History of Grodno and Halych Architecture of the Pre-Mongol Period
Stone architecture in old Grodno and Halych was based on the Kiev tradition, but received an original
interpretation. Unfortunately, the architectural monuments in Grodno and Halych have not preserved
too well, just like the buildings in Polotsk and Smolensk. Therefore, the direction in which these
architectural schools developed can be traced only to a certain degree of approximation. Of course,
architectural and archaeological material is among the most difficult for making it clear to the listener
but it cannot be helped and we have to bow to the reality, to the facts, that is, to the objectively poor
condition of the monuments built during the period under consideration, including the ones in Grodno
and Halych.
We have no surviving written records about stone construction in the Principality of Grodno. Given their
architectural characteristics, the monuments in Grodno belong to a wide time frame of the 12th
century. The analysis of technical and technological, typological and stylistic features allows us to
narrow the time frame and date Grodno architecture the 1180s-90s. We know three churches on the
territory of Grodno and one church in the town of Volkovysk in the Grodno land. In addition, the
archaeological data shows the remains of the brick defensive wall and the prince's tower in Grodno's
Detinets.
The appearance of Grodno churches is original. They were built of plinfa brick, using the regular-course
masonry technique that is well known to us from the architectural monuments of the Kiev-Chernigov
school. But this is not the point of importance. Here a significant addition to the decoration of the
facades is the multicolored polished stones inserted into the plinfa brick masonry. The combination of
the regular-course brickwork and stones randomly inset into it creates an unusual decorative effect. The
large polished stones are concentrated mostly in the lower half of the wall. The decorative effect is
strengthened by the glazed ceramic tiles and glazed dishes inset into the brickwork. The tiles often form
beautiful, polychrome Greek crosses. Apart from the decorative appearance of the facades, the glazed
tiles were used for the floor covering. Important in the interior decoration were the resonators. They
made the upper part of the wall lighter and improved the acoustic qualities of the interior.
The best-preserved is the Kolozha Church of St. Boris and St. Gleb located opposite to the Detinets,
across the Haradnichanka River. The upper part of the church has been lost. In the 19th century, the
southern wall and the adjoining parts of the western and eastern walls collapsed into the Neman. Inside
the church is six-pillared. The pillars in the lower part are circular, with cross-shaped tops. The choir loft
was reached by the staircases in the walls of the side apses. The floor was covered with ceramic tiles.
The outside pilasters have a stepped shape; the corners of the pilasters are rounded; the facades are
decorated with the polished stone and ceramic tiles, one may say, in the Grodno style. This is the
distinctive feature of the Grodno style of decoration and Grodno architecture as a whole. The figured
pilasters make us assume the tower-shaped structure of the top.
As early as the 1930s, the remains of the so called Lower Church in the Detinets were found. The church
was called "lower" with regard to the Upper Church built later. The walls of the ancient church have in
some places survived to a significant height - up to 3.5 m. This is a six-pillared church; the square (in
plan) pillars have chamfered corners. The outside corners of the church are similarly chamfered. Pillars
under the dome are shifted to the south-west, in the Polotsk style. In the south-western corner of the
church, the remains of the stairs leading to the choir loft were found. The method of facade decoration
is similar to that used in the Kolozha church: polished stones and ceramic tiles. We can assume the
pillared concept of the spatial composition that was typical for the end of the 12th century.
In 1980, the foundations and the lower parts of the walls of the Holy Nativity of the Blessed Virgin
Church (Prechistenskaya Church) were uncovered. In some places the walls have survived to the height
of one meter. The structure of the plan has a fundamental similarity with the Lower Church. The central
apse inside and outside has a rectangular shape, which is different from the Lower Church. Thus, all
Grodno churches mentioned above are similar in structure and plan as well as their decorative features,
and form a single group. Special features of this group of architectural monuments makes it possible to
apply the term "school" with respect to Grodno churches.
In the second half of the 1950s, on the territory of the old Volkovysk, they uncovered the foundations of
a church that in all its characteristics is similar to the Lower Church, to the plan of the Lower Church. But
they only laid the foundations of the church and nothing more. For some reason, the construction of the
church was stopped. The large amount of plinfa brick stored up for the construction was never used,
and the church was never built. This was a unique occasion in the history of Old Russian architecture.
