Social and political foundations of the formation of urban planning and architecture of the cities of Ancient Russia

Lapina Dar'ya Andreevna Specialist of archeological division of the KALININGRAD REGIONAL MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND ART 236000, Russia, Kaliningrad region, Kaliningrad, Kharkiv str., 35, sq. 1 train.to.talinn233@gmail.com

The greatest contribution to the study of the social aspect of this topic was made by M. H. Aleshkovsky. In his works ^{[1; 2]} he analyzed the social aspect of the formation of the urban space of Novgorod and Pskov. The historian was the first to raise the problem of the influence of the social factor on the architecture and urban planning of Ancient Russia, laid the foundations of methodology. One of the first works in which the study of ancient Russian architecture was initiated through the prism of international relations is the work of A. I. Nekrasov ^[3]. It makes the first attempts to analyze architecture not in the context of the evolution of Byzantine architecture, but as an independent, unique phenomenon that experienced not only Eastern, but also Western influence.

Also in the presented article were used: an overview work on the foreign policy of Pashuto V. T ^[4], a monograph by Zakrevsky V. N. ^[5], articles by Zagraevsky S. V. ^[6], Zaitsev I. A. and Kushnir I. I. ^[7], Ioannisyan O. M. ^[8], Mokeeva G. Ya. ^[9].

Administrative-territorial systems and urban toponyms of Ancient RussiaIn the Ancient Russian city, the streets were a concentration of various residential buildings.

         When we approach this problem, the question immediately arises, which was the primary one: the formation of streets or the accumulation of buildings? During the Novgorod expedition of 1951, 1954. Zasurtsev P. I. discovered that the streets in Old Russian Novgorod were built up from north to south, that is, from the outskirts of the city to the center. It is also not uncommon to connect several crowded buildings with each other, which formed voids between them, when combining which ancient Novgorod streets later arose ^{[2, p. 101]}. Due to this method of forming the urban grid, the streets acquired an irregular, ornate shape ^{[2, p. 101]}. According to its outline, the streets later received names from local residents. As an example, the names can be given: Rogatitsa and Rogovka in Novgorod, Bridge in Kiev. Thus, it is possible to come to the conclusion about the secondary nature of many streets of ancient Novgorod. On the territory of the Ancient Russian state there was a constant cultural exchange between the lands. Urban planning traditions could be introduced by immigrants from one principality to another.

The assumption of patronymic streets may also work in favor of this theory. Streets were often formed around and near the estates of the so-called patrons ^[10].  Street names in Novgorod were formed from the names of influential people whose estates were located on a particular street. On behalf of the owner of the manor of Danslav, with the addition of the iotized suffix -li, Danslavli Street turned out (recorded in the chronicle of 1342 ^[11], but most likely much older, since this Old Slavic suffix went out of circulation only after the XII century ^{[12, p. 203]}).

In Kiev, the courtyards of patrons were depicted in the Stories of Bygone Years, among them: Gordyata, Vorotislav, Chudin, Kosnyachkov, Putyatin ^[13]. All these people belonged to the political elite, their yards were located inside the detinets. Unfortunately, the names of the Kiev streets of the Old Russian period have not reached us, but we can assume that they were formed, as it often happened in Novgorod, from the names of patrons. Migrants often bring their traditions to the new environment they find themselves in, as for example, migrants from Kiev to Vladimir gave this city the names of Kiev hydronyms – Lybed, Pochaina, Irpen. As an example, we can cite the import of equipment for the manufacture of building materials. Thus, the method of creating the shape of the plinth of the Church of the Annunciation on the Hillfort indicates the arrival of Kiev artisans in Novgorod ^{[14, p. 85]}.

