Types of architecture of the Orthodox faith. Temple Architecture Dictionary

On the bottom of the main properties of God - His omnipresent, therefore, you can pray to an Orthodox Christian everywhere, in any place.

But there are places of the exclusive presence of God, where the Lord is in a special, grace-filled way. Such places are called temples of God or churches.

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.

Architecture is not able to adequately recreate the heavenly prototype, if only because only some holy people during their earthly life were awarded the vision of the Heavenly Kingdom, the image of which, according to their explanations, cannot be expressed in any words. For most people, this is a secret that is only slightly revealed in the Holy Scriptures and Church Tradition. The temple is also an image of the Universal Church, its basic principles and structure. In the Creed, the Church is called "One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic."

In some way, these features of the Church can be reflected in temple architecture.

The temple is a consecrated building in which believers praise God, thank Him for the benefits received and pray to Him for their needs. The central, most often the most magnificent temples, in which the clergy from other nearby churches gather for general solemn services, are called cathedrals, or simply cathedrals.

By subordination and location, the temples are divided into:

Stavropegial- churches under the direct control of the Holy Patriarch and the Synod.

Cathedral- are the main churches for the ruling bishops of a particular diocese.

Parish- churches in which the services of local parishes are performed (a parish is a community of Orthodox Christians, consisting of clergy and laity, united at the temple).

Cemetery- located either in the territory of cemeteries, or in the immediate vicinity of them. A feature of cemetery temples is that funeral services are constantly performed here. The duty of local clergy is to perform lithiums and memorial services at the request of relatives for those who are buried in the cemetery. The temple building has its own, established over the centuries, architectural appearance with its deep symbolism.

European classification of architectural styles.

Ancient architecture
• Egypt
• Mesopotamia, etc.
Antique architecture
• Greek
• Roman
Medieval architecture
• Byzantine
• Romanesque
• Gothic
Modern architecture
• Renaissance
• Baroque and Rococo
• Classicism and Empire style
• Eclecticism or Historicism
• Modern, aka Art Nouveau, Jugendstil, Secession, etc.
Modern architecture
• Constructivism
• Art Deco
• Modernism or International style
• High tech
• Postmodernism
• Diverse contemporary styles

In fact, there are practically no pure styles in architecture, they all exist simultaneously, complementing and enriching each other. Styles are not mechanically replaced by one another, they do not become obsolete, do not arise from anywhere and do not disappear without a trace. Any architectural style has something of the previous and future style. When referring a building to a certain architectural style, we must understand that this is a conditional characteristic, since each piece of architecture is unique and inimitable in its own way.

In order to attribute a building to a specific style, we need to choose the main, in our opinion, feature. It is clear that such a classification will always be approximate and imprecise. Medieval Russian architecture does not fit into the European classification in any way. Let's move on to Russian temple architecture.

Russia took over from Byzantium the established Orthodox religion, in which there were already various types of temples. The absence in Russia of the tradition of stone construction did not allow to take as a basis the complex metropolitan system of the domed Byzantine basilica. The model for Russian churches was the four- and six-pillar cross-domed type of provincial Byzantine temple.

Beautiful architecture of churches and temples!

"Church of St. Prince Igor of Chernigov in Peredelkino."

Church of the Transfiguration in Peredelkino

Nicholas the Wonderworker Mozhaisky

Shorin's country estate in the town of Gorokhovets, Vladimir region. Built in 1902. Now in this house is the center of folk art.

St. Vladimir's Cathedral.

The idea of ​​creating the Vladimir Cathedral in honor of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir belongs to Metropolitan Filaret Amfitheatrov. The work was entrusted to Alexander Beretti, the cathedral was laid on the day of St. Vladimir on July 15, 1862, in 1882 the construction was completed by the architect Vladimir Nikolaev.

The Vladimir Cathedral gained fame as a monument of outstanding cultural significance mainly due to its unique paintings of outstanding artists: V.M. Vasnetsov, M.A.Vrubel, M.V. Nesterov, P.A.Svedomsky and V.A.Kotarbinsky under the general supervision of the professor A. V. Prakhova. The main role in the creation of the temple painting belongs to V.M. Vasnetsov. The solemn consecration of the Vladimir Cathedral took place on August 20, 1896 in the presence of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.

Novodevichy Convent.

Temple to them. St. Cyril and St. Methodius "

Orthodox church in Biala Podlaska, Poland. It was built in the period 1985-1989.

The Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel (Cathedral of the Archangel) in the Kremlin was the burial vault of the great princes and Russian tsars. In the old days it was called “the church of St. Michael in the square ”. In all likelihood, the first wooden Archangel Cathedral in the Kremlin arose on the site of the present one during the short reign of Alexander Nevsky's brother Mikhail Khorobrit in 1247-1248. According to legend, this was the second church in Moscow. Hororbite himself, who died in 1248 in a skirmish with the Lithuanians, was buried in the Vladimir Assumption Cathedral. And the Moscow temple of the guardian of the heavenly gates of the Archangel Michael was destined to become the princely burial vault of the Moscow princes. There is evidence that the nephew of Mikhail Khorobrit, the founder of the dynasty of Moscow princes, Daniel, was buried at the southern wall of this cathedral. Daniel's son Yuri was buried in the same cathedral.
In 1333, another son of Daniel of Moscow, Ivan Kalita, built a new stone church on a vow, in gratitude for the deliverance of Russia from hunger. The existing cathedral was built in 1505-1508. under the direction of the Italian architect Aleviz the New on the site of the old cathedral of the XIV century and consecrated on November 8, 1508 by Metropolitan Simon.
The temple is five-domed, six-pillar, five-apse, eight-sided with a narrow room separated from it by a wall in the western part (on the second tier there are choirs intended for women of the royal family). Built of bricks and decorated with white stone. In the treatment of the walls, motifs of the architecture of the Italian Renaissance are widely used (order pilasters with vegetable capitals, "shells" in zakomaras, multi-profile cornices). Initially, the chapters of the temple were covered with black-polished tiles, the walls were probably painted red, and the details were white. In the interior there are paintings from 1652-66 (Fedor Zubov, Yakov Kazanets, Stepan Ryazanets, Iosif Vladimirov, etc.; restored in 1953-55) , a carved wooden gilded iconostasis of the 17th-19th centuries. (height 13 m) with icons of the 15th-17th centuries, chandeliers of the 17th century.The cathedral contains frescoes of the 15th-16th centuries, as well as a wooden iconostasis with icons of the 17th-19th centuries. The 16th century mural painting was knocked down and painted again in 1652-1666 according to the old recipes by the icon painters of the Armory (Yakov Kazanets, Stepan Ryazanets, Iosif Vladimirov).

"Orekhovo-Zuevo - Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary"

Palace of Alexei Mikhailovich in the village of Kolomenskoye

The ancient village of Kolomenskoye near Moscow stood out among other patrimonial possessions of the Russian sovereigns - the grand ducal and tsarist country residences were located here. The most famous among them is the wooden palace of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (reigned 1645-1676)
The son of the first tsar from the Romanov dynasty, Mikhail Fedorovich, Alexei Mikhailovich, having ascended the throne, repeatedly rebuilt and successively expanded his father's residence near Moscow, which was associated with the growth of his family. He often visited Kolomenskoye, was engaged in falconry in its vicinity and held official ceremonies here.
In the 1660s. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich conceived large-scale changes in the Kolomna residence. The solemn ceremony of laying the foundation of the new palace, which began with a prayer service, took place on May 2-3, 1667. The palace was built from wood according to the drawings, the work was carried out by an artel of carpenters under the leadership of the streltsy head Ivan Mikhailov and the carpenter's head Semyon Petrov. From the winter of 1667 to the spring of 1668, carvings were carried out, in 1668 the doors were upholstered and paints were prepared for painting the palace, and in the summer season of 1669 the main icon-painting and painting works were completed. In the spring and summer of 1670, blacksmiths, a carved iron craftsman and locksmiths were already working in the palace. After examining the palace, the king ordered the addition of pictorial images, which was done in 1670-1671. The sovereign closely followed the progress of the work, during the entire construction he often came to Kolomenskoye and stayed there for a day. The final completion of the work took place in the autumn of 1673. In the winter of 1672/1673, the palace was consecrated by Patriarch Pitirim; at the ceremony, Hieromonk Simeon of Polotsk said "Greetings" to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.
Kolomna Palace had an asymmetrical layout and consisted of independent and different-sized stands, the size and design of which corresponded to the hierarchical traditions of the family structure. The cages were connected by hallways and passages. The complex was divided into two parts: the male, which includes the palace of the tsar and the princes and the ceremonial entrance, and the female, which consists of the palaces of the queen and princesses. In total, the palace had 26 towers of different heights - from two to four floors. The main living quarters were the rooms on the second floor. In total, there were 270 chambers in the palace, which were illuminated by 3,000 windows. When decorating the Kolomna Palace, for the first time in Russian wooden architecture, carved platbands and planking imitating stone were used. The principle of symmetry was actively used in the solution of facades and interiors.
As a result of large-scale works in Kolomenskoye, a complex complex was created that shook the imagination of both contemporaries and people of the "enlightened" XVIII century. The palace was distinguished by great decorativeness: the facades were decorated with intricate platbands, multicolored carved details, figured compositions and had an elegant look.
In the years 1672-1675. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and his family regularly traveled to Kolomenskoye; diplomatic receptions were often held in the palace. The new Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich (reigned 1676-1682) rebuilt the palace. On May 8, 1681, the carpenter Semyon Dementyev, the peasant of the boyar P.V. Sheremetev, instead of the dilapidated tumbleweed, began the construction of a huge dining room. The final appearance of this building was then captured in various prints and paintings.
All subsequent rulers of Russia fell in love with the Kolomna Palace. In the years 1682-1696. it was visited by Tsars Peter and Ivan, as well as Princess Sophia Alekseevna. Peter and his mother, Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna, have been here much more often than others. Under Peter I, a new foundation was laid under the palace.
Throughout the XVIII century. the palace was gradually dilapidated and destroyed in spite of all attempts to preserve it. In 1767, by order of Empress Catherine II, the dismantling of the palace began, which lasted until about 1770. In the process of dismantling, detailed plans of the palace were drawn up, which, together with the descriptions of the 18th century. and visual materials give a fairly complete picture of this remarkable monument of Russian architecture of the 17th century.
Now the palace has been recreated in a new place according to old drawings and images.

