Modern church architecture: features, meanings, tasks. Architecture and symbolism of Orthodox churches

The development of the architectural form of the Christian church went through several stages, related both to the conditions of existence of Christianity in the first centuries and to the development of the liturgical canon.

Initially, during the period of persecution, for common prayers and reception of the Sacraments, Christians gathered secretly, in someone’s house, or (more often) in catacombs and caves. Such catacomb churches existed in different places– in Rome, Syria, Cyprus and Malta, etc. Under the ground, using natural caves and depressions, labyrinths of multi-story passages, corridors and tunnels were carved out. Within the walls, graves were made one above the other for the burial of the dead, keeping their remains from desecration. The tombs were closed with slabs with inscriptions and symbolic images. Most often, the shape of the temple was a ship (ark), which was reminiscent of the first salvation of the righteous (Noah's family) with the help of the ark. Thus, already in early Christianity, the Church was considered as the only Ark in the world in which a person could be saved from destruction and death.

From the beginning of the 4th century. (from the moment of the Edict of Milan in 313) until approximately the 6th century, when the type of Orthodox Christian church began to take shape in Byzantium, two types of ancient secular buildings were adapted for Christian services, in which new, previously unknown symbolic compositions were used:

- a centric building with a square, circle, octagon or equilateral cross in plan. Such buildings began to be used for baptisms or churches - martyriums – temples that were erected at the site of the burial or execution of holy martyrs;

– basilica , the elongated rectangular space of which was divided along long walls by two or four rows of columns into three or five “ships” (naves) parallel to each other, having an independent overlap. Often the middle nave was significantly higher than the side ones, and had independent lighting through the windows of the upper parts, which rested on the columns of the walls. The eastern short wall of the middle nave formed a semicircular rectangular or polygonal projection - an apse, covered with a semi-dome. In the apse there was an altar with a semicircular bench for the clergy, often with a chair for the bishop located in the middle of the wall. Under the altar there was a room for the tombs of martyrs. The altar was separated from the central nave by several steps, a low altar barrier, and sometimes a so-called triumphal arch. Initially there was no dome in the basilica. The side naves could be two-tiered and have galleries. The appearance of the basilicas was distinguished by the modesty of their decoration, while the interior was richly decorated with mosaics (in the apse, above the columns of the central nave and even on the floor).

Initially, churches of the centric type dominated in Byzantium, which was due to the need for a special allocation of the altar and the under-dome space where the pulpit was located. The need for a building that could accommodate many believers arose in the 5th-6th centuries. new synthesized type of temple – domed basilica, which combined a longitudinal basilica church with a centric one.

Dome structures began to appear in Byzantium already in the 5th century. and acquired a leading position in temple architecture in the 6th century. Such buildings most closely corresponded to the needs of Christian service and the Christian worldview. At this time, the formation of the main church rituals and services is completed, primarily the Divine Liturgy, at which the Sacrament of the Eucharist is celebrated. The formation of the ideological foundations of Christianity, where symbolic ideas and aesthetic expressiveness were of great importance, as well as the development and approval of the canon of church services led to a change in the architecture of the temple. The internal structure and decoration of the temple are designed to help a person step away from the earthly, sensory world around him and completely immerse himself in the contemplation of the spiritual world, to discover their spiritual meaning behind visible things.

In the V – VI centuries. There was an evolution of the basilica towards a domed structure. The transformation of the Great Entrance of the Sacrament of Communion into a particularly solemn moment of the Liturgy led to the allocation of the middle space of the churches and crowning it with a dome. This evolution of the basilica to the domed church took place in two directions.

The first is the covering of the naves of the basilica with barrel vaults and the construction of a dome over the middle of the main nave. This is the Church of the Virgin Mary in Ephesus (VI century). Its western and eastern girth arches were fused with the outlines of the vaults, the northern and southern ones were highlighted, not fused with the walls, so that a slight cruciformity of space was outlined in the center.

The second is the construction of a large dome resting on the side walls. Much more churches of this type have survived.

The most complex and beautiful version of such a structure is the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Constantinople (532 - 537) is the main temple of the Byzantine Empire, which most fully embodied the ideological aspirations of the era. The interior of the temple amazes with its impressive size and unusual lighting, as it has numerous windows. Despite the fact that some of them were laid by the Turks, the walls still seem transparent. Contrary to the obvious, it is difficult to believe that this entire gigantic structure consists of brick and stone masonry - it seems so light and weightless. This was the main task of the builders, because the temple was supposed to be a semblance of the cosmos and represent something miraculous, and not the fruit of human efforts. The focus of the cathedral is the huge space under the dome. The large dome, like the vault of heaven, seems to have no supports. All other architectural features of the Church of St. are also subordinated to the idea of ​​​​Divine lightness. Sophia, therefore abstract theological concepts are embodied in it unusually clearly. This effect is achieved due to the fact that the entire architectural composition of St. Sophia was based on a system of struts. The massive dome rests on a drum cut like this a huge amount windows that seem to be woven from lace from the inside. However, on the outside, the walls between the windows are incredibly massive. Under the drum there are spherical triangles (sails), which provide a transition to the support pillars. These pillars are huge, but they are so drawn into the walls, covered with columns decorated with marble, that all their massiveness is completely hidden. Powerful pillars seem to be hidden in the outlines of the walls, dissolved, invisible. At the same time, from behind, from the side of the gallery, their massiveness and thickness are visible. From the east and west, the pressure of the central dome gradually spreads first to two large and then to six smaller half-domes, where it goes out completely. In the north and south, two-story vaulted galleries play the role of shock absorbers. All these construction techniques create an amazing ease of perception of the interior: concave hemispheres hang in the air, as if by some miracle, and the wall, cut through by dozens of windows, seems thin as paper. From the outside, this lightness is ensured by powerful buttress towers and arches, which tighten the entire structure with a stone hoop, making the temple look like a fortress.

The foundation of the building was constructed in a special way using a mixture of lime with tree bark and sand, moistened with barley decoction: such a hydraulic mass held the stone together, giving it the hardness of iron. The walls and vaults of the temple were built of brick. They have a perimeter of 79 x 72 meters and a height of 56 meters from base to top. A serious problem for construction was that the dome of the church was extremely large sizes. For its vaults, special hollow bricks were used, so light that a dozen of them weighed no more than a piece of tile. To make such bricks, clay found on the island of Rhodes was used, products from which were lightweight and durable. The walls themselves were built slightly inclined (in the shape of a cone with an increase in the upper part). This led to the fact that in 558 the dome was destroyed and another one, of smaller diameter, was built, but even now it amazes with its size. In the X and XIV centuries. During earthquakes, the dome was partially destroyed. Now, after repairs and restoration work, its shape is no longer strictly circular (the diameter at the base is 31 by 33 meters).

Marble, granite and porphyry were widely used in interior decoration. By order of Emperor Justinian, rare varieties of marble were brought here - snow-white, light green, white-red and pink. Inside, the temple was decorated from top to bottom with gold and colored mosaic images. The top board of the throne was made of gold interspersed with precious stones, and the floor around was covered with gold sheets. Above the throne rose a golden canopy in the form of a canopy, which rested on four silver columns and was crowned with a cross sprinkled with diamonds. According to the chronicle narrative, it was the beauty of the decoration and worship in the St. Sophia Church that the Russian ambassadors who arrived to Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich from Constantinople spoke about.

St. Sophia Cathedral remained a unique architectural structure, but its composition in some essential features was repeated in many subsequent buildings.

In the VI century. and subsequent centuries, the strengthening of the proskomedia in the Sacrament of the Eucharist required the location of an altar next to the altar. A three-part and, as the most common option, a three-apse structure of the altar part of the temple arose. The evolution of Byzantine churches proceeded through the gradual formation of a cruciform middle space: from a domed basilica to a cross-domed structure.

