Word: churches
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...northern wooden architecture is the isle of Kizhi in Lake Onega, some 200 miles northeast of Leningrad. There, a dozen wooden buildings-to be joined eventually by 60 additional examples of northern architecture from nearby villages-faithfully re-create a 17th century Russian community, dominated by the 22-domed Church of the Transfiguration...
According to legend, the church was built by a local craftsman named Nestor in 1714. The master builder used not a single nail, but so precisely slotted the beams and joists that the structure has stood without reinforcement for 250 years. Upon the traditional octagonal shape, he laid an exuberance of cupolas and onion-shaped domes. The result was a wondrous aberration, a unique folk image of what a house of God should look like. The legend goes that, upon its completion, Nestor declared: "There never has been, is, or ever will be another church like this." So saying...
...craftsman, Nestor was not alone. Other builders in other villages had developed that community of skill that in certain ages and places produces an integrated style. An example is Kondopoga's Church of the Assumption, some 30 miles west of Kizhi. Lonely, moving and quietly assertive, the church is a testament to an unknown craftsman's sense of the shape of his landscape, the wideness of his lake, the hostility of the sky, and his craft as a master of wood...
...Novgorod, one of the oldest Russian cities, was settled by Slavic tribes about A.D. 100. Over the centuries it was attacked by Swedes, Livonians, Lithuanians and Norwegians. Still, few other cities preserved so many ancient churches and frescoes. Its architecture, dating from the llth to 15th centuries, is simple and even severe, characterized by perpendicular lines, lack of ornament and few windows. In World War II, Novgorod was once again attacked by foreign forces, this time the Germans, whose destruction was perhaps greater than any before. The Soviet government commissioned Shchusev, the architect who designed the Lenin Mausoleum, to plan...
...Suzdal is one of the few remaining Russian towns to have preserved its original layout. Its kremlin (citadel), houses and surrounding fortress-monasteries have been restored to look just as they did in the 17th century. The beautiful 18th century Church of the Transfiguration was moved to its present site from another village. Over the next two or three years, the Soviet government plans to turn the Suzdal area into a new national tourist center, and will build an open-air museum and three new restaurants, as well as restore many other churches, peasant cottages and windmills...