Chapel of Alexander Nevsky

The chapel of Alexander Nevsky was built in 1892. architect Pozdeev N.I. Differs in the perfection of brickwork and elegant decor. Yaroslavl.
St. Andrew's Cathedral is an active Orthodox cathedral on Vasilievsky Island in St. Petersburg, standing at the intersection of Bolshoy Prospekt and the 6th line, an architectural monument of the 18th century. In 1729, the foundation stone of the wooden church, built in the period from 1729 to 1731 by the architect G. Trezzini, took place. In 1744 St. Andrew's Church was renamed into a cathedral. In 1761, the wooden St. Andrew's Cathedral burned down to the ground as a result of a lightning strike.

Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the village of Nelazskoe. Built in 1696.

The Church of the All-Merciful Savior in Kuskovo is the former home church of the Sheremetyev family, also known as the Church of the Origin of the Honorable Trees of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord. Currently, it is part of the architectural and artistic ensemble of the Kuskovo estate. Kuskovo was first mentioned in the chronicles of the 16th century and already as the possession of the Sheremetyevs, whose family was one of the most noble in Russia. The first wooden house church has been known since 1624; the boyar courtyard and the courtyards of serfs were also located here. Around the same time, in 1646, Fyodor Ivanovich Sheremetyev built a large tent-roofed Church of the Assumption in the neighboring village of Veshnyakovo. In 1697-1699, Boris Petrovich Sheremetyev together with John Pashkovsky, carrying out diplomatic assignments of Peter I, traveled across Western Europe. According to legend, the Pope presented him with a golden cross with a particle of the Tree of the Life-giving Cross. This shrine was passed on to his son, Count Pyotr Borisovich Sheremetyev, who inherited the Kuskovo estate after the death of his father, and decided to reconstruct it so that it could amaze everyone with luxury and wealth. Construction began in 1737 with the construction of a new church. The main and only altar of the church was consecrated in honor of the Origin of the Honorable Trees of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord. Since the time of construction, the church has not been rebuilt and has survived to our time in its original form. It is considered one of the rare architectural monuments of Moscow in the "Annensky Baroque" style, that is, the Baroque architectural style of the era of Anna Ioannovna].

In 1919 the estate received the status of the State Museum. The church building was converted into museum auxiliary rooms. The Church of the All-Merciful Savior was restored and re-consecrated in 1991.

The Old Russian Resurrection Cathedral was built on the site of a former wooden church, as can be seen from the description of the city of Staraya Russa. The original foundation of this church dates back to distant times. It was before the Swedish ruin of Staraya Russa in 1611-1617, and was left unharmed during the ruin. It is not known when and by whom it was built, it is only known that the Intercession Church, after the devastation (1611) by the Swedes of the Boris-Gleb Cathedral, built by Novgorod newcomer merchants in 1403 and located near the Peter and Paul Church, on the north side, was instead of the cathedral. The wooden cathedral Church of the Intercession, due to its dilapidation, was dismantled and in its place, on the right bank of the Polist river and at the mouth of the Pererytitsa river, the church elder Moisey Somrov built the present stone cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ with borders from the north in the name of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, and from the south into the name of the Nativity of John the Baptist. The construction of the cathedral began in 1692 and was completed in 1696. Chapels to the kingdom of Peter the Great were consecrated (Pokrovskaya on October 8, 1697. The Church of the Resurrection of Christ was consecrated on July 1, 1708).