A separate school of architecture was developed in the Halych land. This is the south-west of Old Rus',
the Carpathian region, territory of the modern Ivano-Frankivsk and Lvov Regions. The important factor
in the architectural development of this land was its neighboring position to the countries with a welldeveloped building tradition of the Romanesque style. Even though Halych architecture in general
followed the direction of assimilating and developing the new Kiev tradition, contacts with the
Romanesque architecture were rather close and they were fruitful, affecting not only the technique and
decoration but, what is especially important, the types of the buildings erected. But this did not happen
all at once. The growing Romanesque influence was especially evident in the second half of the 12th and
the beginning of the 13th centuries.
Halych architecture is mainly known through the results of archaeological research. The only surviving
church of the pre-Mongol period in the Halych land is the Church of St. Panteleimon. But this church lost
the upper parts of its walls, the vaults and the dome. Stone construction here started with the Church of
St. John the Baptist in Peremyshl (Przemyśl) around 1119. Now this area belongs to Poland. The church,
or rather its remains, was uncovered by Polish archaeologists. It is worth mentioning that in plan this
was a four-pillared church with three apses, typical of Old Russian style. The church was built of whitestone blocks, i.e. using the Romanesque construction technique.
The other churches of the 1120s-40s, which are also known through the excavations, are in line with the
church in Przemyśl. The four-pillared church plan typical of the Kiev tradition is combined with the
Romanesque construction technique. These include the churches in Zvenyhorod-Halitsky and the Church
of the Saviour from Halych in the prince's country residence.
The main church of the principality was the Cathedral of the Assumption. It was first mentioned in the
chronicle for the year 1187 in connection with the burial there of the prominent statesman Prince
Yaroslav Osmomysl. According to the researchers, the church was constructed in the 1140s-50s. As
compared to the prior buildings, the Assumption Cathedral is much bigger in size - approximately 32.5 x
37.5 m, with the side of the domed square, i.e. the central area of the church, about 7 m. In this
respect, this four-pillared church can be compared to the Kiev buildings of the 11th century. The church
looked especially imposing due to the galleries that enclosed the main building in the north, west, and
south. The white-stone masonry was of high quality. Here we see extensive use of stone ornamentation
and even sculpture in the facade decoration. Especially magnificent were, judging by the fragments
found, the carved recessed portals. The slender columns under the dome, and not the usual crossshaped pylons, contributed to the spatial unity of the interior and made it look like a hall church. The
floor of the church was made of beautiful ceramic tiles decorated with zoomorphic ornaments in relief.
A number of circular churches date back to the second half of the 12th century, with the Church of the
Prophet Elijah among them. This is a rotunda with a highly prominent apse and a massive, probably
tower-shaped extension in the west.
Near the village of Poberezhye they uncovered the remains of a circular quatrefoil-shaped church. The
recessed portal and the facades of the building were decorated with carved white stone. We also find
this type of plan in the so-called Polygon - a church that had the same quatrefoil-shaped plan as the
building in the village of Poberezhye. The relief floor tiles of this church are similar to the tiles that
covered the floor of the Assumption Cathedral, the main church of the Halych land.
At this stage of Halych architectural history, the influence of the Romanesque style is especially evident.
It should be stressed that this influence was manifest not only in the construction technique and the
carved white stone, that is, the decoration, but in the types of the churches built.
Circular-shaped churches are not typical for Old Russian construction practice, even though there were
some exceptions. The latter include the rotundas built in Kiev, Volodymyr-Volynsky, and Smolensk.
The only church of the Halych land that is still extant above the ground, the Church of St. Panteleimon,
dates back to the end of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th centuries. This is a usual four-pillared
type of church with three apses, but its dome supports have a complex stepped shape, totally
uncharacteristic of Old Russian architecture. The inner wall pilasters also have a stepped shape. This
special feature of the interior structure can be traced back to the Romanesque and Early Gothic
architectural models. This makes it possible to assume the presence of Gothic elements also in the
construction of the vaults. Especially well-decorated is the western portal of the church: a flat floral
ornament covers the archivolts, the cornices and other parts of the portal. The Church of St.