In general, the domed basilica could not satisfy the ideological and aesthetic searches of its time, since it had a large space, its composition was not balanced and perfect, and did not incite a person to contemplate the Heavenly Kingdom. Exactly cross-domed type of temple became an expression of the unity of heaven and earth, when the dome and vaults began to be associated with the heavenly world. The painting system interpreted these celestial spheres in detail, starting with the image of the Pantocrator or the Ascension in a dome surrounded by archangels. The New Testament story was told on the arches of the arms of the cross, in connection with which the cruciform spatial composition of the temple acquired a special symbolic meaning. The structure of the internal architectural lines, going down from the dome, turned it into a unifying and, as it were, blessing cover for all those who came under its arches.

A variant of the cross-dome system and its most common type in both Byzantine and Russian architecture became four-column domed temple . It has the shape of an inscribed cross with equal branches and a dome in the center, which no longer rests on pillars or walls as the main supports, but on four columns forming a central square. Columns turned from a decorative element into the main compositional, structural element. To create such a design, the main thing was the appearance drum – a cylindrical or multifaceted upper part of the building, resting on the vaults and serving as the base of the dome. With its spread, the temple space acquired a hall character. The choirs could no longer be built inside the temple structure, since their level would have crossed the columns. They remained only above the narthex (narthex) and the corner cells. Four-column domed churches began to appear already in the 7th – 8th centuries. (even before iconoclasm). This type of temple became most widespread in the 9th century.

In cross-domed churches there is no clearly defined direction from west to east, as in the basilica cathedrals of Western Europe. It dominates here circular rhythm - a movement going around one, clearly emphasized center, which is the under-dome space of the temple. So in architecture Orthodox church reflects the closest communication possible for a person with God during the Liturgy.

The originality of the design of Byzantine churches lay in the contrast between their external appearance and interior. The appearance was striking with the harsh smoothness of the walls, completely devoid, especially in the early period, of decorative elements, which contrasted with the rich decoration of ancient temples. According to patristic ideas, like a humble Christian with his rich inner spiritual life, the temple had to be emphasized strictly in its exterior.

The four-column domed temple became a model for all subsequent construction. It was he who embodied the unity of architectural composition and ideological ideas. In such churches a unique feeling is born: the hally nature of the central part helps to unite believers into a single spiritual group, but the independence of the development of space does not create a feeling of isolation. In this space, a person remains separate, even from those standing next to him. Only by looking up does he finally find a unified architectural system of divisions. A peculiar sense of the value of individual human will is combined with a feeling of being lost in a free, rhythmically endless space.

For a modern person, such a close connection between vision and inner experience may seem somewhat artificial. However, it corresponds to the actually existing specificity of ancient and Byzantine artistic perception. The transition to contemplation is an essential moment of the Byzantine path to knowledge, the transformation of the Christian’s consciousness, the elevation of man to in-depth contemplation of God’s creation - the universe as a whole.

An essential feature of such a temple was its interior decoration, luxurious interior decorations and icons. The painting system of the Byzantine temple testified to its perception as a microcosm: starting from the central dome, images were placed in vertical zones in accordance with their sacred significance. The inextricable connection between architecture and mural painting led to the creation of a single image, and the Liturgy helped the believer perceive its reality. According to Patriarch Photius (second half of the 9th century), “entering the interior, you imagine yourself suddenly transported to heaven. Everything here glitters with gold, silver, marble; the pillar and the floor and everything around dazzles and delights.” Architecture, temple painting and worship formed a whole; they became inseparable in their expressiveness and symbolism. Even though all the subtleties of interpretation were accessible to a small group of believers, everyone understood the general idea: the vertical development of an architectural organism united both worlds, forming a common cosmos.

Temple art of the West.

In addition to the Byzantine type, a new appearance of churches was emerging in the Western Christian world by the 11th century. On the one hand, it had similarities with basilicas and Byzantine churches, and on the other hand, there were differences, thanks to which it received the name Romanesque style.

Romanesque style. The temple, built in the Romanesque style, like the basilica, consisted of a wide and elongated base - a nave (ship), contained between two side naves, half the height and width. On the eastern, front side, a transverse rectangular part called a transept was attached to these naves. Since its edges protruded from the body, this gave the building the shape of a cross. Behind the transept, as in the basilica, there was an apse intended for the altar. On the rear, western side, porches or narthexes were still built. A feature of the Romanesque style was that the floor was laid in the apses and transept higher than in the middle part of the temple, and the columns of various parts of the temple began to be connected to each other by a semicircular vault and decorated at their upper and lower ends with carved, molded and overlaid images and figures.

Romanesque churches began to be built on a solid foundation that came out of the ground. At the entrance to the temple on the sides there are pretends from the 11th century. sometimes two majestic towers were built, reminiscent of modern bell towers.

The Romanesque style, which appeared in the 10th century, began to spread in Western Europe in the 11th and 12th centuries and lasted until the 13th century, when it was replaced by the Gothic style.

Gothic style. Gothic is a period in the development of medieval art in Western, Central and partly Eastern Europe from the 12th to the 15th centuries. Gothic replaced the Romanesque style, gradually displacing it. The term "Gothic" is most often applied to a well-known style of architecture that can be briefly described as "intimidatingly majestic." But Gothic covers almost all works of fine art of this period: sculpture, painting, book miniatures, stained glass, fresco and many others. Gothic style originated in the middle of the 12th century in northern France. In the 13th century it spread to Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Spain, and England. Gothic penetrated into Italy later, with great difficulty and strong transformation, which led to the emergence of the “Italian Gothic” style. At the end of the 14th century, Europe was swept by the so-called International Gothic. Gothic churches are otherwise called “lancet”, because in their plan and external decoration, although they resemble Romanesque churches, they differ from the latter by sharp, pyramidal extremities stretching to the sky: towers, pillars, bell towers. Pointedness is also manifested in the internal structure of temples: in vaults, column joints, windows and corner parts. Gothic temples were especially distinguished by the abundance of high and frequent windows; As a result, there was little space left on the walls for sacred images. But the windows of Gothic churches were covered with paintings. This style is most pronounced in the external lines. Such images, composed of pieces of multi-colored glass, are called stained glass.

Renaissance style. The Gothic style of Christian churches in the architecture of Western Europe since the 14th century, under the influence of the revival of ancient, classical knowledge and art, gradually gives way to the Renaissance style. This style spread to Western Europe, starting in Italy. In the content of Renaissance art, there is a change in the hierarchy of the main life values. The humanistic culture of the Renaissance calls man the highest value, the cult of enjoying earthly life, the cult of beauty human body. The change in worldview and hierarchy of values ​​- the preference for the earthly over the Heavenly Divine - was reflected in the content of all types of art of this era and, above all, in the appearance of the Christian temple: in the style of temple construction and temple decoration.

Having become acquainted with ancient Greek and Roman art, European architects began to use some features of ancient architecture in the construction of temples, even sometimes introducing the forms of pagan temples into the appearance of a Christian temple. The influence of ancient architecture is especially noticeable in the external and internal columns and decorations of newly built temples.

The general features of Renaissance architecture are as follows: in terms of the temple, it is an oblong quadrangle with a transept and an apse-altar (this has similarities with the Romanesque style); the vaults and arches are not pointed, but round, domed (this is different from the Gothic and similar to the Byzantine style); The interior and exterior columns are ancient Greek in style. The most striking example of the Renaissance style is the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in Rome.

Ornaments were used in the interior decoration of temples. They were created by craftsmen in the form of leaves, flowers, figures, people and animals (in contrast to the Byzantine ornament associated with Christian symbols). In Christian churches built in the Renaissance style, you can see many sculptural images of saints, which is not customary in churches of the Basilica, Byzantine and Orthodox Russian style. In the painting of temples created by famous Renaissance artists Michelangelo, Raphael and others, external admiration of the earthly beauty of the beautiful human appearance predominates, to the detriment of the spiritual meaning of images of sacred events. Often the highest artistic skill of artists serves as a masterful depiction of small everyday details of medieval everyday life.

Old Russian architecture and its masters.

Russian church architecture began to develop in Rus' with the adoption of Christianity in 988. A need arose for the construction of new churches and, moreover, stone churches, while the Christian churches that existed before the Baptism of Rus' were small in number. They were built from wood.

