Last Temple of Domongol Rus

On the border of the Vladimir and Ivanovo regions there is a small town of Yuryev-Polskaya. Or-Yuryev-Polish. They call it differently, but one thing is clear: this name happens on the name of Prince Yuri Dolgoruky and the word “field”. This city has nothing to do with Poland. In the center of this town, glorious with its dairy products and the horse factory, the ring earthen shaft in which the monastery is preserved, and some strange squat structure, all completely covered with stone carvings.

Before us is the last (in time) Temple of Domongol Rus and the first, perhaps, in our history, the experience of restoring the architectural monument. St. George Cathedral in Yuryev-Polsky.

The brainchild of Yuri Dolgoruky

The first temple in this city was built by the famous Yuri Dolgoruky, judging by the annals, in 1152, but we already wrote that the record of the construction of Prince Yuri in Kideksha, Yuryev and Vladimir - a summary (TRV No. 45). So we do not know anything about the time of building the predecessor. We only know that this temple has not stood for a very long time. Previously, at least it was believed that the current temple is on the foundation of the old - but no. Cathedral of Yuri Dolgorukova-somewhere nearby. We must look for ...

"Russian chartre"

The new cathedral did not stand long. In 1230, "Svyatoslav Prince in the Yurgeva Rushi Church of the Holy Yuri Kamenuu, the same was vighted and broke, Yuzha Beh created his grandfather Yurgi Volodimerichi and sanctified by great sacred." The Tver Chronicle reports that the old church stood 89 years old. Svyatoslav is the grandson of Dolgoruky, the son of Vsevolod is a large nest. Apparently, the church by the time of his reign was already, as they say, in an emergency state. And the grandson decided not to repair the grandfather’s creation, but simply to build it again. Apparently, Svyatoslav himself was not alien to art. At least the new cathedral turned out to be all decorated with carved stone. And the chronicle unequivocally hints: "And I create Svyatoslav Chyudna, with a cut stone, and you myself have a master." A unique case for our history. The case when the whole building is covered with carvings is also unknown. The famous Dmitrievsky cathedral in Vladimir, built by the father of Svyatoslav, - and he is very inferior to Yuryevsky. No wonder the researcher of ancient Russian stone plasticity called the St. George Cathedral "Russian chartr"

But, it seems, Svyatoslav was very interested in carvings and forgot about the foundations of architecture. The cathedral turned out to be very high and stood “only” 200 years. In the middle of the XV century. The top of the cathedral collapsed. But the authorities decided not to demolish the building. The outstanding architect and sculptor Vasily Ermolin arrived in the depthly town, who not only restored the top of the temple (it turned out almost twice as lower than the original, but also collected the collapsed sculpture - and, what could, placed it back on the walls. True, the order of stones, of course, violated.

So if you drive nearby, do not miss the opportunity to see the last Old Russian temple built to the Mongol invasion.

Alexey Paevsky

Literature:

P. A. Rappoport. Russian architecture of the X-XIII centuries. Catalog of monuments. L., 1982 No. 97.

N.N. Voronin. The architecture of North-Eastern Rus'. M., 1961. T.2, p. 68-107.

G.K. Wagner. Masters of Old Russian sculpture. M., 1966.

A.V. Stoletov. Materials for the reconstruction of the St. George Cathedral of 1152. The city of Yuryev-Polsky // Culture of Ancient Rus'. M., 1966.

A.V. Stoletov. The St. George Cathedral of the city of Yuryev-Polsky and its reconstruction // From the history of the restoration of cultural monuments. M., 1974.