The Church of the Intercession on the Nerl was built in 1165. Historical sources associate its construction with the victorious campaign of the Vladimir regiments against the Volga Bulgaria in 1164. In this campaign, the young prince Izyaslav died. In memory of these events, Andrei Bogolyubsky laid the Church of the Intercession. According to some reports, the defeated Volga Bulgars themselves delivered the white stone for the construction of the church as an indemnity. The Church of the Intercession on the Nerl is a masterpiece of world architecture. She is called the "white swan" of Russian architecture, a beauty, and is compared to a bride. This small, graceful building was built on a small hill, on a river meadow, where the Nerl flows into the Klyazma. In all Russian architecture, which has created so many unsurpassed masterpieces, there is probably no more lyrical monument. This amazingly harmonious white-stone temple, organically merging with the surrounding landscape, is called a poem imprinted in stone.

Kronstadt. Naval Cathedral.

Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

The Cathedral Cathedral of Christ the Savior (Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ) in Moscow is a cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church not far from the Kremlin on the left bank of the Moskva River.
The original of the temple was erected in gratitude for the salvation of Russia from the Napoleonic invasion. It was built by the architect Konstantin Ton. Construction lasted almost 44 years: the temple was founded on September 23, 1839, consecrated - on May 26, 1883.
On December 5, 1931, the building of the temple was destroyed. Rebuilt in the same place in 1994-1997.

As if in contrast to the powerful volumes of the Resurrection Monastery, unknown masters created an elegantly proportioned, surprisingly slender church: an elegant hipped-roof bell tower, a refectory, a central five-domed cube of the temple extended upwards, small one-domed side-altars from the north and south.

All photos and descriptions to them are taken from here http://fotki.yandex.ru/tag/%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%85%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BA% D1% 82% D1% 83% D1% 80% D0% B0 /? P = 0 & how = week

http://fotki.yandex.ru/users/gorodilowskaya-galya/view/707894/?page=12

The rapid development of temple building in our time, in addition to its positive beginning, has a negative side. First of all, this concerns the architecture of the erected church buildings. There are often cases when architectural solutions depend on the taste of the donor or the abbot of the temple, who do not have the 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 start from the moment it was forced to stop - from the Art Nouveau style of the early 20th century, in contrast to the modern cacophony of architectural styles of the past, chosen by architects or customers according to their personal taste. Others welcome innovation and experimentation in the spirit of modern secular architecture and reject tradition as outdated and out of date.

Thus, the current state of the architecture of Orthodox churches in Russia cannot be considered satisfactory, since the correct guidelines for the search for architectural solutions of 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 church building is replaced by thoughtless reproduction of "samples", stylization, and tradition is understood as any period of domestic church building. National identity, as a rule, is expressed in copying traditional techniques, forms, elements of the outdoor decoration of temples.

In the domestic history of the 20th-20th centuries, there was already an attempt to return to the origins of Orthodox church 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 samples. Despite the general positive direction of such a turn towards historical roots, still only “samples” as such, their stylistic characteristics and details served as a 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 observe the same picture of attempts to reproduce "samples" from the whole variety of diverse heritage without penetrating into the essence, into the "spirit" of the projected temple, to which the modern architect-temple-creator, as a rule, has no relation, or he lacks for this sufficient education.

The buildings of churches, which in Orthodoxy, like icons, are sacred for believers, with a superficial approach of architects to their design, cannot possess that energy of grace, which, of course, we feel when contemplating many ancient Russian churches built by our spirit-bearing ancestors in a state of humility, prayers and reverence for the shrine of the temple. This humble, repentant feeling, combined with fervent prayer for the sending down 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 should be created with the help of God by people whose creativity, based on personal ascetic, prayer 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 the photographs of temples in textbooks on the history of architecture, which in these textbooks are considered only as "monuments of architecture", then no matter how "correctly" the temple is executed, conscientiously copied from such a "sample" from the necessary corrections associated with modern design requirements, then the believing heart in search of true spiritual beauty will certainly feel the substitution.

It is extremely difficult to objectively assess what is being built today only on the basis of formal criteria. Many people who come to the temple often with a hardened heart during the years of atheism, perhaps, do not have a sharp thought about the discrepancy between what is happening in the temple 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 feel these false notes. The details familiar to the eye and often an abundance of adornments under the guise of splendor can overshadow untrained spiritual vision and even please the secular eye to some extent, without raising the mind to grief. Spiritual beauty will be replaced by worldly beauty or even aestheticism.

We need to realize that we should not think about how best to continue the "tradition" understood from the point of view of architectural theorists, or create a beautiful temple in an earthly way, but how to solve the tasks 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 purposes.

