St. George's Cathedral in St. George's in Poland: photo, architecture

The small town of Yuryev-Polsky near Vladimir was founded in 1152 by Prince Yury Dolgoruky. From the twelfth to the fourteenth century it was the center of a small destiny. From 1212, he owned Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich - the grandson of the founder of the town. Provincial in terms of standards of that time, of course, could not be compared with Zalessky main settlements, famous for their artistic wealth.

And although there is only one masterpiece of Old Russian architecture in the town, he left far behind many similar structures.

The famous St. George's Cathedral

In Yuriev-Polsky it was built in honor of the victory that Prince Dolgoruky won over the Volga Bulgars. It happened in 1221. This monument of victory, according to the chroniclers, is a "strange and surprising, beautiful and naive" structure, unique in its kind.

History of occurrence

In place of the present St. George's Cathedral, as early as 1152 Yuri Dolgoruky ordered to build a small white-stone church. He dedicated it to George the Victorious, whom he called his own heavenly patron. In 1230, his grandson, Sviatoslav Vsevolodovich, destroyed the construction of his grandfather, because it "decayed and broke." And in its place in 1230 the St. George's Cathedral was built in Yuriev-Polsky, which became not only the crown of Vladimir-Suzdal architecture, but also the last white stone building before the Mongol-Tatar invasion.

Features of the temple

Neither before, nor even after, no one succeeded in surpassing this marvelous masterpiece in its beauty. I must say that attempts to repeat it have been done many times. For example, it is believed that it was St. George's Cathedral in St. George's, a photo against the background of which takes home every tourist who visited this town, became a prototype of the Moscow Assumption, built in the Kremlin in 1326. However, a similar temple could not be built. Just there were no such masters who would be able at least partially to repeat the same white-stone pattern, which completely covered St. George's Cathedral in St. George's-Polish. Pictures with a solid carpet covered the walls of the temple from top to bottom.

Second Life

His building was built for four years. It stood in its original form more than two hundred years, until in 1460 the collapse of the arch, apparently not having sustained too great loads, did not happen. Also convincing are other evidence of why St. George's Cathedral was destroyed in Yuriev-Polsky. Archeology, which studies the material evidence of the past, indicates that the cause could be a tectonic fault, as well as groundwater.

According to the decree of the Grand Duke, the well-known Moscow architect VD Ermolin was instructed to do restoration work. The architect already had some experience in the restoration of such ancient buildings. It was Yermolin who supposedly assembled the St. George's Cathedral of St. George's (the photo can be seen in the article). The architect said that he restored the temple and its chapel, "setting it as before". However, this is not quite true.

New appearance

During the restoration work, the original proportions of the main building were distorted rather heavily, they became heavier. Most of the reliefs were lost, and the remaining masters confused, because of what the facades of the temple produced the impression of chaotically scattered and not having an internal semantic connection of plot images.

In the following centuries, the St. George's Cathedral in St. George's, restored by Yermolin, was repeatedly changed. Thus, in the seventeenth century, a tent tower was built over its western porch. In 1781 it was replaced by another - more impressive, which was erected from the west side, and the St. George's Cathedral was covered in four slopes, although it should have a pozakomarnoe covering, like all white-stone churches.

In 1809-1827 years. The main building from the north and south is closed by a new vestry and a warm aisle. All this became the reason for new destruction and distortions of the ancient monument, which are now clearly visible in numerous old photos. St. George's Cathedral received its present form only in the twentieth century, when the extinct extinctions were finally demolished.

I must say that blaming Ermolin is not entirely fair. An extremely difficult task was set before him: it was necessary not only to restore St. George's Cathedral in St. George's, whose architecture is unique, but also to recreate it in such a way that carved figured blocks again were a continuous stone pattern, united by a common idea. However, having no drawings or drawings on hand, and also taking into account the fact that many stones as a result of the collapse were simply destroyed, it was almost impossible to do this.

Artistic motives

About the carving, which adorns St. George's Cathedral, written and said a lot. Her artistic motifs up to the twentieth centuries inspired many masters engaged in wooden "deaf" carvings.

Fancy patterns depicting animals, birds and plants, lions, geese with woven necks - all of them, being God's creations, glorify the Creator in the sparkling white stone carving that adorns St. George's Cathedral in St. George's.

