The South Zelenchuksky Church is a former
Alanian
The Alans (Latin: ''Alani'') were an ancient and medieval Iranian nomadic pastoral people of the North Caucasus – generally regarded as part of the Sarmatians, and possibly related to the Massagetae. Modern historians have connected the Ala ...
church located in modern-day
Arkhyz
Arkhyz (also Nizhny Arkhyz russian: Архыз; krc, Ырхыз, ''Irxız''; "mudflows") is a village in the valley of the Bolshoy Zelenchuk River, in the Republic of Karachay–Cherkessia, Greater Caucasus, Russia, about 70 km inland from t ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, dating to the late
10th
10 (ten) is the even natural number following 9 and preceding 11. Ten is the base of the decimal numeral system, by far the most common system of denoting numbers in both spoken and written language. It is the first double-digit number. The rea ...
century or early
11th century
The 11th century is the period from 1001 ( MI) through 1100 ( MC) in accordance with the Julian calendar, and the 1st century of the 2nd millennium.
In the history of Europe, this period is considered the early part of the High Middle Ages. Th ...
. The church's modest size suggests that it was privately owned, potentially by a member of the nobility.
History
The South Zelenchuksky Church dates back to the late 10th or early 11th century, and is one of three
cross-in-square
A cross-in-square or crossed-dome floor plan, plan was the dominant architectural form of middle- and late-period Byzantine Empire, Byzantine church architecture, churches. It featured a square centre with an internal structure shaped like a cross ...
churches known to have been built in the Alanian Diocese, the other two being the North Zelenchuksky Church and the Shoana Church. Unlike the other two churches, the South Zelenchuksky Church is a simple cross-domed church without beams. The church was renovated at the end of the 19th century, during which a
cornice
In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...
was added under the dome, the walls were plastered, the
fresco
Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...
es were painted over, the slab flooring was replaced with wooden flooring, and the drum was covered in a wooden facade. Additionally, because the church's original doorway was plastered over, a new doorway was built into the church's northern wall. After the renovation, the building was consecrated as a church of the Alexander-Athos monastery.
[''Виноградов А. Ю., Белецкий Д. В.'' Нижний Архыз и Сенты — древнейшие храмы России. С. 301.] Because of the renovation, the church is now one of the most studied cross-domed churches in Alanya.
Architecture
The South Zelenchuksky Church is a three-apse three-nave cross-in-square building based on four square pillars, and plastered with a thin layer of
grout
Grout is a dense fluid which hardens to fill gaps or used as reinforcement in existing structures. Grout is generally a mixture of water, cement and sand, and is employed in pressure grouting, embedding rebar in masonry walls, connecting secti ...
. The church is built out of sandstone blocks, with largest of these blocks being on the bottom, the smallest in the middle, and the medium-sized blocks on top. It is possible that the church was covered with flat stone slabs. The outside of the building is 8.5 meters long and 7.75 meters wide, while the inside is 7.7 meters long and 6.16 meters wide. The dome of the building is asymmetrical and has a length of 1.8 meters and a width of 2.7 meters. The northern and central naves of the church have the same width, while the southern nave is much narrower. Differences between this church and similar churches include its arches, which are uneven and are narrower than its pillars, and its vaults, which are shaped differently than most Alanian and Abkhazian architecture.
Due to the elevation of the corner compartments of the church, it is believed that the church originally had a curved coating. The church's apses are semi-circular and small, with side apses being nearly the same height as the central one. Each apse has a window with a corbel arch, indicating that this church was built later than most other Alanian churches. Originally, the church's windows were located in its northern and southern walls, however, the windows were plastered over and moved during the church's renovation.
References
Bibliography
* ''Виноградов А. Ю., Белецкий Д. В.'' Нижний Архыз и Сенты — древнейшие храмы России. Проблемы христианского искусства Алании и Северо-Западного Кавказа. — М.: Индрик, 2011. — 392 с.
* ''Кузнецов В. А.'' Зодчество феодальной Алании. — Орджоникидзе: «Ир», 1977. — 176 с.
* ''Кузнецов В.А.'' Нижний Архыз в X-XII веках. Ставрополь, 1993. — 464 c. .
* ''Пищулина В.В.'' Христианское храмовое зодчество Северного Кавказа периода средневековья. Ростов-на-дону, 2006. — 320 с. {{ISBN, 5-87872-343-3
* ''Сысоев В. М.'' Поездка на реки: Зеленчук, Кубань и Тиберду летом 1895 года. // Материалы по археологии Кавказа : журнал. — М.: Московский государственный университет, 1898. — No. 7. — С. 115–145.
* Отчет гг. Нарышкиных, совершивших путешествие на Кавказ (Сванетию) с археологический целью в 1867 году // Известия Императорского Русского археологического общества. — СПб., 1876. — Т. VIII. Вып. 4. — С. 362–366.
See also
*
Zelenchuk churches
*
Central Zelenchuksky Church
Byzantine church buildings
Churches in Karachay-Cherkessia