Saint Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod

The five-domed stone cathedral was built by Vladimir of Novgorod on behest of his father, Yaroslav the Wise, as a sign of gratitude to Novgorodians for their support of Yaroslav's struggle for Kiev. It replaced an even older wooden, 13-domed church built in 989. The sixth (and the largest) dome crowns a tower which leads to a rood-loft. The cupolas are thought to have acquired their present helmet-like shape in the 1150s, when the cathedral was restored after a fire. The interior was painted in the 11th and 12th centuries, but those f ...

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Saint Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod, Saint Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod - History, Saint Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod - Features

Read more here: » Saint Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod: Encyclopedia II - Saint Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod - History

Vologda (Russian: Во́логда) is a city in Russia, administrative center of Vologda Oblast. It is located at 59°12′N 39°51′E, and has a population of 293,046 (2002). Vologda takes its name from the Vologda River which flows through the city. Its name means "the pure one" in the language of indigenous Finno-Ugric population. Vologda was first mentioned in Novgorod chronicles for 1147, when Saint Gerasim found a church and village already standing there. Surrounded by impassable wo ...

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The region of Kiev dominated the state of Kievan Rus′ for the next two centuries. The grand prince (velikiy kniaz') of Kiev controlled the lands around the city, and his theoretically subordinate relatives ruled in other cities and paid him tribute. The zenith of the state's power came during the reigns of Prince Vladimir (Vladimir the Great, r. 980-1015) and Prince Yaroslav (the Wise; r. 1019-1054). Both rulers continued the steady ...

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Kievan Rus', Kievan Rus' - Early history of Rus′, Kievan Rus' - The Golden Age of Kiev, Kievan Rus' - The Rise of regional centers, Kievan Rus' - Novgorod Republic, Kievan Rus' - North-east, Kievan Rus' - South-west, Kievan Rus' - Influence, Kievan Rus' - Notes

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Russian culture - Icon painting. Russian icon painting was inherited from the art of the Byzantine churches, and it soon became an offshooot version of the mosaic and fresco traditions. Icon paintings in Russia attempt to help people with their prayers without idolizing the figure in the painting. The most comprehensive collection of Icon art is found at the Tretyakov Gallery.[1] Rather than being a mere imitation, Russian icons had a peculiar style and took the icon to new heights by p ...

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Russian culture, Russian culture - History of Russian culture, Russian culture - Art, Russian culture - Icon painting, Russian culture - Russian avant-garde, Russian culture - Soviet Art, Russian culture - Architecture, Russian culture - Cinema, Russian culture - Dance, Russian culture - Music of Russia, Russian culture - Opera, Russian culture - Matryoshka doll and other handicraft, Russian culture - Other art related subjects of interest, Russian culture - Language, Russian culture - Literature, Russian culture - Formalism, Russian culture - Poetry, Russian culture - Cuisine, Russian culture - Martial Arts, Russian culture - Media, Russian culture - Religion, Russian culture - Tourism, Russian culture - Humor, Russian culture - Anecdote, Russian culture - Chastushka, Russian culture - Reference, Russian culture - External link

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Early years of Yaroslav's life are enshrouded in mystery. He was one of the numerous sons of Vladimir the Great, presumably his second by Rogneda of Polotsk, although his actual age (as stated in the Primary Chronicle and corroborated by the examination of his skeleton in the 1930s) would place him among the youngest children of Vladimir. It was speculated that he was a child begotten out of wedlock after Vladimir's divorce with Rogneda and his marriage to Anna Porphyrogeneta. Yaroslav figures prominently in the Norse Sagas under the name of Jarisleif the Lame; his legendary lameness (probably result of an arrow wound ...