Old Russian churches of the 11th – 13th centuries. Greek craftsmen were called in to build the first stone temples, since until that time the Slavs were not familiar with stone construction. However, they relatively quickly mastered new look architecture, and already in the 11th century stone churches began to be built by their own craftsmen, who learned this art from the Greeks. Only temples that had the most important: St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod. Having adopted the Christian faith and features of worship from Byzantium, Rus' also borrowed the features of temple construction. In Greece at that time the Byzantine style dominated. Therefore, the ancient churches of Rus' in Kyiv, Novgorod, Pskov, Vladimir Suzdal and Moscow were built in the Byzantine style. In Kyiv and the Kyiv region, ancient temples that appeared before the 13th century are: the Tithe Church in honor of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, St. Sophia Cathedral, Kiev Pechersk Lavra, St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, Church of the Savior on Berestov, Kirillov Monastery and others.

In Novgorod and the Novgorod region there are the most ancient churches of the 11th - 14th centuries: St. Sophia Cathedral, Church of the Savior in Nereditsy, Church of St. Nicholas on Lipna, Church of St. Theodore Stratelates, Church of the Transfiguration on Ilyinskaya Street, Church of the Apostles Peter and Paul, Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God in Volotovo and the Church of St. George in Ladoga. In Pskov - these are: the Spaso-Mirozhsky Monastery and the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, etc. In Vladimir Suzdal and its region - the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral in Pereslavl-Zalessky, the Assumption Cathedral in Zvenigorod, the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl near the Bogolyubov Monastery, the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir on Klyazma, Dimitrievsky Cathedral in Vladimir, Church of the Assumption in Vladimir convent, Rostov Assumption Cathedral, St. George's Cathedral in the city of Yuryev Polsky and others.

Despite the fact that most of these churches have not survived to this day in their original form, and some of them either completely disappeared or were remodeled (including such as the Kiev St. Sophia Cathedral and the Tithe Church, the Novgorod St. Sophia Cathedral), scientists Still, they were able to form an idea of ​​the original appearance of these churches. At the same time, it was discovered that between the ancient Kyiv, Novgorod, Vladimir-Suzdal churches there was an identity in plan, method of construction and internal structure. But in some particular features a difference is noticeable: Novgorod churches differ from Kyiv ones in their roofs (gables) and separate belfries. The Vladimir-Suzdal ones have even more characteristic differences from the Kyiv and Novgorod ones, namely: a horizontal belt covering the temple in the middle and consisting of a number of columns, arched vaults under the roof of the temple, an abundance of bas-relief decorations on the walls of the temple. These features of the Vladimir-Suzdal churches and the somewhat elongated quadrangle in plan give the right to some researchers to bring this type of Russian churches closer to the Romanesque style.

Russian-greek style . The plan of the first Russian churches built in the Byzantine style included rectangular base with three altar semicircles. Inside the temple, four pillars with arches topped with a dome were erected. However, despite the great similarity between ancient Russian temples and contemporary Greek ones, there is also a noticeable difference between them in domes, windows and decorations. In multi-domed Greek temples, the domes were placed on special pillars and at different heights compared to the main dome. In Russian churches, all domes were placed at the same height. The windows in Byzantine churches were large and frequent, while in Russian ones they were small and sparsely spaced. Door openings in Byzantine churches were horizontal, while in Russian ones they were semi-circular. In Greek large temples sometimes there were two porches - an internal one, intended for catechumens and penitents, and an external one (or porch), furnished with columns. In Russian churches, only small internal porches were installed. In Greek temples, columns were a necessary accessory, both in the internal and external parts; in Russian churches, due to the lack of marble and stone, there were no columns. Thanks to these differences, some experts call the Russian style not just Byzantine (Greek), but mixed - Russian-Greek. A characteristic feature and difference between Russian domes and Greek domes is that above the dome under the cross there was a special dome, reminiscent of an onion.

Wooden architecture . There were few stone churches in Rus'. If the first stone temples built by Greek or Russian craftsmen were supposed to be similar to Byzantine ones, then this similarity was not entirely observed during the construction of wooden churches. There were much more wooden churches, due to the abundance of wood materials (especially in the northern regions of Russia). In the construction of these churches, Russian craftsmen (often simple carpenters), who had managed to develop certain of their own techniques and forms of architecture by the time of the adoption of Christianity, showed more independence than in the construction of stone ones. In the field of wooden architecture, Russian masters stood ahead of the Byzantines, who built exclusively from stone and brick.

During the Tatar-Mongol yoke, the influence of a foreign culture penetrated into different aspects of the way of life and art of Rus'. However, it did not affect wooden architecture at all. The yoke only delayed, as evidenced by the decline of stone architecture of that period, the development of architectural forms and construction. The shape and plan of ancient wooden churches was either a square or an oblong quadrangle. The domes were round or tower-shaped, sometimes in large numbers and of varied sizes. Examples of wooden temple construction are the churches of the North, for example, in Kizhi.

Stone architecture of the XV-XVI centuries. Until the 15th century, Moscow churches were usually built by craftsmen from Novgorod, Vladimir and Suzdal and resembled the temples of Kiev-Novgorod and Vladimir-Suzdal architecture. But these temples have not survived: they either completely died from time, fires and Tatar destruction, or were rebuilt in a new way. Other churches built after the 15th century, after the liberation from the Tatar yoke and the strengthening of the Moscow state, have been preserved. Beginning with the reign of Grand Duke John III (1462 - 1505), foreign builders and artists came to Russia and were invited, who, with the help of Russian craftsmen and according to the guidance of ancient Russian traditions of church architecture, created several historical temples. The most important of them are the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin (rebuilt in 1475-1479), where the crowning of the Russian Sovereigns took place (builder by the Italian Aristotle Fioravanti), the Archangel Cathedral of the Kremlin - the tomb of Russian princes and tsars (builder by the Italian Aleviz Novy; the cathedral was rebuilt in 1505-1509), the Annunciation Cathedral (rebuilt in 1484-1489). At the beginning of the 16th century, construction began on the Ivan the Great Church and Bell Tower, the tallest building in the Moscow Kremlin.

Tent style. WITH Over time, Russian builders developed their own national architectural style of temple construction. The first type of Russian style is called « tent" (or pole). It is a type of several separate churches united into one church, each of which looks like a pillar or a tent, topped with a dome and dome. In addition to the massiveness of the pillars and columns in such a temple and the large number of onion-shaped domes, the features of the tented temple are the variegation and variety of colors of its external and internal parts. Examples of such churches are the Church of John the Baptist in the village of Dyakovo (1547), the Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye (1530-1532), St. Basil's Cathedral (Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God on the Moat) in Moscow, built in 1555-1560 in memory of the victory over Kazan. About the origin of the tent or pillar type, some historians suggest that wooden churches were first built in the form of pillars, and then stone ones.

Temples of the XV-XVII centuries. A feature of the 17th century churches is their bright external decorative decoration: the facades are topped with carved pyramids, painted kokoshniks, and carved window frames. This elegant style was called “Russian patterned”. An example of a temple of this style is the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Putniki in Moscow (1649-1652).

Temples of the 18th - 19th centuries. The time of distribution of the tent type in Russia ends in the 17th century. Later, a reluctance towards this style and even a prohibition of it on the part of the spiritual authorities was noticed (perhaps due to its difference from the historical Byzantine style).

Starting from the middle of the 17th century, the “Russian patterned” style was replaced by the monumental style of “Russian Baroque”, which reflected the features of Western European classical culture in architectural forms. Examples are the Resurrection Cathedral of the Smolny Monastery in St. Petersburg (architect Rastrel), St. Andrew's Church in Kyiv, the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God in Fili in Moscow (1693-1694). IN last decades In the 19th century, a revival of the tented type of temples was awakening. Several historical churches are being created in this form, for example, the Trinity Church of the St. Petersburg “Society for the Propagation of Religious and Moral Education in the Spirit of the Orthodox Church” and the Church of the Resurrection (Savior on Spilled Blood) on the site of the assassination of Tsar-Liberator Alexander I (1907). During the reign of Emperor Nicholas I, for the construction of military churches in St. Petersburg, the architect Konstantin Ton developed a style called “Tonovsky”. An example is the Church of the Annunciation in the Horse Guards Regiment.