Fundamentals of Orthodox Church Architecture

1. Traditionality

The invariability of Orthodox dogmas and the rite of worship determines the fundamental invariability of the architecture of an Orthodox church. The basis of Orthodoxy is the preservation of the teachings of Christianity, which was enshrined in the Ecumenical Councils. Accordingly, the architecture of an Orthodox church, reflecting this unchanging Christian teaching with the symbolism of architectural forms, is extremely stable and traditional in its essence. At the same time, the variety of architectural solutions of temples is determined by the peculiarities of its functional use (cathedral, parish church, memorial temple, 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 professing Orthodoxy are determined by climatic conditions, historical conditions of development, national preferences and national traditions associated with the peculiarities of the folk character. However, all these differences do not affect the basis of the architectural form of an Orthodox church, since in any country and in any era the dogmatics of Orthodoxy and the divine service for which the temple is being built remain unchanged. Therefore, in Orthodox church architecture, at its core, there should not be any "architectural style" or "national direction", except for the "universal Orthodox".

The rapprochement of temple architecture with the style of secular structures, which took place in the modern era, 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 as a whole, including the architecture of the temple, its sacred purpose to be an expression of heavenly prototypes. Temple architecture during that period largely lost its ability to express the innermost content of the temple, turning into pure art. Until recently, temples were perceived in this way - 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 phenomenon is not negative, but a very careful spiritual approach to any innovation. Innovations are never denied by the Church, but very high requirements are imposed on them: they must be divinely revealed. Therefore, there is a canonical tradition, that is, following the models adopted by the Church as corresponding to 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 a pedagogical meaning - to teach and remind, leaving room for creativity.

Today, "canonicity" often means the mechanical fulfillment of some obligatory rules that constrain the creative activity of an architect, although there has never been any "canon" as a set of obligatory requirements for temple architecture in the Church. 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 radically change it, did not deny what was before, but developed the previous one. All new words in church art are not revolutionary, but successive.

1. Functionality

Functionality means:

The architectural organization of the 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.

The presence of all the necessary auxiliary premises related to worship (panomark, sacristy, church shop) and the stay of people (dressing room, etc.);

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

Efficiency of construction and operation of church buildings and structures, including construction in stages using optimal engineering and construction solutions, the necessary and sufficient use of external and internal decoration means.

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 correlation of the image with the prototype, the architectural images and symbols of the temple, when performed within the framework of the canonical tradition, can reflect the prototypes of heavenly life and attach to 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, evangelical preaching in images, stones and paints, a school of spiritual wisdom; a symbolic image of the Godhead 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 heaven, the earthly Church and the heavenly Church.

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

1. the beauty

The Orthodox Church is the focus of all the most beautiful on earth. It is beautifully adorned 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 majesty of His Heavenly Kingdom. Splendor is achieved by means of architectural composition in a synthesis with all types of church art and the use of the best materials possible.

The main principles of building the architectural composition of an Orthodox church are:

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

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

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

Spiritual beauty, which we call splendor, is a reflection, a reflection of the beauty of the heavenly world. Spiritual beauty that comes from God must be distinguished from worldly beauty. The vision of heavenly beauty and co-creation in "synergy" with God made it possible for our ancestors to create temples, the beauty and grandeur of which were worthy of heaven. In the architectural solutions of ancient Russian churches, the desire to reflect the ideal of unearthly beauty of the Kingdom of Heaven is clearly expressed. 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 the utmost responsibility, to use all the best that modern building practice has, all the best of the means of artistic expression, however, this task should be solved in each specific case in its own way, remembering the words of the Savior about the jewels and two mites brought from the heart. If works of ecclesiastical art are created in the Church, then they must be created at the highest level that can be imagined in the given conditions.

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

The reference point for modern temple builders should be a return to the primordial criteria of church art - the solution of the tasks of the Church with the help of specific means of temple architecture. The most important criterion for evaluating the architecture of a temple should be how much its architecture serves to express the meaning that was laid in it by God. Temple architecture should not be viewed as an 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 building should be used, not being limited only to the national tradition. But these samples should serve not for copying, but for penetrating into the essence of an Orthodox church.

When building a temple, it is necessary to organize a full-fledged temple complex, providing all the modern multilateral activities of the Church: liturgical, social, educational, missionary.

Preference should be given to building materials based on natural origin, including brick and wood, which has a special theological rationale. It is advisable not to use artificial building materials that replace natural ones, as well as those in which there is no human manual labor.

1. In the area of ​​decisions made by the Church

Development of "exemplary" economical projects of temples and chapels of various capacities that meet the modern requirements of the Church.

Involvement in the work of diocesan structures for temple building of professional architects-temple builders. Establishment of the office of diocesan architect. Interaction with local architecture authorities in order to prevent the construction of new temples that do not meet the modern requirements of the Church.

