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Architecture in Kievan Rus' comes from themedieval state ofKievan Rus' which incorporated parts of modern Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, and was centered onKyiv andNovgorod. Kievan Rus' architecture is the earliest period of bothRussian andUkrainian architecture, using the foundations ofByzantine culture but with use of innovations and architectural features. Most surviving architecture from this period consists ofRussian Orthodox churches, or parts of thegates and fortifications of cities.
After the disintegration of Kievan Rus' and theMongol invasion in the first half of the 13th century, the architectural tradition of Kievan Rus' architecture continued in the principalities ofNovgorod,Vladimir-Suzdal, andGalicia-Volhynia. It had a direct influence on later Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian architecturural styles.
The great churches ofKievan Rus', built after theadoption of Christianity by the people of Rus' in 988,[1] were the first examples of monumental architecture in theEast Slavic lands. The architectural style of the Kievan state, which quickly established itself, was strongly influenced byByzantine architecture. EarlyEastern Orthodox churches were mainly made of wood, with the simplest form of church becoming known as acell church. Majorcathedrals often featured scores of smalldomes, which led someart historians to take this as an indication of what the pagan Slavic temples should have looked like. The 10th-centuryChurch of the Tithes inKyiv was the first cult building to be made of stone. The earliest Kievan churches were built and decorated withfrescoes andmosaics by Byzantine masters.
Another example of an early church of Kievan Rus' was theSaint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv (1037),[2] built byYaroslav the Wise.[3] Much of its exterior has been altered with time, extending over the area and eventually acquiring 25 domes.
TheSaint Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod (1045–1050),[citation needed] expressed a new style that exerted a strong influence onRussian church architecture. Its austere thick walls, small narrow windows, and helmetedcupolas have much in common with theRomanesque architecture of Western Europe.
Even further departure from Byzantine models is evident in sudivision cceeding cathedrals ofNovgorod: St Nicholas's (1113), St Anthony's (1117–1119), and St George's (1119). Along with cathedrals, of note was the architecture of monasteries of these times. The 12th–13th centuries were the period offeudal of Kievan Rus into princedoms which were in nearly permanent feud, with multiplication of cathedrals in emerging princedoms and courts of local princes (knyazes).
By the end of the 12th century, the divide of the country was final and new centres of power took the Kievan style and adopted it to their traditions. In the northern principality ofVladimir-Suzdal the local churches were built of white stone. The Suzdal style is also known aswhite-stone architecture ("белокаменное зодчество"). The first white-stone church was theSt. Boris and Gleb Church commissioned byYuri Dolgoruky, a church-fortress inKideksha near Suzdal, at the supposed place of the stay of knyazes Boris and Gleb on their pilgrimage to Kyiv. The white-stone churches mark the highest point of pre-Mongolian Rus' architecture. The most important churches inVladimir are theAssumption Cathedral (built 1158–1160, enlarged 1185–1198, frescoes completed in 1408) andCathedral of Saint Demetrius (built 1194–1197).
In the western splinter ofKingdom of Galicia-Volhynia churches in a traditional Kievan style were built for some time, but eventually the style began to drift towards Central European Romanesque tradition. The white stone masonry ofGalician school of architecture was likely the inspiration of the development of a similar style in Vladimir-Suzdal.[4]
Celebrated as these structures are, the contemporaries were even more impressed by churches of Southern Rus', particularly theSvirskaya Church ofSmolensk (1191–1194). As southern structures were either ruined or rebuilt, restoration of their original outlook has been a source of contention between art historians. The most memorable reconstruction is thePiatnytska Church (1196–1199) inChernigov (modern Chernihiv, Ukraine), byPeter Baranovsky.
TheGolden Gates of Vladimir, despite much 18th-century restoration, could be regarded as an authentic monument of the period.
In Kyiv, no secular monuments have survived apart from the remains of the city's walls and gates. TheGolden Gates of Kyiv were destroyed over the years with only the ruins remaining. In the 20th century a museum was erected above the ruins. It is a close image of the gates of the Kievan Rus period but is not a monument of the time.
One of the best examples, the fortress ofBilhorod Kyivskyi, is waitingarchaeological excavation. In the 1940s, the archaeologistNikolai Voronin discovered the well-preserved remains ofAndrei Bogolyubsky's palace inBogolyubovo, dating from 1158 to 1165.
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