Architecture of Wooden Churches of the Syrynskiy Assumption Monastery of the 17th – Early 20th Century

Abstract

The article describes the construction history and architecture of wooden churches of the Syr’inskiy Assumption Monastery. The goal of the study is to uncover the construction history of the monastery from the early 17th century to the early 20th century and gain an insight into the architecture of the wooden monastery complex at various construction periods. The essential and oldest objects of the study have long been lost, and we know about them only from historical records. The review of historical documents coupled with the study of similar local structures allowed the authors to learn about and graphically reconstruct the architectural appearance of the study objects. The authors used the methods of historical and comparative typological analysis, as well as the method of on-site survey with regards to the 19th-century Saint Nicholas Church still standing.

The study identified construction periods in the history ofthe church complex in the Syr’inskiy Assumption Monastery. The authors obtained an understanding of the architecture of the Church of Assumption (1601) and the prior Saint Nicholas Church (1661 or 1667). A new and unexpected conclusion was made regarding the shape of the top structure of the latter, which was in line with the local tradition. The church architecture of the Syr’inskiy Assumption Monastery is studied in the wide context of development of church-building traditions in the lower Onega and Onega Pomorye areas.

The on-site survey of the preserved Saint Nicholas Church dating back to 1865–1867 allowed the authors to reveal its construction history as successively related to the prior Saint Nicholas Church of the 17th century, and to obtain new data on the utilization of painting in wooden architecture of the 19th – early 20th century.

The materials on the architecture and construction history of the Syr’inskiy Assumption Monastery, which played an outstanding role in the development and economic life of the lower Onega and Onega Pomorye areas, have been introduced into the scientific discourse for the first time.