Of the Western European styles (Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance style), only the Renaissance style was used in the construction of Russian churches in the second half of the 18th - early 19th centuries. The features of this rational classical style are visible in the two main cathedrals of St. Petersburg - Kazan (1737) and St. Isaac's (1858). Sometimes in the external appearance of the temple one notices a mixture of styles - Basilica and Byzantine, or Romanesque and Gothic.

In the XVIII – XIX centuries House churches, established in palaces and homes of rich people, at educational and government institutions and at almshouses, are becoming widespread. Such churches can be compared with ancient Christian ikos.

Famous architects who built churches in Russia were such masters as Aristotle Fioravanti (XV century) - builder of the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, Barma and Postnik Yakovlev (XVI century) - architects of the Intercession Cathedral (St. Basil's Cathedral ) on Red Square, Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli (XVIII century) - creator of the ensemble of the Smolny Monastery and the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Vasily Ermolin (XV century), Pavel Potekhin (XVII century), Yakov Bukhvostov (XVII - beginning of XVIII century), Osip Bove (XVIII - early XIX century), Konstantin Ton (XIX century). Each of them brought their own unique creative features to temple construction, preserving the features of the Russian type of church architecture.

Questions to control the mastery of competencies:

1. What are the structure and symbolism of the Old Testament tabernacle of the prophet Moses?

2. What internal structure does an Orthodox church have? Reveal the symbolic meaning of each part.

3. How is the liturgical character of Orthodox architecture reflected in the architecture of an Orthodox church?

4. How does the composition of the iconostasis reflect the idea of ​​the heavenly hierarchy and the path of Christians to Christ? Tell us about the images on different tiers of the Russian iconostasis.

5. List the main types of Christian churches, determine the stages of their creation and give examples of the most typical structures.

6. What type of temples is most widespread in Rus' and why?

The Nile divided Ancient Egypt not only geographically, but also architecturally.

Temples, residential and administrative buildings were erected on the eastern bank of the river. Funeral and memorial buildings are on the western side.

Typical features of ancient Egyptian temples

Egyptian temples were divided into three types:

ground. The architectural complexes at Karnak and Luxor are excellent examples of these temples erected in open spaces;

rocky. These buildings were carved into the rocks. Only the façade faced the outside. The Temple of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel is a rock-cut type;

semi-rocky. These are the temples that could combine the features of the first two types. The temple of Queen Hatshepsut in the Valley of the Kings is partly outside and partly in the rock.

The ancient Egyptian temple was symmetrical in plan. It began with an alley of sphinxes, which led to pylons (from Greek - gates, trapezoidal towers), in front of which towered statues of gods and pharaohs. There was also an obelisk - a materialized ray of sunlight.

The authorship of this element is traditionally attributed to the Egyptians. Leaving the pylons behind, the visitor enters a courtyard surrounded by columns - the peristyle. Behind it stands the hypostyle - a columned hall, illuminated by the sun's rays falling through the ceiling openings.

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Behind the hypostyle there could be even smaller rooms, which, as a result, led to the sanctuary. The further into the temple, the fewer people could get there.

The sanctuary was accessible only to the high priests and the pharaoh. The traditional building material for temples is stone.

Temple complex at Karnak

The temple at Karnak was considered the main Egyptian sanctuary. It is traditionally located on the eastern bank of the Nile and is dedicated to the god Amun-Ra. This building resembles in size a small city (1.5 km by 700 m).

The construction of the temple began in the 15th century BC. e. More than one pharaoh had a hand in the construction of the complex. Each of them built their own temples and expanded the scale of construction. The temples of Ramesses I, II, III, Thutmose I and III and the pharaohs of the Ptolemaic dynasty are considered outstanding architectural buildings.

The complex consists of three parts and resembles the letter T in plan. The entrance to the temple is framed by a pylon 43 m high, which opens onto a vast rectangular courtyard furnished with papyrus-shaped columns. This courtyard ends with another pylon, which admits the visitor into the hypostyle hall.

Among the many columns, you can notice the central passage, furnished with a colonnade 23 m high. This is the highest hall in Egypt, the ceiling of which rises in the center, relative to the side parts.

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Through the formed ledge, light falls into the hall, playing on the painted walls and columns. At the end of the hall there is a new pylon, behind which there is a new courtyard. This system of halls led to a sacred room where the statue of the god was kept.

Adjacent to the temple from the south is a lake, on the shore of which there is a scarab beetle made of granite of considerable size. Once upon a time, the Karnak sanctuary was connected to the temple in Luxor by the avenue of sphinxes. But now it has been destroyed, some of the sphinxes have remained untouched by time. They settled closer to the Karnak complex. These are tall statues of lions with ram heads.

Temple complex at Abu Simbel

This temple was also built by Pharaoh Ramses II in the 13th century BC. e. The building belongs to the type of rock temples. On the entrance façade there are giant statues of the pharaoh’s patron gods: Amon, Ra and Ptah. Next to them is the pharaoh himself in a sitting position. It is interesting that the pharaoh gave his appearance to all three gods. His wife, Nefertari, sits next to him with their children.

This rock temple is a complex of four halls. They are consistently decreasing. Access to them, except for the very first one, was limited. The very last room was accessible only to the pharaoh.

An Orthodox church in its historically established forms means, first of all, the Kingdom of God in the unity of its three areas: Divine, heavenly and earthly. Hence the most common three-part division of the temple: the altar, the temple itself and the vestibule (or meal). The altar marks the region of God's existence, the temple itself is the region of the heavenly angelic world (spiritual heaven) and the vestibule is the region of earthly existence. Consecrated in a special manner, crowned with a cross and decorated with holy images, the temple is a beautiful sign of the entire universe, headed by God its Creator and Maker.

The history of the emergence of Orthodox churches and their structure is as follows.

In an ordinary residential building, but in a special “large upper room, furnished, ready” (Mark 14:15; Luke 22:12), the Last Supper of the Lord Jesus Christ with His disciples was prepared, that is, arranged in a special way. Here Christ washed the feet of His disciples. I made the first one myself Divine Liturgy- the sacrament of transforming bread and wine into His Body and Blood, talked for a long time at a spiritual meal about the mysteries of the Church and the Kingdom of Heaven, then everyone, singing sacred hymns, went to the Mount of Olives. At the same time, the Lord commanded to do this, that is, to do the same and in the same way, in His remembrance.

This is the beginning of a Christian church, as a specially designed room for prayer meetings, communion with God and the performance of the sacraments, and all Christian worship - what we still see in developed, flourishing forms in our Orthodox churches.

Left after the Ascension of the Lord without their Divine Teacher, the disciples of Christ remained primarily in the upper room of Zion (Acts 1:13) until the day of Pentecost, when in this upper room during a prayer meeting they were granted the promised Descent of the Holy Spirit. This great event, which contributed to the conversion of many people to Christ, became the beginning of the establishment of the earthly Church of Christ. The Acts of the Holy Apostles testify that these first Christians “continued with one accord every day in the temple and, breaking bread from house to house, ate their food with joy and simplicity of heart” (Acts 2:46). The first Christians continued to venerate the Old Testament Jewish temple, where they went to pray, but they celebrated the New Testament sacrament of the Eucharist in other premises, which at that time could only be ordinary residential buildings. The apostles themselves set an example for them (Acts 3:1). The Lord, through His angel, commands the apostles, “standing in the temple” in Jerusalem, to preach to the Jews “the words of life” (Acts 5:20). However, for the sacrament of Communion and in general for their meetings, the apostles and other believers converge in special places (Acts 4: 23, 31), where they are again visited by special grace-filled actions of the Holy Spirit. This suggests that the Temple of Jerusalem was used by Christians of that time mainly to preach the Gospel to Jews who had not yet believed, while the Lord favored Christian meetings to be established in special places, separate from the Jews.

