Belarusian Gothic

St. Michael, Synkavichy, 16th c.

The term Belarusian Gothic, Belarusian беларуская готыка (belaruskaya hotyka), Russian белорусская готика (belorusskaya gotika), describes the architectural style of buildings erected in the 15th^[1] and 16th centuries,^[2] being mainly in the first half of the 16th century.^[3] The style was used in the regions of modern-day Belarus , Lithuania and eastern Poland.

The buildings have elements of typical Gothic design, but they also have elements that would not be considered Gothic in central and western Europe.

Conditions of building

Lithuania and Poland in 1526

Since the baptism of the grand prince Vladimir the Great and the Christianization ^[4] of the Kievan Rus', the Russian architecture has become heavily influenced by Byzantine architecture. With the Mongol invaders fighting against the Rus', the raids and rule of the Golden Horde caused devastation and poverty in the region.

During the 13th century and the first decades of the 14th century, the Russian principalities in present-day Belarus were eventually subjugated by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a pagan state that was developing resistance against the Catholic Teutonic Order, and became a major power in the 14th century. This state had a Lithuanian nobility, and the northwest of the region was mainly populated by rural Lithuanians, including some nobility in the south and east, originally descending from the Rus'. The official language was Ruthenian.^[5]

With the union of Poland and Lithuania, mainly due to Władysław II Jagiełło being crowned Poland's king in 1386, western and southern Europe increased communication, especially after the definitive victory of the union against the Teutonic Order in 1466 (Second Peace of Thorn), and growing prosperity.

The Gothic style came to the Slavic regions during this period, when in central Europe, it was slowly being displaced, and in southern Europe, it had already been displaced by Renaissance architecture.

The south of present-day Lithuania had a Lithuanian majority and never was part of the Rus', but the conditions of both were similar. The country has almost as many examples of the same style of architecture as Belarus. It is here that the church, which is considered the onset of the style, the Orthodox Cathedral of the Theotokos^[6] in Vilnius, was constructed. This was before the Renaissance style had arrived in central Europe, and it was when the Lithuanian state had not yet become Catholic.

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  Cathedral of Ss. Boris and Gleb,^[1] Navahrudak, southern façade

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  Cathedral of Ss. Boris and Gleb, 1519–1630, interior

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  Church of Saint Michael,^[2][3] Hnesna (de), 1524–1527

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  Mir Castle, 16th century

1. ^ www.radzima.org (Belarusian portal on monuments in Belarus, Lithuania and Podlessia) Царква Святых Барыса й Глеба | Навагрудак (description of Boris-and-Gleb-Church in Belarusian)
2. ^ Roman Aranazy, Dzieje rezydencji na dawnych kresach Rzeczypospolite (Residences in former districts of the (Polish) republic today (in Polish), 1993, S. 209, Hniezna
3. ^ radzima.org – touristical presentation of Hnezna

The Belarusian Gothic is a merging of Byzantine, Gothic, and Renaissance architectures.

• Material: Some buildings bear resemblance to the Brick Gothic of northern German design, and some of the other structures are completely plastered.
• Arches: The church windows mainly have pointed arches, but blind arcades and Lombard bands mainly have round arches.
• Vaults: Most of the churches have rib vaults, but there are also simplistic heavy vaults, such as those found in Romanesque and in Byzantine architecture.
• Entire shapes: Most of the churches are fortified. In some of them, this character is emphasized. They have a short nave and four small towers in each corner. Other churches have an ordinary high western bell tower.

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  Church of the Holy Ghost, 1530, Kodeń, Poland, near the bank of Bug River

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  Cathedral of the Dormition of the Theotokos, Vilnius

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  St. Gertrude,^[1] Kaunas, Lithuania

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  St. John Baptist in Zapyškis, Lithuania

1. ^ Šv. Gertrūdos bažnyčia (in Lithuanian)

References

1. "15th century". Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2016-04-25.
2. "16th century". Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2016-04-20.
3. "16th century". Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2016-04-20.
4. "Christianization". Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2016-03-21.
5. "Within the [Lithuanian] Grand Duchy, the Ruthenian lands initially retained considerable autonomy. The pagan Lithuanians themselves were increasingly converting to Orthodoxy and assimilating into Ruthenian culture. The grand duchy's administrative practices and legal system drew heavily on Slavic customs, and Ruthenian became the official state language. Direct Polish rule in Ukraine since the 1340s and for two centuries thereafter was limited to Galicia. There, changes in such areas as administration, law, and land tenure proceeded more rapidly than in Ukrainian territories under Lithuania. However, Lithuania itself was soon drawn into the orbit of Poland."
   from Ukraine. (2006). In Encyclopædia Britannica.
6. Description of the Cathedral of the Theotokos - in Russian

Sources

• Nigel Roberts, Belarus, p. 185 (google books)
• [https://books.google.de/books?id=FSpJAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA256&lpg=PA256&dq=Weißrussische+Gotik&source=bl&ots=Boq-ZVWND9& sig=0kSHR4QXp7lEWQUfyY8NB_IK6aw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi15Zqnq-rJAhUGgQ8KHf7WCXkQ6AEILDAC#v=onepage&q=Weißrussische%20Gotik&f=false Rainer Lindner, Historiker und Herrschaft: Nationsbildung und Geschichtspolitik in Weißrußland im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, Verlag Oldenbourg 1999, ISBN 3-486-56455-2, S. 256, II. Nation und Geschichte im Stalinismus → 3. Rivalität der Mythen (Nation-building and policy of history in Belarus in the 19th & 20 centuries) – in German]
• Archives of Belarus, Church Architecture
• Беларуская готыка ў пабудове культавых будынкаў XV-XVI стст. – Belarusian Gothic in religious buildings of the 15th and 16th centuries (in Belarusian, very much illustrated)