Architectural and Historic-Geographical Mystery of the Church of Vasilcau Village

Abstract

The article provides a comprehensive architectural and historical-geographical analysis of a unique monument of medieval religious-defensive architecture – the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin in Vasilcau village, located on the banks of the Dniester River, near the state border of the Republic of Moldova and the Ukraine. Vasilcau was the border point between the Principality of Moldavia and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the Middle Ages. Its geographical position led to the formation of a fortified border point here, which served as an eastern outpost of the Soroca tsinut (county). The elevated cape with steep slopes, on which a temple with a bell tower, a courtyard, a trading square, as well as an ancient trade road and a river crossing was built, is a vivid example of a natural, historical-cultural complex, the basis of which is a medieval fortified point with a unique cult-defensive monument of architecture. The church represents a widespread type of place of worship, whose architecture combines the planimetric features of wooden architecture with those used in medieval buildings built of stone, highlighted in the found proportions. The solution of the historical-geographical enigmas that envelop the history of the heritage monument in the absence of written sources is carried out on the basis of a complex poly-scale historical and cartographic analysis and the use of modern geoinformation methods.