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The land north of Kiev on the left side of
the river Dnieper was populated by a Slavic tribe called Severiane. They were
defeated by Oleg in 884 and brought under his control. Chernigov was the center
of the future principality. When Vladimir died his eldest son Yaroslav received
Kiev and
Mstislav Vladimirovich, the younger son, was ruler of Tmutarakan, a city on
the eastern shores of the Azov Sea. Mstislav marched with an army north and
defeated Yaroslav and then took control of Chernigov. This earned him a dual
title of Prince of Chernigov and Tmutarakan. After the death of Mstislav in
1035 or 1036 the two parts of the country were again reunited, and it was
Yaroslav's son
Svyatoslav
who established Chernigov's dynasty in 1054. The importance of Chernigov
principality considerably increased after the fall of Kiev.
The Chronicle says that Mstislav Vladimirovich was buried in the Cathedral
of the Transfiguration (Spaso-Proebrazhensky Sobor) in Chernigov, for which he
had laid the foundations a few years earlier. This means that Chernigov
received its first stone cathedral before Kiev erected the Saint Sophia. The
cathedral had three aisles with three semicircular apses on the eastern side,
and a large central and four small cupolas. It differed from the usual type of
a Byzantine church because of its two towers, on each of its western corners.
The left tower contained the staircase to the galleries, while the right one
was a small single cupola church that primarily served as baptistery. The
interior was also unusual. Four solid piers carried two storied vaults, each
containing three arches that limited the transept to the size of the central
square. Another peculiarity was the use of marble for interior decoration.
Tartars burned the cathedral in 1239. Later it was restored, but again severely
damaged by fire in the middle of the eighteenth century. Its present outlook
dates from the end of the eighteenth century. Only few fragments of the
original frescoes survive today. The Cathedral became one of the holiest places
for Severiane. Besides Mstislav Vladimirovich and his family, in its vaults
were buried Svyatoslav Yaroslavich and the hero of the famous "Poem of the
Host of Igor," Vsyevolod Svyatoslavich. As we know, the poem narrates the
unsuccessful campaign of Prince Igor Svyatoslavich against the Cumans in 1185.
The Church of Parask'eva Piatnitsa (Church of Good Friday) in Chernigov is
an extraordinary monument of ancient Russian architecture. There are several
mysterious elements in its past, including its architectural designs and
origin. We do not know who built it, for whom, and when, though most Russian
archaeologists agree that the church dates from the end of the 12th or the
beginning of the 13th century. At this time lived Peter Miloneg, a gifted
architect-builder from Smolensk, mentioned in the Ipatiev Chronicles, and some
Soviet historians tend to believe that he was the man who designed the striking
features of this remarkable monument. This relatively small church has four
piers, three apses and only one cupola. However, it differs very much from the
others. First, the four piers were set wide apart, which rendered the two side
aisles very narrow. This enabled the builder to introduce a new structural
system which changed the usual appearance of the facade and raised the drum of
the cupola quite uniquely. Instead of having the usual parapets that conform in
outline to the number of vaults inside, here the parapet is divided again into
three sections. There is one large section in the center and two smaller
sections, one on each side. The small sections are just one half of an arch and
they span the higher middle and lower corner pilasters thus enclosing a right
angle between them. Because of this the corners of the church received a new
shape. Another novelty was the transition from the walls to the base of the
drum. The inventive architect superimposed on the first, the second and then
the third tiers of the vaulting parapets (zakomari) in a way that the first
tier formed the support for the second and the latter for the third.
In all probability the Church of Parask'eva Piatnitsa was the first to
have kokoshniki - round (or ogee type) arches to support its superstructures.
Three stepped up rows of these kokoshniki gave the church an upward movement,
quite different from the Byzantine style. Later this architectural innovation
became very popular throughout Russia and gradually led to its original
tent-shaped (pyramidal) churches. At the same time kokoshniki became primarily
ornamental and were unsparingly used in rows, round or ogee types, to embellish
and give that particularly Russian feature to their churches. The Church of
Parask'eva Piatnitsa was restored several times and a bell-tower was added in
1820. There are certain indications that the decorative pediments on the
eastern and western walls of the church were the work of the well known
Ukrainian master-architect Ivan Zarudnii. Nevertheless, the basic features of
the church were not deformed and this ancient monument was preserved
substantially in its original forms until the Second World War when it was
completely destroyed. At the same time however the bell-tower suffered only
minor damages. After several years of hard work, a leading restorer, architect
P. D.Baranovsky entirely reconstructed the church in 1962. Only a few months
later a stupid high official from Chernigov ordered that the bell-tower be
demolished, though it matched very nicely with the church, unfortunately
Baranovsky learned about this too late to forestall this barbaric act.
The architecture of Kiev never went beyond propagation of Byzantine forms
and already had declined in the 12th century without gaining any originality.
The same can be said of its iconography, and the Kievan period ended before it
had created its own school. There are several reasons for Kievans' lack of
initiative. First of all they did not have any experience nor any tradition.
Feudal factionalism tended to dissipate their energies. They were closer to
Constantinople than any other Russian principality and the large number of
Greek monks, clergymen and teachers in Kiev who controlled education and the
spiritual life of the Kievans, account for why Kiev continued to imitate
Byzantium. Nevertheless, it was in Kiev that the Russians first met
civilization and where Russian architecture and art originated. From Kiev the
artistic birth passed on first to Novgorod and Pskov and then in the late 12th
and the 13th centuries Vladimir and Suzdal emerged as new centers of Russian
arts.
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For photographs and more historical information please go to Chernigiv .
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