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Yaroslav I the Wise, Yaroslav I the Wise - His way to the throne, Yaroslav I the Wise - His reign, Yaroslav I the Wise - Family life and posterity, Yaroslav I the Wise - Sources

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List of cathedrals - Hong Kong. St John's Cathedral (聖約翰座堂) (The Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui (香港聖公會) (Hong Kong Anglican Church (Episcopalian)) Immaculate Conception Cathedral, (聖母無原罪主教座堂) (Catholic) Roman Catholic Cathedral The Cathedral of St Luke the Evangelist (Russian Orthodox) List of cathedrals - Macau. A Sé Catedral (Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Esperança de São Lázaro) (Catholic) See also:

List of cathedrals, List of cathedrals - Argentina, List of cathedrals - Armenia, List of cathedrals - Australia, List of cathedrals - Austria, List of cathedrals - Bangladesh, List of cathedrals - Belarus, List of cathedrals - Belgium, List of cathedrals - Brazil, List of cathedrals - Bulgaria, List of cathedrals - Canada, List of cathedrals - China People's Republic of, List of cathedrals - Hong Kong, List of cathedrals - Macau, List of cathedrals - Croatia, List of cathedrals - Czech Republic, List of cathedrals - Denmark, List of cathedrals - Finland, List of cathedrals - France, List of cathedrals - Germany, List of cathedrals - Gibraltar, List of cathedrals - Iran, List of cathedrals - India, List of cathedrals - Indonesia, List of cathedrals - Ireland Republic and Northern, List of cathedrals - Italy, List of cathedrals - Lithuania, List of cathedrals - Malaysia, List of cathedrals - Mexico, List of cathedrals - Monaco, List of cathedrals - The Netherlands, List of cathedrals - Norway, List of cathedrals - Papua New Guinea, List of cathedrals - Philippines, List of cathedrals - Poland, List of cathedrals - Portugal, List of cathedrals - Russia, List of cathedrals - Singapore, List of cathedrals - Slovakia, List of cathedrals - South Korea, List of cathedrals - Spain, List of cathedrals - Sweden, List of cathedrals - Switzerland, List of cathedrals - Thailand, List of cathedrals - Turkey, List of cathedrals - Ukraine, List of cathedrals - United Kingdom, List of cathedrals - United States, List of cathedrals - Venezuela

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The medieval state of Kievan Rus' incorporated parts of what is now Ukraine and was centered around Kiev. Its influence on architectural tradition extended to the modern states of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. The status of Kievan Rus' as a precursor state to Russia is a somewhat politically charged issue after the fall of Soviet Union and the independence of Ukraine and Belarus. The great churches of Kievan Rus', built after the adoption of Christianity in 988, were the first examples of monumental architecture in the East Slavic lan ...

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Russian architecture, Russian architecture - Medieval Rus' 988–1230, Russian architecture - Early Muscovite period 1230–1530, Russian architecture - Middle Muscovite period 1530–1630, Russian architecture - Late Muscovite period 1612–1712, Russian architecture - Imperial Russia 1712–1917, Russian architecture - Modern Russia since 1917

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Ethnic Russians have predominantly followed the Russian Orthodox church. However, during the Soviet era, Atheism was favored by the government which led to a significant decline in the church. Other minority ethnic groups of Russia often hold to Islam or Animism. Judaism also has a large presence along with Catholicism, Protestantism and Buddhism. Related Articles: Church of the Last Testament History of the Jews in Russia and the Soviet Union Islam in Russia Law on Freedom of Conscience ...

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Russian culture, Russian culture - History of Russian culture, Russian culture - Art, Russian culture - Icon painting, Russian culture - Russian avant-garde, Russian culture - Soviet Art, Russian culture - Architecture, Russian culture - Cinema, Russian culture - Dance, Russian culture - Music of Russia, Russian culture - Opera, Russian culture - Matryoshka doll and other handicraft, Russian culture - Other art related subjects of interest, Russian culture - Language, Russian culture - Literature, Russian culture - Formalism, Russian culture - Poetry, Russian culture - Cuisine, Russian culture - Martial Arts, Russian culture - Media, Russian culture - Religion, Russian culture - Tourism, Russian culture - Humor, Russian culture - Anecdote, Russian culture - Chastushka, Russian culture - Reference, Russian culture - External link

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Russian media began largely under the Soviet Union. However during this period all media was controlled by the government and many of the freedoms Western newspapers are used to were denied. At this time Russia's most famous newspaper was Pravda. It was an official publication of the Communist Party between 1918 and 1991. The paper is still in operation in Russia, but it is most famous in Western countries for its pronouncements during the period of the Cold War. A number of other, less famous, news ...

