Church of the Protection and Intercession of the Virgin Mary on the Nerl
The Church of the Protection and Intercession of the Virgin Mary on the Nerl ( Russian Церковь Покрова на Нерли , Zerkow Pokrowa na Nerli , Pokrow Church on the Nerl) is an Orthodox church and one of the most important monuments of Old Russian architecture. The small cross-domed church is famous for the harmony of its proportions. It is the holiday " Intercession " (Intercession) dedicated to one of the most popular in folk festivals in the Russian Orthodox Church , celebrated on 14 October.
location
The church is located 13 km northeast of Vladimir , near the place Bogoljubowo and the former palace of the Grand Duke of Kiev , Andrei Bogoljubski , on a small hill in the middle of a meadow landscape, at the confluence of the Nerl and the Kljasma . When the meadows are flooded in spring, the church looks like it is floating on the water.
history
Andrei Bogoljubski had the church built in 1165 in memory of his young son Isjaslav, who died in a campaign against the Volga Bulgarians . Despite the complicated building site, the location was well chosen. The ships with envoys and guests from eastern countries that came to Vladimir via the Volga and Oka rivers , boats from Suzdal and Rostov passed downstream, and the church surrounded by water seemed to them an extraordinary phenomenon.
In 1784 the monastery head ( Igumen ) of the Bogoljubski monastery received the bishop's permission to demolish the church in order to obtain building material. Since the headmaster and the builders could not agree on the price of the work, the church was preserved. The legend arose that a peasant who had climbed the dome to begin the demolition was blinded by gilding flakes chipped from the cross. The blind man fell down and regained his sight. This was considered a great miracle and the peasants refused to ever again lend a hand to the church to demolish it.
The church has hardly changed over the centuries. During a restoration in 1877, the gallery was torn down and the shape of the dome was changed into an onion dome . The arcades , the stairs leading to the choir and the frescoes have not been preserved.
In 1964, director Andrei Tarkovsky chose the church as the location for the opening scene of his film Andrei Rublev .
description
The church was built of light-colored sandstone , it is vaulted by a dome that stands on four pillars. The church has three apsidia in the east . The proportions of the church are rising long to make its outlines appear slimmer. The disadvantage of this architectural solution was that it made the interior of the church too dark for church services to be held. The walls of the church have a slight incline inwards to create the illusion of a greater height of the structure.
The building is founded on a 1.6 m deep strip foundation made of solid rock. On top of it, the builders erected a 3.7 m high foundation made of hewn stones . It was clad inside and outside with tamped clay. This created an artificial hill that, originally clad with white stone slabs, protected the church from the spring floods.
The decor of the church is dedicated to Our Lady. Three facades bear the same representation of the psalmist David playing the psalter . The musician is surrounded by doves and lions, which represent the eternal opposition of good and bad. A series of female masks symbolizing the Virgin Mary runs along the sides of the facades.
"... the Pokrov Church on the Nerl, not far from Vladimir, is not only the most perfect church in Russia , but also one of the greatest monuments in art history worldwide ..."
In 1992 the church was added to the United Nations World Heritage List as part of the World Heritage Site “Cathedral of Vladimir, Monasteries and Churches of Suzdal and Kidekscha ” .
Replicas
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In memory of his grandfather, the Russian oligarch Oleg Vladimirovich Deripaska had a replica of the church built on a reduced scale in the Russian military cemetery in the Lower Austrian border town of Laa an der Thaya in the Weinviertel. The components for the church were made in Russia by stonemasons from sandstone, loaded on around 1,700 pallets and brought to Austria in 72 truck trips to be assembled here. On September 30, 2018, the church was ceremoniously handed over to its destination in the presence of the Russian Orthodox Metropolitan of Volokolamsk and Head of the Foreign Office of the Moscow Patriarchate Hilarion Alfeyev .
Web links
- The Church of the Protection and Intercession of Mary on the Nerl (Russian)
- The Intercession Church on the river Nerl in Bogolyubovo (English)
- UNESCO World Heritage site: White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal (English)
- Photos of the church
Coordinates: 56 ° 11 ′ 45 ″ N , 40 ° 33 ′ 44 ″ E
Individual evidence
- ↑ Oligarch builds chapel in Weinviertel ORF NÖ on May 29, 2014
- ↑ Laa / Thaya: Deripaska Church consecrated to ORF Lower Austria on September 30, 2018