Orthodox Church in London.
An onion-shaped dome, which differs from the domes of St. Basil's Cathedral in being somewhat flattened.
An ancient temple in Vologda. Note the crosses with a crescent at the base. Most likely, the crosses are much older than the building itself and its onion-shaped domes. These crosses could have stood on a wooden church, on the site of which this stone one was built. |
Famous Kizhi in Karelia. A masterpiece of wooden architecture. A huge number of domes and all bulbous in shape. For some reason, it is believed that onion-shaped domes first appeared on wooden temples, and only then they began to be erected on stone temples. But such a dome-head is more difficult to arrange than a helmet-shaped one, and even more so a spherical one. So why were the northern Russians showing off so much? The church and historical science have no answer to this question. But onion-shaped domes are more often called domes, and the name “dome” is more suitable for spherical and helmet-shaped coverings. So maybe these heads originally symbolized the heads of the pagan gods? Did the Christian Church in Rus' adapt this custom to Christianity? After all, pagan holidays were adapted into Christian ones, and Christian churches stand on the site of pagan temples to this day. |
Conical domes of the Armenian-Georgian type
Spherical and helmet-shaped domes of the Byzantine-Old Russian type
In this photo we see a temple with so-called helmet-shaped domes. These differ from onion-shaped domes in that they have the largest diameter at the base. The domes have four-pointed crosses with a crescent at the base. The combination of a cross and a crescent is not entirely clear. Most likely, this is a symbol of the sun (cross) and moon (sickle). What does the ball at the base of the cross symbolize? |
Temple in the city of Vladimir with helmet-shaped domes. But the small dome installed on the bell tower has a typically pear-shaped shape, and on it is mounted a four-pointed cross with a crescent at the base. On large domes, the crosses without a crescent are four-pointed. I wonder what explains such a variety of domes and crosses on the ancient Vladimir churches? |
The Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord (Belgorod) was built in 1813 at the expense of parishioners. Spherical gilded domes with six-pointed Orthodox crosses, a crescent and a ball at the base. There are five domes on the temple and one on the bell tower. |
North Ossetia. The Orthodox church has one helmet-shaped dome on the church and complex conical at the base and onion-shaped domes on the top on the bell tower. I think that the connection of domes of different types did not happen immediately. At first, conical domes were installed, and much later the conical one above the church tower was replaced with a helmet-shaped one, and on the bell tower a small onion-shaped dome was placed on top of the conical one. So the Apostolic Church was turned into Orthodox. |
Kharkiv. Temple in honor of the salvation of the Royal Family |
Tomsk city. An Orthodox church with spherical domes, over which turrets are built and on one of them there is a spire with a cross, and above the other two there are small onion-shaped gilded domes. There is also an eclecticism of styles here. Another place for the monument to V.I. Lenin was not found in Tomsk. Well, as they say, opposites meet. |
Church of the Archangel Michael in Kubinka. The building was built in the Byzantine tradition. A cross with a crescent and a ball at the base is installed on the spherical dome. The style is clearly not Russian. |
Constantinople. The former St. Sophia Church, and now a mosque. Spherical domes are from a Christian temple, but towers with a conical top are typically Muslim later architecture. But there is only one God, he probably likes all styles, it makes no difference to him what language they pray in, in church or outside. I wonder how deaf and dumb people pray? Yes, I think that you can send prayers to God without words, and without priests, and without priests, and without mullahs. |
Mixed type of domes
Yaroslavl. An ancient temple with a complex system of domes. Gilded onion-shaped domes with crosses crown spherical helmet-shaped domes. There is no lurid royalty in the architecture of this temple, as, for example, in St. Basil's Cathedral. |
Astrakhan. St. Nicholas Church. The dome system is very similar to the previous temple in Yaroslavl. In all likelihood, such a mixed style of combining domes and domes was characteristic of the Orthodox Church in the Golden Horde. Although it is quite possible that the onion-shaped domes on these temples appeared later, when Yaroslavl and Astrakhan became part of Muscovite Rus'. |
Thus, we were able to see many churches, and not only Christian ones. Probably, one should distinguish between domes, which act as roofs on the towers of temples, and domes, which are not actually roofs of temples. Only bulbous ones can be considered real chapters. Helmet-shaped domes are still roofs, not domes. Russian elements in temple construction include onion-shaped domes and helmet-shaped domes. Helmet-shaped domes, characteristic of Byzantium, did not take root in Rus'. I think that onion-shaped domes were installed on pre-Christian churches and gradually, as Christianity penetrated into the north of Russia, the ministers of the Christian church had to come to terms with the Russians’ predilection for onion-shaped domes on churches. Thus the onion-shaped chapters were canonized.
