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| Kolozha Church, in Grodno, Belarus |
The St. Boris and Gleb Kolozha Church is the architectural pearl of ancient Grodno, a unique monument of ancient Orthodox architecture of the 12th century in Belarus and throughout Eastern Europe.
Built-in the north-west of Ancient Russia, the Kolozha Church is not like any temple in the world. The Orthodox shrine, the history of which dates back nine centuries, is included in the preliminary list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.The exact start date for the construction is unknown, but it is believed that the stone church on the steep bank of the Neman River in Grodno was erected in the years 1140-1170. The sons of the Grodno prince Vsevolod founded the temple in honor of the first ancient Russian saints - the princes Boris and Gleb.
Another name of the church, which has become much more famous - Kolozhskaya - is associated with the tract of Kolozhan in Grodno, on which the temple was built. The word "Kolozhan" in Old Russian denoted the place where the springs beat.
The second version of the appearance of this name is associated with the resettlement in 1409 after the victorious campaign of Prince Vitovt to Pskov residents of the border fortress Kolozha.
The great fire of 1184 in Grodno destroyed the Lower Castle Church, and soon Boris-Gleb became the main temple of the city.
During the XIV century, as a result of numerous attacks by the crusaders, the church fell into decay, and during the wars with the Moscow principality, it was significantly damaged by the troops of Ivan III.
And yet, the main danger for the temple restored in the 16th century was the natural element. More than once, a church on the high bank of the Neman suffered from erosion and landslides.
On the night of April 2, 1853, the southern and part of the western wall, together with the ceiling, collapsed into the river: for 40 years the church remained abandoned. Landslides of 1864 and 1889 brought new damage.
However, in spite of everything, the unique temple in Grodno did not disappear. In 1894-1906, the shore was strengthened, instead of collapsed stone walls, lighter wooden ones were built, and on the new roof, a glaucus was set up with an openwork gilded cross. In this form, the temple has survived to this day.
By the beginning of the twentieth century, a restoration project was also developed, but World War I prevented its implementation.
In Soviet times, the Kolozha church was closed for worship: in 1948 it was transferred to the historical and archaeological museum, and in 1967, together with Castle Hill, it became part of the Grodno historical and archaeological reserve.
Only in the early 1990s, Kolozha was returned to the Belarusian Orthodox Church: the famous shrine again became a functioning church.
Architecture of Kolozha Church
Boris-Gleb Church is a unique example of ancient stone architecture, erected by the masters of the Grodno architectural school.The design of the church belongs to the traditions of Byzantine temple architecture, but at the same time it has no direct analogues in either Old Russian or Balkan architecture.
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| Kolozha Church, in Grodno, Belarus |
According to Kolozha’s plan, it is a six-pillar, three apse temple with additional space in the predaltar part.
Its unique feature is the multitude of ceramic vessels-voices built into the arches of the walls and outward-facing necks, due to which many centuries the wonderful acoustics are preserved here and church chants sound so beautiful.
Decoration of the walls of the Kolozha Church In addition, the pillars have a round cross section, which is rare for Orthodox churches, and with the small size of the building (length - 21.5 m, width - 13.5 m) inside the church seems spacious. This is achieved through walls (thickness - about 1.2 m), in the masonry of which a very thin and flat brick-plinth was used.
Another famous feature of Kolozha is the decoration of facades and walls with inserts of large polished stones and multicolor majolica tiles in the shape of crosses.
The interior of the Kolozha Church was decorated with unique frescoes, fragments of which were found in the 1970s on the altar vault and in niches.
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