Stone "lace"

Not only the planes on the walls, but also almost all architectural details, such as capitals, columns and portals, are girded with a pattern. Figures of people and animals, mythical monsters - all of them alternate with bizarre plant ornaments. As a result, St. George's Cathedral completely covered with stone lace looks like an intricate figured block carved from solid stone. It was thanks to this that the building received splendor and solemnity.

Architecture

The cathedral is relatively small. Its lateral facades were "overgrown" with vestibules. They are blocked on the facade with arches with a keeled zakomar. The western of the vestibules was originally larger and higher than the lateral ones. He also had a second tier in the form of choirs designed for the princely family. In the corner, at the junction of the northern and eastern walls, was a small Troitsky chapel, which was the burial vault of the princes of St. George. The arkosolia is visible from the outside and today, where Prince Svyatoslav was buried in 1252.

The facades of the cathedral are divided by pilasters into three parts. This technique is typical for the ancient Russian architecture and is a sign of the four-pillar temple. In the horizontal division of the cathedral, there is an arcuate-columnar belt, which, during the destruction in the fifteenth century, did not completely survive. It also extended along the upper part of the apses, also separated by half-columns. In both tiers above the waist were high enough windows, and just above the center of the temple main cube towered on a special pedestal head.

The temple was originally

Experts suggest that it was such an excessive load, as well as elevated arch arches and caused the collapse of the vaults. Nevertheless, the architecture of the original version of the building was characterized by its aspiration and dynamism. Slender proportions, combined with the three original porches, gave the cathedral a gradation and a columnar shape.

And although the compositional dynamism of St. George's Cathedral in St. George's was somewhat inferior to those of Kiev and Smolensk buildings, it significantly exceeded their solemn exterior appearance. And above all this contributed to the richness and splendor of the carvings covering all its walls.

Interior

Inside St. George's Cathedral is quite spacious. This was achieved due to the fact that the pillars on which its vaults are set are widely spread and moved to the walls. The altar from the main space is separated by a low barrier, on which a stone deesis is carved.

Incredibly good and painting on the interior decoration. However, in a temple that does not have artificial lighting, it is always dark, therefore it is sometimes impossible to see all the colors in photographs. And in general, the interior of the cathedral does not compare with its decoration outside.

Facades

On the silver-yellow walls of the cathedral you can spend hours exploring the curlicues of the stone carvings. Long-term research of restorers and art historians made it possible to fully convey the original intent of the builders and to restore it more or less.

The main compositions that adorned St. George's Cathedral in St. George's Polish, are "Transfiguration" on the western facade, "Seven adolescents of Ephesus" and "Trinity". On its north side were the Crucifixion and Daniel in the Lion's Tear. Such compositions as "Ascension", "Our Lady of Oranta", was decorated with a southern facade.

In the spans on the arcade belt, a whole string of saints was depicted. This method is more like a Gothic cathedral in Europe. On the northern wall were depicted the patrons of many princes from the Vladimir dynasty. Here was made and the great relief of St. George the Victorious. The saint, depicted in military armor, bears on his shield the emblem of this princely dynasty - the puffed leopard.

About the creators

Even the ancient chroniclers were interested in who is the master who created the cathedral. Some say that Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich himself was the author. Researchers believe that although the prince took a great part in creating the final design of this architectural masterpiece, his lifelong implementers were ordinary Russian artisans.

In the creation of the cathedral played a prominent role and Mitrofan - Vladimir Bishop, who was burnt alive by the Tatars. He was an outstanding personality, a man of high culture, an intelligent politician and patron of the arts. Researchers believe that it was he who developed the scheme of amazing carvings, which adorns St. George's Cathedral in St. George's-Polish. In her subjects, deep knowledge of not only patristic, but also Russian spiritual literature is felt.

There are also reports that a master from the Volga Bulgaria participated in the construction of the temple . And this is despite the fact that the cathedral is built in full accordance with the Vladimir-Suzdal direction in architecture. It is characteristic that such a structure could not have arisen before, because for this the craftsmen would not have had enough experience. And only the creative growth of Russian carvers on stone, which absorbed the experience transmitted by their predecessors, as well as the best examples of local and foreign art, allowed at one time to create a stone fairy tale - St. George's Cathedral in St. George's.