Panteleimon dates back to the time period when other schools of architecture assumed the towershaped church as the dominant type. The Halych church can be probably still seen within the context of
Old Russian architecture. But the vertical composition here was accomplished with the help of quite
original, as it has been shown, methods.
Some common features with the Church of St. Panteleimon can be seen in a white-stone church
uncovered in the village of Vasilevo on the Dnieper. This similarity first of all concerns the stepped shape
of the pillars, but here it is much simpler than in the Church of St. Panteleimon. There are very
interesting records in the chronicle about buildings in the town of Kholm (now Chełm) in the first third
of the 13th century. When mentioning the Church of St. John Chrysostom, the chronicler gives a detailed
description and points out the specific features of the church's structure, talks about the
anthropomorphic capitals, names the author of the carvings - a "smart" man, that is, a skilled master
Abdias. He mentions a certain Roman glass, probably, the stained glass. This text from the chronicle
once again proves the existence of close contacts between Halych architecture and the Romanesque
style, both technically and stylistically.
Among the most original phenomena in the history of pre-Mongol architecture are the monuments of
the Vladimir-Suzdal land. This north-eastern area is also often called the Rostov land, by the name of
one of its oldest towns, and also Zalesye (literally: "the area beyond the forest"): this is how that
outlying area of Kievan Rus' was viewed upon from Kiev. After the death of Yaroslav the Wise in 1054,
Zalesye became property of Yaroslav's younger son, the famous Vsevolod, who while staying in home,
according to his son Vladimir Monomakh, could speak five languages. After Vsevolod's death in 1093,
this area, this land was inherited by his son, the no less famous Vladimir Monomakh.
In 1101-1102, during his stay in the Rostov land, Vladimir Monomakh laid the foundation in Suzdal of a
stone church dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin. Later the church was consecrated, rededicated
to the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin. Thus, stone construction started in the north-east of Rus'.
There is no evidence of any stone construction in the Rostov-Suzdal land before that time. Besides,
there were no prerequisites for the development of the local architectural tradition; there were no
master builders; therefore, for the construction of his stone cathedral, Vladimir Monomakh had to bring
builders from Kiev or Pereyaslavl-Yuzhny, where at the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th
centuries there was intensive stone construction. The Kiev-Pechersk Patericon, i.e. the monastery
chronicler, names the Assumption Cathedral in the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery as the model for the Suzdal
church. Let me remind you that using a model did not mean blindly copying it. The elements usually
borrowed from the model included only the general composition, some details and the name. The
church founded by Vladimir Monomakh did not survive. In 1222-1225, a new church was built in its
place, since the original building, according to the chronicle, "was getting destroyed by old age and its
upper part collapsed". In 1528-1530, the church of the 13th century, in its turn, was party demolished
and overbuilt in brick in the style of the 16th century. Thus, the existing Cathedral of the Nativity of the
Blessed Virgin in Suzdal dates back to the 13th and the 16th centuries and on the ground does not have
any signs of an Old Russian building, the original construction, i.e. the cathedral of the early 13th
century.
All data concerning the building and characteristics of the church built by Monomakh were obtained
through archaeological research. The excavations exposed fragments of the foundations built of
boulders and crushed-brick mortar. The type of masonry used has been identified as the well-known to
us opus mixtum technique. The church was painted; researchers have found fragments of the fresco
plaster. There are records in chronicles of the late 12th century concerning the existence of the
vestibules. Summarizing the results of archaeological research, including the recent excavations
conducted by the State Hermitage expedition, we can claim with confidence that the cathedral was built
by masters from the south of Rus', and in the Kiev manner of the second half of the 11th and the
beginning of the 12th centuries, well known to us. This was a six-pillared church with a narthex and a
tower with the staircase in its northern part. Thus, stone construction had started. The fact that the
building belongs to the southern Russian tradition makes it impossible to speak about any local original
features or about the development of the local architectural tradition. After the construction of the
church in Suzdal, the masters, most probably, returned home. In any case, stone construction in the
north-east had a long pause.
The new stage of stone construction here is connected with the name of Yuri Dolgoruki and dates back
to the middle of the 12th century. One should pay attention to the fact that from the very beginning
construction work in the Vladimir-Suzdal land was connected with the prince's commissions. Even the
church commissions did not play much role here. The prince's initiative and the prince's funding were
the governing factor in the development of stone architecture.
