Nicholas Church Research Articles

«А нашему-то брату еще лучше, пускай три, пять храмов будет!»: Никольские храмы Медногорска

The article is based on field material collected in Mednogorsk (Orenburg region) in December 2021. It is dedicated to the study of the interactions between the religious and cultural landscapes of the city. A distinctive feature of industrial Mednogorsk, founded during the era of industrialization, is its “church history” of the Soviet era. An constant element of this history was the life of the parish, which since 1943 took place in a prayer house later converted into the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The decades-long existence of the so-called “old St. Nicholas Church” in the city havs led to the enrichment and complication of the religious landscape, which includes hidden public practices of faith protection and places of prayer. The latter include an episode of collective protection of the church from destruction in 1961 and the book by Vera Popova, who became recognized in the city as the “historian of the temple” from among the oldest parishioners. The article provides a comparative analysis of the oral and written versions of the history of St. Nicholas Church. In 2007, the new Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was consecrated in Mednogorsk. The authors analyze the distribution of functions between the two St. Nicholas churches in the small town in the post-Soviet period. The conclusion is drawn about the interpenetration of the historical, cultural and religious heritage of the city, which originated as a settlement near a copper-sulfur plant. Additionally, it is suggested that the church component of Mednogorsk’s history allows for the interpretation of its Soviet period as an alternative version of Soviet industrialization in a small factory town.

САКРАЛЬНИЙ ПІДХІД КАЛАТРАВИ

The work of Santiago Calatrava is characterized by biomorphic imitation combined with engineering thought, an approach that has made him one of the foremost and renowned architects of contemporary times. The architect employed principles of symbolic imitation and historical resonance. The main form, in this project, for imitation was taken from the icon of the Virgin Mary with a Child, which the architect skillfully transformed into the silhouette of a church, while the idea of geometric analysis of the Virgin's Face with a halo inspired the creation of the plan. The principle of historical resonance is ubiquitous in the project, from the orientation of the church and adherence to liturgical traditions to the incorporation of distinctive elements from existing cultic objects of Byzantine sacred architecture. On the other hand, the architect did not overlook modern challenges and needs. By utilizing advanced technologies and creativity, the author and his studio adeptly use light to emphasize important elements of the structure in the interior and create a unique appearance of the church from the outside during the dark hours of the day. Indeed, the illumination of the church at night is another idea of imitating the church candle as a symbol of God's presence. Functionally, the church is equipped not only with liturgical spaces but also with areas that will serve the community and as a memorial to the tragedy of September 11. These volumes are harmoniously integrated by the western façade and have important visual connections with the Park of Freedom and the memorial complex itself. St. Nicholas Church in New York should be singled out as a successful example of the symbiosis of tradition, modern technologies, and the author's creative approach.

Historical and artistic aspects of St Nicholas's Church in Czulice

Czulice is a village in the Małopolskie voivodeship; the village which belongs to the Kocmyrzów/Luborzyca municipality. The parish church is the place which offers the faithful an opportunity­ to deepen their religious life; it also becomes a reflection of their care and involvement. Understandably, priests, landowners and parishioners strove to adorn the temple in the most distinguished manner. The church in Czulice is a treasure trove of priceless heritage dating back from medieval to contemporary times.

Solar energy integration in heritage buildings: A case study of St. Nicholas Church

As climate change accelerates and operational energy burdens strain resources, protecting irreplaceable cultural heritage assets requires urgent prioritization to align preservation with principles of environmental and economic sustainability. Global building energy associated carbon dioxide emissions are projected to escalate over 50% by 2060 in a business as usual scenario, necessitating extensive retrofitting interventions. This research pioneer’s solar technology integration methodologies for heritage sites by developing an original framework evaluating renewable addition feasibility based on comprehensive multi-criteria assessments integrating architectural, cultural, climatic and energy data analytic techniques with participatory planning essential for meaningful adoption. Outcomes aim conveying solar solutions as contemporary manifestations of custodial stewardship honoring artifacts from prior generations by sustaining their continuation using state-of-the-art environmental control modernizations. Demonstration case studies confirm site net-zero energy balances attainable today through 50% consumption reductions from envelope and lighting upgrades supplemented by distributed 20% efficiency building-integrated photovoltaic arrays sized under 50 W/m2 for negligible visibility or structural impacts. Controlled demonstration installations enable incremental capacity expansion validating projections to overcome reservations around inadequately modeled material impacts over full weathering exposure cycles. Participatory monitoring and contextual priority balancing thereby foster smooth logistical coordination and optimized generative restoration.