The persecution of Christians by the Jews finally broke the connection of the apostles and their disciples with the Jewish temple. During the time of the apostolic preaching, specially designed rooms in residential buildings continued to serve as Christian churches. But even then, in connection with the rapid spread of Christianity in Greece, Asia Minor, and Italy, attempts were made to create special temples, which is confirmed by later catacomb temples in the shape of ships. During the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire, the houses of wealthy Roman believers and special buildings for secular meetings on their estates - basilicas - often began to serve as places of prayer for Christians. The basilica is a slender rectangular oblong building with a flat ceiling and a gable roof, decorated from the outside and inside along its entire length with rows of columns. The large internal space of such buildings, unoccupied by anything, and their location separate from all other buildings, favored the establishment of the first churches in them. Basilicas had an entrance from one of the narrow sides of this long rectangular building, and on the opposite side there was an apse - a semicircular niche separated from the rest of the room by columns. This separate part probably served as an altar.

Persecution of Christians forced them to look for other places for meetings and worship. Such places were the catacombs, vast dungeons in ancient Rome and other cities of the Roman Empire, which served Christians as a refuge from persecution, a place of worship and burial. The most famous are the Roman catacombs. Here, in granular tuff, pliable enough to carve out a grave or even an entire room with the simplest tool, and strong enough not to crumble and preserve the tombs, labyrinths of multi-story corridors were carved. Within the walls of these corridors, graves were made one above the other, where the dead were placed, covering the grave with a stone slab with inscriptions and symbolic images. The rooms in the catacombs were divided into three main categories according to size and purpose: cubicules, crypts and chapels. Cubicles are a small room with burials in the walls or in the middle, something like a chapel. The crypt is a medium-sized temple, intended not only for burial, but also for meetings and worship. The chapel with many graves in the walls and in the altar is a fairly spacious temple that could accommodate large number people. On the walls and ceilings of all these buildings, inscriptions, symbolic Christian images, frescoes (wall paintings) with images of Christ the Savior, the Mother of God, saints, and events of the sacred history of the Old and New Testaments have been preserved to this day.

The catacombs mark the era of early Christian spiritual culture and quite clearly characterize the direction of development of temple architecture, painting, and symbolism. This is especially valuable because no above-ground temples from this period have survived: they were mercilessly destroyed during times of persecution. So, in the 3rd century. During the persecution of Emperor Decius, about 40 Christian churches were destroyed in Rome alone.

The underground Christian temple was a rectangular, oblong room, in the eastern and sometimes in the western part of which there was a large semicircular niche, separated by a special low lattice from the rest of the temple. In the center of this semicircle, the tomb of the martyr was usually placed, which served as a throne. In the chapels, in addition, there was a bishop's pulpit (seat) behind the altar, in front of the altar, then followed by the middle part of the temple, and behind it a separate, third part for the catechumens and penitents, corresponding to the vestibule.

The architecture of the oldest catacomb Christian churches shows us a clear, complete ship type of church, divided into three parts, with an altar separated by a barrier from the rest of the temple. This is a classic type of Orthodox church that has survived to this day.

If a basilica church is an adaptation of a civil pagan building for the needs of Christian worship, then a catacomb church is a free Christian creativity not bound by the need to imitate anything, reflecting the depth of Christian dogma.

Underground temples are characterized by arches and vaulted ceilings. If a crypt or chapel was built close to the surface of the earth, then a luminaria was cut out in the dome of the middle part of the temple - a well going out to the surface, from where daylight poured.

The recognition of the Christian Church and the cessation of persecution against it in the 4th century, and then the adoption of Christianity in the Roman Empire as the state religion marked the beginning of a new era in the history of the Church and church art. The division of the Roman Empire into the western - Roman and eastern - Byzantine parts entailed first a purely external, and then a spiritual and canonical division of the Church into the Western, Roman Catholic, and Eastern, Greek Catholic. The meanings of the words “Catholic” and “catholic” are the same - universal. These different spellings are adopted to distinguish the Churches: Catholic - for the Roman, Western, and catholic - for the Greek, Eastern.

Church art in Western Church went its own way. Here the most common basis of temple architecture remained the basilica. And in the Eastern Church in the V-VIII centuries. The Byzantine style developed in the construction of churches and in all church art and worship. Here the foundations of the spiritual and external life of the Church, which has since been called Orthodox, were laid.

Temples in the Orthodox Church were built in different ways, but each temple symbolically corresponded to church doctrine. Thus, churches in the form of a cross meant that the Cross of Christ is the basis of the Church and the ark of salvation for people; round churches signified the catholicity and eternity of the Church and the Kingdom of Heaven, since a circle is a symbol of eternity, which has neither beginning nor end; temples in the form of an octagonal star marked the Star of Bethlehem and the Church as a guiding star to salvation in the life of the future, the eighth century, for the period of the earthly history of mankind was counted in seven large periods - centuries, and the eighth is eternity in the Kingdom of God, the life of the future century. Ship churches were common in the form of a rectangle, often close to a square, with a rounded projection of the altar apse extended to the east.

There were churches of mixed types: cruciform in appearance, but round inside, in the center of the cross, or rectangular in outer shape, and round inside, in the middle part.

In all types of temples, the altar was certainly separated from the rest of the temple; temples continued to be two - and more often three-part.

The dominant feature in Byzantine temple architecture remained a rectangular temple with a rounded projection of altar apses extended to the east, with a figured roof, with a vaulted ceiling inside, which was supported by a system of arches with columns, or pillars, with a high under-dome space, which resembles the internal view of the temple in the catacombs. Only in the middle of the dome, where the source of natural light was located in the catacombs, did they begin to depict the True Light that came into the world - the Lord Jesus Christ.

Of course, the similarity between Byzantine churches and catacomb churches is only the most general, since the above-ground churches of the Orthodox Church are distinguished by their incomparable splendor and greater external and internal detail. Sometimes they have several spherical domes topped with crosses.

The internal structure of the temple also marks a kind of heavenly dome stretched over the earth, or a spiritual sky connected to the earth by pillars of truth, which corresponds to the word of the Holy Scripture about the Church: “Wisdom built herself a house, she hewed out its seven pillars” (Proverbs 9:1 ).

An Orthodox church is certainly crowned with a cross on the dome or on all domes, if there are several of them, as a sign of victory and as evidence that the Church, like all creation, chosen for salvation, enters the Kingdom of God thanks to the Redemptive Feat of Christ the Savior.

By the time of the Baptism of Rus', a type of cross-domed church was emerging in Byzantium, which unites in synthesis the achievements of all previous directions in the development of Orthodox architecture.

The architectural design of the cross-domed church lacks the easily visible visibility that was characteristic of basilicas. Internal prayer effort and spiritual concentration on the symbolism of spatial forms are necessary in order complex design temple appeared as a single symbol of the One God. Such architecture contributed to the transformation of the consciousness of ancient Russian man, elevating him to an in-depth contemplation of the universe.

Together with Orthodoxy, Rus' adopted examples of church architecture from Byzantium. Such famous Russian churches as the Kiev St. Sophia Cathedral, St. Sophia of Novgorod, Vladimir Assumption Cathedral were deliberately built in the likeness of the Constantinople St. Sophia Cathedral. While preserving the general and basic architectural features of Byzantine churches, Russian churches have much that is original and unique. Several distinctive architectural styles have developed in Orthodox Russia. Among them, the style that stands out most is the one closest to Byzantine. This is a classic type of white-stone rectangular church, or even basically square, but with the addition of an altar with semicircular apses, with one or more domes on a figured roof. The spherical Byzantine shape of the dome covering was replaced by a helmet-shaped one. In the middle part of small churches there are four pillars that support the roof and symbolize the four evangelists, the four cardinal directions. In the central part of the cathedral church there may be twelve or more pillars. At the same time, the pillars with the intersecting space between them form the signs of the Cross and help divide the temple into its symbolic parts.

