Neo-Byzantine architecture
Introduction
Neo-Byzantine architecture in the Russian Empire emerged in the 1850s and became the preferred, and officially endorsed, architectural style for church construction during the reign of Tsar Alexander II (1855-1881), replacing the Russo-Byzantine style of Konstantin Thon. Although Alexander III changed state preferences in favor of the late Neo-Russian style, Neo-Byzantine architecture flourished during his reign. (1881-1894) and continued to be used until the outbreak of the First World War. Some white émigré architects, after the revolution of 1917, settled in the Balkans and Harbin and continued working on neo-Byzantine designs there until the Second World War.
Initially, buildings of Neo-Byzantine architecture were concentrated in Saint Petersburg and the Crimea, with a few isolated projects undertaken in kyiv and Tbilisi. In the 1880s, Neo-Byzantine designs became the preferred option for the expansion of the Russian Orthodox Church on the borders of the Empire: Congress Poland, Lithuania, Bessarabia, Central Asia, North Caucasus, Lower Volga and Cossack hosts; In the 1890s, they spread from the Ural region into Siberia following the emergence of new cities along the emerging Trans-Siberian railway. State-sponsored Neo-Byzantine churches were also built in Jerusalem, Harbin, Sofia, and on the French Riviera.[Sav. 1] Non-religious construction in the Neo-Byzantine style was rare and most extant examples built were hospitals and hospices during the reign of Nicholas II.
History
Context
The last part of the rule of Alexander I was marked by the state application of the Empire style as the only architectural style for religious, public and private construction (Kazan Cathedral "Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan (St. Petersburg)") (1801-1811), Narva Gate (1814), Palace Square "Palace Square (St. Petersburg)") (1819-1829), Alexander Column (1830-1834) or New Hermitage (1841-1842). This monopoly on a single style was lifted in the early 1830s; Since Nicholas I promoted the eclectic ecclesiastical designs of Konstantin Thon, some architects (Mikhail Bykovski) and artistic circles in general (Nikolái Gogol) called for the general liberalization of building permit procedures, insisting on the freedom of the architect to choose the style that best suited the functions of the building and the preferences of his clients. Thus, in the late 1840s, civil architecture Russian diversified into various styles (neo-Gothic, by Bykovski, Neo-Renaissance, by Thon), while new ecclesiastical projects leaned towards Thon's "Album of Model Designs" or neoclassicism.