Publications in church publications of materials on issues of temple building and church art, including new projects of temples with an analysis of their architectural and artistic merits and demerits, as it was in the practice of pre-revolutionary Russia.

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

The Architect-Creator must:

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

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

To possess deep knowledge of the fullness 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 temples being created corresponded to the requirements of the Church, were the conductors of her spirit;

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

Mikhail KESLER

The end of the persecution in the IV century and the adoption of Christianity in the Roman Empire as a state religion led to a new stage in the development of temple architecture. The external, and then the spiritual division of the Roman Empire into Western - Roman and Eastern - Byzantine, also influenced the development of church art. In the Western Church, the most widespread is the basilica.

In the Eastern Church in the V-VIII centuries. the Byzantine style developed in the construction of temples and in all church art and worship. Here were laid the foundations of the spiritual and external life of the Church, since then called the Orthodox.

Types of Orthodox churches

Temples in the Orthodox Church were built by several types, but each temple symbolically corresponded to the church doctrine.

1. Temples in the form cross were built as a sign that the Cross of Christ is the foundation of the Church, the Cross has freed mankind from the power of the devil, the Cross opens the entrance to the Paradise lost by the ancestors.

2. Temples in shape circle(a circle that has neither beginning nor end, symbolizes eternity) speak of the infinity of the existence of the Church, its inviolability in the world according to the word of Christ

3. Temples in shape eight pointed star symbolize the Star of Bethlehem, which led the Magi to the place where Christ was born. Thus, the Church of God testifies to its role as a guide to the life of the Future Age. 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 century to come.

4. Temple in shape ship... Temples in the shape of a ship are the most ancient type of temples, figuratively expressing the idea that the Church, like a ship, saves believers from the disastrous waves of life's voyage and leads them to the Kingdom of God.

5. Mixed Temples : cruciform in appearance, but inside, in the center of the cross, round, or rectangular in external shape, and inside, in the middle part, round.

Diagram of a temple in the shape of a circle

Scheme of the temple in the form of a ship

Cruciform type. Church of the Ascension behind the Serpukhov Gate. Moscow

Diagram of a temple built in the shape of a cross

Cruciform type. Church of Barbara on Varvarka. Moscow.

Cruciform shape. Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

Rotunda. Smolensk Church of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra

Diagram of a temple in the shape of a circle

Rotunda. Church of Metropolitan Peter of the Vysoko-Petrovsky Monastery

Rotunda. Joy of All Who Sorrow Church on Ordynka. Moscow

Diagrams of the temple in the form of an eight-pointed star

Ship type. Church of Dmitry on the Blood in Uglich

Scheme of the temple in the form of a ship

Ship type. Church of the Life-Giving Trinity on Sparrow Hills. Moscow

Byzantine temple architecture

In the Eastern Church in the V-VIII centuries. formed Byzantine style in the construction of temples and in all church art and worship. Here were laid the foundations of the spiritual and external life of the Church, since then called the Orthodox.

Temples in the Orthodox Church were built in different ways, but each temple symbolically corresponded to the church doctrine. In all types of temples, the altar was invariably separated from the rest of the temple; temples continued to be two - and more often three-part. The dominant feature of Byzantine temple architecture was a rectangular temple with a rounded protrusion 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 sub-dome space, which resembles the internal view of a temple in the catacombs.

Only in the middle of the dome, where there was a source of natural light in the catacombs, they began to depict the True Light - the Lord Jesus Christ, who had come into the world. Of course, the similarity of the Byzantine temples with the catacomb ones is only the most common, since the ground-based temples of the Orthodox Church are distinguished by incomparable splendor and greater external and internal detailing.

Sometimes they are dominated by several spherical domes topped with crosses. An Orthodox church is certainly crowned with a cross on the dome or on all domes, if there are several of them, as a victorious sign and as a testimony that the Church, like all creation, chosen for salvation, enters the Kingdom of God thanks to the Redemptive Deed of Christ the Savior. By the time of the Baptism of Rus in Byzantium, a type of cross-domed church was formed, which united in synthesis the achievements of all the previous directions of development of Orthodox architecture.

Byzantine temple

Byzantine temple plan

Cathedral of st. Stamps in Venice

Byzantine temple

Cross-domed temple in Istanbul

Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Italy

Byzantine temple plan

Cathedral of st. Stamps in Venice

Temple of Saint Sophia in Constantinople (Istanbul)

The interior of the church of St. Sofia in Constantinople

Church of the Most Holy Theotokos (Desyatinnaya). Kiev

Cross-domed temples of Ancient Russia

The architectural type of a Christian temple, formed in Byzantium and in the countries of the Christian East in the V-VIII centuries. Became dominant in the architecture of Byzantium from the 9th century and was adopted by Christian countries of the Orthodox confession as the main form of the temple. Such famous Russian churches as the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, St. Sophia of Novgorod, and the Assumption Cathedral of Vladimir were deliberately built in the likeness of the St. Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople.