Saint prince equal to the apostles Vladimir and his successor, Prince Yaroslav the Wise, sought to organically include Rus' into the universal organism of Christianity. The churches they erected served this purpose, placing believers before the perfect Sophia image of the Church. This orientation of consciousness through liturgically experienced life determined in many ways the further paths of Russian medieval church art. Already the first Russian churches spiritually testify to the connection between earth and heaven in Christ, to the Theanthropic nature of the Church. The Kiev St. Sophia Cathedral expresses the idea of ​​the Church as a unity consisting of multiple parts with a certain independence. The hierarchical principle of the structure of the universe, which became the main dominant of the Byzantine worldview, is clearly expressed both in the external and internal appearance of the temple. A person entering a cathedral feels organically included in a hierarchically ordered universe. Its mosaic and picturesque decoration is inextricably linked with the entire appearance of the temple. In parallel with the formation of the type of cross-domed temple in Byzantium, the process of creating unified system temple painting, embodying the theological and dogmatic expression of the teachings Christian faith. With its utmost symbolic thoughtfulness, this painting had a huge impact on the receptive and open-spirited consciousness of Russian people, developing in it new forms of perception of hierarchical reality. The painting of the Kyiv Sophia became the defining model for Russian churches. At the zenith of the drum of the central dome is the image of Christ as the Lord Pantocrator (Pantocrator), distinguished by its monumental power. Below are four archangels, representatives of the world of the heavenly hierarchy, mediators between God and man. Images of archangels are located in the four cardinal directions as a sign of their dominance over the elements of the world. In the piers, between the windows of the drum of the central dome, there are images of the holy apostles. In the sails are images of the four evangelists. The sails on which the dome rests were perceived in ancient church symbolism as the architectural embodiment of faith in the Gospel, as the basis of salvation. On the girth arches and in the medallions of the Kyiv Sophia there are images of forty martyrs. The general concept of the temple is spiritually revealed in the image of Our Lady Oranta (from Greek: Praying) - " Unbreakable Wall", placed at the top of the central apse, which strengthens the chaste life of religious consciousness, permeating it with the energies of the indestructible spiritual foundation of the entire created world. Under the image of Oranta is the Eucharist in the liturgical version. The next row of paintings - the holy order - contributes to the experience of the spiritual co-presence of the creators of Orthodox worship - Saints Basil the Great , Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, Gregory Dvoeslov. Thus, the first Kyiv churches became, as it were, mother soil for the further development of the spiritual life of Russian Orthodoxy.

The genesis of Byzantine church art is marked by the diversity of church and cultural centers of the empire. Then the process of unification gradually occurs. Constantinople becomes a legislator in all spheres of church life, including liturgical and artistic. Since the 14th century, Moscow began to play a similar role. After the fall of Constantinople under the blows of the Turkish conquerors in 1453, Moscow became increasingly aware of it as the “third Rome,” the true and only legitimate heir of Byzantium. In addition to the Byzantine ones, at the origins of Moscow church architecture are the traditions of North-Eastern Rus' with its universal synthetic nature, and purely national system Novgorodians and Pskovians. Although all these diverse elements were included to one degree or another in Moscow architecture, nevertheless, a certain independent idea (“logos”) of this architectural school, which was destined to predetermine all further development of church building, is clearly visible.

In the 15th-17th centuries, a significantly different style of temple construction developed in Russia from the Byzantine one. Elongated rectangular, but certainly with semicircular apses to the east, one-story and two-story churches with winter and summer churches appear, sometimes white stone, more often brick with covered porches and covered arched galleries - walkways around all walls, with gable, hipped and figured roofs, on which they flaunt one or several highly raised domes in the form of domes, or bulbs. The walls of the temple are decorated with elegant decoration and windows with beautiful stone carvings or tiled frames. Next to the temple or together with the temple, a high tented bell tower with a cross at the top is erected above its porch.

Russian wooden architecture acquired a special style. The properties of wood as a building material determined the features of this style. It is difficult to create a smoothly shaped dome from rectangular boards and beams. Therefore, in wooden churches, instead of it there is a pointed tent. Moreover, the appearance of a tent began to be given to the church as a whole. This is how wooden temples appeared to the world in the form of a huge pointed wooden cone. Sometimes the roof of the temple was arranged in the form of many cone-shaped wooden domes with crosses rising upward (for example, the famous temple at the Kizhi churchyard).

The forms of wooden temples influenced stone (brick) construction. They began to build intricate stone tented churches that resembled huge towers (pillars). The highest achievement of stone hipped architecture is rightfully considered the Intercession Cathedral in Moscow, better known as St. Basil's Cathedral, a complex, intricate, multi-decorated structure of the 16th century. The basic plan of the cathedral is cruciform. The cross consists of four main churches located around the middle one, the fifth. The middle church is square, the four side ones are octagonal. The cathedral has nine temples in the form of cone-shaped pillars, together making up one huge colorful tent.

Tents in Russian architecture did not last long: in the middle of the 17th century. Church authorities prohibited the construction of tented churches, since they were sharply different from the traditional one-domed and five-domed rectangular (ship) churches. Russian churches are so diverse in their general appearance, details of decoration and decoration that one can endlessly be amazed at the invention and art of Russian craftsmen, the wealth artistic means Russian church architecture, its original character. All these churches traditionally maintain a three-part (or two-part) symbolic internal division, and in the arrangement of the internal space and external design they follow the deep spiritual truths of Orthodoxy. For example, the number of domes is symbolic: one dome symbolizes the unity of God, the perfection of creation; two domes correspond to the two natures of the God-man Jesus Christ, two areas of creation; three domes commemorate the Holy Trinity; four domes - Four Gospels, four cardinal directions; five domes (the most common number), where the middle one rises above the other four, signify the Lord Jesus Christ and the four evangelists; the seven domes symbolize the seven sacraments of the Church, the seven Ecumenical Councils.

Colorful glazed tiles are especially common. Another direction more actively used elements of both Western European, Ukrainian, and Belarusian church architecture with their compositional structures and stylistic motifs of the Baroque that were fundamentally new for Rus'. By the end of the 17th century, the second trend gradually became dominant. The Stroganov architectural school pays special attention to the ornamental decoration of facades, freely using elements of the classical order system. The Naryshkin Baroque school strives for strict symmetry and harmonious completeness of a multi-tiered composition. The work of a number of Moscow architects of the late 17th century is perceived as a kind of harbinger of a new era of Peter’s reforms - Osip Startsev (Krutitsky Teremok in Moscow, St. Nicholas Military Cathedral and the Cathedral of the Brotherly Monastery in Kiev), Peter Potapov (Church in honor of the Assumption on Pokrovka in Moscow), Yakov Bukhvostov (Assumption Cathedral in Ryazan), Dorofey Myakishev (cathedral in Astrakhan), Vladimir Belozerov (church in the village of Marfin near Moscow). The reforms of Peter the Great, which affected all areas of Russian life, determined the further development of church architecture. The development of architectural thought in the 17th century prepared the way for the assimilation of Western European architectural forms. The task arose to find a balance between the Byzantine-Orthodox concept of the temple and new stylistic forms. Already the master of Peter the Great’s time, I.P. Zarudny, when erecting a church in Moscow in the name of the Archangel Gabriel (“Menshikov Tower”), combined the tiered and centric structure traditional for Russian architecture of the 17th century with elements of the Baroque style. The synthesis of old and new in the ensemble of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra is symptomatic. When constructing the Smolny Monastery in St. Petersburg in the Baroque style, B. K. Rastrelli consciously took into account the traditional Orthodox planning of the monastery ensemble. Nevertheless, it was not possible to achieve organic synthesis in the 18th-19th centuries. Since the 30s of the 19th century, interest in Byzantine architecture has gradually revived. Only towards the end of the 19th century and in the 20th century were attempts made to revive in all their purity the principles of medieval Russian church architecture.

