Etninės ir profesionaliosios architektūros atspindžiai Lietuvos medinių cerkvių formose

LTMedinių cerkvių architektūra Lietuvoje ligi šiol detaliai netyrinėta. Medinės cerkvės lietuvių liaudies architektūros kontekste gana fragmentiškai, neišskiriant stačiatikių ir sentikių maldos namų, paminėtos nedidelės apimties straipsnyje 1968 m. grupės autorių išleistame leidinyje "Lietuvių liaudies architektūra"1. Kituose leidiniuose ir straipsniuose, kurių autoriai R Blaževičius, J. Fabijonavičius, R. Laukaitytė, G. Potašenko ir kiti, jos dažniausiai minimos istoriniame kontekste, neliečiant architektūros. Svarbių istorinių duomenų apie Lietuvos stačiatikių ir sentikių bendruomenes ir maldos namus pateikta žurnalo "Athenaeum" VII tome, kurį 1936 m. Kaune išleido Vytauto Didžiojo universiteto Teologijos-filosofijos fakultetas. Apie kai kurias sentikių cerkves ir kapines yra duomenų leidinyje "Historic and Cultural heritage sites of the Old Believers in Lithuania", išleistame 2006 m. Vašingtone. Renkant medžiagą straipsniui tyrinėtos tik iki šių dienų išlikusios medinės cerkvės. Buvo dirbama Lietuvos centriniame valstybės archyve, Kauno technologijos universiteto Architektūros ir statybos instituto istorijos ir paveldo sektoriaus archyve, įvairių rajonų savivaldybių paminklotvarkos skyriuose, bibliotekose; išlikusių cerkvių atvaizdų ieškota ir interneto tinklapiuose bei minėtų istorikų darbuose. [...]. [Iš Įvado]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Etninis paveldas; Kultūros paveldas; Lietuvos architektūros istorija; Medinė architektūra; Medinės cerkvės; Sentikių bendruomenės; Stačiatikių bendruomenės; Cultural heritage; Ethnic heritage; Lithuanian architecture history; Old Believers; Orthodox communities; Wooden architecture; Wooden churches.

ENThere are no extant data how the first wooden churches of Lithuania looked like. Present wooden churches situated within the territory of the Republic of Lithuania were constructed in the beginning of the XIX C. - XX C. In Lithuania, churches of Orthodox Christians and Old Believers differ by their construction peculiarities and architecture.Plans of churches of Old Believers usually are rectangular or with a protruding narrower porch. On the western side, a vestibule and prayer hall behind it (sometimes it is split longitudinally into the parts for men and women) are located, whereas at the end eastern wall a separated space to store icons is found. Generally, churches of Old Believers are small, with belfry towers of simple silhouette (towerless variants are also possible), with covered poppy-shaped helmets (onion-shaped ones are met more rarely); sometimes, opened two-floor porches or porticoes are observed. Volume and proportions of churches often are close to dwelling houses or wooden people's churches. Volumes rise in the direction of the main western facade, where a tower/belfry predominates. End eastern facades are blind, and only somewhere in the panels whereof small openings are observed. Facade planking usually is horizontal or contains boards in two directions. Prevailing elements of decor imply window edgings with prolonged side boards as well as carved attached details at the bottom, fascia imitation.In a church of Old Believers, an iconostasis usually is represented by a composition of small shelves of different length containing icons and being attached to the eastern wall. Normally, churches of Orthodox Christians are two-towered; more rarely churches with a single prevailing tower and low turrets emphasising the main parts of the building are observed; besides, some churches may be towerless.At the majority of wooden churches of Orthodox Christians, plans have a stepped contour and broadened middle part. In this sense, they are similar to ones of brickwork churches, whereas volumes rise in the direction of centre or the main facade. Towers/belfries go high above the pediments of the main facades; usually, they are of heavyset proportions. Second towers that emphasise the centre of the prayer hall are made slimmer and usually serve as the highest vertical accents of churches. Facades are planked with boards in a few directions, enlivened with tapered ends of boards and painted in contrast colours. Commonly, all facades of such churches are treated as representational. For finishing of windows, friezes and cornices, such dėcor elements as spatial fascias, stylized motifs of plants and strict geometric shapes, laced carvings and stylistic architectural details are used. The main accent inside the churches of Orthodox Christians is an iconostasis.Forms of churches of Old Believers represent definite features of Lithuanian ethnic architecture as well as unsophisticated elements of stylistic architecture are observed, whereas the purpose of buildings most often is told just by an eight-ended cross. Forms of churches of Orthodox Christians fuse together individual features of ethnic and stylistic architecture with the details typical of Russian churches. [From the publication]