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Russian culture, Russian culture - History of Russian culture, Russian culture - Art, Russian culture - Icon painting, Russian culture - Russian avant-garde, Russian culture - Soviet Art, Russian culture - Architecture, Russian culture - Cinema, Russian culture - Dance, Russian culture - Music of Russia, Russian culture - Opera, Russian culture - Matryoshka doll and other handicraft, Russian culture - Other art related subjects of interest, Russian culture - Language, Russian culture - Literature, Russian culture - Formalism, Russian culture - Poetry, Russian culture - Cuisine, Russian culture - Martial Arts, Russian culture - Media, Russian culture - Religion, Russian culture - Tourism, Russian culture - Humor, Russian culture - Anecdote, Russian culture - Chastushka, Russian culture - Reference, Russian culture - External link

Read more here: » Russian culture: Encyclopedia II - Russian culture - Media

Russia has a rich cultural heritage that is embodied in the cities of Moscow with its Tretyakov Gallery, Bolshoi Theatre or the Kremlin's collections, and Saint Petersburg on the river Neva, close to the Baltic Sea, with its famous "white nights", the art collections of the Hermitage Museum and the Russian Museum. In the countryside there are many little towns with old cloisters and castles. There are cities with their own rich traditions like Kaliningrad (formerly Königsberg) on the Baltic Sea coast or Novgorod on L ...

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Russian culture, Russian culture - History of Russian culture, Russian culture - Art, Russian culture - Icon painting, Russian culture - Russian avant-garde, Russian culture - Soviet Art, Russian culture - Architecture, Russian culture - Cinema, Russian culture - Dance, Russian culture - Music of Russia, Russian culture - Opera, Russian culture - Matryoshka doll and other handicraft, Russian culture - Other art related subjects of interest, Russian culture - Language, Russian culture - Literature, Russian culture - Formalism, Russian culture - Poetry, Russian culture - Cuisine, Russian culture - Martial Arts, Russian culture - Media, Russian culture - Religion, Russian culture - Tourism, Russian culture - Humor, Russian culture - Anecdote, Russian culture - Chastushka, Russian culture - Reference, Russian culture - External link

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Leaving aside the legitimacy of Yaroslav's claims to the Kievan throne and his postulated guilt in the murder of brothers, Nestor and later Russian historians often represented him as a model of virtue and styled him the Wise. A less appealing side of his personality may be revealed by the fact that he imprisoned his younger brother Sudislav for life. Yet another brother, Mstislav of Tmutarakan, whose distant realm bordered on the Northern Caucasus and the Black Sea, hastened to Kiev and inflicted a heavy defeat on Yaroslav in 1024. T ...

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Yaroslav I the Wise, Yaroslav I the Wise - His way to the throne, Yaroslav I the Wise - His reign, Yaroslav I the Wise - Family life and posterity, Yaroslav I the Wise - Sources

Read more here: » Yaroslav I the Wise: Encyclopedia II - Yaroslav I the Wise - His reign

In 1019, Yaroslav married Ingegerd Olofsdotter, daughter of king of Sweden, and gave Ladoga to her as a marriage gift. There are good reasons to believe that before that time he had been married to a woman named Anna, of disputed extraction. In the Saint Sophia Cathedral, one may see a fresco representing the whole family: Yaroslav, Irene (as Ingigerd was known in Rus), their 5 daughters and 5 sons. Yaroslav married three of his daughters to foreign princes who lived in exile at his court: Elizabeth to Harald III of Norway (who had at ...