The altars of Orthodox churches are consecrated in the name of some holy person or sacred event, which is why the entire temple and parish get their name. Often in one temple there are several altars and, accordingly, several chapels, that is, several temples are, as it were, collected under one roof. They are consecrated in honor of different persons or events, but the entire temple as a whole usually takes its name from the main, central altar.

However, sometimes popular rumor assigns to the temple the name not of the main chapel, but of one of the side chapels, if it is consecrated in memory of a particularly revered saint.

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Some of these temples were built several centuries ago, others are the creations of modern architects. The implementation of some ideas took decades and even centuries. Others needed only a few years. All these buildings have one thing in common - their architecture is unique, and this attracts millions of people, regardless of their beliefs.

website brings you some of the most architecturally significant places of worship from around the world.

Milan Cathedral, Italy

Holy Trinity Church, Antarctica

The Russian Orthodox Church was built in Russia in the 1990s and then transported to a Russian station in Antarctica. This is one of 7 churches on its territory.

Taktsang Lhakhang, Bhutan

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, United Arab Emirates

Hallgrimskirkja Church, Iceland

The Lutheran Church in Reykjavik is the fourth tallest building in Iceland. It is located in the center of Reykjavik and is visible from any part of the city.

Temple of All Religions, Kazan, Russia

This unique structure miraculously combines a Christian cross, a Muslim crescent, a Star of David and a Chinese dome. True, no rituals are performed here, because this is not a functioning temple, but just a building that looks like a residential building inside. In total, the project includes domes and other iconic elements of religious buildings of 16 world religions, including disappeared civilizations.

Lotus Temple, India

For the people of India, the lotus means purity and peace. This is one of the most visited buildings in the world.

Kul-Sharif Mosque, Kazan, Russia

The designers of the new mosque tried to recreate the main mosque of the Kazan Khanate, destroyed in 1552 by the troops of Ivan the Terrible.

Cathedral of Las Lajas, Colombia

The neo-Gothic cathedral is built directly on a 30-meter arched bridge connecting the two sides of a deep gorge. The temple is cared for by two Franciscan communities: one is Colombian, the other is Ecuadorian. Thus, the Cathedral of Las Lajas became a pledge of peace and union between the two South American peoples.

Kamppi Chapel of Silence, Finland

It is intended for privacy and meetings. There are no services in the chapel. Here you can hide from the bustle, enjoy peace in one of the busiest places in the capital and meditate in an environmentally friendly space. Because of appearance and materials, the chapel of silence is often called the “sauna of the spirit.”

Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, Slovenia

The church is located on the only island in all of Slovenia. To get inside, you need to cross the lake by boat and climb 99 steps.

Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel, USA

The chapel's unique design is a classic example of modernist architecture. The magnificent interior brings together several different areas of worship under one roof, including Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Buddhist chapels. Each of them has its own distinctive symbolism, ammunition and its own exit.

Paoay Church, Philippines

St Patrick's Cathedral, Australia

St. Patrick's Cathedral is the tallest and most big church in Australia.

Church of the Transfiguration, Kizhi, Russia

The church was built in the traditions of Russian carpentry, that is, without nails. It is crowned with 22 domes and its height is 37 meters.

Green Church, Argentina

The most ordinary Catholic church became famous thanks to its rich living ivy decor, which turned the facade into an allusion to the biblical Garden of Gethsemane.

St. Andrew's Church, Ukraine

The church is located on a steep hill, offering a beautiful view of Kyiv. According to legend, it was built on the spot where St. Andrew the First-Called erected a cross. This is just one of the many legends that surround St. Andrew's Church.

California Mormon Temple, USA

The huge building is made in dazzling white. And this color scheme is no coincidence, because white traditionally perceived as a symbol of purity and innocence. Tourists and simply curious people are not allowed inside the Mormon Temple itself; only members of the community can enter the premises of the sacred building.

Crystal Mosque, Malaysia

It is located on an artificial island. The mosque is made of steel and glass, so it feels like it is made of crystal.

The rapid development of temple building in our time, in addition to its positive beginning, also has negative side. First of all, this concerns the architecture of the church buildings being built. There are often cases when architectural solutions depend on the taste of the donor or the rector of the temple, who do not have necessary knowledge in the field of temple architecture.

The State of Modern Church Architecture

The opinions of professional architects on the problem of modern church architecture are very different. Some believe that the tradition interrupted after 1917 today should begin from the moment it was forced to stop - with the Art Nouveau style of the early twentieth century, in contrast to the modern cacophony of architectural styles of the past, chosen by architects or clients according to their personal taste. Others welcome innovation and experimentation in the spirit of modern secular architecture and reject tradition as outdated and not in keeping with the spirit of modernity.

Thus, the current state of the architecture of Orthodox churches in Russia cannot be considered satisfactory, since the correct guidelines for searching for architectural solutions for modern churches and the criteria for assessing past experience, which is often used under the guise of following tradition, have been lost.

For many, the necessary knowledge of the traditions of Orthodox temple building is replaced by thoughtless reproduction of “samples” and stylization, and by tradition is meant any period of domestic temple building. National identity, as a rule, is expressed in copying traditional techniques, forms, and elements of the external decoration of temples.

In the Russian history of the 19th and 20th centuries there was already an attempt to return to the origins of Orthodox temple building, which in the middle of the 20th century led to the emergence of the Russian-Byzantine style, and at the beginning of the 20th century the neo-Russian style. But these were the same “styles,” only based not on Western European, but on Byzantine and Old Russian models. Despite the general positive direction of this turn to historical roots, only “samples” as such, their stylistic characteristics and details served as support. The result was imitative works, the architectural solution of which was determined by the level of knowledge of the “samples” and the degree of professionalism in their interpretation.

IN modern practice we see the same picture of attempts to reproduce “samples” from the entire variety of diverse heritage without penetrating into the essence, into the “spirit” of the designed temple, to which a modern temple architect, as a rule, has no relation, or he lacks sufficient education for this.

Church buildings, which in Orthodoxy, like icons, are shrines for believers, with the superficial approach of architects to their design, cannot possess the energy of grace that we certainly feel when contemplating many ancient Russian churches built by our spirit-bearing ancestors in a state of humility, prayers and reverence before the shrine of the temple. This humbly repentant feeling, combined with fervent prayer for the sending of God’s help in the creation of the temple - the house of God, attracted the grace of the Holy Spirit, with which the temple was built and which is present in it to this day.

The creation of every Orthodox church is a process of co-creation between man and God. An Orthodox church must be created with the help of God by people whose creativity, based on personal ascetic, prayerful and professional experience, is consistent with the spiritual tradition and experience of the Orthodox Church, and the images and symbols created are involved in the heavenly prototype - the Kingdom of God. But if the temple is not designed by church people only by looking at photographs of temples in textbooks on the history of architecture, which in these textbooks are considered only as “architectural monuments”, then no matter how “correctly” the temple was executed, faithfully copied from such a “model” with necessary corrections related to modern design requirements, then the believing heart, which seeks true spiritual beauty, will certainly feel the substitution.

It is extremely difficult to objectively evaluate only on formal grounds what is being built today. Many people, who often come to church with a heart hardened by years of godlessness, may not have any acute thoughts about the discrepancy between what is happening in the church and what they see in front of them. People who are not yet fully included in church life, like people with an undeveloped ear for music, will not immediately sense these false notes. Details familiar to the eye and often an abundance of decorations under the guise of splendor can overshadow untrained spiritual vision and even to some extent please the worldly eye without raising the mind to grief. Spiritual beauty will be replaced by worldly beauty or even aestheticism.

We need to realize that we must think not about how best to continue the “tradition”, understood from the point of view of architectural theorists, or to create an earthly beautiful temple, but how to solve the problems facing the Church, which do not change, despite what changes in architectural styles. Temple architecture is one of the types of church art that is organically included in the life of the Church and is designed to serve its goals.

