THE PECULIARITY OF THE BUILDING PROCESS OF ANCIENT KYYIVAN MONUMENTS

Abstract

The author investigates the building process of ancient Kyyivan monuments. After the wall foundations were laid, the erection of ground volumes of the edifice began. Wooden scaffoldings were arranged at both sides of a wall. The remains of caffolding preserved in the brick fabric can be seen on the front walls of the Transfiguration Church at Berestove and St. Michael’s Church of Vydubytsky monastery. The height between scaffolding tiers as well as the height of masonry between them varies from 1.3 to 2.2 m in Kyyivan monuments. The situation of red schist cornices in ancient churches is dependent on the abovementioned height of masonry tiers. The cornices are placed at springs of arches and vaults, at the level of the choir gallery floor, at the spring of supporting arches and basement of central dome. The location of cornices hence marked the completion of a certain building period. Being put over brickwork at the end of building period in autumn those cornices protected construction from precipitation during winter season. That is why cornices within the Kyyivan St.Sophia Cathedral have “throats” – grooves which are cut along the underside of cornices as a stringcourses to prevent water from running back across them towards the wall.
 One can easily determine building periods of the St. Sophia Cathedral according to the cornice levels in it. As far as building period at the times of Old Rus` took approximately six to seven months (from late spring to early autumn), the erection of the St. Sophia Cathedral with its five naves and double galleries was continued through five or six years. Cross-domed churches with three naves were built during approximately three or four years. For example St.Michael’s Church at Vydubytsky Monastery was built to the height of choir gallery during the first year, then to the height of vaults’ and domes’ springing during the second year, after that vaults and domes were completed during the third year. The types of vaults used in ancient Kyyivan architecture were barrel vaults, domes on pendantives and domes on high drums. Widely spread in Byzantine architecture groined vaults were not in use in the Old Rus` building until the middle of the XII century.
 Also there was a certain consecutive order in erection of parts of a church: at first its central cross-domed volume, then apses, narthex, galleries etc. were built. In a year or two after the edifice was built its walls were covered with plaster and decorated with murals. Building methods applied in the ancient Kyyivan monuments of the XI-th century formed the basis of Old Rus` architecture developed during the following centuries.