Baroque Peculiarities in the Territory of the Verkhnekamye (Upper-Kama Region)

Abstract

pper-Kama region. The authors propose to consider this area as a separate area in the Urals with inherent features of the style. Particular attention is devoted to the Usolskiy and Cherdynskiy districts due to the poor knowledge of the Baroque style objects built in the XVIII century on this territory (unlike similar landmarks in central Russia). The tasks of identifying the characteristics of regional schools, clarifying the development history of the Baroque style in the Russian Empire by the example of temple buildings in the Upper-Kama region are solving. A detailed analysis of the history of the construction of temple buildings in Usolye, Cherdyn, and Nyrob made it possible to identify typical features in their spatial composition and the specific traits of decorative elements. These allow us to consider the architecture of the Upper Kama region as a separate branch of the Baroque. The formation of the Baroque style in the Kama region has influenced local architectural traditions, craftsmanship, and artisanal alien cultural preferences of temples customers. The remoteness from the capital allowed the Baroque to linger and continue to develop, despite the official transition to classicism but the stylistic features of Moscow and St. Petersburg are also echoing in provincial architecture. Regional features are especially evident in the buildings erected by local masons' artels. It is incorrect to single out the Stroganov buildings in the Upper Kama region as a branch style, since they are united only by the names of the customers, and not by the commonality of stylistic devices. The following decorative elements attribute to the general regional features of the architectural monuments considered in this article: a beetle ornament, cubic belts, toothed cornice made of curved bricks. Among the volumetric-spatial solutions, the most characteristic was the ensembles combining richly decorated temples and ascetic bell towers.