Basics of Orthodox Church Architecture

1. Traditionality

Immutability Orthodox dogmas and the order of worship determines the fundamental immutability of the architecture of an Orthodox church. The basis of Orthodoxy is the preservation of the teachings of Christianity, which was enshrined Ecumenical Councils. Accordingly, the architecture of the Orthodox church, reflecting this unchanging Christian teaching through the symbolism of architectural forms, is extremely stable and traditional in its core. At the same time, the variety of architectural solutions of churches is determined by the features of its functional use (cathedral, parish church, monument church, etc.), capacity, as well as the variability of elements and details used depending on the preferences of the era. Some differences in temple architecture observed in different countries who profess Orthodoxy are determined by climatic conditions, historical conditions development, national preferences and national traditions associated with the characteristics of the national character. However, all these differences do not affect the basis of the architectural formation of an Orthodox church, since in any country and in any era the dogma of Orthodoxy and the worship for which the church is built remain unchanged. Therefore, in Orthodox church architecture there should not be any “architectural style” or “national direction” at its core, other than the “universal Orthodox”.

The convergence of church architecture with the style of secular buildings, which occurred during the New Age, was associated with the penetration of the secular principle into church art in connection with the negative processes of the secularization of the Church imposed by the state. This affected the weakening of the figurative structure of church art in general, including the architecture of the temple, its sacred purpose to be an expression of heavenly prototypes. Temple architecture in that period largely lost the ability to express the innermost content of the temple, turning into pure art. Temples were perceived this way until recently - as architectural monuments, and not as the house of God, which is “not of this world,” and not as a shrine, which is natural for Orthodoxy.

Conservatism is an integral part of the traditional approach, and this is not a negative phenomenon, but a very cautious spiritual approach to any innovation. Innovations are never denied by the Church, but very high demands are placed on them: they must be revealed by God. Therefore, there is a canonical tradition, that is, following patterns, accepted by the Church, as consistent with its dogmatic teaching. The samples used in the canonical tradition of temple building are necessary for architects to imagine what and how to do, but they have only pedagogical significance - to teach and remind, leaving room for creativity.

Today, “canonicity” often means the mechanical implementation of some mandatory rules that constrain creative activity architect, although there has never been any “canon” as a set of mandatory requirements for church architecture in the Church. The artists of antiquity never perceived tradition as something fixed once and for all and subject only to literal repetition. The new that appeared in temple building did not change it radically, did not deny what had happened before, but developed the previous one. All new words in church art are not revolutionary, but successive.

1. Functionality

Functionality means:

Architectural organization of a meeting place for Church members for prayer, listening to the word of God, celebrating the Eucharist and other sacraments, united in the rite of worship.

Availability of all necessary auxiliary premises related to worship (panoramic hall, sacristy, church shop) and the stay of people (dressing room, etc.);

Compliance with technical requirements related to the presence of people in the temple and the operation of the temple building (microclimatic, acoustic, reliability and durability);

The cost-effectiveness of the construction and operation of church buildings and structures, including construction in queues using optimal engineering and construction solutions, the necessary and sufficient use of external and internal decoration.

The architecture of the temple should, by organizing the space of the temple, create conditions for worship, congregational prayer, and also, through the symbolism of architectural forms, help to understand what a person hears in the word of God.

1. Symbolism

According to the church theory of the relationship between the image and the prototype, architectural images and symbols of the temple, when performed within the framework of the canonical tradition, can reflect the prototypes of heavenly existence and associate with them. The symbolism of the temple explains to believers the essence of the temple as the beginning of the future Kingdom of Heaven, puts before them the image of this Kingdom, using visible architectural forms and means of pictorial decoration in order to make the image of the invisible, heavenly, Divine accessible to our senses.

An Orthodox church is a figurative embodiment of the dogmatic teaching of the Church, a visual expression of the essence of Orthodoxy, an evangelical sermon in images, stones and colors, a school of spiritual wisdom; a symbolic image of the Divine Himself, an icon of the transformed universe, the heavenly world, the Kingdom of God and paradise returned to man, the unity of the visible and invisible world, earth and sky, the earthly Church and the heavenly Church.

The form and structure of the temple are connected with its content, filled with Divine symbols that reveal the truths of the Church, leading to heavenly prototypes. Therefore they cannot be changed arbitrarily.

1. Beauty

An Orthodox church is the center of all the most beautiful things on earth. It is splendidly decorated as a place worthy for the celebration of the Divine Eucharist and all the sacraments, in the image of the beauty and glory of God, the earthly house of God, the beauty and greatness of His Heavenly Kingdom. Splendor is achieved by means of architectural composition in synthesis with all types of church art and the use of the best possible materials.

The basic principles for constructing the architectural composition of an Orthodox church are:

The primacy of the internal space of the temple, its interior over the external appearance;

Construction of internal space on a harmonious balance of two axes: horizontal (west - east) and vertical (earth - sky);

Hierarchical structure of the interior with the primacy of the dome space.

Spiritual beauty, which we call splendor, is a reflection, a reflection of the beauty of the heavenly world. Spiritual beauty coming from God should be distinguished from worldly beauty. The vision of heavenly beauty and co-creation in “synergy” with God gave our ancestors the opportunity to create temples, the splendor and grandeur of which were worthy of heaven. The architectural designs of ancient Russian churches clearly expressed the desire to reflect the ideal of the unearthly beauty of the Kingdom of Heaven. Temple architecture was built mainly on the proportional correspondence of parts and the whole, and decorative elements played a secondary role.

The high purpose of the temple obliges the temple builders to treat the creation of the temple with maximum responsibility, to use all the best that modern construction practice has, all the best means of artistic expression, however, this task must be solved in each specific case in its own way, remembering the words of the Savior about the preciousness and two mites brought from the bottom of my heart. If works of ecclesiastical art are created in the Church, then they must be created at the highest level imaginable under the given conditions.

1. In the field of architecture of a modern Orthodox church

The guideline for modern temple builders should be a return to the original criteria of church art - solving the problems of the Church with the help specific means temple architecture. The most important criterion The assessment of the architecture of a temple should be based on the extent to which its architecture serves to express the meaning that was laid in it by God. Temple architecture should be considered not as art, but, like other types of church creativity, as an ascetic discipline.

In the search for modern architectural solutions for a Russian Orthodox church, the entire Eastern Christian heritage in the field of temple construction should be used, without limiting itself only to national tradition. But these samples should not serve for copying, but for insight into the essence of an Orthodox church.

When constructing a temple, it is necessary to organize a full-fledged temple complex that provides all the modern multifaceted activities of the Church: liturgical, social, educational, missionary.

Preference should be given to building materials based on natural origin, including brick and wood, which have a special theological justification. It is advisable not to use artificial building materials that replace natural ones, as well as those that do not involve manual human labor.

1. In the field of decisions made by the Church

Development of “exemplary” cost-effective designs for churches and chapels of various capacities that meet the modern requirements of the Church.

Involvement of professional architects and temple builders in the work of diocesan structures in church construction. Establishment of the position of diocesan architect. Interaction with local architectural authorities in order to prevent the construction of new churches that do not meet the modern requirements of the Church.

Publication in church publications of materials on issues of temple construction and church art, including new designs of churches with an analysis of their architectural and artistic advantages and disadvantages, as was the case in the practice of pre-revolutionary Russia.

1. In the field of creativity of architects and temple builders

The temple architect must:

Understand the requirements of the Church, that is, express the sacred content of the temple through the means of architecture, know the functional basis of the temple, Orthodox worship in order to develop a planning organization in accordance with the specific purpose of the temple (parish, memorial, cathedral, etc.);

Have a conscious attitude towards the creation of a temple-shrine as a sacred act, close to church sacraments, like everything that is done within the Church. This understanding must correspond to the lifestyle and work of the architect-temple-maker, his involvement in the life of the Orthodox Church;

To have deep knowledge of the entirety of the traditions of universal Orthodoxy, the heritage of all the best that was created by our predecessors, whose spirit was close to the spirit of the Church, as a result of which the churches created met the requirements of the Church and were conductors of its spirit;

Possess the highest professionalism, combine traditional solutions with modern construction technologies in their creativity.

Mikhail KESLER