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Yaroslav I the Wise, Yaroslav I the Wise - His way to the throne, Yaroslav I the Wise - His reign, Yaroslav I the Wise - Family life and posterity, Yaroslav I the Wise - Sources

Read more here: » Yaroslav I the Wise: Encyclopedia II - Yaroslav I the Wise - Family life and posterity

Main article: Russian cuisine Russia has a rich culinary history and offers a wide variety of soups, dishes made from fish, cereal based products and drinks. Vegetables, fruit, mushrooms, berries and herbs also play a major part in the Russian diet, while meat does not. Primordial Russian products such as caviar, smetana, buckwheat, rye flour, etc. have h ...

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Russian culture, Russian culture - History of Russian culture, Russian culture - Art, Russian culture - Icon painting, Russian culture - Russian avant-garde, Russian culture - Soviet Art, Russian culture - Architecture, Russian culture - Cinema, Russian culture - Dance, Russian culture - Music of Russia, Russian culture - Opera, Russian culture - Matryoshka doll and other handicraft, Russian culture - Other art related subjects of interest, Russian culture - Language, Russian culture - Literature, Russian culture - Formalism, Russian culture - Poetry, Russian culture - Cuisine, Russian culture - Martial Arts, Russian culture - Media, Russian culture - Religion, Russian culture - Tourism, Russian culture - Humor, Russian culture - Anecdote, Russian culture - Chastushka, Russian culture - Reference, Russian culture - External link

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Russia gains much of its wit from the great flexibility and richness of the Russian language, allowing for plays on words and unexpected associations. Like with any other nation, its vast scope ranges from lewd jokes and silly wordplay to political satire. Russian culture - Anecdote. Main article: Russian jokes Russian jokes, the most popular form of Russian humour, are short fictional stories or dialogues with a punch line. Russian joke culture features a series of categories wi ...

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Russian culture, Russian culture - History of Russian culture, Russian culture - Art, Russian culture - Icon painting, Russian culture - Russian avant-garde, Russian culture - Soviet Art, Russian culture - Architecture, Russian culture - Cinema, Russian culture - Dance, Russian culture - Music of Russia, Russian culture - Opera, Russian culture - Matryoshka doll and other handicraft, Russian culture - Other art related subjects of interest, Russian culture - Language, Russian culture - Literature, Russian culture - Formalism, Russian culture - Poetry, Russian culture - Cuisine, Russian culture - Martial Arts, Russian culture - Media, Russian culture - Religion, Russian culture - Tourism, Russian culture - Humor, Russian culture - Anecdote, Russian culture - Chastushka, Russian culture - Reference, Russian culture - External link

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After the Time of Troubles the state and the church were bankrupt, and could not finance any construction works. The initiative was taken by rich merchants of the city Yaroslavl-on-the-Volga. In the course of the seventeenth century, they built numerous large churches of cathedral type, with five onion-like cupolas, and surrounded them with tents of belltowers and aisles. At first the churches' composition was sharply asymmetrical, with different parts balancing each other on the "scale-beam" principle (e.g., the Church of Elijah the Prophet ...

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Russian architecture, Russian architecture - Medieval Rus' 988–1230, Russian architecture - Early Muscovite period 1230–1530, Russian architecture - Middle Muscovite period 1530–1630, Russian architecture - Late Muscovite period 1612–1712, Russian architecture - Imperial Russia 1712–1917, Russian architecture - Modern Russia since 1917

Read more here: » Russian architecture: Encyclopedia II - Russian architecture - Late Muscovite period 1612–1712

Kievan Rus′ was not able to maintain its position as a powerful and prosperous state, in part because of the amalgamation of disparate lands under the control of a ruling clan. As the members of that clan became more numerous, they identified themselves with regional interests rather than with the larger patrimony. Thus, the princes fought among themselves, frequently forming alliances with outside groups such as the Polovtsians, Poles, and Hungarians. During the years from 1054 to 1224 no less than 64 principalities had a more or less ephemeral existence, 293 princes put forward ...

