The temple on the Russian land has long been the concentration church life and Orthodox culture. On the territory of Russia, many temples have been preserved, some were erected back in ancient times. Today we will talk about how the temples were built.
wooden temples
In 988, the Baptism of Russia took place under Prince Vladimir, and already on next year Greek architects arrived from Constantinople to Kyiv, by whom the first stone church was laid. It was the holy prince Vladimir who became the first Russian Christian prince, who issued a decree that after the baptism of the people and the Russian land, the architects would begin to cut down churches on Russian castles.
This is how wooden temples began to appear. But the oldest chronicle sources claim that wooden churches in Russia were built long before the Baptism. Wooden temples have always been easier to build than stone ones, as the building material was more readily available. Moreover, wooden architecture has long flourished in Russia, and Slavic craftsmen built temples almost by eye, without using precise measurements and complex architectural plans.
stone temples
However, after Baptism, the first stone churches began to appear in Russia. In 989, the year after the Baptism of Russia, Greek architects who arrived from Constantinople in Kyiv laid the first stone church. Old Russian state- Church of the Tithes.
This church was erected by the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir on the site of the death of the First Martyrs Theodore and his son John. During the construction of the Church of the Tithes, it was the largest church in Kyiv. From the annals, information has reached our days that the Church of the Tithes was called "marble", since the interior of the temple was richly decorated with marble.
In 996, the construction of the Church of the Tithes was completed and the temple was solemnly consecrated. long tradition to donate to the temple convinced Prince Vladimir to donate a tithe of the erected church, after which it was remembered in the annals precisely as Tithe.
After the construction of the first stone church, other stone temples began to be built. It is important that it was in the image of the Church of the Tithes that the subsequent main temples of Russian cities and monasteries were built.
Where were the temples built?
Together with the Baptism of Russia and the beginning of the construction of churches on Russian land, new life. Since ancient times, on the site of a future settlement, and primarily a city, architects have been looking for special place for the construction of the temple - not every land was suitable for this. First of all, the builders were looking for not swampy and not too dry land for construction.
Moreover, the temple had to be built in a conspicuous place, in the main part of the settlement, so that every inhabitant could reach it. The temple was necessarily built on an elevated, "red" place, which meant - on the most beautiful.
So, first of all, a temple was erected, and after that a settlement began to grow around it. Church occupied the most important role in the life of Russian people who lived both in cities and in villages and villages.
People gathered for church services on Sundays and other days, and the Russian people always went to church on great church holidays. In the same place, in churches, children were baptized, newlyweds were married and deceased relatives were buried.
Moreover, thanksgiving and supplication prayers were served in the temples, and people's assemblies gathered near the temple.
Architecture and construction of temples of Ancient Russia
Main type of construction Orthodox church- cross-domed. It was this type of temple that dominated the architecture Ancient Russia. It was of this type that the first stone church, Tithes, was erected.
From the most ancient times to this day in Russia and in modern Russia temples and cathedrals are being built and restored according to the construction projects of cross-domed churches. The technique of building stone cross-domed churches was borrowed by the architects of Ancient Russia from Byzantium.
Since the first temples after Baptism were erected by invited masters, their work laid the foundation for the tradition of building temples under the influence of Byzantine architecture. However, soon, when Russian architects themselves began to build stone churches, the Byzantine style was supplemented by its own, traditionally Russian, local style, which remained forever in Orthodox churches.
Since the temples in Russia played essential role for Orthodox people, then all the best was collected to decorate the temples. Temples were decorated with gold and precious stones. One of the most valuable elements of each temple were icons painted by talented icon painters.
Churches in Russia were also built of bricks, but before that, in most cases, plinth was used for construction.
From Byzantine builders, Russian craftsmen adopted plinth masonry. And until the 15th century, during the construction of temples in Russia, plinth was mainly used.
Plinfa - fired brick, with approximately equal sides. Its size was usually 40x40 cm long and wide. The thickness of the brick was 2.5-4 cm, and the brick itself was light pink in color. Usually plinths were held together with a thick layer of mortar, which made the building look striped.