Domes of churches in the Byzantine style in the form of spheres did not take root in Kievan Rus, although the very first churches were built in a typically Byzantine style, and the domes on the St. Sophia Church in Kyiv were spherical. But as we moved north, already in Vladimir and Smolensk, the spherical domes lengthened and became helmet-shaped with an extended end. The helmet-shaped domes were similar to the bulbous domes of pagan temples familiar to Russian people. People went to such churches. Well, when onion-shaped domes were placed on churches, almost everyone went to such a Christian church. To imagine that the construction of temples with domes and domes came to us from Byzantium, and before that the people in Rus' lived in dugouts, wore raw skins instead of clothes, and did not know writing, means to be greatly mistaken and to distort history. Temples in Rus' were built long before the adoption of Christianity, and iron was smelted, and a three-field farming system was created, and Byzantium was fed with bread. Christian preachers acted very cunningly; they translated almost everything pagan into Christian rituals, resulting in a hybrid of Byzantine Christianity and traditional religion. By the way, why is the ancient Russian religion called pagan? Maybe because its canons were not written down in books, but were transmitted orally through the “pagans,” and instead of sacred scripture, the Russians had sacred memorization? We got it into our heads that our ancient ancestors prayed to idols, that is, sculptures, and therefore were wild. But aren’t icons and images on crosses idols? Don't Christians pray to idols? In my opinion, it is wiser to pray to the Sun, Earth, Ocean, Atmosphere and God Almighty, who created all this. Yes, in everything that exists there is a particle of the divine principle, even in man it is, in some more, in others less.
India, Delhi, Gurdwara temple. The onion-shaped domes on temples in India are very similar to those on temples in Russia. Why? In Byzantium, Armenia, Georgia, and Western Europe there are no onion-shaped domes, but in India there are. In my opinion, this can be explained very simply: onion-shaped domes are an invention of the ancient Aryans, when they lived in the north of Eastern Europe. Some of the Aryans went to India and took this tradition there, while others remained in the same place and continued it. When Christianity came to the ancestral home of the Aryans, the traditions of temple domes were canonized by the Orthodox Church. So traditions in architecture are very tenacious. |
There are no domes or domes here, but pay attention to the roof of this temple. It is three-sloped with light, like typical Russian houses. Is this similarity coincidental? I think that no - it is no coincidence, just as the words in Sanskrit, which every Russian understands without translation, are not accidental: Vedas, agni... What does the luxurious headdress on the priest’s head symbolize? That's right, Sun. |
Domes and heads of Indian and Muslim temples
India. Lotus Temple in Delhi. This is what pagan temples in Rus' might have looked like before the adoption of Christianity. The dome-heads are in the form of onions, each symbolizing a certain hypostasis of the one god: the largest dome is probably dedicated to the most high god Krishna. |
India. City of Admitsar. It turns out that Indians often decorate their non-Christian temples with onion-shaped domed temples. They are gilded and not gilded, smooth and ribbed. So onion-shaped domes are a feature of Aryan culture, and we are Aryans no less than the Indians and Iranians. |
Thus, using the given examples of churches of different religions, one can be convinced that the Orthodox churches of Rus' and Russia are more similar to Muslim and Indian churches than to Catholic and Byzantine ones. In this article, I wanted not so much to explain the origin of the shape of domes and domes erected over Orthodox Christian churches, but to draw attention to the problem of their origin, to the non-accidentality of the spread of onion-shaped domes in Russia and India. Our pre-Christian history is much richer and more interesting than is commonly believed, and we should not forget about it. I have no doubt that the Aryan-Oriya civilization was formed on the territory of North-Eastern Europe during the Holocene optimum. Cold weather forced some of them to go south to India and Iran, but some remained in place, breaking up into many ethnic groups that inhabit Eastern Europe and Western Siberia today. There are much more dark spots of ignorance on the history of Rus'-Russia than bright spots of knowledge.
