Architecture + Design: Church of St. Anthony - Rivne, Ukraine, or in search of gargoyles - Part two.
Greetings friends!
Four years ago, I took a decisive step, together with my beloved wife, and we purchased a plot of land to build our house.
It was my first experience in construction, but since then, architecture and design have settled in our hearts.
Even the choice of a land plot is a difficult task.
Every morning you will wake up and look at the scenery around you, every evening you will go to bed after watching the sunset.
The proximity of infrastructure, the proximity of communications, access to a plot of land, the possibility of further expansion of land tenure, all this, a small part of what you should like, be in your heart, which allows you to become one with this land.
I will never forget the first bucket of soil that was dug by an excavator to lay the foundation.
Sleepless nights of mathematical calculations, the choice between the quality and the ability of my wallet, all this, and much more, taught me to pay attention to small details that are very important in the construction of structures.
I didn’t complete the construction as I followed the path of quality, lol, but there is still hope of completing what I have in mind.
Every time I see a house, or other building, I am looking for something that will help me avoid mistakes in the future.
And, now, I want to continue my story about the Catholic Cathedral of St. Anthony, which is located on Soborna Street, in the city of Rivne, Ukraine.
The architectural forms of the cathedral repeat the architecture of the well-known Notre Dame de Paris.
In the first part of my story, you can see the facade of this interesting structure in all respects and some of its characteristics.
Gothic architecture cannot leave you indifferent.
Sometimes, it seems that time has no power over such masterpieces of architecture, but if this is so, let's try to figure it out.
I set a goal to go around the building of the cathedral and did not hope to get inside.
In addition, I wanted to find gargoyles that can be seen on the porticoes of the roof of Notre Dame de Paris, if the cathedrals look like that, is there a chance to see the same symbolism and meaning?
Theologians and historians are arguing about the reason why gargoyles appeared on Notre Dame de Paris.
I will not argue with them, I have my own opinion on this score based on the history and principles of Christianity and the times of the Old Testament.
Where two or three gather in my name, there I will also be among you - this is the foundation of the Church, and the reason why people come to the building of the cathedral.
The presence of God and desire to be cleansed from sins is what brings even atheists to the church at the end of their days, sometimes earlier.
So, the inside of the cathedral is a place of holiness.
You leave the walls of the cathedral with a feeling of freedom, but the one who wants to stain your soul is always near and closely watching you.
Gargoyles, very intently stare at those who enter and leave the building of the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris.
As the Holy Scriptures say, the Bible is God, he is a jealous person.
The biggest evil that a Christian, Jew, Muslim can do is to start worshiping an idol, being familiar with God.
When Moses brought the Jews out of Egypt, then, at the time when Moses went to Zion to receive the tablets from God, the Jews made themselves an idol of gold, a calf.
This was a fatal mistake for them. God is the Father, God is the Son and God is the net of the Holy Spirit.
To offend the Holy Spirit means to lose salvation.
Gargoyles remind parishioners that salvation is a thin thread between man and God.
It was interesting for me to see such reminders at the Cathedral of St. Anthony.
Time is something that cannot be resisted against, stones and steel turn to dust, authorities change, people change, but architectural monuments continue to struggle for existence.
You can find and read the first part of my story simply by clicking on the GIF image of this watch. They will take you back in time for four days.
I propose to go further and examine the building of the Cathedral of St. Anthony from all sides.
On the right side of the cathedral building, we can see magnificent windows decorated with bends, enclosed in broken, arched openings in the Gothic style.
Every detail is carefully thought out and forms a wonderful design ensemble.
Tourists usually look at the big picture and many moments remain behind the scenes.
But, this is not the case, we will look in all directions and notice important details.
In this photo, you can see a wall that is overgrown with green woods, which indicates the poor performance of the rainwater drainage system and the proximity of groundwater.
I doubt that it was possible to see this in 1899 and throughout the period when this building was used for its intended purpose.
With the advent of the Soviets' power, the building began to die slowly, the essence and the exterior of the building were dying.
Restoration is a very slippery concept. Sometimes, as they say, restorers want to put soap in their eyes and do not calculate all the options and consequences of such restoration.
You can see the basement of the building. which was lined with granite slabs, which have a large mass.
What do we see in the end?
The building of the cathedral became heavier, and began to sink into the ground, which is a peat bog.
The larger the area of the load that presses on the ground, the greater the resistance of the ground.
It turns out that the most stable surface is the blind area of the cathedral courtyard.
The lower, granite slab rested against the blind area, this was a fatal mistake.
The gap between the second row of granite slabs and the first row was too small.
As a result of the building settling into the ground, the upper slab began to press on the lower slab and broke it off.
Fortunately, the grout was less durable than the granite slab, otherwise the granite would have burst.
I doubt that for all 122 years, the building continued to sink into the ground.
Settlement began after restoration work and the construction of other buildings around the cathedral, which led to the mobility of the ground.
I admire the engineering genius of the architect Konstantin Voitsekhovsky, who was able to design and build a sustainable building on such soil.
