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04 · Classical & Gothic Revivals

Russian Revival

c. 1830–1917

Onion domes, steep tent-roofed towers, kokoshnik gables and patterned red brick or colored tile on churches and secular buildings.

Look for

Dome Decorative tilework Bell tower Spire
Church of the Savior on Blood, Saint Petersburg, Russia: an example of Russian Revival architecture
Church of the Savior on Blood, Saint Petersburg, Russia. Photo: AndreyWi, CC BY-SA 3.0
State Historical Museum, Moscow, Russia
State Historical Museum Moscow, Russia · Alvesgaspar, CC BY-SA 3.0
GUM (department store), Moscow, Russia
GUM (department store) Moscow, Russia · Skif-Kerch, CC BY-SA 4.0
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Tallinn, Tallinn, Estonia
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Tallinn Tallinn, Estonia · Georg Mittenecker, perspektivisch entzerrt von User:Ikiwaner, CC BY-SA 2.5
Russian Church, Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria
Russian Church, Sofia Sofia, Bulgaria · Dudva, CC BY-SA 3.0

what it is

Russian Revival buildings imitate the churches and civic buildings of Muscovite Russia, mainly of the 16th and 17th centuries. Typical features are onion domes, tent roofs (tall pyramids over towers), kokoshnik gables (stacked decorative arches named after a traditional Russian headdress), patterned red brick and colored glazed tile. The style was used for churches and also for museums and department stores.

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg (1883-1907) was designed to resemble 17th-century Yaroslavl churches and St. Basil's Cathedral. In Moscow, the State Historical Museum (1875-1881) and GUM (1890-1893) stand on Red Square, and GUM has a steel and glass roof behind a facade in Russian medieval forms. Other examples are the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Tallinn (1894-1900) and the Russian Church in Sofia (1907-1914). Medieval Russian Orthodox churches are the originals; Russian Revival buildings are 19th and early 20th century imitations that use modern engineering and include buildings that are not churches.

how to spot one

Dome A rounded roof shaped as half a sphere, often raised on a drum (a circular wall). Domes cover large central spaces on Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, Renaissance and Neoclassical buildings. Decorative tilework Glazed ceramic tiles, fired clay with a glassy coating, used to finish walls, floors and fireplace surrounds. Examples include Portuguese and Spanish painted azulejos, Islamic geometric patterns and Arts and Crafts art tiles. Bell tower A tall tower that holds bells or a clock, rising from or beside a church or public building. The open stage near the top where the bells hang is the belfry, and a freestanding bell tower is called a campanile. Spire A tall, tapering structure in the form of a cone or narrow pyramid, built on top of a tower or roof. Spires are most common on churches, especially Gothic and Gothic Revival ones.

Also look for

Round archSteep gableRoof finialBelt course

history

Russian Revival began in the second quarter of the 19th century as a reaction to Western European influence. Under Nicholas I, Konstantin Thon developed an official church style that combined Byzantine and Old Russian elements. Nicholas approved Thon's model church designs in 1838, and Thon designed the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow (begun 1839) and the Grand Kremlin Palace. After the emancipation reform of 1861, architects turned to peasant wooden architecture: Viktor Hartmann designed the Mamontov printing house in Moscow (1872) and Ivan Ropet the Terem at Abramtsevo (1873).

In the 1870s and 1880s, architects such as Vladimir Shervud worked from 17th-century brick architecture, as in the State Historical Museum (1875-1881). The style continued into the 20th century with the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood (completed 1907), Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Tallinn (1900) and the Russian Church in Sofia (1914). The Revolution of 1917 ended the movement. Soviet authorities demolished many churches built in the revival styles, among them the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, which was blown up in 1931 and rebuilt in 1995-2000.

where to find it

Moscow's Red Square, with the State Historical Museum and GUM, and St. Petersburg's Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, plus Russian churches in Tallinn and Sofia.

easy to confuse with

Saint Basil's Cathedral, an example of Russian Orthodox Russian Orthodox Onion domes in gold and candy colors clustered over white walls and steep tent-roofed towers. Westminster Cathedral, an example of Byzantine Revival Byzantine Revival Central domes on round-arched churches, red brick banded with white stone, bell towers, and mosaics, built after 1840. Helsinki Central Station, an example of National Romanticism National Romanticism Rough granite or brick walls, steep roofs, towers and carved animal or plant ornament, with medieval and folk forms.