CONSTRUCTION OF WOODEN CHURCHES

Ancient stone cathedrals and classical wooden churches are unique structures, the construction of which began in the tenth century after the adoption of Christianity, and they impress with the skill and art of the craftsmen who created them. The churches, which have stood for several centuries and exist to this day largely thanks to restoration, not only provide an opportunity to get acquainted with different schools of architecture, but also continue to personify the strength and power of Orthodoxy.

In different historical periods, separate architectural trends prevailed, each of which was characterized by its own forms and exterior design. But regardless of the style in which the church was built, each of them contained something of the past and the future.

Common types of religious buildings include:

• cross-domed churches in the Byzantine style, which were firmly rooted in the Orthodox East and appeared after the baptism of Kievan Rus. Rectangular in plan, they could be either modestly decorated or striking in their splendor. Their characteristic feature is a pyramidal composition, where the central dome, raised high on a drum, plays the main role;
• tent and multi-tent churches, which appeared in the XV-XVI centuries and have almost the same base – an octagon on a quadrangle. They have no analogues in European architecture. The roofs of the temples (the cladding of the tents and chapters) could be made with aspen plowshares, which gave them a special elegance;
• tiered temples, characterized by the growth of octagons or quadrangles that gradually decrease in size. Like the tent structures, they could be made of stone or wood and abound in external decor;

• The rotunda churches of the Classicist and Baroque periods, round at the base, inherited from antiquity. Symbols of eternity, they can be called precious pearls among the surviving buildings of the 18th and 19th centuries. The recreation and restoration of churches of this type is especially important given their small number;

• temples-ship, which began to be built in the seventeenth century. Cubic structures connected to the bell tower by a rectangular building. The image of a ship, on which one can set sail on the sea of life, is a symbol of the salvation of believers;

• churches “under the bells” or “under the bell” that have been built since the 15th century. Openwork pillar-like or pyramidal structures, where the bell tier is located under the chapter, above the main volume;

• Cave temples, small, simple structures with one small dome and a gable roof, which later developed and took on more and more complex forms. The latest known buildings date from the early eighteenth century.

• Patriarchate of Constantinople
• Patriarchate of Alexandria
• Patriarchate of Antioch
• Jerusalem Patriarchate
• Ukrainian Orthodox Church
• Serbian Patriarchate
• Romanian Patriarchate
• Bulgarian Patriarchate
• Georgian Patriarchate
• The Orthodox Church of Cyprus
• Greek Orthodox Church
• Polish Orthodox Church
• Albanian Orthodox Church
• Czechoslovakian Orthodox Church
• Orthodox Church of America

There are also autonomous churches with varying degrees of independence:

• Sinai Orthodox Church IE
• Finnish Orthodox Church-KP
• Japanese Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate
• Chinese Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate
• Archdiocese of Ohrid of the Serbian Orthodox Church

The bell tower is a bright decoration of an Orthodox church, but its main purpose is to carry bells that will be convenient to ring. Accordingly, those who are building a church with a bell tower or a separate bell tower should involve church bell specialists at the design stage. There are many subtleties. How will the bells be placed? How will the bell ringer’s workplace be equipped? How will the sound diverge?
For example, a bell tower located in a city, near residential buildings, should not be too “loud” – otherwise, the discontent of the surrounding residents cannot be avoided. But the bell shouldn’t disappear before reaching the listeners either. How can you predict its tone and volume in advance? They depend on the shape (profile) of the bells and, of course, on their weight. It also depends on the correct hanging: the bell should fly into the open spans of the bell tower and not be dampened by the walls.

With the right arrangement of the bells, one skilled bell ringer can control the entire ensemble. With one hand, he sets in motion the tongues of the small bells, whose cables are connected in a bundle, with the other hand he makes the medium bells ring, and with his foot he rhythmically presses the pedals connected to the tongues of the heavy annunciators.

The hanging of the bells should be designed together with the bell tower itself, as the beams on which they will be placed are built into the walls. It will not be possible to fix them later, when the bell tower is completed, because they have to support too much weight.
When constructing a bell tower, it is important to calculate the load it will be able to bear. Not only can the bells weigh up to several tons, but they will regularly generate vibrations that will destroy the building if its strength is insufficient.

