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While speaking of tent shaped churches it
would be unfair not to mention the Church of the Assumption of the former
Alekseyevskii Monastery at Uglich. This very fine and original specimen of
ancient Russian architecture was built of bricks, not wood, in 1628 or perhaps
before by unknown masters. Nor is there any information concerning who
commissioned the Church. It is hard to believe that most of the
old-monasteries, former centers of literacy and education, did not preserve
data about the talented men who erected their best monuments or about those who
offered money for their construction. Unfortunately, during and after the
revolution most of the monks were chased out of the monasteries and their books
destroyed or burned. One should go to Uglich or to any other monastery that has
not been visited by tourists or foreigners to see how dilapidated and miserable
they can become.
The same happened to the Alekseyevskii Monastery and its "Marvelous"
(Divnaya) Church of the Assumption, an epithet that the simple people gave to
their church and which became a part of its official name. The rectangular
church with decorative kokoshniki was built on a high basement. Instead of
ending in a normal roof the vertical line continues. Two smaller octagons, one
on each side, and a larger one in the middle, each carry the eight slopes of a
tall pyramid which end in a drum crowned with a cupola and a cross. On the east
side of the church there are three apses, decorated with a band of ornamental
blind arcades; the second jamb of each ends in a pendant. On the west is the
refectory (trapeznaya) with its original single pier in the middle, carrying
for cross vaults that span the entire room. After the revolution this unique
church was ransacked and left to decay, sharing the destiny of thousands of
others. Only in the late fifties did Soviet authorities decide to do something
to save it from collapsing. For photos please go to
Uglich. and more from
2005
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