Very often the city had a binomial radial structure, divided into the Kremlin and the Posad. The structure focused on the political center of the city (detinets), or rather on its gates and on small religious centers (temples). Sometimes the structure combined these two functions, such as the Golden Gate in Kiev with the gate temple. Street names also had a religious influence.  For example, Yakovlya Street in Novgorod, it got its name from the Church of Jacob (the Apostle James), was first mentioned in 1135 in the Novgorod First Chronicle ^{[7, pp. 118-119]}. The detinets in the ancient Russian city could carry both the function of a sacred place and the center of economic and administrative life. Indicative in this case is the social topography of Ryazan. Until the XII century, there was no clear division into districts on social or political grounds on the territory of Ryazan. Social and professional status are, as it were, fused and inseparable, which is reflected in the spontaneous development. But after 1350, the trends change. There is a noticeable transition to zoning, moving away from chaotic construction to orderly. The supporting buildings that set the rhythm of the entire street are highlighted. Darkevich V. P. and Borisevich G. V. believe that: "State construction of such a scale assumed a strong princely power, an independent policy based on popular support" ^{[15, p. 26]}.

Of particular interest is the development in Chernihiv. It is characterized by a special disorder. Mikhailov K. A. connects such a trait with the fluctuating composition of the population depending on the season, and this in turn leads to temporary forms of social ties of "trading people" ^{[16, p. 8]}. In his work, the researcher calls this feature common to Pskov, Staraya Ladoga and Kiev in the early stages of development, when people came there for the purpose of trade. But later they remained, and then the urban development acquired a clear street structure and boundaries.

It is also necessary to highlight the topic of defensive structures. Let's go back to the mentioned Golden Gate in Kiev. They got their name from the Golden Gate from Constantinople and served as a symbol of continuity between Byzantium and Ancient Russia ^[17]. A similar political device was later used in other cities of the Old Russian state when it came to naming the main gates of the city. There are Golden Gates in Novgorod (as if showing that it is equal to Kiev) and in Vladimir (personifying a new political center).

These defensive structures reflected not only the political situation, but also the social, or rather ethnic structure. In Kiev, you can find such names of gates as Lyadsky. Solovyov S. M. ^{[18, p. 39]} and Zakrevsky V. N. ^{[5, p. 439]}, were of the opinion that the name of the Lyadsky gate is associated with the residence of Poles in this area. The name of the Jewish Gate testifies to the residence of Jews in Kiev, these data were confirmed by a written source when in 1962 a Kiev letter was found in the Cairo geniza.

Novgorod also had names associated with a non-ethnic population. Such streets as Prusskaya and Chudintseva, Nerevsky and Slavensky End ^[1], once again confirm the opinion that the streets acquired their outlines due to the settlement of various social groups.

Names related to the professional activities of a certain social group were also distributed. Such street names as: Ludogoscha, Shchitnaya, Lubyanitsa – refer to the names associated with the type of activity of the population of Novgorod. Ludogoshcha Street comes from two words "people" — a group of people, people and "gost" — from "guests" (merchants), that is, the street where merchants worked and lived ^{[19, p. 342]}. Shield Street probably took its name from the fact that military weapons were created in this place. Lubyanitsa Street – originates most likely from the type of activity for the manufacture and sale of bast and bast products ^{[19, p. 366]}. In Kiev, the Posadsky population is not represented among the street names, which indicates their weak role in the social and political life of the city.

Thus, in the urban planning grid of ancient Russian cities, the following trends can be distinguished: the binomial nature of the urban structure (aristocratic detinets and trade and craft posad), most often a fan orientation to the political center - detinets, social and religious basis for the emergence of streets.

Architectural appearance of streets and individual architectural elements of ancient Russian citiesThe ancient Russian city, as a living organism, reacted to any social and political changes.

Its architectural appearance was modified, new decorative elements were mastered.

If we talk about the appearance of Ancient Kiev, the first and very influential factor that influenced the changes in the external architectural face is the religious factor. After the baptism of Russia, pagan monuments began to disappear, and Christian ones appeared in their place. So the Tithe Church built on Starokievskaya Hill appeared on the site where pagan idols were previously located ^[13]. According to new research, its architecture did not belong to the representatives of the capital Byzantine architecture, but on the contrary was an example of provincial Byzantine architecture, dating back to Balkan art, as it provided a domed basilica ^{[8, p. 49]}. This building is not the only example of a domed basilica on the territory of the Ancient Russian state. This type of building can also include the Transfiguration Cathedral in Chernihiv. A. I. Nekrasov also noted that the cathedral is a typical building of Asia Minor ^{[3, p. 29]}.

