Is It Possible to Save Wooden Churches of the Russian North: How Volunteers Fight the Unforgiving Time

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

They disappear one after the other, taking with them the evidence of the past, a part of national history. The temples of the Russian North are gradually being destroyed, unable to cope with the power of the inexorable enemy - time. And as far as possible, volunteers are trying to change the situation, taking part in projects to save the monuments of Russian wooden architecture.

Hundreds and thousands of churches in the north of Russia - what happened to them?

The Russian North is a special phenomenon not only due to its unique nature, but also because of the special direction of architecture that has formed there. These are traces of the so-called "wooden age", in which the Slavs lived long ago. The forest occupied an exceptionally important place in their lives, it created the basis for the emergence of pagan characters, myths and beliefs, it provided people with food, uninterruptedly supplied building material for housing and for religious buildings. With the baptism of Rus, the construction of Christian churches began, and if in the cities, especially in the capital, stone was still used for their construction, then provincial churches were built of wood. The basis of any such structure was a log frame, which was built with an ax, but the upper part, the shape and silhouette of the church were already becoming the most diverse, subject to the observance, of course, of the Byzantine canons regarding the rules for the construction of temples.

If dwelling log houses and various outbuildings were made low, squat, then during the construction of the church they adhered to the opposite rule - the finished building was high, conspicuous from afar and attracted the eye with its outlines. Churches did not just stand out against the background of other buildings, they were inscribed in the surrounding landscape, and this skill - to combine into one ensemble both created by nature and the creation of human hands - the master carpenters of the past passed on from generation to generation, creating a very special phenomenon in Russian architecture …

It is no wonder that a large number of artists of the past made a pilgrimage to the northern lands, where they not only looked for inspiration in communication with nature, but also thus touched the art of their ancestors. Such trips went, among others, Vasily Vereshchagin, Valentin Serov, Konstantin Korovin, Igor Grabar.

Obviously, a huge number of ancient Russian temples - both in the middle lane and in the north, were built of wood, but, unfortunately, due to the peculiarities of this building material, most of them have not survived to this day. having good heat-saving qualities, in addition, it burns easily and is exposed to the environment - even with careful maintenance of the structure for more than four hundred years, as a rule, it cannot be preserved, and in fact the temples of the Russian north are destroyed and disappear much earlier.

What is already lost and what else can be saved?

On the territory of the republics of Komi, Mari El and Karelia, as well as the Arkhangelsk and Vologda regions, there are several thousand monuments of wooden architecture, among them there are about seven hundred churches and chapels, and this number is rapidly falling. Already now these are rather late structures, temples that would date back to the XVI century - units. From pre-revolutionary times, when these buildings were used for worship, to date, only a third remain. Rapid destruction of churches from decay, fires, lack of care began after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Until 1991, the buildings were preserved, paradoxically, thanks to the fact that they were used as warehouses and outbuildings in general. In addition, at the end of the last century, the outflow of the population from northern villages and villages increased, and there was simply no one to take care of the ancient churches.

The preservation of the historical heritage has to some extent been promoted and is facilitated by the creation of museum-reserves, they were actively built and opened in the sixties and seventies of the XX century. The Kizhi reserve appeared in the northern part of Lake Onega, it united both historical, local architectural ensembles, and those that were dismantled and brought to the island from other parts of the Russian north.

Moving objects of wooden architecture to a new location in order to save is one of the ways to solve the problem, but it is not ideal. During transportation and subsequent processing, individual elements of construction and decor are often lost, and in addition, the temple is torn out of the landscape in which it was built. Yet often such a measure is the only way to save a building. Ethnographic museums and museums of wooden architecture, in addition to Karelia, are in the Arkhangelsk and Vologda regions, near Novgorod, in many other regions of the country, including Moscow, where the Kolomenskoye museum operates.

Volunteers who rebuild churches

The same temples that remain in their places, as a rule, are doomed to destruction. True, some time ago a volunteer project began its existence, which is aimed at preserving the monuments of Russian wooden architecture. Hundreds of volunteers - from Russia and other countries - are taking part in the restoration and maintenance of the condition of the churches of the North. They are not entitled to engage in restoration work, despite the fact that expeditions, as a rule, include professionals in this field - architects, restorers, museum staff. The task of the volunteers is to carry out emergency work, those aimed at maintaining the monuments before the start of their official restoration.

For eleven years, volunteers saved more than one hundred and thirty temples from destruction. After the restoration of the buildings, local residents are engaged - when they begin to see in the usual ruins monuments of history and art. And yet, for most of the wooden churches of the Russian North, the situation remains practically hopeless, and the architectural evidence of the past, with rare exceptions, continues to turn into ruins.

About the uniquely beautiful temple in the Russian outback: here.