Документальная реконструкция родословной А. М. Топанова (к 120-летию со дня рождения)

The article considers the issue of a documentary reconstruction of the family tree of the Russian-Khakass playwright Aleksandr Mikhailovich Topanov (1903–1959). Based on the study of mass genealogical sources (church registers of births, marriages and deaths; lists of names; population censuses), an attempt was made to restore the Topanovs’ patrilineal line before the beginning of the 18th century. The source base of the research was the funds of the State Archive of Krasnoyarsk Krai, the National Archive of the Republic of Khakassia, the Minusinsk Archive. The subject of the study is the biological pedigree of Aleksandr Topanov, and the focus is the archival and documentary reconstruction of its patrilineal part. Unique archival documents on the genealogy of the Topanovs are introduced into scientific discourse: according to the Ust-Fyrkal Nicholas Church, a metric record of the birth/baptism of Topanov as of 1903, a metric record of the marriage/wedding of Topanov’s parents as of 1902, a metric record of the death/burial of Topanov’s mother as of 1904, a metric record of the birth/baptism record of Topanov’s father as of 1875, information from the last two censuses of the Mungatovs family in the Kachin Steppe Duma as of 1850 and 1858, as well as the facts of baptisms of representatives of the genus for 1854. In the course of genealogical research, several oral genealogical legends about the Topanovs were examined. The critical analysis of these materials showed that their information potential needed a thorough scientific verification with the involvement of archival primary sources. The further study of the Topanovs’ family tree will be dedicated to a complex genetic and genealogical verification of data by testing contemporary male representatives of the genus by the DNA of the Y chromosome. This will determine the haplogroup (the genetic genus) of the Topanovs and therefore deepen the phylogenetic line of the seok “yzyr” for thousands of years with the allocation of a family branch in the universal family tree.

150 Anniversary of the Opening of Real School in Chișinău: Following an Educational Tour in Iași

The dialogue with Alla Ceastina, who’s the doctor in the study of arts, senior scientific researcher, focuses on an interesting document discovered in the National Archives Agency of the Republic of Moldova, which provides information about the trip of a group consisting of 25 students and 4 teachers from the Real School for the boys travelling from Chișinău to the Romanian city of Iași, which took place at 4 and 5 October 1909. Today it is particularly interesting to follow in the footsteps of this excursion, surprisingly rich in historical facts, to visit architectural monuments such as: the Church of the Three Holy Hierarchs, the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Saint Nicholas Church, the university, the theater, etc. Such a trip to Iași city remains relevant and can present the basis of a modern exciting tourist route for any guide. It’s known that the Real School for the boys of Chișinău opened on December 6, 1873, and its purpose was the development of practical and technical skills with the completion of general education. So, this year we celebrate 150 years since its establishment, it’s an additional reason to remember this institution.

Characterization of Wall Painting Fragments from the West Courtyard Passage at St. Nicholas Church in Demre

Characterization of Wall Painting Fragments from the West Courtyard Passage at St. Nicholas Church in Demre

Glazovo estate and other estates of the Bazhenovs near the town of Kashira in the first third of the 19th century.