The mortars that were used to build the temple, connecting the rows of plinths, were a mixture of lime, sand and crushed bricks. It is known that plinths were built more in the south of Russia, and in the north, closer to Kyiv, stone was preferred.
Later, at the end of the 15th century, Russia appeared new material- brick. These are molding bricks reminiscent of modern ones. Since such a brick was cheaper and much more accessible than stone, it was widely used for the construction of temples.
The brick was fired by builders, a special sign was put on it, indicating the classification of bricks for laying in certain place the buildings.
Meanwhile, wooden temples also did not stop building. However, the architecture of wooden temples also changed. Throughout Russia, single-domed churches began to be built, erected by builders on a powerful, massive square.
Each temple was built different amount time. The simplest temple could take about a year to build, while the more complex ones could take more than six years. Everything depended on the number of craftsmen building the temple.
Wooden temples in Russia were built faster, since wooden architecture has long been developed in Russia. It took more time to build stone and brick churches, for example, the Church of the Tithes took about seven years to build. Other temples with more complex design and expensive materials could be built for more than ten years.
A small temple was erected by builders and craftsmen, who were at least 10-12 people. For the construction of large temples were invited where more masters, about thirty.
To whom were temples dedicated?
Temples in Ancient Russia dedicated Life-Giving Trinity, Christ the Savior, the Mother of God, as well as numerous saints. Moreover, many temples were dedicated to the great church holidays- Protection and Dormition Holy Mother of God, the Ascension of the Lord and many others.
Soon, in Ancient Russia, a tradition arose to erect temples-monuments in places where especially important, memorable events took place - military victories, great battles or the death of those who laid down their lives for their faith and Fatherland.
Video
Video: Vladimir Budko
Light and majestic at the same time, it resembles ancient Russian temples with its architecture...
The Cathedral of the Zachatievsky Monastery does not at all resemble the one that was in the monastery before its destruction in the 20th century. Why?
When we were about to build the Cathedral, many art historians strongly stated that existing rules on the territory of the monastery, which is a monument of federal significance, nothing can be built, except for an exact copy of the last church that stood here, and then after lengthy approvals. But the last temple was built in gothic style, and the Zachatievsky Monastery is 650 years old, it stands in a corner of old Moscow - Gothic would look out of place here.
We were more attracted by Moscow architecture - the way the temple was erected under Tsar Theodore Ioannovich at the end of the 16th century. However, we could not recreate it exactly, since that temple was too small, and no detailed images of it have been preserved.
I went to the now deceased Patriarch Alexy II, showed him a photo of the 19th century cathedral and a small engraving depicting the 16th century cathedral. His Holiness carefully examined everything, then looked at me and suddenly asked: “Mother, where do we live?” I was taken aback: "Your Holiness, in Moscow ..." - "So we will build characteristically for Moscow, design a new cathedral."
Really officials did not interfere with such a decision?
They interfered... From the ministry they sent me a solemn letter, which began with commendable words: “Dear mother Abbess! We admire your work..." - and then it followed: "We bring to your attention that in connection with such and such an article of federal legislation, it is forbidden to build anything on the territory of a monument of federal significance... Otherwise, dear mother, you will be prosecuted under such and such article. Sincerely..."
But my sisters and I were deeply convinced that, with the blessing of His Holiness the Patriarch, the Lord would help us build a Cathedral - snow-white, striving upwards to sing the purity of the Mother of God in stone. A series of approvals stretched out ... At first we met stiff resistance, they told me: “Mother, take care of your nerves, do not achieve the impossible.” But we prayed.
Before one of the meetings, which turned out to be decisive, I told the sisters: “Go to the temple and read akathists to the Mother of God, our heavenly patrons, until I call you.” At the seventh akathist, we received an agreement in principle... The well-known art historian Alexei Ilyich Komich, who chaired the meeting working group under the Ministry of Culture, he suddenly said: "Let's accept the wishes of the monastery" ... Since this is a person with a worldwide reputation, there were no objections.