Let us quote here the words of the book. E.N. Trubetskoy from the work “Two Worlds in Old Russian Icon Painting”:
“We feel that in this onion style in Ancient Rus' not only temples were built, but also everything that lived a spiritual life - the entire church and all the worldly layers, close to it, from the tsar to the plowman. In the ancient Russian temple there are not only church domes - the very vaults and vaults above the outer walls, as well as the external ornaments tending upward, often take the shape of an onion. Sometimes these forms form a kind of onion pyramid tapering upward. In this universal desire for the cross, everything seeks the flame, everything imitates its shape, everything becomes sharper in a gradual way. ascension. But only having reached the point of real contact between the two worlds, at the foot of the cross, does this fiery quest flare up with a bright flame and join the gold of heaven. In this communion is the whole secret of that gold of iconographic revelations, about which we have already spoken enough: for one and the same. the same spirit was expressed in ancient church architecture and painting.
This fiery flash is the whole meaning of the existence of “holy Rus'”. In the burning of church domes she finds a vivid image of her own spiritual appearance; This is, as it were, an anticipation of the image of God that should be depicted in Russia."
Sources of information used
Information about mosque domes was taken from the website at: http://sc135.vega-int.ru/sch_site/projects/semerenk/arx/AK.htm#got
New technologies in the construction of church domes. Website at: http://www.npf-lad.com/
Articles on temple topics – Historical types of domes. Website: http://hram.www108.ru/art.php?rids=3&ids=3
Domes Muslim architecture. Construction techniques. Website: Domes http://arttobuild.ru/
Cross-domed churches of Ancient Rus'. Website: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Dome. Website: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/
DOMES OF THE ORTHODOX TEMPLE. Website: http://www.roschinohram.ru/page65.php
DIGITAL LIBRARY. Website: ModernLib.Ru
Braichevsky M. Yu. Establishment of Christianity in Rus'.
Zagraevsky S.V. Forms of domes (dome coverings) of ancient Russian churches. – M.: Alev-V, 2008. ISBN 5-94025-096-3. http://www.zagraevsky.com/glavi.htm
Some of the photographs for this article were borrowed from Google Earth and the official website of the Arkhangelsk region.
From early times, the Christian religion was filled with special signs - they were embodied in the architecture of temples. What meaning do believers put into the shape, color and number of domes of the Orthodox Church - we figure it out together with the portal "Culture.RF".
Color: Gold to Black
Gold. The most common color of Orthodox domes represents eternity and heavenly glory. Temples with golden domes were dedicated to Christ and the great church holidays - Christmas, Candlemas, and the Annunciation. Such chapters crown the Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Savior and the Kremlin cathedrals - Assumption, Annunciation, Arkhangelsk.
Today, domes are not lined with gold, but in the past the metal was dissolved in mercury and the resulting amalgam was then applied to a hot copper sheet. The gilding process was very expensive and labor intensive. For example, it took 100 kilograms of gold to cover the dome of St. Isaac's Cathedral.
Blue with stars. Temples with such domes are most often dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The blue color symbolizes the purity and purity of the Virgin Mary, and the stars refer to the Star of Bethlehem, which marked the Nativity of Jesus Christ. The Suzdal Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, built under Vladimir Monomakh, is crowned with such domes. This was the first stone temple in the Vladimir-Suzdal land.
But there are also cathedrals with blue domes that are not associated with the name of the Virgin Mary. Trinity Cathedral in St. Petersburg was built in 1838 for the Izmailovsky Regiment of the Imperial Guard. His officers wore blue uniforms, which is why they chose that color for the domes.
Green. This color is considered a sign of the Holy Spirit. Most often it can be found in churches dedicated to the Holy Trinity. One of these buildings is the Church of the Holy Trinity “Kulich and Easter”. The idea to give the temple the shape of traditional Easter dishes belonged to the customer of the construction, Prince Alexander Vyazemsky. At his request, architect Nikolai Lvov built a pyramidal bell tower and a rotunda church with a low green dome.
