal opinion... You can’t compare it with gold leaf! Unfortunately, in our city it covers the dome of the only church “Big Chrysostom” at the intersection of 8 March and Malysheva streets. It looks like a king among all the other domes.”

As a result, other things being equal, it is the customer’s aesthetic considerations that prevail. The only Moscow dome, covered in the late 1990s with titanium nitride “Goldosphere” LLC “Morion” at the Vvedensky Church on Samokatnaya Street, has already been converted into copper. “It was obvious that this was not real gold,” recalls the sacristan of the temple, Hieromonk Nikon (Belavenets), “and eight years ago one benefactor allocated funds to cover the roof. Now it’s clear: roofing copper looks better than gold in any case.”