The Glazovo estate in Kashirsky uyezd, Tula province (now the village of Staroye Glazovo, Venyevsky district, Tula Oblast) holds a special place in the biography of the great Russian architect and painter Vasily Ivanovich Bazhenov (1738-1799). It was here that the architect regularly lived during his disgrace after his removal from the construction of the Tsaritsyno estate in the second half of the 1780s and in the early 1790s, and it was in the village of Glazovo that Vasily Ivanovich was reburied from the Smolensky cemetery in St. Petersburg in 1799 according to his will. In the present article the author continues the study of the estate's history and aims to highlight the history of the Bazhenov's estates near the town of Kashira in the first third of the 19th century until their complete sale in 1837, finally clarifying a number of important issues of the Glazovo estate's history. The novelty of the study lies in the publication of many previously unknown facts and documents, which the author discovered during his work in the archives of Tula, Nizhny Novgorod and St. Petersburg. For example, for the first time an inventory of the Glazovo estate's buildings (1823) is given, the fact of V. I. Bazhenov's burial in the Glazovo cemetery is finally confirmed and the fate of the estate stone St. Nicholas Church, which the architect founded in 1784 and could not complete, is also clarified. Clarification of these issues is important both for the study of Bazhenov's life and work and for the history of Russian art and architecture.

Late Romanesque baptismal font from St. Nicholas Church in Grudziądz – import from Gotland

Late Romanesque baptismal font from St. Nicholas Church in Grudziądz – import from Gotland

Reconstruction of a Wreath and a Flower Bunch Excavated in the Northern Crypt of St Nicolas Church in Gniew

In the last five decades, during archaeological investigations in churches and church cemeteries both in Poland and Western Europe, relics of many wreaths made of artificial and natural flowers have been discovered. Some of them have been described in considerable detail and drawing reconstructions have been made. In many cases, the garlands were made of similar details, but the arrangement in individual compositions varied. On the basis of these discoveries, it was decided in the laboratory of the Institute of Archaeology in Toruń to make a copy of one wreath and bouquet found on the mortal remains of a child (coffin 4) in the northern crypt of St. Nicholas Church in Gniew dated to the second half of the 17th century (up to 1680). The analysis of elements was the basis for the individual flowers. And the final composition is the vision of one of the authors of the article, Barbara Gałka, who made copies of both the bouquet and the wreath. The raw materials for making the copies had been collected for a long time, as the Polish trade offer did not quite allow them to be gathered in advance. This article attempts to provide a description of the flowers used in 17th-century objects and the creative process in making the copies. The end result of these activities is shown in Figures 11, 12 and 13.

Elements of the relations between Petru Cercel and the Romanian orthodox church

Petru Cercel (1583-1585), Prince of Wallachia, was a complex personality. Educated as a guarantor prince at the Sublime Porte where he had spent his entire childhood and the first part of his youth, he then travelled through most of Western Europe, in his Odyssey of obtaining the throne inherited from his father. Through his direct contact with France, and with the Italian States, he became a man of the Western Renaissance. He spoke 12 foreign languages fluently. He wrote poems with an Orthodox character. Among them, there is one published by Gr. Tocilescu, translated by Al. Ciorănescu, which was printed in Venice in 1586. He transposes these values in Wallachia, after he ascends to the throne. During his short rule, of less than two years, he radically changes the aspect of the Princely Court in Târgovişte. He builds a palace and a church with a cross-in-square layout, which is rare for the classical Wallachian architecture, he repairs and renovates and makes offerings to other monasteries and churches – the Metropolitan in Târgovişte, the Episcopal Church erected by Neagoe Basarab in Curtea de Argeş, the churches in Botuşari, Glavaciocul, Mislea, but also the St. Nicholas Church in Şcheii Braşovului. Thus, he placed himself on a higher level than his contemporaries. Due to the permanent fight for power and the pecuniary competition promoted by the circles of power within the Ottoman Empire, Petru Cercel perished in a tragical manner. He had a short existence, albeit an absolutely remarkable one, eulogistically remarked at the level of the most important powers of the era in Western Europe.