Similar domes crown churches built in honor of Orthodox saints. For example, the Church of Elijah the Prophet in Yaroslavl is one of the key monuments of the local school of the 17th century.
Silver. This color in Orthodoxy is associated with purity and holiness. Temples dedicated to saints are crowned with silver domes, for example, the Church of St. Nicholas on Lipna near Veliky Novgorod and St. Sophia Cathedral in Vologda. The temple in honor of St. Sophia was erected in 1570 by order of Ivan the Terrible. The Tsar ordered it to be built on the model of the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
Black. Domes of this color are rare and decorate monastery churches. Black domes crown the cathedrals of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent in Moscow, a convent in the Art Nouveau style, designed by Alexei Shchusev. Funds for its construction were donated by Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna, the widow of the Moscow Governor-General, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. Domes symbolizing monasticism can also be seen on the cathedrals of the Transfiguration Monastery in Murom.
Multicolored domes in the Orthodox tradition remind believers of the beauty of Heavenly Jerusalem. This is what the heads of the Church of the Savior on Blood in St. Petersburg and St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow look like. Foreign travelers admired the colorful patterns of the domes and compared them with the scales of a pine cone, pineapple and artichoke. The domes acquired this appearance after the fire of 1595 - then the temple was restored and rebuilt.
Shape: not just bulbs
The spherical dome in the Orthodox tradition symbolizes eternity. The Romans began to build temples with similar domes: in the 2nd century they learned to build large-area ceilings without supports. The Roman pantheon built in this way from 128 AD has survived to this day. e. In Russia, spherical domes crown Moscow's Yelokhov Cathedral, the baptismal site of Alexander Pushkin.
The helmet-shaped dome refers to the words of the Apostle Paul: “Put on the whole armor of God...and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”. Such domes are typical of Russian pre-Mongol architecture: they decorate, for example, the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir and the Church of Peter and Paul in Smolensk.
The onion dome in Orthodox architecture is the embodiment of prayer, the desire for heaven. According to researcher Evgeny Trubetskoy, such a dome on the base of the drum resembles a candle flame. Onion-shaped domes are characteristic of Russian architecture of the 16th–17th centuries. Examples of churches with similar domes are the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist in Uglich and the churches of the Rostov Kremlin.
A tent, instead of a traditional dome, is interpreted in Christianity as an image of the Virgin Mary or the Light of Heaven. Tent churches were common in the 16th century, although similar churches were built earlier. They were usually built from wood: it was very difficult to replicate the structure of a tent in stone. The most famous example of hipped architecture is the Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye. It was built by order of Prince Vasily III in honor of the birth of the long-awaited heir to the throne, the future Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible.
One dome reminds believers of the unity of God. Single-domed temples were especially popular in pre-Mongol times. The most famous of them are the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl and St. Demetrius Cathedral in Vladimir. Both temples were built in the 12th century - they survived the devastating Mongol-Tatar invasions and have survived to this day.
The two domes are rare and commemorate the divine and human nature of Jesus Christ. In Moscow, the Church of Cosmas and Damian in Starye Panekh is crowned with two domes. This is one of the oldest churches in the capital: its wooden predecessor was built back in 1468.
The three domes are associated with the Holy Trinity. Three chapters crown the St. George's Cathedral of the Yuriev Monastery - the oldest monastery in Veliky Novgorod. The cathedral was erected in 1130 by order of Prince Mstislav Vladimirovich. The name of the architect is preserved in the chronicle - Peter. It is believed that he also built the St. Nicholas Cathedral and the Church of the Annunciation on Gorodishche
The five domes are a symbol of Jesus Christ and the four evangelists: John, Mark, Luke and Matthew. Five-domed churches are more common in Russia than others. The most famous of them are the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir and the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin, built in its image.
The seven domes represent for the Orthodox the seven sacraments of the Church, the seven Ecumenical Councils (meetings at which the basic Christian dogmas were adopted) and the seven cardinal Orthodox virtues. Seven-domed cathedrals are not as common as three- or five-domed ones. These include the Church of the Ascension in Novocherkassk - the main cathedral of the Don Cossacks - and the Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Belogorsky St. Nicholas Monastery near Perm.