A kilometer from the building of the cathedral, on the same bank of the Ustye River, my friend built a house that split in two, but the Cathedral of St. Anthony survived.
Let's go further. In this photograph, you can see the variety of window openings on the right side of the building and see the true face of the cathedral.
The red color of the brick deceived me.
I didn't get it right away that this is a props.
The cathedral is built of white sand-lime brick, which you can see on the left side of the photo.
The back of the cathedral is asymmetric and is a combination of wings of different shapes.
This is what the backyard looks like.
On the roof, I saw a small architectural form. It. either a ventilation shaft, or, it is a funnel for rainwater.
The windows of the administrative premises received gentle arched vaults.
Surprisingly, I didn't expect to see a basement here. Considering the fact that the groundwater is very close to the ground level, and, at the time when the cathedral was being built, there were no ultra-modern waterproofing materials, this basement is a masterpiece of architecture, engineering and the hands of builders.
Basement windows can be seen around the perimeter at the back of the cathedral.
Go ahead and search for gargoyles, lol.
Green metal tiles, this is the economy option lol. someone really wanted to save money on restoration work.
I'm wondering what the cathedral will look like if it is handed over to the Catholic Church.
Fire escapes allow you to replace sun-discolored and rotten steel roofing sheets.
I didn't go up, they might not understand me, here, around, there are a lot of ideocameras.
As we can see, the storm water drain is in urgent need of repair.
And here, and video surveillance. The video camera, like the eye of a cyclops, looks somewhere, into the distance. Let's see where this glass eye is looking.
I turned my back to the cathedral and saw the spire of the Catholic Church, which is sorely lacking in the Cathedral of St. Anthony. In the first part I talked about his loss.
A little to the right, I saw an Orthodox church built in the Byzantine style, these are recent buildings, which, I will try to examine in the future.
The Cathedral of St. Anthony is sad looking at these churches, because it has lost its primordiality and purpose, but there is still hope for the resumption of services.
At that moment I saw some movement in the courtyard of the cathedral and I realized that I was here. not alone.
People came out of the building, carrying cases with musical instruments. Apparently, there was a rehearsal of the orchestra, which ended.
I walked towards the left end of the cathedral building and looked at the Gothic windows.
The left end will completely repeat the features of the right end of the building.
It should be noted that the fence of the territory of the cathedral repeats the shape of broken, Gothic arches.
She looked a little dreary, but a few tulips in bloom brought some sense of joy to the overall atmosphere.
Probably, this is how a person's heart looks after repentance and worship.
Merry tulips and sad lanterns, mixed feelings.
On the porch of the front entrance to the cathedral, I saw a man and a woman who had a smoke break and were talking about something.
I decided to take a chance and try to get inside the cathedral.
I didn’t know if my request would be accepted, but it didn’t stop me.
At that moment, from the rush of adrenaline into my blood, the old lanterns should have come back again. I dreamed of getting inside the cathedral!
Whether I got inside the building of the cathedral and whether I found the gargoyles, you will find out in the third part of my story in a few days.
But, I will not torment you with anticipation, you see one gargoyle in this photograph. Yes, she looks a little like a monster with wings, but this is nothing more than a gargoyle, I will definitely explain this, but later.
Enjoy your reading and viewing photos!
To be continued!
Author @barski
Ukraine
For my publications, I do not use stock photographs, it is fundamentally important for me to use photographs that I have made with my own hands for publication and I can name them - authorial work.
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Considering the soil type, the structure stood too good and long, you are really observant for unfolding the structural problems with the church.
Keep flourishing!
Thank you! Probably, the point is that there are problematic soils in our city. Have a great day!
The architect Konstantin Voitsekhovsky of this remarkable Church of St. Anthony (Rivne) was indeed a genius of construction as he was able to design a long-lasting religious building despite the type of soil and unstable ground on where it currently stands. I'm also excited about the third part of this series, and simply eager to know whether you have discovered the gargoyles or not... haha 😊
To add to your beautiful visual collection in this post, here's a memorable photo I captured with the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris some years ago. Cheers!
Cool photo! I have no doubt that you were in a great mood) As for the gargoyles, I showed one of them, but the third part will explain why I think so. She is in the last photograph of the second part of the story. Thank you! Have a great day!
Thank you so much! The Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris was absolutely a fantastic architectural experience. I'd probably feature a special post for this famous landmark someday. Looking forward to the third part of your interesting story. Have an awesome week!
While I am working on the final part of the story, I want to say that your photograph inspired me a lot, and, with your permission, I will use it in part of my work. Have a great day and see you soon!
No worries. All the best and see you soon!
Could figure out how old that beautiful church is getting deteriorated, strange that your friends' house got destroyed but this still stands tall. Hope there goes some serious renovations.
Stay safe and have a nice sunday:)
Thank you! Yes, they are trying to save the house of my friends, but, so far, unsuccessfully, they are looking for options on how to drive the pile diagonally. Have a great day!
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