Lutsk Fire in 1617: An Attempt to Reconstruct the Event and its Role in the Development of Religious Relations in the City (1620s — 1630s)

The article deals with the fire in Lutsk, which occurred on the night of March 21–22, 1617. The author established the time and probable cause of the fire, determined the scale of the natural disaster and outlined the limits of its spread. It is noted that part of the city blocks and streets above the Styr River were destroyed or seriously damaged by the fire, along with the Market Square, two Union churches, the «Russian» hospital, the Armenian Church and the Catholic Church. It is assumed that the fire was stopped by the walls of the Okolny Castle, which, together with the Upper Castle, was not significantly affected by the fire.It was established that the residents of Lutsk, in the conditions of the spread of the fire, made efforts to save private and church property. In particular, their efforts saved the bells, icons, church utensils and other property of the Intercession and St. Nicholas Churches. At the same time, the documents attest to the facts of looting committed by army squires and individual residents of Lutsk on the Market Square and in other areas of the city in the conditions of chaos caused by the fire.It was noted that the fire caused great damage to the city economy; to overcome the consequences of the natural disaster, King Sigismund III granted a number of economic benefits. The author of the article also claims that the fire in 1617 disorganized the weakened Union Church, which had limited influence on the city residents (both burghers and nobility) and was unable to quickly restore the destroyed infrastructure under its jurisdiction. This situation created the prerequisites for the gradual transfer of land plots with objects destroyed by the fire to the hands of Orthodox and Roman Catholics. As a result, the Church of the Ascension of the Cross was built on the site of the burnt hospital, where the Orthodox brotherhood was organized, the influence of which spread far beyond the borders of Lutsk. The area where the St. Nicholas Church, destroyed by the fire, stood over time became the property of the Roman Catholics, who built a monastery on the site of the Union Church of Fatebenefratelli, which became widely known for its charity

Cerkiew św. Mikołaja i klasztor bazyliański w Zamościu w XIX wieku

The St. Nicholas Church in Zamość has a history of belonging to various religions and rituals. It was built at the beginning of the 17th century as an Orthodox church serving the Orthodox community living in the city. At the beginning of the 18th century, the Orthodox Church was handed over to the Basilians, who built a monastery by the church, which operated until 1865. In 1720, a synod of the Unitarian Church in the Republic of Poland was held in St. Nicholas’ Orthodox Church. After the dissolution of Unitarian monasteries in the Kingdom of Poland, the monastery was taken over by the Treasury of the Kingdom of Poland, and the Orthodox Church and its equipment was left as a parish. In 1875 the temple was returned to the Orthodox, which was connected with changes in its appearance. After the Orthodox clergy left Zamość in 1915, the church was taken over by the Roman Catholic Church.

The former St. Nicholas Church in Zamość as a Russian “lieu de mémoire”

The former St. Nicholas Church in Zamość as a Russian “lieu de mémoire”

Arts and culture in the Paris of Appalachia: Pittsburgh abounds in national treasures

Pittsburgh will be thrilled to welcome the ACRL 2023 Conference from March 15 to 18, 2023. We want to introduce the vibrant arts and culture scene in Pittsburgh, AKA Paris of Appalachians, AKA the City of Bridges (clocking in with a total of 446 of these structural feats). Many of these sites are within easy walking distance of the conference center. Audrey Biega surveys the rich number of arts, architecture, and cultural institutions in our city. William Daw and Kathy Kienholz describe the history and impact of two of Pittsburgh’s celebrated African American artists, August Wilson and Teenie Harris. And, finally, I must highlight one of my favorite hidden gems of Pittsburgh (or, well, Millvale), the Maxo Vanka murals ( https://vankamurals.org/ ) at the St. Nicholas church. These church paintings, created by the artist Maxo Vanka in 1937 and 1941 with Vanka’s bold socialist-informed and emotional style, will forever change how you think about ecumenical art and politics. —Chloe Persian Mills, article editor