The nine domes are associated with the nine angelic ranks. According to the Christian tradition, heavenly angels are distributed into nine levels: cherubim and seraphim are closest to God, and angels and archangels are closest to man. Nine domes crown
Why are domes erected on Orthodox churches? Is this done only in Russia or in all Orthodox countries? How many domes should a temple have and how many can it never have? What shapes do they come in and what color can they be painted? Let's talk!
Why do churches need domes?
The domes of Orthodox churches as we know them now are purely a matter of tradition. In the sense that this is how it happened: churches should have domes. Moreover, it worked out exactly for us. In Orthodox Greece, for example, many churches are built without the usual domes.
Here, for example, is a church on the island of Corfu: typical Orthodox Greek architecture.
Like this temple: also Greece
Then what do domes actually mean for a temple if they are not built everywhere, and why does the temple need them?
Initially, a dome is just one type of vault that a building can have. For example, this design would be ideal to enclose large spaces when supporting columns need to be avoided. This type of overlap has been known since ancient times. Even before Christianity, domes were erected in buildings of worship and importance for the state - in short, where a large number of people gathered to celebrate something or perform a religious ceremony.
Over time, domes began to be directly associated with “sacred” buildings. In the Christian tradition, the domed vault immediately began to symbolize the heavenly world, eternity, and the universe. Moreover, symbolism almost immediately became the main side of the dome, since in most temples (in those countries and cultures where it was used) the dome did not and does not have a constructive meaning and was simply the “crowning” of the structure.
Look: Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (now a mosque). It was built as an Orthodox church in the 6th century, but retained the “original” approach to the dome - as a full-fledged vault.
And here it is, Moscow. The dome is small, “symbolic”. The role of the vault is played by the roof-slab.
The fact that the dome can play a “symbolic” rather than constructive role has developed historically. For example, in Rus': the first churches themselves were almost all wooden and were made using the classic log house technique, so covering them with large domes was structurally illogical and impractical. The dome no longer played the role of a “roof”, but simply rose above the temple. Therefore, it is more correct to call them not domes, but chapters or “domes.”
This is not an ancient temple, but a modern one: in, but it well illustrates what has been said regarding the domes of wooden temples:
And here is an example of a temple design where the dome, on the contrary, actually plays a constructive role. Moscow. Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary near Prechistenka. The dome covers the entire chapel, although there is still a small turret above it, which is crowned with an “onion”.
Or in Kubinka near Moscow. Also: a large dome-shaped vault and a smaller “onion” above it.
Or the main cathedral of the St. John the Theologian Monastery in Moscow. Not the most clearly expressed example, perhaps, but nevertheless:
Domes have truly become an integral part of Russian tradition. Moreover, our domes are characterized by the “onion” shape. Some see this as a reminder of a burning candle. Maybe. But initially, such symbolism was not included in the onion-like shape of the dome - it was simply about a beautiful form that would harmoniously complete the image of the temple.
Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra in Moscow
How many domes does a temple have?
Generally speaking, as much as you want - in the sense that there are no dogmas or formulated laws on this matter. The number of domes is determined by the architectural concept of the temple. Another thing is that in the Christian tradition, some numbers contain symbolic meaning or associations, and therefore the number of domes in the vast majority of cases is limited to the following number:
- One dome symbolizes the One God
- Three domes symbolize the Holy Trinity
- Five domes- The Savior and the four evangelists
- Seven domes remind us of the seven Sacraments of the Church
- Very rare: nine domes symbolize the nine angelic
- Even rarer: 13 domes- Jesus Christ and his twelve apostles
- Surely there is a temple with 33 domes: according to the number of years of the Savior’s earthly life.
Dome colors: what are they?
What the color of the dome in the Church should be is also not determined by any rules or canons. That is, it can be anything (at St. Basil’s Cathedral on Red Square they are generally colorful), but again, traditionally in the Russian tradition domes are like this:
Gilding- one of the most common ways to decorate a dome. There is no symbolic meaning here: it is simply very beautiful, majestic.
Blue domes(most often with stars). Such domes crown churches dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. And the stars remind us of the Nativity of Christ from the Virgin Mary.
Green domes. In general, in our Church tradition, green is a symbol of the Trinity or the Holy Spirit. But in the case of domes there is no such direct relationship. Here, for example, is the Church of St. Nicholas in, next to the Lenin Library metro station in Moscow.