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Kievan Rus', Kievan Rus' - Early history of Rus′, Kievan Rus' - The Golden Age of Kiev, Kievan Rus' - The Rise of regional centers, Kievan Rus' - Novgorod Republic, Kievan Rus' - North-east, Kievan Rus' - South-west, Kievan Rus' - Influence, Kievan Rus' - Notes

Read more here: » Kievan Rus': Encyclopedia II - Kievan Rus' - The Rise of regional centers

According to the Primary Chronicle, the earliest chronicle of Kievan Rus′, a Varangian (Viking) named Rurik first established himself in Novgorod, located in modern Russia (he was selected as common ruler by several Slavic and Finnic tribes) in about 860 before moving south and extending his authority to Kiev. The chronicle cites him as the progenitor of the Rurik Dynasty. The Primary Chronicle says: Upon year 6367 (859): Varangians from over the sea had tribute from Chuds, Slavs, Merias, Veses, Krivichs.... U ...

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Kievan Rus', Kievan Rus' - Early history of Rus′, Kievan Rus' - The Golden Age of Kiev, Kievan Rus' - The Rise of regional centers, Kievan Rus' - Novgorod Republic, Kievan Rus' - North-east, Kievan Rus' - South-west, Kievan Rus' - Influence, Kievan Rus' - Notes

Read more here: » Kievan Rus': Encyclopedia II - Kievan Rus' - Early history of Rus′

The Mongols looted the country so thoroughly that even capitals (such as Moscow or Tver) couldn't afford new stone churches for more than half a century. Novgorod and Pskov however managed to escape the Mongol yoke, and evolved into successful commercial republics. Many dozens of medieval churches, from the twelfth century on, have been preserved in these towns. The churches of Novgorod, such as the Saviour-on-the-Ilyina-Street (1374), are steep-roofed and carved in a rough manner. Some of them contain magnificent medieval frescoes. T ...

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Russian architecture, Russian architecture - Medieval Rus' 988–1230, Russian architecture - Early Muscovite period 1230–1530, Russian architecture - Middle Muscovite period 1530–1630, Russian architecture - Late Muscovite period 1612–1712, Russian architecture - Imperial Russia 1712–1917, Russian architecture - Modern Russia since 1917

Read more here: » Russian architecture: Encyclopedia II - Russian architecture - Early Muscovite period 1230–1530

In the sixteenth century, the key development was the introduction of tented roof into brick architecture. Tent-like roof construction is thought to have originated in the Russian North, as it prevented snow from piling up on wooden buildings during long winters. In wooden churches (even modern ones) this type of roof has been very popular. The first ever tent-like church built in brick is the Ascension church of Kolomenskoe (1531), designed to commemorate the birth of Ivan the Terrible. Its design was prone to most unusual interpreta ...

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Russian architecture, Russian architecture - Medieval Rus' 988–1230, Russian architecture - Early Muscovite period 1230–1530, Russian architecture - Middle Muscovite period 1530–1630, Russian architecture - Late Muscovite period 1612–1712, Russian architecture - Imperial Russia 1712–1917, Russian architecture - Modern Russia since 1917

Read more here: » Russian architecture: Encyclopedia II - Russian architecture - Middle Muscovite period 1530–1630

In 1712, Peter I of Russia moved the capital from Moscow to St Petersburg, which he planned to design in the Dutch style usually called Petrine baroque. Its major monuments include the Peter and Paul Cathedral, Menshikov Palace, and the Menshikov Tower. During the reign of Empress Anna and Elizaveta Petrovna, the Russian architecture was dominated by a luxurious Baroque style of Bartolomeo Rastrelli whose signature buildings include the Winter Palace, the Catherine Palace, and the Smolny Cathedral. Other distinctive monuments of the Elizabethan Baroque ...

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Russian architecture, Russian architecture - Medieval Rus' 988–1230, Russian architecture - Early Muscovite period 1230–1530, Russian architecture - Middle Muscovite period 1530–1630, Russian architecture - Late Muscovite period 1612–1712, Russian architecture - Imperial Russia 1712–1917, Russian architecture - Modern Russia since 1917

Read more here: » Russian architecture: Encyclopedia II - Russian architecture - Imperial Russia 1712–1917