Russian gallery

[Erasmus]

PART 1: KREMLIN

[Erasmus]

PART 2: KREMLIN & HERMITAGE

[Leland Gaunt]

Kremlin sucks.

[Carnyx]

Why that???

So does St Basilius? I find it cool. It looks like a smurf on psychotrop drugs built it.

[Vincent]

What is a Kremlin? Some kind of structure? A particular one?

Originally Posted by Carnyx

Why that???

So does St Basilius? I find it cool. It looks like a smurf on psychotrop drugs built it.

Russian Orthodox onion domes. Nice and interesting in my opinion. What's the origin and influences of this architecture?

"The characteristic onion dome first appeared in Novgorod on the Cathedral of Sancta Sophia, in the eleventh century."



Church of Our Saviour on Split Blood in Saint Petersburg


Cathedral of St. Sophia, the Holy Wisdom of God in Novgorod


The Trinity Cathedral Troitse Sergiyeva Lavra, see of the Patriarchate of Moscow and all Russias


Homepage of Vladimir Dinets - Churches

[Carnyx]

Originally Posted by Menydh

What's the origin and influences of this architecture?

I wonder too. I heard the domes represent some turkish hats (so cut off heads of enemies) which would be even more cool. ?

[Vincent]

Originally Posted by Carnyx

I wonder too. I heard the domes represent some turkish hats (so cut off heads of enemies) which would be even more cool. ?

My head?

No, I also would like to know it. Could maybe svin help us out here? Or maybe someone cold try to find it ont he internet. Anyaway, if anybody finds anything, it would be nice to post it here.

[Sergius]

I believe the domes are meant to resemble the wax candles that are lit in the churches.
This one is also classic, from Vytegra:

[Carnyx]

Originally Posted by Carnyx

I wonder too. I heard the domes represent some turkish hats (so cut off heads of enemies) which would be even more cool. ?

My source is Turkish, btw.

Turkish helmet:

[Sergius]

The domes resemble the Mitres, too. Compare:


Another theory:

Originally Posted by Hans Schindler

Overview:

Brief but well supported and focused argument that onion domes and onion spires found on churches and secular buildings in Central Europe are not, as has been previously assumed, the result of Byzantine or Eastern influence, but, rather, the result of northern craftsmen and Italian architectural influences coming together in Prague in the sixteenth century. Includes reproductions of a sixteenth century woodcut of a city view of Prague with a few of the discussed domes visible, an early seventeenth century drawing of Prague with more onion domes, three photos of Central European religious buildings with onion domes, drawings of the facades of a hunting lodge and of a castle with onion domes, and two plans for onion domes.

Main Points:

Onion shaped spires can be found on country and pilgrimage churches throughout Southern Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and the Dolomite region of Italy, and to a lesser degree in Poland, Hungary, and the part of Yugoslavia which had been in the Austrian empire…these are different from the more elaborate tower terminations on other seventeenth and eighteenth century structures…some have guessed Byzantine, Eastern, or Islamic origins…if a "foreign stylistic element is adopted, we would expect to see it made part of the general architectural design portfolio, and not be limited to country churches"…these churches were built to celebrate victory of Catholicism over heterodoxy; architects would not adopt form of heterodox faiths…a dated city view of Prague in a woodcut from 1562 shows the first visually recorded onion dome in this series: the small towers placed at the corners of the terminal platform of the main tower of St. Vitus cathedral, the five towers of the no longer extant Rosenberg palace, and a water tower…another image from 1606 confirms the 1562 image…the Rosenberg castle, completed in 1549, was designed and built by Hans von Tirol…the Gothic tower of St. Vitus cathedral was built in 1560 by Bonifaz Wolmut…there was an interaction between Italian builders and masters trained in the north…"the onion shape appears to be the consequence of efforts to modify Gothic linear forms according to conventions imported from the south"…there was also inspiration from Flemish painters and sculptors living in Prague: Jan Brueghel in 1604, Adrean de Vries in 1601, Vredeman de Vries, 1597-1599…the onion shape had been used to top spires on buildings in the Netherlands since early in the sixteenth century…two architects who had worked in Prague may have taken the onion dome to a church in Bavaria…other churches with onion domes are considered…trade connections may have influenced the design's dissemination…"onion like structures, mostly in the form of open frames, mark Dutch secular building and churches of the sixteenth century. But the fully developed onion dome or spire appears to be a local architectural development in Prague...Italian builders and northern craftsmen felt impelled to modify the Gothic tradition in this period of considerable architectural activity"…its popularity might be owed to structural considerations…a skilled carpenter could make it, and its plan was well established; too, the design was associated with prestigious pilgrimage churches and new churches that adopted it could borrow some of that prestige.

Source: Architecture M-Z

I thought of a Byzantine influence. Interesting to notice, there is a noticeable but untold Byzantine influence in the so-called Islamic Architecture of Al-Andalus. But not just in Islamic Spain. This influence also exists in the Islamic Architecture of the Middle East, not to mention that it is the main element of the Ottoman Architecture.

[Arthur Gordon Pym]

Originally Posted by Menydh

I thought of a Byzantine influence. Interesting to notice, there is a noticeable but untold Byzantine influence in the so-called Islamic Architecture of Al-Andalus. But not just in Islamic Spain. This influence also exists in the Islamic Architecture of the Middle East, not to mention that it is the main element of the Ottoman Architecture.

It's not just Byzantine "influence", but the whole Islamic architecture started out as an off-shot of Byzantine architecture, only to develop later some characteristic traits of its own.

Ottomans were even more under that influence than other Islamic empires, because they settled in Anatolia, the cradle of Byzantinism.

As for these onion-shaped Russian church roofs, there were some guesses that they might have been due to Tatar influence. But there is this another supposition, brought forth and quoted here by Ljubomir, that thgey were made to resemble to candles. I find this second supposition more probable.

[Vincent]

I was more interested why the Byzantine empire developed such an architecture. Maybe someone could help me? Mynydd? Prometheus? Some links?

Persian influence?

[Sergius]

According to some, yes: CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Byzantine Architecture

[Vincent]

Not exactly in Russia but...

The St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral, Kiev



The Holy Dormition Cathedral of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra



The St.Andrew's Church, Kiev



The Church of Bogoroditsa Pirogoscha , Kiev



Kiev Pechersk Lavra