Then a city planning council was held at the Moscow City Hall, where there were also many contradictions, but Yuri Mikhailovich Luzhkov, God save him, said: “Since the Patriarch has blessed, we will not argue.”
And how did you manage to find funds for such a grandiose construction?
When we started building, we had no financial resources. There was not enough money even to buy potatoes, to pay utilities. by the grace of God there was a person who paid for the demolition of the school building, then others - those who donated funds for archaeological research. When it was necessary to start the actual construction, there was no help from anyone. His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II asked me: “Mother, do you have any benefactors?” - "Not". - “But how are you going to build?” “We hope in the Lord and Mother of God.” - "Well, then we'll build it."
And indeed, in some miraculous way, funds gradually arrived. Finally, just at the time when all the sources of money dried up, a man came who said: “Mother, I am used to helping in a big way. I take over the construction of the Cathedral.” I didn’t even quite believe it, because at the beginning of construction, many undertook to help us, and then, for reasons beyond their control, stepped aside ...
But the help didn't stop there. When we were just making the foundations, the benefactor offered to buy material for the domes. We covered the cupolas with gold smalt, which we purchased in Italy: for the large chapter - from yellow gold, for the rest - from white. This material is durable, unlike gold leaf, which quickly loses its appearance in Moscow conditions. God save the servant of God Demetrius, he did not spare money for materials. The temple outside and inside is finished with white stone, covered with hand-carved. At the height of the crisis, I suggested at least upstairs, on the drum, to use an artificial stone - but the ktitor replied: “What are you, mother, we are building with you for centuries, we will not save.”
And how was the project of the Cathedral born?
Several architects worked with us, they offered their projects, but we could not stop at any of them. And then a miracle happened. Our parishioner, the servant of God Peter, an architect by profession, had an amazing dream: as if he came to the territory of the monastery at night and saw a pillar, on which the venerable mothers Juliana and Eupraxia climbed the stairs. Peter followed them. I saw Moscow from above: the Kremlin, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior... The Monk Juliana asked the Monk Eupraxia: “What, is the Cathedral of Christ the Savior big?” - "Yes". - "Is our Cathedral big?" - "Big, but smaller." Peter woke up with the idea of making a sketch of the Cathedral. Did. Brought it to us. Turned out to be exactly what we wanted...
It looks like the construction of the Cathedral is some kind of miracle from start to finish!
We have a special place: for six centuries there was a monastery here, a host of ascetics - this is very affecting. And one more thing: in the monastery you can tangibly feel the protection of the Mother of God. The Mother of God is indeed our Heavenly Mother, everything that is done here is done by Her intercession, and not by our own strengths or merits. It is amazing that all the main events in the monastery are
November 25, the day of the "Merciful" icon of the Mother of God. gate temple The patriarch planned to consecrate on the day miraculous image- on his patronal feast, but it turned out that the consecration was transferred to the "Gracious". The Church of the Conception was consecrated on "Gracious", the Holy Spirit - on the eve, the Cathedral was planned to be laid in the summer, but for reasons beyond our control, the laying was moved to "Gracious", on the same holiday in different years bells, crosses were consecrated... On this day, the Cathedral itself was consecrated.
The Mother of God, with her grace, covers us, sinners and the weak. The erection of the Cathedral is a miracle of the Most Pure One, we ourselves would never have been able to build it. Construction went on during the crisis, it was almost the only construction site in Moscow that was not frozen, so even the media turned to us with the question of how this was possible. When the scaffolding was removed, it seemed to me that this temple was lowered from the sky.
- The “merciful” icon of the Mother of God is the main shrine of the monastery. But she was not returned to it immediately after the opening of the monastery?
In 1993, when the monastery began to be revived, we wanted to immediately take miraculous icon, and the parishioners of the temple of Elijah the Ordinary, where she was kept all the years of persecution of the faith, leave a list. But the hierarchy did not bless to do this immediately, since the temple had not yet been restored.
We took the list, and literally two weeks later it became myrrh-streaming.
And the icon itself was transferred only in 1999, when the Church of the Conception appeared in the Refectory building. They planned to hold a big religious procession, but the date was postponed all summer.
