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The Church of Transfiguration, also known
as the Church of the Savior on Ilina street, built in 1374, is very similar to
the Church of Fedor Stratlat. The chronicle says that it was built by boyar
Vasilii Daniilovich and the inhabitants of Ilina street, which gave the church
its second name. On its outside walls we see some strange carved stone
ornaments, like slanting crosses or perhaps resembling human bodies. Though it
was not uncommon to see peculiar and even erratic animals and creatures
decorating church walls, some people in Novgorod ascribe the erratic crosses to
the members of the so-called Heresy of Hairdressers, which at that time was
popular among the Novgorodian craftsmen. The heresy got its name from a barber
Karp, who together with an unfrocked priest Nikita, spread it throughout the
region. Presumably the stone carvers and builders purposefully made the crosses
look strange to express their dissatisfaction with the church hierarchy and
some of its dogma. The heretics refused to go to church and instead gathered in
the fields to repent of their sins to Mother Earth, as their pagan ancestors
did before. The chronicle says that in 1378 the boyar and the citizens
sponsored the inside decoration of the church and explicitly mentioned the name
of Theophan the Grek as the artist. His frescoes remained whitewashed probably
for centuries before being discovered in 1913. They are well preserved and rank
among the best in Russian religious painting. The two churches belong to the
golden age of Novgorod architecture.
There are several other churches in Novgorod that were built similarly to
those that we have mentioned, though they have less ornamentation. The tendency
toward unpretentious facades was clearly manifested in the 15th century when
copying the 12th century architectural forms became quite popular. As a matter
of fact few churches were intentionally rebuilt to look exactly the same way as
when they were originally erected. Two-storied churches also appeared in
Novgorod for the first time in the 15th century. At first the first floor
served primarily for storage, but then some were turned into chapels and used
for everyday service, while the main church on the upper floor served for
Sundays and holiday mass.
Details characteristic of Moscow architecture first appeared in Novgorod
in the 16th century due to the fact that the new benefactors were officials
from Moscow who were sent to Novgorod to replace local boyars and rich
merchants who were forcefully deported after their resistance was crushed. The
cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Khutinsky monastery, located at the
southern end of the city, was erected in 1515 by the Grand Duke Vasilii III.
With its main features borrowed from the cathedral of the Assumption in the
Moscow Kremlin, the new cathedral began a series of churches in the Moscow
style. This was the end of the Novgorod school of architecture. Defeated by
Moscow, Novgorod became a provincial town which, as did most others, had to
follow the taste of the Kremlin. Moscow, the new and powerful capital, also
became the artistic center of all Russia. For photos of Novgorod today
including some of these churches please visit -
Novgorod.
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