Kiev architecture was built on princely money, with the help of invited Byzantine architects. This can be seen from the general rhythm of the buildings. For example, the Kiev Sofia and the Golden Gate were laid at about the same time and are a single complex. The architecture of Kiev seemed to reflect the strong princely power with all its appearance, and the appearance of a multi-dome (which did not exist in Byzantium) once again emphasizes this ^[9].

 As if in contrast to this is Novgorod. The city, in which the boyars and the hundred population played a colossal role, has many buildings erected by them. These churches were of a more simplified form, severe and massive in appearance, with a cubic silhouette ^{[8, p. 49]}. If we return to the study of urbanonyms, we will notice an interesting trend – boyar churches bore the names of their patrons. For example, the churches of Michael, built by Mikhalko Stepanovich (1174), John Chrysostom, built by Yuri Ivanovich (1224) ^[1]. Churches built by hundreds of people bore either the names of important saints or related to religious holidays, such as the church erected by the forces of Novgorod artisans on Shield Street – the Trinity Church.

The precedent of the construction of the stone temple of Boris and Gleb in 1167 is very indicative .. This building was located opposite Sofia Novgorodskaya and is quite slightly inferior in size. In addition, the temple was erected not by a representative of the boyars, but by the merchant Sotko Sytinich. The Church of Boris and Gleb shows the competition between two strata of the population: boyars and merchants. It is noteworthy that it was at this time that merchants were included in the Veche ^[1].

Not only social stratification influenced the appearance of Novgorod, it is also necessary to note international trade relations. Numerous evidences of this have been preserved. Including in the "Acts of the Archbishops of the Hamburg Church", Adam of Bremen, a North German chronicler, notes that in his time, that is, in the XI century, the journey directly from the city of Yumna (possibly the city of Volin) to a certain Ostrogard of Russia (there are still disputes about whether it is Ladoga or Novgorod) took fourteen days of sailing ^{[20, p. 41]}.

The most striking example of international cooperation can be the Church of Praskevna Friday at the Auction, built by foreign merchants. This temple has not only typical Romanesque features, but also elements of Smolensk architecture. We will attribute a promising portal to the Romanesque features, such an element can be seen in the churches of the Kaliningrad region, for example, in the Allenau church in the village of Porechye (Fig. 1, Fig. 2).

 Fig. 1. Paraskeva-Fridays Church at the Auction, perspective portal, western facade.

Fig. 2. Allenau Church, perspective portal, western facade.

            This church is similar to the Mikhailo-Arkhangelsk Church in Smolensk – the shape of its apses and the three-lobed completion of the facades. Which suggests that in Novgorod, in addition to the local and non-ethnic population, there were also immigrants from other principalities. We can talk about the mobility of the population within the Ancient Russian state.

         Other lands also had their own international connections. Volyn and Galich received Hungary's support in the struggle for independence from Kiev; the Volyn-Hungarian anti-Byzantine alliance and the subsequent Galician-Hungarian rapprochement had a noticeable impact on international relations in the northern Black Sea region ^{[4, pp. 151-166]}. So at the beginning of the XIII century, stone towers appeared in Volhynia, analogues of European towers-donjon.

         The plot told by Tatishchev about how Friedrich Barbarossa sent his architects for Andrei Bogolyubsky is also interesting ^{[21, pp. 244-245]}. This information is confirmed by the chronicle, as well as by the appearance of the buildings themselves of that time. Equal-layer masonry appears, mashing the walls with mortar and marking, imitating masonry made of stone, ceramic arched belts, powerful half-columns on the facades, as well as zooanthropomorphic decor ^[6]. Urban architecture has reacted very noticeably to the new international relations of the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality.

         Thus, it becomes obvious that the appearance of the ancient Russian city, its urban planning grid was formed on a social and political (both internal and external) basis. This was reflected in the location of streets, the origin of urbanonyms, in the architectural forms of ancient Russian cities.

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