Kiev and Russian Christianity
Posted by in Kiev Architecture on July 15, 2011
In 988, contacts of ancient Kiev with Constantinople drought deep cultural influence and Kiev became the birth-place and centre of Russian Christianity, based on the Greek Orthodox Church. The first church appeared in Kiev in the mid-ninth century but it was Grand Prince Vladimir who declared Christianity as the state religion and in 988 the whole population of Kiev was baptized in the river’s waters. The city’s main street is still called Kreshchatik, meaning baptism. The historic event was commemorated by the monument to the “Baptizer of Russia”, designed by Konstantin Thon, the favourite architect of Tsar Nikolas I, and the bronze statue of Prince Vladimir by sculptor Pyotr Klodt, known for his horse-breaker sculptures of the Anichkov Bridge in St. Petersburg.
In the early eleventh century the chronicler Titmar Merzeburgski recorded that Kiev had more than 400 churches, eight markets and an uncalculated number of people.
The first Russian monastery was established in the mid-eleven century. Named the Pechersky Monastery (from old Russian word for cave “pechera”) it was founded by holy man, Antony of Liubech, who retired from the world to live a life of prayer and fasting in a cave on the Berestov Mount. Other zealots came to join him, living in the nearby caves, and when their numbers reached twelve, a monastery was formed. Antony moved closer to Berestovo, where more disciples arrived to join the network of caves and underground chapels.
As monastery grew in numbers and influence, the Kievan princes granted the monks the mount and money to build a stone church (Dormition Cathedral), which was begun in 1073. According to an early thirteenth century history of the monastery, the church was build as the result of the vision of Shimon, an outstanding Varangian warrior who lived in Kiev. Shimon’s most treasured possession was a belt made from pure gold. He had a vision that his life would be spared if a church in the name of the Virgin was built in the monastery, using his gold belt as the building’s measure. Shimon gave his belt to the monks, who shortly afterward were visited by master masons from Constantinople who told them that the Virgin Mary had appeared to them in a dream and told them to go to Kiev to build a church. Six years later, a graceful church with a single cupola and a small baptistery adjoined to the north wall was completed. It measured twenty times Shimon’s belt in width, thirty times in length and fifty times in height.
Shortly after the Church of the Dormition was consecrated, a strong wall was built around the cloister, partly to shelter the monks from outside world but also to protect from the raids of the barbaric nomads from the Dnieper and the Don. Stone gateways were set in the wooden wall, the main entrance on the west side, and the service gates on the north side. Each was topped by an exquisite little chapel, one of which was the Gate Church of the Trinity. Partially rebuilt, they still survive. Read the rest of this entry »
Architecture in California
Posted by in Architecture on July 15, 2011
Architecture in California California’s architectural history began with the arrival of the Europeans in the 18th century. Many of the Spanish missions of the late 18th and early 19th centuries were adaptations of Mexican baroque architecture, and the Spanish-Mexican influence continued to dominate California buildings until the middle of the 19th century. Later, the population influx caused by the Gold Rush led to this Hispanic vernacular merging with styles imported by settlers from the eastern United States and Europe. Architects such as Henry Cleaveland, S & J Newsom, and Bernard Maybeck were all influential in creating the state’s unique Victorian style.
MISSION
Franciscan missionaries, arriving in California from Mexico, established a chain of 21 missions from San Diego to Sonoma as centers from which to colonize the state. They were all designed to be within a day’s journey of their nearest neighbors.
These provincial versions of Mexican churches and their communal buildings were designed by friars and built of adobe bricks and wood by unskilled Native American laborers. Over the years their crude constructions decayed and were shaken by earthquakes, but many have been carefully restored in the 20th century. Distinctive features include massive walls covered with white lime cement, small window openings, rounded gables, and tiered bell towers.
MONTEREY
In the 1850s and 1860s, East Coast settlers flooded into the newly declared 31st state, bringing with them styles that were already going out of fashion on the East Coast, such as Greek Revival. Monterey, the state capital under Mexican rule, gave its name to an architecture that is, in essence, a wooden Greek temple wrapped around a Mexican adobe. Features include two-story wooden porticoes supported by slim square posts, wood shingle roofs, and a chaste symmetry of plan and elevation.
VICTORIAN
Three major styles emerged in California during the Victorian era: Italianate, most popular in San Francisco, Queen Anne, and Eastlake. The two latter styles achieved a pinnacle of exuberance in California during the 19th century when they were brought to the state by migrants from the East Coast. The restrained Eastlake style, with its geometrically patterned facades and ornamentation, was often combined with the more extravagant Queen Anne style, notable for its gables, turrets, wraparound porches, and splendidly confused anthology of classical details. Read the rest of this entry »