Old Russian architecture is mainly represented by church buildings, among which cross-domed churches occupy a dominant position. In Russia, not all variants of this type have become widespread, but the buildings of different periods and different cities and principalities of Ancient Russia form their own original interpretations of the cross-domed church.

The architectural structure of the cross-domed temple is devoid of easily visible clarity, which was characteristic of the basilicas. Such architecture contributed to the transformation of the consciousness of the ancient Russian man, leading him to an in-depth contemplation of the universe.

While preserving the general and basic architectural features of Byzantine churches, Russian churches have a lot that is original and peculiar. Several distinctive architectural styles have developed in Orthodox Russia. Among them, first of all, stands out the style that is closest to the Byzantine one. it Tolassic type white stone rectangular temple , or even basically square, but with the addition of an altar part with semicircular apses, with one or more domes on a figured roof. The spherical Byzantine shape of the dome cover was replaced by a helmet-like one.

In the middle of the small temples there are four pillars supporting the roof and symbolizing the four evangelists, the four cardinal points. There can be twelve or more pillars in the central part of the cathedral church. At the same time, the pillars with the space intersecting between them form the signs of the Cross and help the division of the temple into its symbolic parts.

The Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir and his successor, Prince Yaroslav the Wise, strove to organically include Russia in the universal organism of Christianity. The temples they erected served this purpose, placing believers in front of the perfect Sophia image of the Church. Already the first Russian churches spiritually testify to the connection between earth and heaven in Christ, to the God-human nature of the Church.

Saint Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod

Dmitrievsky Cathedral in Vladimir

The cross-domed church of St. John the Baptist. Kerch. 10th century

Saint Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod

Assumption Cathedral Sobov in Vladimir

Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin

Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior in Veliky Novgorod

Russian wooden architecture

In the XV-XVII centuries in Russia, a style of building temples that was significantly different from the Byzantine style took shape.

There appear oblong rectangular, but certainly with semicircular apses to the east, one-story and two-story churches with winter and summer churches, sometimes white-stone, more often brick with covered porches and covered arched galleries - gulbis around all walls, with a gable, four-slope and figured roofs, on which they flaunt one or more raised domes in the form of poppies, or bulbs.

The walls of the temple are decorated with graceful decoration and windows with beautiful stone carvings or tiled frames. A high hipped bell tower with a cross at the top is erected next to the temple or together with the temple above its vestibule.

Russian wooden architecture has acquired a special style. The properties of wood as a building material also determined the features of this style. It is difficult to create a smooth dome from rectangular boards and beams. Therefore, in wooden temples, instead of him, there is a gabled-shaped tent. Moreover, they began to give the appearance of a tent to the church as a whole. So 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 a multitude of wooden domes with crosses rising conically upward (for example, the famous temple at the Kizhi churchyard).

Church of the Intercession (1764) O. Kizhi.

Assumption Cathedral in Kem. 1711 g.

Church of St. Nicholas. Moscow

Church of the Transfiguration (1714) Kizhi Island

Chapel in honor of the Three Saints. Kizhi Island.

Stone hipped churches

The forms of wooden temples influenced stone (brick) construction.

They began to build intricate stone hipped-roof churches resembling huge towers (pillars). The highest achievement of stone hipped-roof architecture is rightfully considered the Intercession Cathedral in Moscow, better known as the Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed, - a complex, intricate, multi-decorated building of the 16th century.

At the heart of the plan, the cathedral is cruciform. The cross is made up of four main churches located around the middle, 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 in general outline.

Tents in Russian architecture did not last long: in the middle of the 17th century. the church authorities forbade the construction of hipped-roof churches, since they differed sharply from the traditional one-domed and five-domed rectangular (ship) churches.

Hip-roof architecture of the 16th-17th centuries, taking its origin in traditional Russian wooden architecture, is a unique direction of Russian architecture, which has no analogues in the art of other countries and peoples.

The stone tent-roofed Church of the Resurrection of Christ in the village of Gorodnya.

St Basil's Church

Temple "Soothe My Sorrows". Saratov

Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye

By mastering new technologies, a person changes the space around him, at the same time modernizing the material attributes of religion - the buildings of churches and temples. Such changes also affect the Orthodox environment, where the question of "modernizing" the church tradition of building churches is increasingly being heard. Catholics, on the contrary, are trying to take control of this process - not so long ago, the Vatican officially announced: "Modern Catholic churches resemble museums and are built more with the aim of receiving an award for design than serving the Lord ...". The works of Western architects are indeed often awarded in various professional competitions and prizes, some of them later become widely known and become architectural symbols of cities.