From Moravia to Pskov: Text and Extratexts of the St. Sophia Triodion

The article is devoted to the analysis of a previously unpublished caption to the drawing in the Triodion manuscript Nr. 84 of the collection of the Cathedral of St Sophia in the Russian National Library, St Petersburg, and to the study of paleographic, orthographic and linguistic features of this codex. Based on paleographic data, the Sophia Triodion should date back to the second half of the 14th century. The identification of one of the handwritings of the manuscript with the main handwriting of the Service Menaia Nr. 101, 106, and 111 from the collection of the Synodal Typography in the Russian State Archives of Early Acts, Moscow, allows placing the codex Soph. 84 in the circle of manuscripts associated with the famous Pskov scriptorium of Andrei, priest of the St. Nicholas Church. The orthographic analysis of the handwritings presented in Soph. 84 shows that the scribes of most of the manuscript (before fol. 199 and after fol. 230) are opposed as rather conservative for the 14th century to the scribes who copied the ff. 199–230. Perhaps the scribes of this “conservative&8j1; part sought to accurately convey the orthographic features of the ancient antigraph of Triodion, which, as some researchers believe, dates back to the Moravian period of the development of Slavic writing; the latter thesis is confirmed by some Western Slavic linguistic features preserved by the text of the Soph. 84. At the same time, all four scribes have interspersed phonetic dialectisms: tsokanye (ts–ch merger), zhg < *zdj/*zg(i) and a single example of the merger of whistling and hushing consonants – the most important argument in favor of the Pskov origin of the manuscript.

Malarstwo ścienne Modesta Sosenki. Charakterystyka stylu na podstawie reprezentatywnych przykładów

In the considerable creative legacy of the Ukrainian artist Modest Sosenko (1875–1920), the murals and sacred easel paintings he created for more than ten Galician churches deserve special attention. His contemporaries noted that the artist’s sacred works were characterised by his own ‘Sosenko style’, which boldly and organically combined Byzantine traditions reinterpreted by 16 th – and 17 th – century masters with modern European stylistic requirements of the turn of the 19 th and 20 th centuries. He was a pioneer who paved the way for the development of modern church art, which was helped by the circumstances of his life. After acquiring a thorough European professional education during his studies in Kraków as well as in Munich and Paris thanks to a scholarship funded by Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, Sosenko returned to Galicia and, continuing his mentor’s activities in the field of museums, became a full-time employee of the Church (later National) Museum. His direct contact with old monuments of iconography, manuscripts and incunabula, and folk art allowed him to gain a deep understanding of the peculiarities of Ukrainian national art. Thus, the combination of his personal talent, professional knowledge and museum experience, as well as his close relationship with the head of the Greek Catholic Church – Andrey Sheptytsky, who directed all his efforts towards the revival of the high culture of decorating the sacred space of Eastern Rite churches, gave birth to an intellectual artist, ready to take up the challenge of the present day. However, it is not possible to appreciate Sosenko’s achievements in their entirety. The warfare in the region during the two world wars of the 20 th century, the years of Soviet rule, which was intolerant of cultural, national and spiritual heritage, and even the first years of Ukrainian independence, were not conducive to the preservation of the churches and their decoration. As a result, researchers are forced to conclude that most of Sosenko’s works have been irretrievably lost. The artist’s sources of inspiration, the specific composition of his monumental artworks, the range of colours, the ideological and aesthetic programme can only be reconstructed on the basis of the decorations of two churches in the Lviv region: St. Michael the Archangel in the village of Pidberizci and the Holy Resurrection in the village of Poliany, by making comparisons with fragments of lost murals recorded in archival photographs, and by adding the decoration, already after restoration toning, of the artist’s last sacred object – St. Nicholas Church in Zolochiv. Even such scattered data make it possible to observe many of the author’s characteristics, to determine the process of the formation of Sosenko’s distinct individual artistic style, to which this study is dedicated.

