Russian spectacular churches

RUSSIAN SPECTACULAR CHURCHES. 1. Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius in Sergiyev Posad Read more at http:// Nearly 700 years ago, Sergius of Radonezh went out to live in the woods. Soon other spiritual seekers joined him in the forests north of Moscow, and eventually Sergius founded a monastery that would become the heart of the Russian Orthodox Church. In the following centuries, an exquisite architectural ensemble grew up around the community of monks known as a lavra. Still today, 300 monks live and pray within the fortressed walls of this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Read more at http://all-that-is-interesting.com/russian-churches#QhYBEohvKerZWavm.99 2. Church of Sign of the Most Holy Mother of God in Dubrovitsy Read mo Built in 1690 by an ally of Peter the Great, the Church of the Theotokos (that is, the Greek name of the mother of God) sits south of Moscow overlooking the Desna River. The church includes a grandiose appeal to the Tsar’s power – and ego – via a massive gold crown placed on the central tower. Despite this nod to his prestige, Peter never blessed the church. It looked too Catholic to him, abandoning traditional features of Orthodox architecture such as the bright, multifaceted cupolas, and using Latin, not Cyrillic script, in its inscriptions. Read more at http://all-that-is-interesting.com/russian-churches#QhYBEohvKerZWavm.99 3. Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye Read more at http://all-tha The “White Column,” as it is sometimes called, in Kolomenskoye also departs from Orthodox forms, but unlike the Dubrovitsy church, this one became a new standard-bearer of architectural possibilities. It was built by Russian royalty in 1532 as a lavish declaration of the birth of a new prince, Ivan. This toddler would go on to become Ivan the Terrible, conqueror of Kazan, Astrakhan, and Siberia. In 1994, UNESCO put this church on the list of its World Heritage Sites, calling it “unsurpassed in its marvelous beauty and elegance of form.” Read more at http://all-that-is-interesting.com/russian-churches/2/#jQqWdQDJrZmbPhve.99 4. Church of the Transfiguration at Kizhi Island Read more at http://a This is Russia’s most breathtaking wooden church. Construction began in 1714, and the 37-meter-high structure is built entirely of wood, without the use of nails. Its pine and spruce domes cascade in four directions like a pyramid of gargantuan Russian dolls. Its home is Kizhi Island, one of over 1,600 islands found in Lake Onego in the Russian north. Read more at http://all-that-is-interesting.com/russian-churches/2/#jQqWdQDJrZmbPhve.99 5. The Cathedral of the Annunciation in the Kremlin, Moscow Read more Despite its global reputation as a center of espionage and Soviet repression, the Kremlin has been a profoundly spiritual point on the Russian map for over 500 years. Yes, during that entire history the church was inextricably linked to the power of the often-thuggish state, but the sincerity of belief is palpable even today due to the impressive religious art and architecture of Cathedral Square, the centerpiece of Moscow’s Kremlin. Read more at http://all-that-is-interesting.com/russian-churches/3/#kxfygR7eSRXrFgl6.99 Of the four churches there, arguably the most beautiful is the Cathedral of the Annunciation, consecrated in 1489. Behind its white-washed walls and beneath its nine golden domes, this cathedral – like all the Kremlin temples – holds an incredible array of holy iconography, with nearly every inch of wall and ceiling covered by the portrayals of Russian saints. Read more at http://all-that-is-interesting.com/russian-churches/3/#kxfygR7eSRXrFgl6.99 6. The Church on Spilt Blood in Saint Petersburg Read more at http://a The Church on Spilt Blood takes the traditional practice of covering the walls and columns of Russian cathedrals with painted saints to a glorious extreme. The visual experience of stepping inside this strange, holy space is overwhelming, stupefying, rapturous. Over 7,000 square meters of murals stretch from floor to domed ceiling in this spectacular space. Read more at http://all-that-is-interesting.com/russian-churches/4/#s8fB3sHigOovwH2M.99 Beyond its visual fireworks, the church also marks an historical event. Its gory name refers to the assassination of Tsar Alexander II, who died of gunshot wounds in 1881. Construction on the massive church began two years later as a memorial to the fallen royal. Read more at http://all-that-is-interesting.com/russian-churches/4/#s8fB3sHigOovwH2M.99 7. St. Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow And finally there is St. Basil’s, the iconic, candy-colored cathedral whose cupolas rise like giant dollops of icing atop a cake-baker’s oversized opus. This 16th-century masterpiece stands ironically cattycornered to Lenin’s mausoleum in Moscow’s famous Red Square. The cathedral was built on order of Ivan the Terrible, and its central tent-like tower echoes the Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye. Read more at http://all-that-is-interesting.com/russian-churches/4/#s8fB3sHigOovwH2M.99 The rainbow of colors was added in the late 1600s onward, and the walls of the interior also bear a flowering of exquisite colors and murals. In many ways, St. Basil’s is the epitome of Russian religious verve – grandiose and linked to an all-powerful state, but also intricate, florid, and breathtakingly beautiful. Read more at http://all-that-is-interesting.com/russian-churches/4/#s8fB3sHigOovwH2M.99 ...

RUSSIAN SPECTACULAR CHURCHES

Comments