Finally, deep autumn has come, when religious processions are usually no longer satisfied. My sisters and I decided to read the akathist to the “Merciful” Mother of God for forty days, so that the Most Pure Herself would manage everything in the way She pleased. After that, I invited His Holiness to serve with us on November 25, without even mentioning the transfer of the icon. And the Patriarch himself decided not only to celebrate the service, but also to transfer the miraculous image. It was twenty-five degrees below zero outside, but a majestic religious procession took place, in which more than a hundred clergymen, four bishops took part ...
Why was the Cathedral made two-storied, and even so complexly planned: with many aisles at the top, with two underground temples and a museum at the bottom?
During the excavations, we found a whole street of cells of the end of the 14th - beginning of the 15th century, the remains of the floors of the 13th century, along which St. Alexy and the venerable mothers Juliana and Eupraxia walked. The foundations of the first stone church erected at the beginning of the 16th century, then the stone church of the second half of the same century, erected by the diligence of Tsar Theodore Ioannovich and his wife, Tsarina Irina Godunova, as well as the foundations of the last stone Cathedral built in the 19th century, were discovered.
When we came into contact with all this antiquity, we realized that we could not destroy or bury what was found. Although many people advised to call an excavator, quickly rake everything out, take it out and start building the Cathedral. But we felt that this is our shrine, that all these stones are saturated with the feat of our predecessors.
Therefore, they decided to save the finds and make a museum under the Cathedral. Of course, this complicated the construction project and caused a lot of problems: it was necessary somehow to preserve the historical foundations and create new ones. Now, in the basement of the Cathedral, we are equipping a museum and two churches are already operating.
To whom are these underground churches dedicated?
One temple was consecrated in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "The Burning Bush", the other - in the name of All the Reverend Fathers and Wives, who shone in the feat of fasting and prayer. While excavating, we came across great amount remains, most of which belonged to the nuns who labored in our monastery. Many of the bones are golden, honey-colored, and this, according to the Athos tradition, testifies to the deceased as having pleased God. Many of the remains - with chains, with rosaries, crosses ... We realized that with their prayers, sweat, blood, tears, the monastery stood, stands and will stand.
There was a desire to especially honor their memory, so that those who come here could prayerfully commemorate the monastics who have died here. The names of all the ascetics of the monastery are unknown to us, and therefore it was decided to dedicate the chapel to all venerable fathers and wives, for which the blessing of both the late Primate and the now living His Holiness Patriarch was received.
Divine services are performed regularly in this church, mainly for the sisters of the convent, and in certain days, for example, at early Sunday liturgies and on the patronal feast of the monastery, parishioners can also pray here. We thought for a long time how to make the iconostasis, especially since the underground premises of the church are damp.
Finally stopped for a pretty unusual variant- forged iconostasis. His main motive is vine, which reminds us that Christ is the Vine, and we are the birth, the offspring.
I have never seen a forged iconostasis before!
And where were the remains found during the excavations buried?
At first they were buried in the monastery cemetery and in the courtyard, and then they made a chapel for the church of the Reverends
Ossuary as on Athos and Sinai. A crypt was arranged under the floor, where the bones lie, and the skulls were placed on the shelves. They made an inscription that we saw in one of the ossuaries: “We were like you, and you will be like us.” Here we serve lithium, requiem services, sisters come here just to pray. Here one involuntarily thinks about Eternity, about the frailty of earthly existence... It helps to stop, to sober up. "Remember your last and you will not sin forever."
It is very symbolic that at the base of the main cathedral of the monastery are the relics of the predecessors...
When in 2011 the Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos was brought to Russia, Elder Ephraim from Vatopedi visited our monastery. He shared that when he entered the territory of the monastery, he immediately felt the protection of the Queen of Heaven. And he said: “You had so many ascetics who stand before the Throne of God for you - both martyrs and reverends - their prayer is very tangible.”
And why did they build an underground temple in honor of the "Burning Bush"?