And finally: black domes. Someone says that they symbolize monasticism and are found in monastery churches, but this is not so. There are quite a few city, “parish” churches with black domes. For example, the Old Believer Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Turchaninov Lane - which is a stone's throw from the Park Kultury metro station.
Copper domes also become black over time: copper acquires a very beautiful black color over the years.
Read this and other posts in our group at
An Orthodox church without a dome or dome seems unreal. There are, of course, temporary churches or various rooms adapted for worship without domes, but, you must admit, there is neither proper beauty nor grandeur in such walls. And yet, beauty is not the main thing. The domes symbolize the heavenly world, the Kingdom of Heaven, where the gaze of believers is directed.
Russian architects borrowed this most important detail for Orthodox architecture from Byzantine masters. Let us remember the huge dome over the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. It was “invented” back in the 6th century and made a real revolution in architecture - it seemed that the dome crowned the temple without any supports, it seemed to float in the air. By the way, this type of dome is called sailing.
The dome always ends with a dome, where a cross is installed in honor of the Head of the Church - Jesus Christ. But you, of course, know that it is impossible to find two absolutely identical churches. Somewhere the temple is covered by one large vault, and somewhere three, five or seven onions rush upward. Why?
Of course, for good reason. The two chapters mean the two natures in Jesus Christ - divine and human. Three chapters symbolize the Holy Trinity, five chapters symbolize Jesus Christ and the four Evangelists, seven chapters symbolize the seven Ecumenical Councils, nine chapters symbolize the nine ranks of angels, and thirteen chapters symbolize Jesus Christ and the twelve apostles.
Naval Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Kronstadt
The color scheme of the domes also varies. The color gold is a symbol of heavenly glory. Such domes are found at the main churches dedicated to the Savior and the Twelve Feasts. You will see blue ones with stars on churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary, as the star reminds us of the birth of Christ from the Virgin Mary. And on Trinity churches, as a rule, the domes are green, since this is the color of the Holy Spirit. Green (and sometimes silver) domes are also found on churches in honor of various saints. In monasteries you can see churches with black domes. This is explained simply: black is a symbol of monasticism.
What can you say about the multi-colored onions of the Intercession Cathedral (St. Basil's Cathedral) on Red Square? They are called to remind us of the beauty and joy of Heavenly Jerusalem, which righteous Christians will be rewarded with.
Publications in the Architecture section
What do the domes of Orthodox churches mean?
From early times, the Christian religion was filled with special signs - they were embodied in the architecture of temples. What meaning do believers put into the shape, color and number of domes of the Orthodox Church - we figure it out together with the portal "Culture.RF".
Color: Gold to Black
Gold. The most common color of Orthodox domes represents eternity and heavenly glory. Temples with golden domes were dedicated to Christ and the great church holidays - Christmas, Candlemas, and the Annunciation. Such chapters crown the Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Savior and the Kremlin cathedrals - Assumption, Annunciation, Arkhangelsk.
Today, domes are not lined with gold, but in the past the metal was dissolved in mercury and the resulting amalgam was then applied to a hot copper sheet. The gilding process was very expensive and labor intensive. For example, it took 100 kilograms of gold to cover the dome of St. Isaac's Cathedral.
Blue with stars. Temples with such domes are most often dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The blue color symbolizes the purity and purity of the Virgin Mary, and the stars refer to the Star of Bethlehem, which marked the Nativity of Jesus Christ. The Suzdal Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, built under Vladimir Monomakh, is crowned with such domes. This was the first stone temple in the Vladimir-Suzdal land.
But there are also cathedrals with blue domes that are not associated with the name of the Virgin Mary. Trinity Cathedral in St. Petersburg was built in 1838 for the Izmailovsky Regiment of the Imperial Guard. His officers wore blue uniforms, which is why they chose that color for the domes.
Green. This color is considered a sign of the Holy Spirit. Most often it can be found in churches dedicated to the Holy Trinity. One of these buildings is the Church of the Holy Trinity “Kulich and Easter”. The idea to give the temple the shape of traditional Easter dishes belonged to the customer of the construction, Prince Alexander Vyazemsky. At his request, architect Nikolai Lvov built a pyramidal bell tower and a rotunda church with a low green dome.
