Where to meet the soul of a Japanese prince and other facts about the world's oldest wooden buildings

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Wood is a traditional building material, which, alas, is not as strong and durable as stone. Undoubtedly, wooden architecture is a cultural heritage and pride of Russia, and on the territory of our country you can find many old wooden churches. However, residents of other countries also managed to preserve wooden buildings of bygone times …

House of Peter I in Zaandam

However, it will not be possible to do without mentioning Russia - or rather, one Russian tsar. During the Great Embassy in Holland, Peter I stayed in a small house in Zaandam - for a short time, only for a week. The fate of this building, on the whole completely unremarkable, is amazing. The wooden house - and it was apparently built in 1632 - received the status of an object of historical value in the 18th century and became the property of the Royal family of the Netherlands. Later, William I presented it to his daughter-in-law, daughter of the Russian Emperor Paul I - Anna. Anna Pavlovna, trying to preserve the old building, ordered to place it in a stone case.

Vasily Zhukovsky dedicated poems to Peter's house in Zaandam (though ironic). For some time, the building belonged to the Russian Emperor Alexander III, and then to Nicholas II - the royal owners contributed to its preservation and restoration. However, in 1948, when it became clear that none of the Romanovs' heirs were planning to lay claim to Peter's house, he finally passed into the ownership of the Netherlands.

Today it is part of the museum exhibition. The house in Zaandam has a funny feature - autographs written by visitors inside on the walls (a sign at the entrance warns that it is strictly forbidden to sign on the windows). "Oh, these modern visitors!" - I want to say at this moment, but no - many of the signatures belong to the 19th century! There is even an autograph of Kutuzov. True, not Mikhail Illarionovich, but either a relative, or a namesake - he was abandoned in 1868.

Scandinavian bets

Stavkirkas are called medieval Scandinavian temples, which are based on a wooden frame. The stakes are quite diverse in their structure, some of them are complex and multi-tiered, some of them look simple - a gable roof, pillars … Today they are a replicated architectural brand of Norway, but this was not always the case - and even today keeping stakes causes a lot of difficulties.

By themselves, old wooden buildings require constant maintenance and restoration, and many of the stavroks did not have a stone foundation, so their supporting structures began to rot very quickly. When classicism came into fashion and Christian churches began to resemble rather ancient Greek ones - stone, with columns and stucco molding - the medieval heritage was left without proper care. However, in the 19th century, interest in traditional cultures flared up in Europe, and an increase in national self-awareness was noted. In 1844, the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Monuments was founded in Norway, which was greatly facilitated by the artist Johan Christian Dahl, who was madly in love with the Middle Ages.

The organization began the acquisition and restoration of medieval Norwegian churches. Since then, interest in traditional Scandinavian architecture has steadily increased, and their sophisticated and austere forms have been emulated by architects around the world. Today, despite all the measures taken to protect the ancient monuments of architecture, stavirki are under the blow of vandalism. The promotion of stavrok as a national and cultural heritage of Norway causes outrage among the supporters of neo-paganism, and not all of them limit themselves to verbal criticism. One of the old stavrok was burned by the musician Euronymous, who interpreted the ideas of Satanism in a rather peculiar way … and was later killed by another famous musician-arsonist - Varg Vikernes.

Fairbanks House in the USA

We are used to associating America with youth, energy and progress - skyscrapers, high-speed highways, Hollywood lights … However, the oldest surviving building in the United States, built of wood, appeared in the distant 1641! And it would be surprising if there were no ghosts in it. Its first owner, Jonathan Fairbanks, was from Yorkshire and lived here with his wife. There is evidence that the inhabitants practiced folk magic in the house, including putting marks and various objects in the house to ward off witches and other evil spirits. They found shoes in the house in unexpected places, for example, behind the chimney - it was believed that this saves from fires, and six-pointed magic signs were found on the walls and roof …

In 1879, the great-great-granddaughter of Jonathan and Grace Fairbanks, Nancy Fairbanks bequeathed to her niece Rebecca Fairbanks. The house accepted the new owner without much enthusiasm - at first, it seemed, she was haunted by misfortunes. Either her dog suffered from a lightning strike, or Rebecca's own financial situation was suddenly severely shaken … Today, however, the house has no notoriety - it has been turned into a popular museum by the descendants of the Fairbanks family.

Horyu-ji pagoda and condo

The oldest surviving wooden building can be seen in Japan. Horyu Gakumon-ji was founded in 607 by Prince Shotoku, a significant figure in the history of Japanese Buddhism. It was he who established Buddhism as the official religion in his native country and built many temples - although only one of them survived, besides, Shotoku was long considered the first Japanese writer whose name remained in the memory of descendants.

In 670, the temple may have been completely burned down and rebuilt - however, the question of the fire remains controversial. The pagoda near the temple was built in 700. All buildings on the site inherit the techniques of the ancient Chinese architectural style, more often called the style of the Tang Dynasty. For the founder, the temple played an important role, it was here that he loved to immerse himself in the study of texts, meditate, and relax. Therefore, it is believed that the soul of Prince Shotoku dwells in the temple in Horyu-ji.