In the second half of the 18th century, over the place of the alleged burial of the founders of the monastery - St. abbess Juliana and nun Evpraksia at the expense of a philanthropist - a noble maiden A.M. Anichkova built a temple in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Burning Bush". It was small, not heated. AT late XIX centuries, a spacious Kazan chapel was arranged in its place, which was connected to the main volume of the Cathedral.
We decided to restore this temple in the basement of the new cathedral, under the Kazan chapel. Since the Burning Bush, symbolizing Mother of God, - this is a bush that burned and did not burn out, then we made the iconostasis of the temple ceramic - coming out of the fire. Passed through the fire and candlesticks, and chandeliers - they are forged. And the painting is "fiery" - in ocher-red, saturated colors. Our icon painters traveled to Cappadocia and painted this church with images and compositions in the style of frescoes of ancient Cappadocian temples.
Alina Sergeychuk spoke with Abbess Juliania (Kaleda)
Magazine "Church Builder" No. 40 (autumn 2013), publishing house "Rusizdat".
AT recent times Russian Orthodox Church bogged down in scandals over the construction of new temples. What is the story with Torfyanka worth, where already more than a year With local residents. In parallel, the church is trying to squeeze out St. Isaac's Cathedral and other secular real estate. At the same time, thousands of churches are in ruins throughout Russia, many of which were transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church long ago, but no one even thinks of restoring them! There are places where it is necessary to rebuild the historical temple, but this also does not bother anyone. So far, the position of the Church regarding the construction of temples is simple: what I don’t eat, I bite.
Let's move to Tula and see what's going on there. The very center of the city... And such a nightmare...
This is the temple of Nikita Novgorodsky (Staronikitskaya Church) on Nikitskaya, respectively, street. It was built in 1820 in Soviet time it was given to some institution, and now it's just ruins. They are charmed by the fact that under the Scoop, residential buildings were built on both sides. 
Tula strikes and terrifies with stability. What do you think is in the photo? That's right, the Staronikit Church in 1989 ... 
And this is the Staronikit Church in 1999. 
For 30 years the temple has been in ruins, and no one cares about it!
Unfortunately, this is not the only example. This is the Church of the Intercession in Soyuzny Lane. The building of a difficult fate: it was built in 1765, in 1834 it was restored after strong fire, and under the USSR, it was first converted into a warehouse, and then a branch of the Institute of Physics of the Earth was placed here. With the collapse of Sovka, the branch was closed, and the premises of the temple were simply abandoned. In 2009, the Russian Orthodox Church again gained control over it, but the restoration did not begin. 
A photo: gre4ark
Little has changed in 15 years... 
A photo: visual history
And this is how the Church of the Intercession looked on a postcard of 1912. 
For you to understand, both temples are located a stone's throw from the Tula Kremlin. These are not some abandoned outskirts, but the very center of the city, where there should be a lot of tourists. 
This is not a remote Siberian village, it is a 2 hour drive from Moscow! This is the very center of the capital of the region... But I don’t hear the cries of Milonov and Orthodox activists, I don’t see religious processions and volunteers who would flock here from all over Russia to restore the temple.
Where are these beautiful people, which require in each yard to build a temple? 
Where that walk around St. Isaac's Cathedral? Everything is fine with him, but the Tula churches are disappearing, why not draw attention to them? 
Some incredible number of Orthodox activists, sincere and not so, are actively involved in the split of society. At the same time, work on the restoration of temples is no end.
In 1561 one of the most famous churches Russia - Intercession Cathedral, or, as it is called otherwise, St. Basil's Cathedral. Portal "Culture.RF" remembered Interesting Facts from the history of its creation.
Temple-monument
The Intercession Cathedral is not just a church, but a memorial temple erected in honor of the accession of the Kazan Khanate to the Russian state. The main battle, in which the Russian troops won, took place on the day of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos. And the temple was consecrated in honor of this Christian holiday. The cathedral is made up of individual churches, each of which is also consecrated in honor of the holidays in which the decisive battles for Kazan took place - the Trinity, the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem and others.
