508 



RUSSIA. 



Russia. 



pie in the world, and what even savage life might have 

 dictated in a cold climate, though probably it marked 

 the dawning of the Russian from the deepest barbar- 

 The houses of the peasants may have had their 



ism. 



origin in square huts, the pieces of which were loosely 

 joined together, which experience and practice, and 

 consequent improvement, may have brought to the 

 state in which they are in the nineteenth century. 

 Nothing can be more simple, even in our days. Round 

 baulks are laid one upon another, and morticed toge- 

 ther at the various angles, and, after a little adjusting, 

 the interstices are crammed with moss and junk. Such 

 structures require no talent beyond that of imitation. 

 The wood of the forest, the moss of the field, and the 

 clay of the earth, are all the materials the peasant re- 

 quires, and with these he is almost every where sur- 

 rounded. A few simple instruments, to give figure 

 to the separate parts of his dwelling, were probably his 

 most early inventions. A square, one of the simplest 

 figures to erect, is the form of his habitation. Expe- 

 rience taught him, that the roof must be acclivitous to 

 carry off rain. Common sense told him, that apertures 

 must be left for the admission of light. The floor 

 served as his hearth, on which he kindled his wood 

 fire; but being incommoded by the smoke, he was 

 obliged either to have his door open, or to make an 

 aperture for its exit. 



As soon as the Russian savage had emerged from the 

 deepest barbarism, he began to think of order, com- 

 fort, and convenience, and his efforts were naturally 

 turned to architecture. In time ovens and chimnies 

 were introduced, and his instruments were improved 

 by intercourse with other nations. The present dwell, 

 ing of the Russian peasant is nearly square, formed 

 by substantial wooden walls, with a few small aper- 

 tures or windows, the floor of which is covered with 

 planks, and contains an oven for warming his abode 

 and cooking his victuals, the top of which being flat, 

 also serves as his bed. If his family is large, however, 

 a paldtka, or a number of boards joined together, like 

 a great shelf, is erected near the roof for part of them. 

 A bench surrounding three sides of the square, and 

 fixed to the walls, a small table, and a few earthen and 

 wooden dishes, and iron utensils, are all his furniture. 

 The meaner houses have no chimnies, and the smoke 

 passes out at an aperture made through the wall. The 

 better houses have windows, and are covered with 

 planks ; the poorer houses have apertures in place of 

 windows, and are covered with straw. 



ivil archi- 2. Civil Architecture. The native historians give us 

 but little information with respect to the progress of- 

 architecture. But as the Russians decidedly received 

 their ecclesiastical architecture from the Greeks, it 

 seems but natural to conclude that they also received 

 their civil architecture, though no monuments of the 

 tenth, eleventh, or twelfth centuries remain to enable 

 us to form a correct opinion. It has also been con- 

 jectured, that the Russians might have borrowed their 

 form and fashion of architecture from the Tartars ; but 

 it may well be doubted, whether at their invasion of 

 Russia in the thirteenth century, the Tartar nations 

 possessed any knowledge of architectural decoration. 

 Scarcely a vestige of any thing of the Chinese style 

 now remains at Moscow, though perhaps the speci- 

 mens were more numerous in later times. 



The beautiful Gothic style has never been prevalent 

 in Russia. But few traces of it are to be seen in Mos- 

 cow of a date older than twenty years ; and there is 



tecture. 



not a single fine buildirg in this style in St. Peters- 

 burgh. 



Towards the end of the fifteenth century, and dur- 

 ing the reign of Ivan Vassielievitch, Italian artists, en- 

 gineers, cannon founders, goldsmiths, and masons, were 

 drawn to Moscow, by the hope of great recompense, 

 and no doubt contributed much to the improvement 

 of architecture in general, besides building cathedrals 

 and churches, and the walls of the Kremle. From this 

 time up to the accession of Peter the Great, the Greeko- 

 Italian architecture most probably continued to make 

 considerable advancement. In the reign of Peter the 

 Great, both civil and ecclesiastical architecture were 

 extraordinarily improved by the building of Peters- 

 burgh, and from that capital no doubt many improve- 

 ments were carried over the empire. The empress 

 Catharine the Second was a liberal patroness of the arts, 

 sciences, and literature. Even the destroying Paul 

 erected a few buildings, and the reign of the present 

 sovereign has already been prolific of elegant and mag- 

 nificent edifices. 



For many years past, both of the capitals have been 

 well supplied with the most able Italian architects, and 

 they were and are to be found even in some of the go- 

 vernment and principal towns of the empire. The 

 numerous models they have given of elegant taste and 

 style, have drawn forth the eulogies of travellers, espe- 

 cially in the capitals, two of the noblest cities in the 

 universe. 



The Greeko-Italian style must at first, in some de- 

 gree, have been modified by the climate of Russia. 

 But the architects, having acquired a knowledge of 

 counteracting severe cold, by extremely thick walls and 

 excellent stoves, were left to the free exercise of taste, 

 as in the more genial clime of Italy. In these days, 

 the interior of the mansions of the nobles is so arranged 

 that the visitor might conceive himself at Rome. 



3. The Ecclesiastical Style of Architecture. Ecclesi- Ecclesiasti- 

 astical architecture is the most ancient of which any cal architec- 

 vestiges remain, and is the most distinct and pure of t ure - 

 any thing that has become national. To have an idea 

 of the primitive style of sacred edifices in Russia, it is 

 necessary to allude to those of the ancient capitals of 

 the former principalities of this empire, Kief, Novgo'rod, 

 Vladimir, Tver, and Moscow. From all that Dr. Lyall 

 says in his minute account of these edifices, it is evi- 

 dent that the Greek style of ecclesiastical architecture, 

 modified and ornamented afterwards by the Italians, 

 has ever prevailed, and still prevails in Russia. A few 

 exceptions of edifices, which are not reduceable to any 

 known style, cannot effect this general conclusion. 

 One ornament, which is almost universal, of the Rus- 

 sian churches, has excited the attention and curiosity 

 of all travellers. We allude to their bulbous domes, or 

 domes of the shape of an onion. As no such shaped 

 domes have been discovered in the churches in Greece, 

 it has been agitated whether they were not a national 

 ornament. After a long discussion of this subject, Dr. 

 Lyall concludes, that as bulbous domes were used in 

 Syria and Palestine above a hundred years ago, it is 

 probable that they may also have been adopted there 

 long before that period, and that Russia may have re- 

 ceived them through this channel. He is so far from 

 regarding them as a national ornament, that he even 

 questions whether they have been used in Russia for 

 above 300 years. He thinks the bulbous domes deci- 

 dedly came from the east, where they are very com- 

 mon ornaments at present, and is of opinion that their 