We present to you photographs of modern churches built with elements of modernism and "style of the future" - high-tech.

(21 photos total)

1. Protestant "Crystal" Cathedral (Crystal Cathedral) in Garden Grove, Orange County, California, USA. It is the most famous example of the high-tech style, with straight lines in design and glass with metal as the main material. The temple is built of 10,000 rectangular glass blocks, held together with silicone glue, and its structure, according to the architects, is as reliable as possible.

2. The church can accommodate up to 2900 parishioners at a time. The organ located inside the "Crystal" Cathedral is truly wonderful. Operated from five keyboards, it is one of the largest organs in the world.

3. In many ways similar to the "Crystal" Cathedral, the Cathedral of Christ the Light is a Catholic church in Oakland, USA. The church is the cathedral of the Diocese of Auckland and the first Christian cathedral in the United States to be built in the 21st century. The temple is widely discussed in the American press - because of the significant construction costs, as well as because of the surrounding garden, which is dedicated to victims of sexual abuse by clergy.

4. The inner interior of the Church of Light from Light.

5. Cathedral of Christ the King (English Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King), often called simply Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral (English Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral) - the main Catholic church in Liverpool, UK. The building is a striking example of the architecture of the second half of the 20th century. Serves as the pulpit of the Archbishop of Liverpool, also acts as a parish church.

6. Striking the imagination of both believers and atheists, the interior with cutting edge lighting.

7. The Church of the Holy Cross in Denmark impresses with the geometry of the building in a minimalist style and its location - practically in the middle of the field.

8. The Catholic church built in the late 90s in the city of Evry (France) is called the Cathedral of the Resurrection. Pay attention to the vegetal decor in the form of green bushes located on the roof of the building.

9. The Church of the Merciful God the Father in Rome is a major social center in the Italian capital. This futuristic building is specially located in one of the sleeping areas in order to "revive" it architecturally. Precast concrete was used as a building material.

10. Halgrimskirja is a Lutheran church in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. It is the fourth tallest building in the entire country. The church was designed in 1937 by architect Goodyoun Samuelson and took 38 years to build. Although the building was created long before the beginning of the expansion of high-tech into the world of architecture, in our opinion, the general appearance of the temple and its unusual shape make it a very interesting example of modernism. The church is located in the very center of Reykjavik, visible from any part of the city, and its upper part is also used as an observation platform. The temple has become one of the main attractions in the capital.

11. In the center of French Strasbourg, a modern cathedral is being built, which still has only a "working" name Folder (folder). The building, consisting of a series of pleated arches, will look extremely original as a place for Catholic ceremonies, for example, weddings.

12. Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church of St. Joseph was built in Chicago (USA) in 1956. It is known all over the world for its 13 golden domes, which symbolize Jesus himself and the 12 apostles.

13. Church "Santo Volto" in Turin (Italy). The design of the new church complex is part of the transformation program provided in the 1995 Turin Master Plan.

14. St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco is a rather avant-garde building, but local architects call it "a reasonable conservative option."

15. The Minimalist Church of Light was built in 1989 by the famous Japanese architect Tadao Ando in a quiet residential area in the suburbs of Osaka, Japan. The interior of the Church of Light is visually separated by rays of light coming from a cross-shaped hole in one of the walls of the building.

16. In the center of Los Angeles is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. The church serves a general archdiocese of over 5 million Catholics. It is in this church that the archbishop holds the main liturgies.

17. Church of Harissa in the capital of Lebanon - Beirut. Consists of 2 parts: a bronze statue of the Holy Virgin Mary, fifteen tons in weight, located at an altitude of 650 meters above sea level, made in the Byzantine style. There is a small chapel inside the statue.

18. The second part of the Harissa Church is a futuristic cathedral made of glass and concrete. This complex is a real Christian symbol in a somewhat unusual setting for it. It is also called the "Banner of Christianity in the Middle East."

19. Unusual in form, materials and general concept of the building - relatively recently built Catholic Church of Santa Monica. The temple is located an hour's drive from Madrid (Spain).

20. The interior of the Church of Santa Monica.

21. At the end of our review - a completely unconventional Trinity Church in the traditional and conservative capital of Austria - Vienna. The Church of the Holy Trinity (Kirche Zur Heiligsten Dreifaltigkeit) in Vienna, better known as the Temple of Votruba, is located on Mount Sankt Georgenberg. Built in 1974, the temple belongs to the Roman Catholic Church. Due to the complete inconsistency with traditional church forms, the construction of the building, of course, met with significant resistance from the local residents.