And finally, one more important aspect. An unfortunate incident often occurs during the construction of bell towers. The building is constructed, the beams are mounted, and the bells are to be raised. A large annunciator is cast for the church… and they see that it simply will not fit into the bell tower span! To prevent this from happening, once again, everything should be calculated in advance and, perhaps, the heavy largest bells should be lifted to their intended place before the construction is completed.

To answer the question of when the bell towers appeared, we should look at the history of the bells themselves. Tinkling bells existed even before the Nativity of Christ – in China, where they appeared in the XXIII century BC. When did bells come into church use? A beautiful legend says that in the fifth century AD, St. Paul the Gracious fell asleep in a flowering meadow and dreamt that angels were swinging bell flowers and they were ringing melodiously, glorifying the Creator. When he woke up, he ordered the bells to be cast from metal and rung before the church service, calling the people to prayer. This happened in the city of Nola in Italy, where St. Paul was the bishop.
Apparently, bells came to Kyivan Rus with its baptism. Archaeological research suggests that in pre-Mongol times there was a bell-casting workshop in Kyiv. It is known that during the feuds between the princes in 1067, Prince Vsevolod of Polotsk conquered Veliky Novgorod and took the bells of St. Sophia Cathedral to his city. This suggests that the bells, especially the large annunciation bells, were highly valued, a kind of evidence of the high status of the city, and could well have become an object of struggle.

The first bell towers in Kievan Rus were the simplest, so they could not yet be called bell towers in the strict sense of the word. They were a canopy, under which there were pillars with a crossbar attached to them, on which the bells were hung.
When did the first monumental bell towers appear? Chronicles mention them only starting in the fourteenth century. Most likely, they were wooden or stone walls with bells mounted on them, covered with a canopy roof. In icons of the sixteenth century, one can already see both the bell towers described above and bell towers in the modern sense of the word – in the form of octagonal wooden towers.

Bell towers can be different: single and multi-tiered, stone and wooden, standing alone or part of the church building. There are also churches with two or even more bell towers. When there is a large-scale ringing of the bells, several ringers work on them at once, which requires great coordination and virtuoso art to make the ringing harmonious. Churches with two bell towers, which are towers located above the facade on the sides of the main entrance, are not so much common in Ukraine as in other countries, such as the West, Greece, and the Balkans.

Orthodox bell ringing has a peculiarity: it is rhythmic, not chaotic, and does not reproduce musical melodies. Chaotic ringing is the so-called “eye ringing,” common in the West, where the bells themselves swing, not their tongues. Ringing with melodies is not traditional for Orthodox worship. As a rule, it is not bell ringers who play the bells in this way, but secular specialists or carillons, special devices that make the bells sound, but not for the service, but, for example, at certain hours of the day.

But let’s turn to the classic Orthodox bell towers.
In large monasteries, the bell tower is usually a building that stands alone or is connected to the walls of the monastery. It is often very tall and becomes the architectural dominant of the monastery complex. Such a bell tower consists of several tiers, up to five, with bells hanging on the upper tiers. The lower tier, which is closed, often contains a small church. A narrow spiral staircase leads to the upper levels. On weekdays, one person on one of the tiers of the bell tower usually rings for services. On major church holidays, the most important of which is Easter, all the bells are rung, and a whole ensemble of bell ringers works. Being on different tiers, without seeing each other, they skillfully play a harmonious, powerful ringing.

In parish churches, bell towers usually have one tier of bells. But this does not mean that they are low! The bells are located high above the ground, and it takes a lot of work to climb up to them! In many churches, the bell towers are attached to the church building on the western side, and the entrance to the church is located under them. This is convenient: to go from the church to the bell tower, the bell ringer does not need to go outside.

A rather rare type of church today is the “bell-ringing church.” Such churches were widespread in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and they were built later. The bell tower is located above the central part.
Fans of church architecture are familiar with the expression “Northern Tee”. It refers to a church complex consisting of three wooden buildings:

• winter (heated) church;
• the older one (which had no heating system, but was taller and more spacious);
• bell towers.

The wooden bell towers of the North were usually relatively low, but had expressive hipped tops.
Tent bell towers were also built of stone, usually in cities. The light, airy, conical white bell tower is a decoration of the monastery.