Similar domes crown churches built in honor of Orthodox saints. For example, the Church of Elijah the Prophet in Yaroslavl is one of the key monuments of the local school of the 17th century.
Silver. This color in Orthodoxy is associated with purity and holiness. Temples dedicated to saints are crowned with silver domes, for example, the Church of St. Nicholas on Lipna near Veliky Novgorod and St. Sophia Cathedral in Vologda. The temple in honor of St. Sophia was erected in 1570 by order of Ivan the Terrible. The Tsar ordered it to be built on the model of the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
Black. Domes of this color are rare and decorate monastery churches. Black domes crown the cathedrals of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent in Moscow, a convent in the Art Nouveau style, designed by Alexei Shchusev. Funds for its construction were donated by Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna, the widow of the Moscow Governor-General, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. Domes symbolizing monasticism can also be seen on the cathedrals of the Transfiguration Monastery in Murom.
Multicolored domes in the Orthodox tradition remind believers of the beauty of Heavenly Jerusalem. This is what the heads of the Church of the Savior on Blood in St. Petersburg and St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow look like. Foreign travelers admired the colorful patterns of the domes and compared them with the scales of a pine cone, pineapple and artichoke. The domes acquired this appearance after the fire of 1595 - then the temple was restored and rebuilt.
Shape: not just bulbs
The spherical dome in the Orthodox tradition symbolizes eternity. The Romans began to build temples with similar domes: in the 2nd century they learned to build large-area ceilings without supports. The Roman pantheon built in this way from 128 AD has survived to this day. e. In Russia, spherical domes crown Moscow's Yelokhov Cathedral, the baptismal site of Alexander Pushkin.
The helmet-shaped dome refers to the words of the Apostle Paul: “Put on the whole armor of God...and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”. Such domes are typical of Russian pre-Mongol architecture: they decorate, for example, the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir and the Church of Peter and Paul in Smolensk.
The onion dome in Orthodox architecture is the embodiment of prayer, the desire for heaven. According to researcher Evgeny Trubetskoy, such a dome on the base of the drum resembles a candle flame. Onion-shaped domes are characteristic of Russian architecture of the 16th–17th centuries. Examples of churches with similar domes are the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist in Uglich and the churches of the Rostov Kremlin.
A tent, instead of a traditional dome, is interpreted in Christianity as an image of the Virgin Mary or the Light of Heaven. Tent churches were common in the 16th century, although similar churches were built earlier. They were usually built from wood: it was very difficult to replicate the structure of a tent in stone. The most famous example of hipped architecture is the Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye. It was built by order of Prince Vasily III in honor of the birth of the long-awaited heir to the throne, the future Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible.
Quantity: from one to thirty-three
One dome reminds believers of the unity of God. Single-domed temples were especially popular in pre-Mongol times. The most famous of them are the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl and St. Demetrius Cathedral in Vladimir. Both temples were built in the 12th century - they survived the devastating Mongol-Tatar invasions and have survived to this day.
The two domes are rare and commemorate the divine and human nature of Jesus Christ. In Moscow, the Church of Cosmas and Damian in Starye Panekh is crowned with two domes. This is one of the oldest churches in the capital: its wooden predecessor was built back in 1468.
The three domes are associated with the Holy Trinity. Three chapters crown the St. George's Cathedral of the Yuriev Monastery - the oldest monastery in Veliky Novgorod. The cathedral was erected in 1130 by order of Prince Mstislav Vladimirovich. The name of the architect is preserved in the chronicle - Peter. It is believed that he also built the St. Nicholas Cathedral and the Church of the Annunciation on Gorodishche
The five domes are a symbol of Jesus Christ and the four evangelists: John, Mark, Luke and Matthew. Five-domed churches are more common in Russia than others. The most famous of them are the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir and the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin, built in its image.
The seven domes represent for the Orthodox the seven sacraments of the Church, the seven Ecumenical Councils (meetings at which the basic Christian dogmas were adopted) and the seven cardinal Orthodox virtues. Seven-domed cathedrals are not as common as three- or five-domed ones. These include the Ascension Church in Novocherkassk - the main cathedral of the Don Cossacks - and the Holy Cross Cathedral