The Wooden Church Complex in the Village of Verkhnyaya Mudyuga, Arkhangelsk Region. History and Architecture

Abstract

Wooden temples located in the lower reaches of the Onega River, which include a lost architectural ensemble in the village of Verkhnyaya Mudyuga, demonstrate a unique typological variety of architectural forms emphasizing the historical role of this territory in the development of the Russian North. The research applied a comprehensive methodological approach which combined field historical and architectural research surveys, adopted in the architectural and restoration practices, and comparative historical and typological analyses, based on studying analogous edifices and archival and bibliographic research. This allowed us to uncover the construction history of the studied objects and graphically reconstruct their architectural appearance at different stages. As the result of the study, new archival data were revealed, and the evolution process of architectural forms of the temple complexes on the Onega River dating back to the 17th – late 19th centuries was described. The church ensemble in the village of Verkhnyaya Mudyuga is an outstanding architectural piece and occupies a remarkable place among the temple complexes of the Russian North.
The discovery of the architectural and construction history of the lost wooden churches of the lower reaches of the Onega River makes a fundamental contribution to understanding the development of Russian wooden architecture and its regional traditions.
The results obtained have practical implications for the popularization and preservation of the cultural heritage of the region.