Massive construction in record time
Initially, a wooden Trinity Church stood on the site of the cathedral. Temples were built around it during campaigns against Kazan - they celebrated the resounding victories of the Russian army. When Kazan finally fell, Metropolitan Macarius suggested that Ivan the Terrible rebuild architectural ensemble in stone. He wanted to surround the central temple with seven churches, but for the sake of symmetry, the number was increased to eight. So, on the same foundation, 9 independent churches and a belfry were built, they were connected by vaulted passages. Outside the churches were surrounded open gallery, which was called a promenade - it was a kind of church porch. Each temple was crowned with its own dome with a unique pattern and original drum decoration. A grandiose building for those times, 65 meters high, was built in just six years - from 1555 to 1561. Until 1600 it was the most high building Moscow.
Temple in honor of the soothsayer
Although official name cathedral - the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat, everyone knows it as St. Basil's Cathedral. According to legend, the famous Moscow miracle worker collected money for the construction of the temple, and then was buried near its walls. Holy fool Basil the Blessed walked the streets of Moscow barefoot, almost without clothes for almost the entire year, preaching mercy and helping others. There were legends about his prophetic gift: they say he predicted the Moscow fire of 1547. The son of Ivan the Terrible, Fyodor Ivanovich, ordered the construction of a church dedicated to St. Basil the Blessed. It became part of the Intercession Cathedral. The church was the only temple that always worked - all year round, day and night. Later, according to its name, parishioners began to call the cathedral St. Basil's Cathedral.
Louis Bichebois. Lithograph "St. Basil's Church"
Vitaly Grafov. Moscow miracle worker Blessed Basil. 2005
The royal treasury and the lectern at the Execution Ground
Not in the cathedral basements. Instead, they built a common base - a vaulted basement without supporting pillars. They were ventilated through special narrow holes - vents. Initially, the premises were used as a warehouse - the royal treasury and the values of some wealthy Moscow families were stored there. Later, a narrow entrance to the basement was laid - it was found only during the restoration of the 1930s.
Despite its colossal external dimensions, the Intercession Cathedral is quite small inside. Perhaps because it was originally built as a memorial monument. In winter, the cathedral was completely closed, as it was not heated. When services began to be held in the temple, especially on major church holidays, very few people were placed inside. Then the lectern was transferred to the Execution Ground, and the cathedral seemed to serve as a huge altar.
Russian architect or European master
It is still not known for certain who built St. Basil's Cathedral. Researchers have several options. One of them - the cathedral was erected by the ancient Russian architects Postnik Yakovlev and Ivan Barma. According to another version, Yakovlev and Barma were actually one person. The third option says that a foreign architect became the author of the cathedral. After all, the composition of St. Basil's Cathedral has no analogies in ancient Russian architecture, but in Western European art you can find prototypes of the building.
Whoever the architect was, there are sad legends about him. future fate. According to them, when Ivan the Terrible saw the temple, he was struck by its beauty and ordered the architect to be blinded so that he would never repeat his majestic building anywhere. Another legend says that the foreign builder was executed at all - for the same reason.
Iconostasis with inversion
The iconostasis for St. Basil's Cathedral was created in 1895 by architect Andrei Pavlinov. This is the so-called iconostasis with an inversion - it is so large for a small temple that it continues on the side walls. It is decorated with ancient icons - Our Lady of Smolensk of the 16th century and the image of St. Basil the Blessed, painted in the 18th century.
Also, the temple is decorated with murals - they were created on the walls of the building in different years. Basil the Blessed, the Mother of God are depicted here, the main dome is decorated with the face of the Almighty Savior.
Iconostasis in St. Basil's Cathedral. 2016. Photo: Vladimir d "Ar
"Lazarus, put me in my place!"
The cathedral was almost destroyed several times. During Patriotic War In 1812, French stables were located here, and after that the temple was completely going to be blown up. Already in Soviet times, Stalin's associate Lazar Kaganovich suggested dismantling the cathedral so that Red Square would have more space for parades and demonstrations. He even created a layout of the square, and the temple building was easily removed from it. But Stalin, seeing an architectural model, said: “Lazar, put it in its place!”