So, the son of Vladimir Monomakh, Yuri Dolgoruki, according to the chronicle for the year 1152, built
two churches, dedicated to St. George, in Vladimir and Yuriev-Polsky, as well as the Church of Boris and
Gleb in Kideksha near Suzdal and the Cathedral of the Saviour in Pereyaslavl-Zalessky. Only the two last
buildings have survived. In Kideksha the Prince had his country residence, and the Church of St. Boris
and St. Gleb has only partly retained its original look. The top was lost in the 17th century - the vaults
and the dome; at the same time the eastern pillars were demolished.
Originally, the Church of Boris and Gleb was a four-pillared building with three apses and one dome. This
was a relatively small church - 19 x 15 m in plan, though not too small either. It had cross-shaped pillars;
the choir loft was placed over the western part of the building. Most probably, one could get there using
a wooden staircase. The church was built, and this is important, of hewn limestone blocks. It is usually
called white stone. The masonry technique used is called stone-faced rubble masonry; the wall is made
of two parallel layers - the inner and outer ones and the cavity in between is filled with rubble stone and
covered with crushed-brick mortar. The shapes of the 17th century significantly distort the original look
of the building. The original church is best preserved in its western part - these are the western wall and
the adjoining parts of the northern and southern walls. Especially impressive is the look of the massive
semi-cylinder of the three apses, which are almost fully preserved from the 12th century.
The Church of the Transfiguration of the Saviour in Pereyaslavl-Zalessky makes a totally different
impression, much more favourable, first of all, with respect to its preservation. The church, just like the
church in Kideksha, is mentioned in the chronicle for the year of 1152. The information about its
completion is contradictory. Usually the researchers date the completion of the church 1157. The
Transfiguration Cathedral is well-preserved and was successfully restored in the second half of the 19th
century. The restoration returned the original shape to the building. The type of the church, its plan and
spatial composition are very similar to the ones of the church in Kideksha. The compact space of the
church is surmounted with a massive drum; the dome in the old times most probably was helmetshaped and not onion-shaped as it is now. The interior with four cross-shaped massive pillars is divided,
as is typical of four-pillared churches, into nine bays, with the central one emphasized by the size and
location. The church is built, like the church in Kideksha, of white stone blocks using the stone-faced
rubble masonry technique described above. And in this respect, the Transfiguration Cathedral is a direct
analogue of the church in Kideksha.
The high culture of building, this also should be stressed, is manifest in the excellent dressing of the
stone blocks, in the thin joints between the blocks, in geometrically regular lines and planes. This of
course contributed to the image of exceptional, impressive beauty, and I would even say, sophistication.
The design of the walls is laconic and the decorations are scarce. We find a narrow decorative band, or
rather, bands, at the tops of the apses; half-round molding covered with flat carved ornaments, the side
stone course and blind arcading. A dentil band decorates the upper part of the drum above the
windows. The choir loft is placed over the western nave, just like in Kideksha, with the entrance through
the opening in the upper story of the northern facade. This position of the entrance can be explained by
the fact that the church originally was included in the architectural ensemble of the prince's palace, and
the prince's family could get to the choir loft directly without going downstairs. The wooden palace has
not survived, and it was famous as a place where Alexander Nevsky was born.
The white stone technique that was used in church construction in the time of Yuri Dolgoruki is
especially noteworthy. It does not look like either the one in Kiev or in Novgorod. But it has its direct
analogue in the white-stone masonry technique of Halych architecture. Excavations have shown the
fundamental similarity between the foundations and their construction, the wall masonry, the facade
decoration from the Halych period, and buildings in the Vladimir-Suzdal land at the time of Yuri
Dolgoruki. And this is no accident. In order to implement the construction initiated by the Prince of
Vladimir and Suzdal, masters from Halych were invited. The presence of white-stone quarries enabled
the Halych builders use a technique that they knew well. The appearance of the white-stone technique
in the north-east of Rus' was an important landmark in the history not only of the Vladimir-Suzdal preMongol architecture. The white stone technique became typical for the construction practice of this
area and predetermined many aspects of stone construction in Moscow and Tver in the 14th and the
15th centuries. And it is no coincidence that they still call Moscow the "white-stoned".