НИКОЛЬСКАЯ ЦЕРКОВЬ В ДЕРЕВНЕ УНЕЖМА: ИСТОРИЯ И АРХИТЕКТУРА*

The article deals with a relatively unknown monument of wooden architecture – the Saint Nicholas Church (1824) in Unezhma village of the Onega District in the Arkhangelsk Region. The monument is extremely hard to reach, and it is located in a unique natural environment. The church stands out due to its architecture; however, it is poorly studied in terms of its construction history, architectural and artistic features, and interconnections with regional traditions. The church is described together with the bell tower built in 1792 as an architectural complex existing for more than four hundred years. The study is based on historical archival sources and on-site survey results. The authors traced the construction history of the Saint Nicholas Church and identified its construction stages. The appearance of the building at each construction stage was substantiated and presented through graphical reconstructions. The building was compared to similar structures found in the Onega Pomorye, and its specific architectural features were exposed. The building was also studied from the structural point of view. Based on the results of the comparison with similar structures and the analysis of their historical changes, the author made some conclusions about the original design of the church top. Historical data on the preceding church were interpreted and used to create its graphical reconstruction, together with the analysis of local architectural traditions. Thus, the article brings to light the construction history and development of the Unezhma church complex. The architecture of the Saint Nicholas Church and the bell tower has its distinctive features, but it ultimately conforms to the church-building traditions of the Onega Pomorye.

Saint Nicholas Church in the pomor settlement of Maloshuyka — the oldest tent roof temple of the octagon-on-quadrangle type. History and architecture

Introduction. The Saint Nicholas Church in Maloshuyka, dated 1638, is notable for being one of the earliest known examples of a widely spread type of wooden temple. Despite its historical and cultural significance, this object remains largely unstudied. To better understand the development of Russian wooden church construction and set up a typology, it is necessary to consider the Saint Nicholas Church in the context of all-Russian church building traditions of the 17th century. A monument of such significance needs to have its own place in the history of Russian wooden architecture.
 
 Materials and methods. The study was based on historical archival documents and on-site survey results. We considered the monument together with the history of the settlement and the entire region. A joint historical and architectural approach was used to study the object. The object was compared with its equivalents via comparative typological analysis. In order to identify individual and typical features in the Saint Nicholas Church architecture, typologically similar objects were reviewed chronologically and geographically.
 
 Results. New historical sources were introduced into the scientific discourse. Construction history and periodization of the Saint Nicholas Church were identified. We determined changes in appearance at each construction stages, and described architectural, artistic and stylistic descriptions of the object at each construction stage. The object was compared with similar objects, and characteristic features of this type of church at the early stages of its evolution were identified. They were expressed in general dimensions, proportions, and decorative finish. Regional typical features and all-Russian features were singled out. The place of the object in the Russian history of wooden architecture was defined.
 
 Conclusions. The Saint Nicholas Church is a unique monument of Russian wooden architecture. Being the oldest tent roof wooden temple of octagon-on-quadrangle type, this object reflects the earliest development stages of this architectural type. The Saint Nicholas Church has certain local architectural features, but it generally conforms to the all-Russian architectural traditions of the 17h century.

Uniate Sacral Architecture in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: A Synthesis of Confessional Architecture

Summary The architectural legacy of the Unitarians in the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania has received little attention from researchers to this day. This article presents an architectural synthesis of the Uniate and Order of Basilians that reflected the old succession of Orthodox architectural heritage, but at the same time was increasingly influenced by the architectural traditions formed in Catholic churches. This article presents the tendencies of the development of Uniate architecture, paying attention to the brick and wooden sacral buildings belonging to the Uniate and Order of Basilians in the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The early Uniate sacral examples reflected the still striking features of the synthesis, which were particularly marked in the formation of the Greek cross plan and apses in the different axes of the building. All this marked the architectural influences of Ukraine, Moldova and other areas of Central and South-Eastern Europe, which were also clearly visible in Orthodox architecture. Wooden Uniate architecture, as in the case of masonry buildings, had distinctly inherited features of Orthodox architecture, and in the late period, as early as the 18th century, there was a tendency to adopt the principles of Catholic church architecture, which resulted in complete convergence of most Uniate buildings with examples of Catholic church buildings. Vilnius Baroque School, formed in the late Baroque era, formed general tendencies in the construction of Uniate and Catholic sacral buildings, among which the clearer divisions of the larger structural and artistic principles are no longer noticeable in the second half of 18th century. The article also presents the image of baroque St. Nicholas Church, the only Uniate parish church in Vilnius city, which was lost after the reconstruction in the second half of the 19th century.