The famous colorful Church of the Intercession on the Moat, one of the main attractions of Moscow, was erected in 1555-1561 to commemorate the capture of Kazan by Russian troops in 1552. It was consecrated in honor of the Feast of the Intercession because the attack of Russian troops on Kazan began on that very day. We are accustomed to perceive the cathedral as a single one, but in fact it consists of ten independent temples. Hence such a bizarre, unique appearance of the entire cathedral, or, better, the temple complex.
Initially, there were nine temples, and the central one was dedicated to the Protection of the Virgin, and the remaining eight were dedicated to a certain holiday or saint, on whose day this or that memorable event related to the siege of Kazan took place. In 1588, a church was added to the complex over the burial place of the famous Moscow blessed basil, and now it only has the right to be called, in the strict sense of the word, the Church of St. Basil the Blessed.
So, we will talk about the Pokrovsky multi-church cathedral, as it was erected in 1555-1561. In many books, and in our time, you can read that its construction was carried out under the supervision of two masters - Barma and Posnik. There are, however, versions that the construction was led by unknown Italian masters. But it has no documentary evidence and no argument, except unusual look cathedral. N.M. Karamzin rashly called the style of the Intercession Cathedral "Gothic", but this is absolutely wrong from an art history point of view, and only the authority of the "first Russian historiographer" allows some to still insist on the foreign authorship of the original St. Basil's Cathedral.
Where did the opinion come from that the construction was led by two masters?
In 1896, priest Ivan Kuznetsov published an excerpt from a handwritten collection that was then kept in the Rumyantsev Museum. This collection was compiled not earlier than late XVII – early XVIII century. It contains the "Legend of the transfer of the miraculous image of Nicholas the Wonderworker", which was a royal gift to the Intercession Cathedral. This late legend says that shortly after the capture of Kazan, Tsar Ivan the Terrible erected seven wooden churches around the larger, eighth, stone one, near the Frolovsky Gates (i.e., from the 17th century, the gates of the Spassky Tower of the Kremlin). “And then God gave him two Russian masters, nicknamed Barma and Postnik, who were wise and fit for such a wonderful deed.” This information about the "two masters" was accepted by most historians on faith.
But the legend, rethinking the old tradition, was not a chronicle text. In addition, we recall that the expression "nickname" in the then Russian language, as now, meant only the nickname of a person, and not his given name. A skilled craftsman could be called a barma, since barmas are mantles on the clothes of kings and spiritual dignitaries, richly and variously decorated and requiring skillful and careful execution. Posnik, or Postnik, is a proper name. Therefore, it is not logical that in the "Tale" the first master is named only by a nickname without a name, and the second - only by a name without a nickname.
The text from the “Russian Chronicler from the beginning of the Russian land to the accession to the throne of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich”, written in the first half of the 17th century, that is, much closer to the event of interest to us, can be considered more reliable. We read in it: “In the same year, by order of the Tsar and Sovereign and Grand Duke Ivan, a church was started, promised for the capture of Kazan in honor of the Trinity and the Intercession ..., and Barma and his comrades were the master.” Only one architect is named here, but, obviously, not due to ignorance of the name of the second master (Posnik), but because it was one and the same person.
Subsequently, another source was found, indicating that the names Posnik and Barma really refer to one, and not to two persons. It follows from it that the manuscript of the Sudebnik of 1550 belonged until 1633 to the monastery lawyer, the Moscow servant Druzhina. The squad was the son of Tarutia and the grandson of Posnik, who had the nickname Barma. The matter seems quite clear: two mythical masters, one of whom was called Barma, and the other - Posnik, unite into one historical person- Posnik (this, of course, is not a baptismal name, but something like a modern surname) nicknamed Barma, which meant that this person was skilled in crafts.
Moreover, the architect Postnik of that time is known for the buildings of a number of buildings, namely: the Kazan Kremlin, Nikolsky and Assumption Cathedrals in Sviyazhsk. However, this fact, brilliantly proven back in 1957 by the Russian archaeologist N.F. Kalinin, are still overlooked by many historians and art critics, who, out of habit, talk about Barma and Postnik as the two builders of the Intercession Cathedral.
